Monday, June 29, 2009

T24 - Sprints Getting Better - Swim

Gainesville

Swim: speed day
wu: 250 alternating each 50 swim and kick
main: 400, 4 x 100, 300, 3 x 100, 200, 2x100
long intervals are RPE 4, 100s are at RPE 7-8


2 Lipodrene
I was definitely not looking forward to today's workout, as in included 9 100 year sprints, which I do not enjoys. Something about doing 4 lengths as hard as you can is just not something I'm mentally equipped to do at this point. So earlier in the cycle, I had decided to take it easy on these. But today, I figured I may as well try doing them, since I can only get better if I keep trying.

The short sets went well, after the warmup. I was able to do those effectively. I did the first 50 yards of the first 100 at top speed, and then slowed down the last 50, but not going slow. I took this as a sign that I was getting better at these sprints, and did the rest of the 100s at a higher RPE. Maybe not the one suggested in training, but I certainly got my heat rate up and was going faster than I was on the longer sets. I think bit by bit my speed training in the pool is going to get better. As long as I keep at least going a little harder each time, by the end of the cycle, the sprints may become second nature. We shall see.

Tomorrow is my first long workout of Base 1, the first real phase of Ironman Training. It's gonna be a tough week since I'm going to California on Wedneday and have a wedding and a trip to Reno scheduled in there. I'm not sure this week will get done in 7 days, but this is why I give myself extra time.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

T23 - Drafting Strangers - Bike

Gainesville

So I had an odd last night. I went and met this girl over at her house, and my boy shows up about an hour later with a bunch of people. They all start drinking, as do I, we play a little Ring of Fire, and I got to bed around 5. Everyone else stays up, my host coming into bed, drunk and demanding, around 6 or 7 (or both, I was a little drunk and a lot tired) but everyone else stayed up drinking. All night. Without coke. I have no idea how people stay up drinking until 10 a.m. without drugs, but somehow they managed. 10 a.m. and both me and this girl get calls on our phones from my friend. We ignore it, and ten minutes later, he calls us again. I figured it must be something important, so she answers. Turns out the guy he was riding out to breakfast with crashed into a tree right in front of Haile Village (ah, memories...)and he needed a ride home. I was hungover, tired, and fucked out and still had to drag my ass out of bed at 10:15 to go get him. I demanded brunch at Sisters' as my incentive for going out there. I was the only one who ate, and I paid, but damn, I think those waffles gave me the energy I needed for the workout.

Bike: 90 Minutes


2 Lipodrene
Given the heat and my exhaustion from the night before, I figured this workout would be quite sub-par. The first half was not fantastic, aside from making it to nigbridge in 26 and 30, but the headwind slowed me down until I turned around. I have a gel, and start to head back.

Maybe 4 miles into the return trip I pass this guy who looked about 40, also on a sport bike. I'm going about 19 or 20, and all of a sudden I hear this voice behind me after I pass him. No idea what it said, but I look back and this fucker is right on my ass. Uh, excuse me bro, but why the fuck are you drafting behind me? I don't even fucking know you! What the fuck makes you think I wanna make your workout easier for you?! But, you know, I don't say things like that unless it involves someone putting mayonnaise on a sandwich or taking too long to make a burrito, so I just decided to try and go so fast he couldn't keep up. I took it up to about 23 and the fucker was still there. Kept it up at 23.5 and seriously started to fell some labored breathing. I really didn't want this old fuck to pass me. Fortunately after about 3 miles he could no longer keep up and I let up a little.

I thought this burst of speed would wear my legs out, but fortunately I found myself still able to have a pretty solid ride back, no slower than usual. What this showed me is that I can probably push my bike rides harder than I have been. I just need some stranger to come and draft for no reason. Maybe he did me a favor, who knows. Trevor told me what he did is actually perfectly acceptable among cyclists. Of course, so is pissing yourself on the bike. So we'll see how long it is before I"m doing either.

T22 - The Ugly Club - Swim/Bike Brick (Stationary)

Gainesville

My schedule has been very weird lately. I tend to do work all day, maybe do some training, then stay up and do work until 2 a.m. Miami time aside. Waking up at 11, going to bed at 3. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing or not, as I've been very productive, but it leads to workouts like this one, with me heading out to GHFC at 10 p.m. And let me tell you, there are no good looking people at the gym on Saturday night late. I had the opportunity to walk around a little, and it was like being at Curves or something. I think all the people who are too fat to get dates, and too self conscious to workout with other people around go late night on Saturday. And me, of course, I'm just a weirdo.


Swim: warmup: 400 continuous. last 50 in each 100 is kick
main: 8 x 100 EBEH


2 Lipodrene
48 hours off and I hit the pool with a vengeance. I think I timed my ephedra just right, but I went pretty strong during the warmup. Each EBEH was also solid, as I was not dogging it at all on the "easy' laps. I also put out full effort on all 8 final laps. Nothing bad to say about the swim. I think time off just does me well.

Bike: 45 minutes (Stationary bike)
Yeah, this was another thing I did a little too much last cycle, doing the stationary bike instead of the trainer or going on the road. Again, the whole no motivation thing really hits the bike the hardest, especially when you can use the iPod and watch TV on the stationary. At any rate, it's recovery week and I hadn't used the stationary once yet, and I really didn't feel like setting up the trainer after I got home.

I changed over and walked by a couple of solid 4s engaged in deep conversation on my way upstairs at GHFC. This must have been the social highlight of their night. I put on the iPod and did 45 minutes on the stationary bike, which was not terribly challenging. It still makes you sweat a lot, though. I walked back downstairs to shower and the 4s were still talking, still not working out. Definitely their social highlight.

I'm going to try to keep the stationary bike workouts to a bare minimum this cycle, but if there was even an appropriate spot, this was it. That, and I was supposed to meet up with this girl after my workout, so unlike the rest of the people in there I had social plans that extended past a conversation on the staircase.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

T21 -Runing OCD - Run

Miami

Given the week's theme of hatred of children, I checked into the Clevelander in South Beach Wednesday night, a place that doesn't even allow guests under 21. Perfect. Even more perfect was the fact that I got to stay there free because I'm writing an article on them. At any rate, I took it pretty easy Wednesday night knowing I had a long run Thursday morning before a busy day of interviews, horse races, a hotel tour and a Marlins game. Only 2 of which actually happened, but whatever.

