*Disclaimer - this is my training journal. It is something I hope to look back on during and after this journey. Some of this might be extremely boring for you - sorry about that!
This week's workouts (first full week of training):
Mon: Rest
Tue: 1,000 yard swim (main set = 8x25yd sprints); Bike 40 min (w/6x20-sec sprints)
Wed: Run 5 miles - easy pace
Thu: Swim 1,000 yards (main set = 4x100 yards); Bike 40 min.
Fri: Run 40 min w/6x20-sec relaxed sprints
Sat: Run 6 miles
Sun: Bike 25 miles; Swim 1,000 yards (endurance swim)
Week Total = 64 miles
Training week 1 is in the books! As I sit down to write this, it's 7:45pm and I'm hoping to get this done quickly so that I can go to bed. Gone are the days of staying up until 11:30 and waking up at 7:00. Now I'm in bed by 9, hopefully asleep by 9:30 or 10:00, and up at 4:45 on weekdays to hit the pool or the road. By the end of this journey, I just might become a morning person.
This week's workouts were really just about getting back into the full-time training routine. The swims were nothing remarkable. The first bike workout was on the trainer, but I took advantage of some great weather and decided to do my second bike workout outside.
I changed a flat earlier in the week in advance of my Thursday night ride, but when I started, I noticed some rubbing when I applied the rear brake. I stopped after a quarter mile to check and found that the tire wasn't seated correctly on the rim - I'm kind of surprised it didn't blow out! I stopped, fixed the issue, and used a CO2 cartridge to fill the tire. If you haven't used one of these before, it's a crazy experience. The cartridge discharges very quickly, the tire inflates immediately, and the metal parts get covered in frost. You have one shot to get this right - there are no do-overs.
Use of the first cartridge didn't completely go as planned - not all of the cannister discharged in the tire, but I felt like I had enough pressure to go on. By the time I got to mile 2 of the ride, I was feeling the rim bottom out when I hit a bump, so I decided to let all of the air out, and refill with another CO2 cartridge. This time I managed to bend the valve stem when filling the tire, so I had about 30PSI on board (I ride between 90-100PSI). At that point I was toast - time to call the pit crew (Amy) for a pickup, and I did another 30 minutes on the trainer (my road bike is set up on the trainer right now). More to come on the bike later.
On Saturday I did my long run, and began to use the intervals I play to employ in Louisville. Right now I'm training at a 10:1 interval (run 10 minutes, walk 1 - basically I walk at each mile marker). The walk interval gives your heart rate a chance to come down and it gives your legs a short rest. I find that when I use the intervals, my per-mile pace stays relatively unchanged from my normal running pace. I may back this down to a 7:1 or 8:1 interval - we'll see how it goes.
Running is something I've been doing consistently since 2008, so there's not going to be much of a learning curve here, and thus I'm probably won't write much about the runs in this journal. However, the one remarkable thing about this run was that in the past few days, the trees and flowers exploded in St. Louis. Finally the miserable gray of winter was replaced with this! (Of course I'm choosing to ignore the fact that it's snowing outside right now.)
After the run on Saturday, I spent some time working on my bike to get better with this whole CO2 situation. I'm happy to report that I think we've come to an understanding. I put a new tube on the tire (which I'm now getting done in about 3-5 minutes), and I successfully inflated with a CO2 cartridge to 100PSI and repeated the process again with the hand pump that I've attached to my tri bike during the training season (I'll take it off for races).
I ended Saturday with Adam's baseball double-header in the warm temperatures and hot sun. We stopped to pick up a pizza on the way home, and he used the waiting time for a nap. I was struggling not to join him.
On Sunday, the plan was to meet up with some friends for our scheduled long ride of 25 miles, however the weather didn't cooperate and I was stuck on the trainer in the basement. Again. As you can see, I was thrilled. But, I got it done, and got some time in the saddle, which is all that matters.
I finished up the day and the week with a swim before dinner, and officially called it a week with a game of horse with the kids and an awesome dinner of chicken schawarma, couscous, and beer (yay for Beer Sunday!) prepared by my Iron Crew (Amy & Emily). A great way to tie things up.
On the nutrition front, I am focusing on eating as much "real" (i.e. not processed) food as possible. I'm keeping a detailed journal and will meet with my sports dietitian in a few weeks to go over the log. I am sure she'll enjoy my notes from Sunday - "Starving. Ready to eat everything in sight, including the siding on the house." I'm looking forward to her input so I can figure out how to fuel correctly for the stupid amount of miles coming up.
With that, I'm going to bed. Thanks for reading!
