Saturday, January 24, 2009

Week 3 Wrapup

YES! I finished my 3rd week. Felt pretty good, although my "long" run was sort of a slog. Here are the totals for the week: Swim - 5,800 yards. Long set of 1,500 in 24:54 with 3 consistent 500s. Bike - 3 hours 35 minutes ( a whopping 59 miles). Run 2 hours 30 minutes (14.3 miles).

If the computrainer resistance is to be believed, I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into. Two of my rides this week were on the Live Course and they were both slow. I should be killer strong on the hills by the time this training is over.

I had workout partners for 2 sessions this week. Meet my new spin partner:

The kids were off of school on Friday. Zman wanted to join me for part of my ride. He worked up a sweat. Wasn't much company as he plugged in his ipod, but we had fun.

My other partner was Ramsey who is threatening to join the multisport craze. He said he was going to swim with me but it mostly looked like he was just floating in the lane next to me. Actually he's trying to learn TI and I've got to say I was impressed with his ability to focus on drills. I should probably explain TI - it's Total Immersion and it's a distance swimming technique that is quite effective but hard to pick up.

I was able to get all 3 of my runs done outside this week and here's why:


Four 1/2 inch machine screws work great for gripping the ice. The don't help much in the loose mush, but they're great on the hard stuff.

When you next hear from me I will have achieved full MASTERS status. Tonight's the big blowout for both mine and the Doc's impending classification change. Looking forward to it!

And if you're still with me, here's this week's video:

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Making Strides (er Strokes)

I felt much better at the end of week 2 than I did at week 1. Even just the 1 day off going into week 2 really seemed to help.

As a yardstick for where I'm at, I compared my 1200 yard set on Friday of week 2 with the same set from week 1. Week 2 19:59 Week 1 20:23. I'll take it!

Learning - I found yesterday that I'm not in shape to push 190 watts for extended periods of time. Hopefully that will change but I was struggling to maintain it at the end of 1 hour yesterday.

Hoping to get LT measured next week.

The weather has finally broken and I've been outside for a couple of runs. Man is that nice. The sun is shining and it's almost 20 - sounds like perfect running weather.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

This week's Ironman Motivational Video

This week's Ironman Motivational Video

I used to run to this song all the time. I'll be thinking of it if I'm still out on the road after the sun goes down in CDA.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Whew! Week 1 in the Books.

Wow, did that hurt! Week 1 of my 24 week program is done. That's just over 4%. Of course in terms of time/mileage it's probably less than 1%.

Is it a bad sign that I'm looking forward to my planned massage to start off my recovery week? That's only 2 weeks away.

So here are the totals for the week:

Swim 4,900 yards, Bike 3.5 hours (58 measly miles, at least some were hilly), Run 130 minutes (12.45 miles) and Yoga 2 hours.

If you're looking for the "You Might Be a Triathlete If:" list you can find it here:

http://imcda09.blogspot.com/2009/01/you-might-be-triathlete-if.html

Can you hear it?

Can you hear it? It's calling you! In science it's said that nature abhores a vacuum. Well, I can't stand an empty trainer. While I haven't gotten into long rides yet, I did have a 1:45 ride today. NS Rob came over with his bike and helped the time fly by. I had a little trouble with the Computrainer LiveVideo and had to switch over to the 3d. But we got the ride in. NS Rob on the Kurt Kinetic shifting to try and match the contour (although he didn't have a gear for the 11% grades of CDA)
For the really long rides we can pop a movie and just keep the Computrainer on the computer.
What do you say Stomper Rob, Jim, Capt Winter, Ramsey - Care to ride? And yes that is my helmet in the picture. I decided that I need to wear it for my longer rides so my neck muscles are used to the extra bit of weight. NS was a good sport and brought his too. All right I'm off to the pool.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

You Might be a Triathlete if:

I can't take credit for this list but thought it was funny so here it its. If you think of any additions, feel free to add them as comments. Jim you may want to pay particular attention to the first item. Reading it had the Doc doing her "octopus covered in glue" impression of you at Turtleman last year.

You might be a triathlete if:

25. One of your goals this year is to be faster at getting out of a wetsuit
24. You talk about a “hammer” and “brick”, but you’re not referring to construction
23. You spend 7 days going to 8 stores in 4 malls before buying a pair of running shoes but you take 1 afternoon to go to 1 car dealership and walk out with a new car 4 hours later.
22. That charming "cologne" you wear to work is chlorine.
21. You have more water bottles than glasses in your cupboard
20. You have enough pairs of old running shoes sitting in your closet to open your own shoe store
19. You immediately bow down before someone with the Ironman "m dot"tattoo.
18. You have NO idea what to do with yourself on your off day. You mowed the lawn, cleaned the house, washed the car, and there's STILL 4 hours of daylight left! Aarrgghh!
17. When you're always showing up to work in the morning with goggle imprints around your eyes
16. You have so many tan lines you look like a zebra (running socks, bathing suit, jersey, biking shorts, tri shorts, sunglasses, gloves, watch, etc)
15. The first three items on your grocery list are Gatorade, power bars, and gels.
14. You get funny looks when putting on Body Glide on your neck because people think it's deodorant
13. About half the shirts you own have at least a dozen logos on the back of them.
12. You wait a couple of days to take your car in when the "check engine light goes on, but when your bike needs a tune up you take it right away.
11. You refer to the front hall of your house as the “transition area”.
10. The one "suit" you own has a QR on the chest
09. When you get home from a training session, the newspaper is just being delivered to your house.
08. You consider work, regeneration time between training sessions.
07. Your bicycle is in your living room.
06. Your car smells like a locker room
05. There’s a separate load of laundry every week that is just your workout clothes.
04. When asked, how old you are you answer 35-39.
03. Your first thought when you wake up is how high your rest HR is.
02. Your spouse cried during Terms of Endearment; you cried during the television coverage of the Hawaii Ironman
01. Most of this list doesn’t seem like a joke to you.

Monday, January 5, 2009

And so it begins . . .

I've climbed my last flight of stairs without that familiar ache in my quads. I started my 24 week training program for Ironman Couer d'Alene (IM CDA). Yesterday was a 45 minute run on the treadmill at the gym. I must be a wimp, but I just can't get too excited about running when the temps are in the single digits and the wind is blowing.
I'm not in the shape I'd like to be in when starting but that's what the base phase of the training is for I suppose. I know I needed the break though.
This morning I hit the pool for a short swim and I'm on the trainer this afternoon. I've ridden the computrainer a few times and I love it. Granted the software is a little wonky, but it really adds some realism to the mind numbing tedium of riding in the basement.
Just a short post to let you know I've started. More later.