I woke up at 10 and walked over to Lee Ann Drugs on Washington and bought some Powerade for the run. I gave the bottles to the girl at the front desk at the Cleve, and she agreed to let me use the lobby as an aid station. Because I have realized I don't deal well with long courses where I"m not familiar with the distance, I decided to run from the Cleve on 10th down to South Pointe Park, turn around and run up to 15th where the boardwalk ends, and do that three times. I'd stop at the Cleve after each lap for a Powerade break, much like I do with my car on runs in Gainesville.

Run - 90 Minutes

2 Lipodrene
The sun was again brutally hot, even though it was barely 10:30 a.m. Fortunately, Miami Beach actualyl has a breeze, unlike Gainesville, so this made it somewhat more tolerable. I used the iPod, again, but for long runs I feel it's justified. Anyway, my first lap went well, though I opted to run on the sidewalk and boardwalk instead of the packed sand, as I thought it would offer more shade. It did.

And though the run was ok, I still felt a lot more labored because it was an unfamiliar course. I think when it comes to challenging running, I really can't think about distances and locations, and need to go on the same route every time, without change. I mean, by the third lap I felt comfortable, but I wasn't willing to deviate much from the course for whatever reason. It's sort of a running OCD. I have routes I know in Seattle, Sacramento, Miami and Gainesville, and will only run those in each city. I did the beach today because I felt I had no time to drive all the way to Coral Gables to do the UM loop. It made this run a lot harder, but I think the more I do it, the better it will go.

The clouds came out about half way through the second lap, making the run a lot more palatable. That daytime Miami summer sun might have made for a bit more of a challenge, but this is recovery week, right? Riiiight. I'm pretty sure the run was less than 90 minutes, as I did the first lap in 26 minutes. Even assuming I slowed up, I probably was only out there 85. I go over so much, though, I'm not concerned.

I was also glad to be taking a solid 48 hours off after this workout, allowing me to party a little bit Thursday night. The night turned out pretty interesting, but nothing training-related since I had no Friday workout planned.

T20 - MINI CANES!!! - Swim

Miami

Last summer I trained at the pool at the UM Wellness Center all summer. And a lot of days, the Mini Canes day camp would be there, infesting the pool with hundreds of little pests while I tried to swim my laps. I had conveniently forgotten this fact as I went to the Wellness Center to get in a short swim. I got in the locker room and the floor was strewn with little shoes and small towels. "MINI CANES!" I whispered to myself. This is much in the same tone that Jerry used to whisper "Newman!" on the old Seinfeld show. The Mini-Canes were my nemesis at the gym, but somehow I'd forgotten about them.

S: race-specific
wu: 4 x 75, last 25 in each is backstroke.
main: 3 x 400, 1 is RPE 3, 2 is RPE4, 3 is RPE 5


2 Lipodrene
Good thing the swim was short. The pool was shut down to 3 lanes because of the little brats, and their shouts reverberated off the walls of the indoor pool. And I'm sure the iodized water was ripe with urine with that many kids in the pool. Fucking awesome. Fortunately, the UM indoor pool is used about as much as the Metrorail, so despite there only being 3 lanes, I only had to share with one person.

It was not my best swim, but not terrible. I slowed a little on the middle laps of each set for some reason, but the workout was short and went well. I like the iodine pool there better than the chlorinated one at GHFC, but I'm not driving 6 hours to use it. I will, however, make a point of swimming here every time I'm in Miami. Even though it does cost me $10.

T19 - Revenge on the Children - Bike/Run Brick

Gainesville.

I had to go to court this morning to try and get the ridiculous $444 fine I got for speeding in a school zone knocked down. Seriously, why does the presence of children mean I have to fork over half my Cosmo money because I was going a blazing 25 MPH where they little dumb shits might be too stupid to look when they cross the street. Fuck kids. If you don't have any, you shouldn't have to ever be inconvenienced by them. If it didn't mean taking weeks off of training, I'd make my vasectomy appointment today.

That all being said, my original plan had been to get up and run before court, but as I am unable to fall asleep early when I know I have to be up early, that didn't so much happen. And because I wanted to be on the road to Miami by 2, I had to brick the bike and run even though I didn't want or need to.

Bike - 60 minutes

2 Lipodrene
Pretty average bike ride, though I have come to the conclusion that workouts that aren't pushing a new level, I mentally do not take as seriously as training days. Like workouts this week are "recovery" so I'm not giving it the full motivation it deserves.

The only notable thing about this ride was on my way back, when some family of four (2 kids) was taking up the whole bike path as I was down in aero going about 19.5. The kids didn't seem to want to move out of the way, and given my disgust with children from the morning's court appearance, I said "Fuck it. If they're too stupid to get out of my way, they get what they deserve." I accelerated towards the family and just as I got up to the little boy, he ducked out of the way to avoid injury. Goopd for him. I would not have stopped had I hit him either. Look where the fuck you're going kid, or better still don't bring your little brats out on a course where people are training. We don't want them there.

Run - 45 minutes

Took a gel and did the run. Again, the sun was very hot, and again I felt like I was going to wilt. It's going to pay off when I get to cooler weather though, as even during short bouts of cloud cover, I feel like I can go a lot faster. I used the iPod here, for reasons I don't even know, and I need to start disciplining myself away from it better. I'd been doing a good job, but I think I've used it on 3 out of my last 4 runs. Not good. Should be the other way around.

Monday, June 22, 2009

T18 - Recovery, My Ass! - Swim/Run Brick

Gainesville

So today was supposed to be the first day of "Recovery" week, where you do easier workouts to let your body recover a little before heading into the next phase of training. This last month had been the "prep" phase, meaning it was just sort of a month-long warmup. So you see this thing isn't gonna be easy. Anyway, as I look at the cars I see they literally took the exact same card from week 20 and used it here. NO matter, training is training.

Swim: 1x1500

2 Lipodrene
I didn't even bother with a warmup today. I had to make a phone call for my final project at 6, and like an idiot didn't remember this until I showed up at the gym at 3:30. So I just went in and started, skipping the 800 meter warmup. I noticed this as my stroke didn't really get going until about lat 13 or 14, where of course I lost count. The second half of the swim went well, but I definitely need to warm up for stuff like this. I think scheduling things too close to my workouts hampers them, because all I can think about it getting done. The lesson learned today was leave an hour of buffer time minimum.