19 training weeks to go. 131 days until I hit the Ohio River.
This week's workouts (first full week of training):
Mon: Rest
Tue: 1,000 yard swim (main set = 8x25yd sprints); Bike 40 min (w/6x20-sec sprints)
Wed: Run 5 miles - easy pace
Thu: Swim 1,000 yards (main set = 4x100 yards); Bike 40 min.
Fri: Run 40 min w/6x20-sec relaxed sprints
Sat: Run 6 miles
Sun: Bike 25 miles; Swim 1,000 yards (endurance swim)
Week Total = 64 miles
Training week 1 is in the books! As I sit down to write this, it's 7:45pm and I'm hoping to get this done quickly so that I can go to bed. Gone are the days of staying up until 11:30 and waking up at 7:00. Now I'm in bed by 9, hopefully asleep by 9:30 or 10:00, and up at 4:45 on weekdays to hit the pool or the road. By the end of this journey, I just might become a morning person.
This week's workouts were really just about getting back into the full-time training routine. The swims were nothing remarkable. The first bike workout was on the trainer, but I took advantage of some great weather and decided to do my second bike workout outside.
I changed a flat earlier in the week in advance of my Thursday night ride, but when I started, I noticed some rubbing when I applied the rear brake. I stopped after a quarter mile to check and found that the tire wasn't seated correctly on the rim - I'm kind of surprised it didn't blow out! I stopped, fixed the issue, and used a CO2 cartridge to fill the tire. If you haven't used one of these before, it's a crazy experience. The cartridge discharges very quickly, the tire inflates immediately, and the metal parts get covered in frost. You have one shot to get this right - there are no do-overs.Use of the first cartridge didn't completely go as planned - not all of the cannister discharged in the tire, but I felt like I had enough pressure to go on. By the time I got to mile 2 of the ride, I was feeling the rim bottom out when I hit a bump, so I decided to let all of the air out, and refill with another CO2 cartridge. This time I managed to bend the valve stem when filling the tire, so I had about 30PSI on board (I ride between 90-100PSI). At that point I was toast - time to call the pit crew (Amy) for a pickup, and I did another 30 minutes on the trainer (my road bike is set up on the trainer right now). More to come on the bike later.
On Saturday I did my long run, and began to use the intervals I play to employ in Louisville. Right now I'm training at a 10:1 interval (run 10 minutes, walk 1 - basically I walk at each mile marker). The walk interval gives your heart rate a chance to come down and it gives your legs a short rest. I find that when I use the intervals, my per-mile pace stays relatively unchanged from my normal running pace. I may back this down to a 7:1 or 8:1 interval - we'll see how it goes.
Running is something I've been doing consistently since 2008, so there's not going to be much of a learning curve here, and thus I'm probably won't write much about the runs in this journal. However, the one remarkable thing about this run was that in the past few days, the trees and flowers exploded in St. Louis. Finally the miserable gray of winter was replaced with this! (Of course I'm choosing to ignore the fact that it's snowing outside right now.)
After the run on Saturday, I spent some time working on my bike to get better with this whole CO2 situation. I'm happy to report that I think we've come to an understanding. I put a new tube on the tire (which I'm now getting done in about 3-5 minutes), and I successfully inflated with a CO2 cartridge to 100PSI and repeated the process again with the hand pump that I've attached to my tri bike during the training season (I'll take it off for races).
New tube and successful inflation with CO2
I ended Saturday with Adam's baseball double-header in the warm temperatures and hot sun. We stopped to pick up a pizza on the way home, and he used the waiting time for a nap. I was struggling not to join him.
On Sunday, the plan was to meet up with some friends for our scheduled long ride of 25 miles, however the weather didn't cooperate and I was stuck on the trainer in the basement. Again. As you can see, I was thrilled. But, I got it done, and got some time in the saddle, which is all that matters.
I finished up the day and the week with a swim before dinner, and officially called it a week with a game of horse with the kids and an awesome dinner of chicken schawarma, couscous, and beer (yay for Beer Sunday!) prepared by my Iron Crew (Amy & Emily). A great way to tie things up.
On the nutrition front, I am focusing on eating as much "real" (i.e. not processed) food as possible. I'm keeping a detailed journal and will meet with my sports dietitian in a few weeks to go over the log. I am sure she'll enjoy my notes from Sunday - "Starving. Ready to eat everything in sight, including the siding on the house." I'm looking forward to her input so I can figure out how to fuel correctly for the stupid amount of miles coming up.
With that, I'm going to bed. Thanks for reading!
19 training weeks to go. 131 days until I hit the Ohio River.
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