Run: 45 minutes, easy pace

I opted to do the run from GHFC up NW 8th Ave. to the top of the hill at about 22nd Street. Well, not only was it insanely hot today (I saw one thermometer that said 104), but I realized that run has a stretch of about a mile and a half with no shade. So as such I felt great until I got to that, then just fucking wilted and hobbled my way back. I stopped midway, not even going up the hill, and had a gel. Then turned back around. As it was the run still took me 50 minutes, funny since it had take n45 WITH the hill on T1. SO, I guess running in 104 degree heat kinda makes your runs harder. I'm not going to stop running in the heat, and on short runs like this I'm not overly concerned about them not being that good, and using them to get used to heat. The longer ones, I may do at night or at least use cloud cover.

But seriously, THIS is recovery? Running 4.5 miles in heat and swimming almost a mile? Good. Good to know what I'm in for. Headed to Miami tomorrow, though I'll workout here first. Hopefully things will go better for me there this time around in terms of training.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

T17 - Releasing the Glitch - Bike

Gainesville

I've had this fucking song in my head. For like 4 days now. It's called "Panic Switch" by the Silversun Pickups, a band I had been subjected to a great length by my ex and had never really had an opinion about. Until I heard this song on the radio the other day. It's a great song, but even after reading the lyrics twice, I have absolutely no fucking clue what it's about, or even what any of the lyrics mean. The chorus has a line that says something like "Will you fall in line, or release the glitch," and for the entire bike ride today, I had the bridge and chorus of this song in my head. And though I'm still not sure what exactly "releasing the glitch" entails, if there was a glitch in my riding, I released it today.

Bike - 2 Hours

2 Lipodrene
It was hot as fuck today. I mean by the time I hit the road word on the TV was that it was 99 degrees with humidity around 80%. So I packed an extra water bottle. Well, as I may have mentioned all of my rides in 2009 have been complete shit with a few exceptions, and even the good ones this cycle were merely improvements over what I'd been doing in the Spring. I have no idea why, in the Fall and last Summer I was crushing rides, but as I've discussed earlier I think the cold and some other circumstances just hampered my biking abilities. Not today.

I think the heat was the first thing that motivated me. It was nice and hot and there was no breeze. I had even stretched out a little beforehand and had taken 48 hours off. So on the way to Hawthorne, where I usually take it slow, I was averaging about 23. And this didn't really let up much the whole way down Hawthorne, as I kept singing the same ten bars of this "Panic Switch" song, out loud at some points (the guys at Nigbridge gave me some very funny looks)and made it to the end of Hawthorne in 56:30. That's a full 7 minutes faster than the last time I did this ride. I just kept telling myself to release the glitch. Even though I had no fucking idea what that meant.

I had a gel, refilled all my bottles, and took a leak before heading back. I was able to keep that pace up until about halfway back when the heat finally got to my legs and lower back and I found myself doing 13 on a small incline. I took a brief break, then continued on, going strong but not averaging over 20 as I had been. I had some difficulties with inclines on the way back, doing a solid 9 up the final hill in the hammock. Despite this, though, my average speed was still 18.5, easily the best solo ride of 2009. Whatever it was that had been glitching me so far this year, it has officially been released. Perhaps the fact that this song comes from a band I associate with someone, and that whole experience was something I think adversely affected my last training cycle, and now that I really am moving on and my training is getting better maybe that's really what releasing the glitch means. Or maybe I'm looking a little too far into a pretty nonsensical song lyric. I don't know.

This is not to say all rides are going to be this good, but I am consistently improving on each one. The warm weather definitely helps, maybe the stretching helps. Maybe singing Silversun Pickups helps. Although I don't think I can do that for 6 hours during the Ironman. Who knows.

I had an overnight guest last night too, and despite being up with her until 5, and then up again before 11, I still had an outstanding ride. My only point here is that I'm starting to think sex in and of itself does not hamper workouts, but rather the alcohol and occasional stress that goes along with it. Shit, maybe it's even getting to be like the old days of lifting where it motivates me. No matter what the reason, I'm very happy about today's ride. I feel like I'm back. The glitch has been released, and I'm ready to start really riding when Base 1 starts a week from Monday.

T16 - 12 Hour Transition - Bike/Swim

Gainesville

Bike - 90 minutes
2 Lipodrene

This whole "party on hold" thing has been kind of a half-assed attempt. My idea for Thursday night was to head up to Jacksonville for a little AA Baseball, and a dollar beer or two. Well, one dollar beer turned into about 8, $1 beers, and next thing I know I'm out in Jax Beach watching Trevor spit game at a couple of girls whose teeth were worth more than my car. I ended up staying over there, slept about 4 hours, and drove home at 7 a.m. But the time I got back, I figured what better time than then to go on my ride for the day?

Bike rides on 4-hours sleep after a night of drinking typically don't go terribly well. It was not my worst ride, but my brain was not in full effect as I blatantly ran a red light on Waldo that I didn't even see and almost rode off the path at Hawthorne three times. Seriously, I lack coordination as it is, being tired and hungover on a bike probably doesn't help. Not much learned here that I didn't already know, but when I have more important rides I will likely not lie to myself and think dollar beer night is a viable option the night before.

Swim:
wu: 300 continuous. slowly increasing pace each 100
main: 20 x 50, odds at RPE 4, evens at RPE 9!


I got home from the bike fully intending to head over to the pool by noon. Then the Lipodrene wore off, and then I took a long nap, and when I looked up it was 4 p.m. And I don't do the pool between 3 and 9. I ended up hitting the water at 9:30, a full 12 hours after I finished workout one. Took 1 more Lipodrene, and had a surprisingly good swim.

As I may have said here once or twice, I'm not too good at the sprint swims. But today I actually was able to maintain that solid effort on the fast 50s the whole way through. I got in a good amount of rest time, but it was good to see that I am able to do at least that now. Maybe I'll work my way up and do hundreds soon. Although I have to say the rest period followed by the recovery lap probably had more to do with. But as long as I'm improving, I'm happy.

Friday, June 19, 2009

T15 - Appreciating the Overcast - Run

Gainesville

Run -90 minutes


2 Lipodrene
So things may have looked good for me insofar as the long bike ride on Wednesday, but unfortunately the skies did not seem to agree. I put on my bike shorts, my bike jersey, and my shoes and walked my bike outside. I looked east towards Hawthorne and the sky was black. And given that I had to leave for Jacksonville at 5, I figured "Hey, better to get caught in the rain on a run than on a bike." So I went in, and opted for the long run, despite my knee.

Surprisingly, the knee did not hurt me much at all. As a matter of fact, the scratches on my neck were more painful as the sweat started getting into the parts that were cut up (that girl texted me later to tell me she was pretty sure I'd broken her collarbone. Even assuming she's exaggerating I think I'd prefer the stinging scratches. The cloud cover made a huge difference, as I was able to keep a good pace and really chopped my steps minimally. I actually picked up the pace when I got to the Law School, but I think this was due more to "You Could Be Mine" than any energy reserve I had.

I got back to my car for the turnaround, had a gel, and went back out for the final 30 minutes. I think the run actually ended up going about 95 minutes, but it felt good. I like training in the heat, but once in a while it's nice to not feel oppressed during the run. I still gotta use a little less iPod on these runs. I mean, it's ok, but I can't get dependent like I was the last time out.

The knee really only hurt at night, but during and after the run it was ok. I'm not sure if it's going to heal, but it doesn't really bother me either. We shall see.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

T14 - Speed Still Kills - Swim

Gainesville

So I might have mentioned I went out last night. Again, I figured I'd go out for a few drinks, and even if I closed down the bar have no more then 4 over a few hours. This is one advantage of 2 a.m. closings. Well, this might have worked had I gone home after closing. But once again I started thinking with the wrong part of my body, and once again ended up staying up until 5 a.m., barely sleeping, and going home around 9 to do an interview. I justified this decision by saying "Well, tomorrow is a short swim day, so even if I'm hungover and barely sleep, who cares?"

When I got home I tried to justify it to Trevor and he says to me "Dude, training isn't gonna influence all your decisions. You know you're not gonna be doin' that." He's right. I think even had I had like a 3-hour bike to do today, I would have ended up doing what I did. The training just keeps me from seeking it out. But if I"m four drinks in and an opportunity presents itself, I'm not sure I'm not gonna take it. We shall see how this goes in the future.

Swim:
warmup: 250 easy
5 x 50, odds are 100%, evens recovery. 10sec rest between
main: 4 x 400,


2 Lipodrene
Did a night swim again tonight, which I think is going to be my M.O. for most of this cycle. The warmup wasn't bad until I got to the sprints. Seriously, fast just seems to kick my ass. Even these 3, 50-meter sprints had me not going as fast as I had previously during my first 2 sets of 400s. I'm going to keep trying to do sprints when they are called for for the next month. But if I find my longer-distance portions of the workouts suffering because sprints are involved, I may start altering the workouts. My hope is I get better at fast swimming, but today the speed killed me.

But still, I don't know that three short sprints were enough to do that. Maybe the 4 hours of sleep and drinking until 5 a.m. and rough sex were what did it. I don't know. I just know the scratches and welt marks hurt like hell in the shower, and I'm glad I'm not hitting the pool again for another 2 days. Tomorrow is a long bike and I am detoxed and spending the night alone. Things are looking good for tomorrow's 2-hour ride.

T13 - Maybe My Knee Is Trying to Tell Me Something - Run/Bike Brick

Gainesville

Run: 45 Minutes - Easy Pace
2 Lipodrene

I did this run after having had lunch and it was rather uneventful. I'm still plodding a little bit, and I realized that running in 95-degree weather may be part of why I'm not running my fastest. I do appreciate the training value of running in hot weather, but I may try a night run later this week to see if the running improves.

Bike - 1 Hour

Because I had so much goddam work to do I ended up starting this whole workout at like 6, which forced me to brick these so I could get on the bike and back before it got dark. I wasn't really feeling an hour on the trainer. Anyway,I took a gel and hit the road. I thought this would be a little grueling and was worried about the rain, but truth is I got out there and the weather was perfect. Hot but overcast, with no rain and a tiny breeze. Perfect biking weather. I did the first half pretty well, getting to nigbridge in 27 and 20.

The interesting part is, despite there being no significant wind, I made the ride back in 3 less minutes than I made it down. Again, this is impressive considering that Hawthorne is an incline on the way back. but I really felt good on the ride today. I was able to keep pushing it and hit good speeds on the inclines. I really feel this cycle is going a lot better, as this was the sort of ride I would have absolutely dogged in the Spring.

I went out last night after and was sitting at a table outside at 101. I turned to my left to say something to somebody, and all of a sudden felt my knee give out. While sitting. I forgot how random the knee goings-out are with this, and realized that the 2 straight days of running, even though they didn't hurt, may not be helping this thing heal. Again, I'm going to reverse the long bike and long run this week and take 4 days off the knee. If this persists, I may forsake all running during recovery week next week.

Monday, June 15, 2009

T12 - Breathing Water - Run/Swim

Gainesville

2 Lipodrene
So, I basically skipped my workout yesterday to go to the NBA finals. I think in the grand scheme of Ironman training, a run I wasn't even sure I was gonna do because of my knee is not a huge thing to miss, and watching an NBA champion get crowned, well, that is a big thing to miss. Honestly, had Trevor been ready to pull the trigger that morning, I would have gotten the run in before we left for Orlando, but whatever. He knows training better than I.

But I decided to so Sunday's 90-minute run today instead of the 60-minute run the training card called for, and then do my long swim. So instead of missing a long run, I missed a relatively short one (tell me two years ago a 6-mile run is relatively short, and I call you a showoff jackass). Whatever.) Today was a long fucking training day, the kind I need to start getting used to

Run: 90 Minutes
I left about 4 to do a campus loop and then a stadium down-and-back. I also decided to bust out the iPod today, since it was the first really long run of the training cycle. This was ultimately not the best idea. The knee started to really hurt about 3 blocks into the run, but I adjusted my stride to drop less weight on my left foot and try and glide through it, which worked well.

I lost the gel I took out of the hole in my pocket, which pissed me off. Then at about the 45 minute mark, the skies decided to open up. Why do I think Gainesville is not going to have afternoon storms like Miami does in the summer? Seriously, I need to start either doing runs earlier or later. This 4 PM shit is just stupid. So I'm running and all of a sudden my headphones start getting scratchy. I realize some water has gotten into the connection and fucked it up, and now I'm worrying my iPod is going to be wrecked. It gave out at just about an hour, but I'm pretty sure this was the battery running out and not the thing getting irreversible water damage.

At any rate, the run was tough, I was chopping some steps on hills and was not thrilled to turn around and do the stadium down-and-back when I finished the loop. Pretty sure this is the heat causing this, but that's why it's called training, right? Just getting better, I suppose. But man, had it not been for that rain this run would have reminiscent of the one in the Orlando half.

Swim: long day-mental toughness day!
6 x 500, odds are RPE3, evens RPE 5


2 more Lipodrene

Yeah, that's a lotta ephedra, Bob. But if I'm gonna cut back on drinking and sex, by God I'm making up for it somewhere. I also like how the guy calls this mental toughness day. Sets of 10 laps, even 6 of them, are a lot less mentally tough than, say, one set of 60. I'm just sayin'.

Anyway, I had a full dinner and did some work before heading to the GHFC pool at 10. Night swimming is the best, really. Got my own lane, and again the swim felt great. I did not keep to the RPEs so much, but my stoke felt good as I worked on hand position when entering the water a lot. Felt a lot more glide-y than splashy. I lost count a lot during each set of 10, thinking mostly about the Ironman race itself. Anyway, long fucking day today, but I know in 2 months I'll look back wishing for a day like this. Training is still feeling good and I was even down to a post-dinner 212 pounds today.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

T11 - I Don't Do Sprints - Swim/Bike (Trainer)

Gainesville

Swim: speed day
wu: 300 continuous. concentrate on form weaknesses.
main: 10 x 100 descend 1-5 and 5-10


2 Lipodrene
The guy who designed this program likes to call this "speed day," but unfortunately, speed has never been something I do (aside that one chick in Dana Point who offered it to me right after sex and I was like, sure, why not. But otherwise me and speed, of any type, do not get along). The idea here is to swim 100s at a declining pace, but the sad thing is that by the third turnaround on a 100, going that hard, I'm out of gas. So what it usually turns into is a 50 or a 75 and then 25-50 yards of dogging it. I thought maybe this one would be different, but after the first 100, when I about stopped on the last 25, I decided that 100s are just not my thing.

I did 10 100 yard swims consecutively with 10 second breaks in between. It went pretty well, but I think on my next day of 100s I'll just do Easy, Build, Easy, Hard to get some sort of training value in here. That is if that first hundred feels like this one did. I still think my lung capacity sucks for someone my size, which makes sprinting underwater tough to do. But this swim was essentially just keeping the muscles loose and burning some calories. And what's the value in that?

Bike: 55 minutes, on the trainer if possible:
wu: 10:00 at RPE 2-3
main: 4 x ( 8:00 at RPE 4-5 fast spinning,
2:00 at RPE 2)


Had a cliff bar, and another Lipodrene before setting up the trainer. I also got my new headphones in the mail this afternoon, so I was pumped to use them out on the trainer. What I failed to remember is that A) Doing a long trainer session the day after a long bike ride is hard and B) I don't do sprints. Seriously.

The little warm up thing felt fine, went about 17 mph (which is a little slow for the trainer, but it was a warm up, so whatever. I did the warm-up in the second easiest gear in the large ring, then shifted down 2 gears for the first 8-minute hard stretch. It went ok, averaging about 18, but the next one I averaged about 17, then 16, then on the 4th 8 minutes I just went down one gear as I was feeling about dead. Seriously, this is slow for the trainer, and while I certainly didn't feel like I was slacking on it, I didn't feel like I crushed it either.

Perhaps it was because it was so fucking hot out and I was sweating like a pig, or maybe my legs weren't fully recovered from the long ride the day before, but this trainer session was definitely sub-par. These quick-sprint things are not my style. I'll keep trying to do them here, but I like the prolonged efforts a little better.

Trevor also gave me some tips for keeping my back from getting sore. Leaning back at the desk is one, and I took this idea with me to a bar last night, where I sat back in my bar stool instead of hunching over the bar. Also, I may try stretching before my next ride. Something new, I know. We'll see how it goes.

Friday, June 12, 2009

T10 - Nonsex not nearly draining as sex-sex - Bike

Gainesville

I'm gonna channel White Dade here for a minute.....there's a reason I don't mess with Latin girls. Seriosuly. I'm up around 1:15 Wednesday night/Thursday morning and I get a text from that girl who'd stayed over a couple weeks ago, asking if she could come over. I figure, shit, it's 1:15, she's obviously been out all night, and she's asking me to come over. This can only mean one thing. But, you know, I'm trying to consider training here, so before responding I had to think how this would work.

She'll get here around 1:45. Figure 15 minutes of small talk and maybe a drink, then we'll start hooking up by 2. Fucking by 2:30. Asleep by 3. That leaves a solid 8 hours of sleep before I had to get up to interview this guy for my final project. No problem. So I tell her to come on over.

Well, the girl gets here and in the course of the 15 minutes of conversation, it comes out that she's Cuban. Ok, I figure, she's fairly Americanized so I can tolerate it. Although this time I did notice her noticeably-Cuban ass and stomach. But whatever, she was cute and nice enough. So we get to hooking up and this girl doesn't even want to take her top off. Apparently she takes sex a little more seriously than I do, and for the second time wouldn't go much past second base. And spent the night. Well, not having gotten off, and having gotten my adrenaline going during the middle-school makeout session, I didn't fall asleep until about 4:30. The whole time I was thinking "I could be getting valuable rest right now. thank you for wasting my time."

I woke up again at 8. She left at 9, once again making out, and once again stopping before pants came off. Seriously, I don't think ANYONE has ever stayed over twice without fucking. Not even my last girlfriend, where I can only remember one time that happened. And few with any girlfriends before that. This is what I get for messing with a Latin chick. Catholic guilt and overprotective fathers and whatnot. No more, I knew my "Whites Only" policy was there for a reason. And I doubt I'll be hearing from her again.

The good news, though, is that I learned nonsex, despite the lost sleep, is not nearly as bad for your workouts as regular sex.

Bike - 2 hours
2 Lipodrene

This was definitely the best bike I've had so far this training cycle. Hit 20 on most of the straightaways, stayed in aero as much as I could, and ended up averaging 17.9. Which, while not blazing or even up to my standards of past cycles, is the best I've had in a while on a solo training ride. Especially with the hills and streets and whatnot involved in the Hawthorne ride. So I guess losing some sleep isn't so bad, and nonsex is not so exerting. The girl still wasted my time, but at least she did me the favor of letting me conserve energy.

My low back still was ready to stop at the 1 hour mark, which is not good. I stopped at the halfway point for about 30 seconds to turn around, have a gel, and refill water (went a little longer than 2 hours to get to the end of Hawthorne where there's water fountains), but had to take a break again at about 1:23. Felt good after that, and was mulling another stop at Waldo when I got a flat at about 1:52. And despite my almost being out of water, and it being uncomfortably humid while I changed the tire, I felt a lot better after that 10 minute break and went hard the whole way home. The Cliff bar I had while changing the tire didn't hurt either.

All in all, the main issue with the bike is getting my low back to a point where I can bike for more than an hour without wanting to stop. I can maintain a fairly good speed, but pedaling hard drains my back, and I'm not sure how to condiiton it better. Improved posture is not an option.

Also, my knee continues to be extremely sore all the time, and even felt tight on the ride. Like it was swollen or something. Training is definitely going a lot better this time around, but I need to get this knee healed up or this Ironman is not going to go well.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

T9 - Swim - They All Need to Be Like This

Gainesville


Swim:
wu: 4 x 50 continuous, odds are breathe every side, evens bilateral.
main: 2 x 1000, 1 is RPE4, 2 is RPE 6


2 Lipodrene

This warm up is a great idea too, forcing me to breathe every other stroke for 2 of the laps. Considerable harder than the every stroke breathing I usually do. Really made me work on lung capacity, something I severely lack.

Aside from that, I swam at GHFC from about 9-10. Night swimming, I enjoy so much better. The major downside is having that workout hanging over your head all day, but otherwise, it's much more beneficial for me. I did both sets with solid intensity, feeling like i was gliding and pulling the whole way. Really felt great, expet my kneww kept bothering me every time I pushed off the wall.

So I talked to Trevor and assuming the knee does not feel 100% by Sunday, I'm going to lay off the runs until it does. I think missing some runs during weeks 19 and 18 in order to heal this up in the long run is going to make sense. So, no more running for a little while. Going to replace it with longer bikes I think.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

T8 - Ya Gotta Eat - Bike/Run Brick

Gainesville

Bike : 60 minutes road or trainer, like last week this is all small chainring
work, low effort.

2 Lipodrene

I decided to try and brick my bike and run today since I wanted to start getting used to that. I had some cereal and coffee and headed out about 1. The bike felt great, pushed it in spots where I didn't necessarily want to, and made it through 18 miles in about an hour and 5. Not blazing by any stretch, but a marked improvement. This is what all the rides need to be like. I feel like living clean is improving the workouts.

Run: 45 minutes easy pace, RPE 3
Got back, had a gel, and was on the road within 10 minutes (pretty good for an apartment transition here). I still had to wear my old running shoes, but the run started out feeling good. I got to the halfway point and started feeling tired, and by the 3-mile mark I wanted to stop.

Fortunately I didn't, but I realized I need more nutrition than a bowl or Crispix for an hour bike ride and a 4.5-mile run. Maybe a cliff bar or something in addition to whatever I have for breakfast. Or maybe have the bar on the bike. I don't know, but I spent the rest of the day with a headache and feeling hungry, no matter how much I ate. All in all a good workout today, but I think I learned I need to think about energy consumption if I"m doing bricks like this.

Also, my knee didn't feel too bad on the run, but has been sore all day. I am going to move the long run to Sunday again, but if it is still hurting like this after that run, I'm going to lay off it for another week (until the next long run). I need this to heal, and missing some shorter workouts now is better, I think, than having to lay off it during longer, more important base workouts later on.

T7 - Fire Alarm - Run/Swim

Gainesville

Run: 45 minutes.
2 Lipodrene
Well, aside from having to use an old pair of shoes because the cheap insole the dipshit at Lloyd Clarke sold me was complete garbage, not much notable on the run today. I thought my knee was going to be killing me, but it felt good after about 3 blocks. Still not sure what to do about it, though. I want it to heal, but I'm not sure how to balance appropriate training and getting it back to 100%



Swim: long day
wu: 6 x 100, concentrating on different part of stroke each 100
main: 4 x 500, keeping each 500 even pace


1 Lipodrne
GHFC pool was more or less empty at 9 PM. This is why I prefer night swimming. I started out with my own lane but was quickly joined by a black guy. Which, you know, you don't see much at swimming pools but he was super cool despite swimming laps in board shorts.

This warm up is a great idea, although I found it hard to think about 6 different parts of the stroke. Shows how much I know. I started with follow-through, then reaching, hand position upon entry, in-water stroke and kick, then put it all together for the last 100. Really had me stroking well when I started the first set of 500.

Which was interrupted at lap 2 by the GHFC fire alarm going off. The black guy asked me if we should get out of the pool to which I said "Nah, probably just a false alarm. Keep goin!" Which I did, the sirens vaguely reminding me of some combat swim training I did in the Marines. I made it all of half a length when a staff member told me I needed to evacuate. And let me tell you, there are few things in the world more fun than standing out in front of your gym at 10 at night in a jammer and nothing else while the entire population of said gym is out there, waiting for the fire department. I kept to myself and sent some text messages, and thank God it was like 78 outside or I'd have froze my ass.

After about 20 minutes the fire department cleared the gym and I went back and finished my 4 sets of 500. Felt great on all of them, like my stroke was going really well and I got through the whole workout no problem. I just lost count of laps a few times as my mind was really wandering. But other than that, an all-around good workout today.

I ate a good pasta meal a few hours before the swim, which caused a brief sideache which may have been helped by the fire alarm delay. Also had some muscle milk afterwards.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

T6 - The Party Must Go on Hold - Run (sort of)

Miami

Run - 90 Minutes


So I spent the weekend in Miami, drinking until 5 AM Friday night, waking up at 11, then drinking again Saturday night only to wake up at 9 for this run. And I had partied pretty steadily through the last 2 training cycles, so I figured no problem, right?

Yeah, notsomuch. The combined 16 hours of sleep over the previous 3 nights plus massive amounts of alcohol and some pre-run sex thrown in didn't exactly make for a stellar workout. I'm not sure which was the biggest contributor, but this was both the first time I'd drank and had sex since this training cycle started. The drinking will definitely be the easier one to cut out.

At any rate, I knew it was going to be a bad run when I got up and found my shoelaces had been eaten by my friend Jimmy's dogs two nights earlier when I left my gym bad unzipped when I was staying at his house. It got even better when I found my awesome new $40 headphones had also been breakfast for his cocker spaniels, forcing me to buy a set of cheap Memorex ones at a Walgreen's in South Beach, which had sound quality on par with a 30-year old AM radio. My new host was nice enough to lend me some shoelaces, but the support pad in the right shoe had also been dogfood, so needless to say the run was off to a bad start.

I parked on 1st and Collins and started out, planning to go up to 25th street and back on the hard pack sand along South Beach. My knee was still bothering me, so I figured this would be a good way to do the long run for this week. While I was not hungover, I was definitely tired and lackadaisical after about the first mile. The Lipodrene was not kicking in and actually making me rather ill, since I had opted to do Lipodrene for breakfast again. I made it up to 25, turned around, and half-ass shuffled it all the way back. Sad ass run, if you wanna call it that.


SO THE PARTY MUST GO ON HOLD....
No motivation, no fire, no nothing. You know why? Because drinking and fucking and Ironman training do not mix. I realized today that doing an Ironman is not simply saying "Hey, I'm gonna do longer workouts now. No biggie." It's not Matt the 21-year-old frat boy going to the gym and sweating off his Vodka Red Bulls and ecstasy from the night before. It's fucking serious shit, and a full life commitment.

I'm not saying I'm going to quit drinking until November 7. That would be near impossible. I'm also not saying I'm going to celibate for the next 5 months. That would just be stupid. But the partying needs to be cut back, and perhaps saved for special occasions.

What I realized is that in every decision I make between now and Panama City, my first consideration needs to be "How is this going to affect training?" Like most guys, my first consideration in every decision up to this point had been "Is this going to get me laid?" But as of now, that needs to change. As of now, before I decide to go out drinking, or go home with someone, or invite someone over, I need to consider whether or not it will adversely affect my commitment to the Ironaman. It may well succeed where so many girlfriends have failed.

I also need to prioritize sleep and eat good meals at night. The burger and fries I had at the Midtown Sports Bar last night does not qualify as a good meal. Again, I'm not turning into a salad eater. That's just not me. But I will make sure dinners and whatnot are substantial if I have a long workout the next day. I'll also be ordering some vitamins this week.

Today, I learned that the Ironman is no fucking joke. It's a life commitment, not just a time commitment. I'm glad I learned this on a relatively-short run in week 20, because now I know that this has to take top priority for the next 5 months. I've partied enough, or at least enough for a while. It's time to do something different. Then, once it's over, if I still want to, the party will rage again.

Friday, June 5, 2009

T5 - All Lit Up Again - Swim/Bike (trainer)

Gainesville

Today, I attempted my first early morning workout since what was, quite possibly, the worst workout I've ever had. That workout was pretty emblematic of the entrie last training cycle actually, and it was essentially the same workout as today. So the comparison was interesting. Last time, I went early because, well, I wasn't sleeping. My girlfriend at the time was on a roadtrip with her ex-boyfriend ("he's really skinny and almost completely bald. Really you have nothing to worry about."), and despite the fact that I couldn't do anything about it, it didn't help me sleep at night. And it didn't help my workout either. Not only did I have a very mediocre swim, but when I tried to go out on the bike I was so distracted practicing the arguments I was going to have with her, I swore I had a flat tire I was going so slow. Of course, I did not have a flat. I was just biking like shit, and the cold wind didn't help either.

Moral of the story: If you are the kind of person like me, who gets stressed out about women, do not attempt a feat like an Ironman unless you are A) In a rock-solid relationship (married, engaged, long-term girlfriend, etc.) or B) blissfully single. I am opting for the latter this time around. Seriously, sex is fine, but nothing past that until I cross the finish line in Panama City.

That being said, today's workout was the polar opposite of that one. Really, the best one I've had in a long time. The warmer weather didn't hurt, nor did the ephedra for breakfast. Honestly, though, I don't know how some triathletes do this every day, getting up at 6 AM to workout. Like it was cool as a sort of novelty today, but for chrissakes, my body just doesn't react as well if I'm sweating before noon. Or does it?

Swim:
wu: 400 continuous.
main: 8 x 100 EBEH (each 100 = 25Easy, 25Build, 25Easy, 25 Hard)


2 Lipodrene on empty stomach, then a gel before start

Well, not being one who ever gets up before 11, I forgot that, much like traffic, the gym has a morning rush hour. At GHFC, this is apparently between 6:30 and 8:00 AM. I got there and all 6 lanes had two swimmers. Given my abhorring of circle swimming, I opted to wait until half a lane opened up. 10 mintues, nothing is open, and finally this Patricia-Heaton-at-60-look-alike asks me if I'd like to jump in and Circle swim. Well, I had to be in Miami by 3 and still had a whole workout to go, so, for the second day in a row, I circle swam.

I will say, the circle swimming gets me swimming a lot faster, only because I want to get the fuck out as soon as possible. So maybe this is a good idea, who knows? At any rate, I did the 400 meter warmup faster than I usually do a regular workout, and did the 8 EBEH with little problems. Didn't hurt I had my own lane by the third set either. I love EBEH, because you never swim more than 100 yards at once, and you never have to do more than 25 of them fast. I like swimming, but I don't do sprints.

Bike: 45 minutes on trainer


1 additional Lipodrene, Cliff Bar to settle stomach

The workout today called for 45 minutes of continuous spinning, so I thought what better time to break out the trainer for the first time this cycle than now? Last cycle, I did the trainer a little more than I should have, mostly because it was cold last cycle and I"m not a fan of biking when it's below 75 degrees. The trainer, though, is like a fucking sweatbox on a morning like this when you can feel the air beating you down. It's all the exertion of a bike ride without the cooling breeze. I was Meltzering everywhere within 10 minutes.

I also allowed myself to use the iPod for the first time this cycle. 45 minutes on the trainer with no music is actually a technique they occasionally use at Guantanamo Bay to get information, so I figured this was an acceptable music use. The new headphones are hands down the best speakers I've ever owned (sad, I know) and the music deifinitely helped. I do love my Paramore, and any time I hear "Lit Up" I work about twice as hard.

After the 15 minute warmup in the small ring, I switched over to the big ring and slowed for a minute. Then I said to myself, "You know what? They don't call it the trainer so you can fucking dog it for half an hour. Fucking push it!" And so I did, putting it in the next-to-highest gear for the duration of the workout. And I felt great. Yeah, the 75 mg of ephedra probably didn't hurt, but it was good to feel like I crushed a workout for the first time in a long time.

Maybe it's the drugs, maybe it's the music, or maybe it's not having any girls to worry about, but if I can keep going with workouts like the one I had today, I guarantee a much better result than what happened in Orlando.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

T4 - Gettin Better - Bike

Gainesville

Bike: 90 Minutes

2 Lipodrene
Well, I'm never circle swimming for anyone ever again. That's all I'm gonna say.

At any rate, I made good on my plan to ride first thing on bike days, so after breakfast and a little "Will and Grace" I got the bike ready to go. I got my computer fixed so I could actually monitor my speed, time, distance and whatnot. But my rear wheel kept catching for some reason, and I had to fuck around with the brakes for like 10 minutes to get them to line up properly. This happens every time I put my bike in the car (Saturns, not really made for bike transport) and is another reason why I'm glad I'm not taking the bike to Miami.

It had rained all night, but stopped by this morning, so the water was coming up like steam the whole ride. I mean it was like biking in a steam bath. No problems, though, as I kept a pretty steady pace the first half down Hawthorne trail. Got going 20 or higher through most of the straightaways and pedaled hard through the hills. Spent probably 60% of my time in Aero, which is good for this early on I think.

Then I hit the way back. At about the 1:06 mark, my low back started hurting. My low back is really my main problem on the bike, as my legs are not usually tired but my back wants to die. It got so bad I was going a steady 13 in spots where I'd been going 19-21 on the way down, and the wind wasn't even a factor. So I did something I rarely do and just flat out took a break at 1:14. The mosquitoes noticed this and pounced immediately, so it was a short break. I came out and was doing a steady 19 for 12 minutes until my back was killing me again. So I stopped AGAIN at the first street crossing for Hawthorne, and did a steady 19 on the ride home. Ended up doing 26 miles in 1:33. Not stellar by any stretch, but I've done worse.

All in all, I was pleased with my first half, but concerned that my back went out so fast. It did the same in the Orlando race, and I think that's a big part of why my bike split was so bad there. Not sure what to do here except keep cycling and hope it gets conditioned by November. I still need to find better bike motivation too, as after the one hour mark it was seriously just "Are we fucking there yet?!" Up early and off to Miami tomorrow.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

T3 - Swim - I CIRCLE SWAM For You!

Gainesville

Swim: 3 x 400, 1 is RPE 3, 2 is RPE4, 3 is RPE 5

2 Lipodrene
I made the mistake of waiting until 4 to leave for the pool at GHFC. I knew the pool might be a little crowded, like I might not get my own lane, or even have to wait a bit to share one. But what I didn't realize is they were doing some sort of Speed Clinic from 4:30-6:30, and I'd have to share whatever lane they didn't decide to use with everyone else not doing the clinic.

I mulled going home and coming back in the evening, but realized I had plans with this girl that stayed over Saturday, so I needed to get my workout in early. And I did.

First set of 400 was fine, only had to share a lane with this one guy who was either deaf or retarded, I'm not sure. At the end of lap 8, the Speed Clinic Instructor taps me and informs me I need to move to another lane, which is populated by an old guy and some chick. Oh great. Circle Swimming.

I fucking hate circle swimming. I hate it because you have to constantly swim around people, or have people swimming around you. Plus you can't just touch and go at the wall, you have to swim to the other side of the lane so you are going the right direction. Fucking hate it. That's why I shell out $54 a month for GHFC, so I don't have to fucking circle swim.

The second two 400s weren't that bad, save for the old man who was doing backstroke the whole time. The crowded lane, though, had me swimming at a sold RPE 6 to get out of there as fast as I could, which was probably good. Still, having to swim around this guy the whole time was not fun. I will be avoiding GHFC between 4-7 from now on.

And if this girl flakes on me tonight, I'm gonna be like "Oh HELL no. I fucking circle swam today so we could go out. Don't EVER call me again." Of course, I'm sure her response will be "So this guy flipped out and told me he 'circle swam?' What the fuck is THAT?"

Had some Muscle Milk after.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

T2 - Run and Bike -Racing the Rain

Gainesville

Trevor says I can't keep this up past ten days. We shall see, Trevor, we shall see. Started the day with a bagel, then hit up Subway for a footlong "chicken" Teriyaki and a bag of Doritos. I don't know why, but for some reason the chicken at Subway has gone significantly downhill in the past few years. It now tastes like chicken fat and rubber with some Teriyaki sauce on it. But the lunch worked well for training purposes. Hit the road about 4:40 PM.


Run: 45 minutes at easy pace, RPE 2-3

2 Lipodrene.
I started the run and immediately my left knee was hurting. I obviously need to give it a little more time to heal than I have, as it seems the meniscus is still torn, despite not feeling like it. 2 years, the shit still acts up. Anyway, maybe 3/4 of a mile in it stopped hurting and just felt tight. Though it was still hot out, I made it through the run ok.

I realized my stride, especially when my knee is hurting, is REALLY lumbering. Not that I'm poetry in fucking motion when I run anyway, but I seriously plod a little more than is healthy. And over 26 miles, that's gonna kill me. Losing weight should help, but I want to work on my stride during training as well as increasing distance. Nonetheless, I have opted to switch the training days around this week so I don't have to run again until Sunday. It also allows me to not bring my bike to Miami, which is typically a considerable pain in the ass given your average Miamian's propensity to steal anything out of your car, even if they have no use for it.

As I was running, I noticed some black clouds in the distance and thought "Ya know, maybe I should start out earlier on days like this so I don't get caught on the bike in a thunderstorm. I better make my transition short so I don't end up in that rain."


Bike: 60 minutes
Somehow, I failed to listen to myself. I got back in the apartment about 5:40, and didn't get out on the bike until 6. This wasn't a brick workout, so I wasn't overly upset. Plus, I have realized that I need serious motivation to get on the bike every day. I just do not enjoy it for whatever reason, and today was trying to rationalize skipping it. But I didn't. That's the difference between this training cycle and the last. At any rate, had a gel and hit the road.

I got out on Hawthorne trail and was just straight doggin it. Like I did not want to be there, and was just coasting my way through it. Maybe it's because my spedometer is still broken, or maybe it's because I'm just that fucking sick of Hawthorne, but I didn't even make it to Nigbridge in half an hour. Usually I make it there in 25 minutes or less.

As I was "biking" out there, I noticed serious black clouds approaching, and started praying they would hold off another 36 minutes. This motivation to beat the rain allowed me to bike back a full 3 minutes faster than I biked out, which is rare on Hawthorne since it's uphill on the return. Nonetheless, I ended up on the road for 57 minutes, as I had to go by the clock on my bike computer. That's the only part that's still working. I was pretty disappointed in the first half of my ride, but the second half felt strong. This is not atypical on 1-hour, post-workout rides. There's just not much motivation.

So I have decided that on days with two separate workouts (not bricked), if one is biking I will do it first thing that day. This way I have that fresh motivation to keep going. Swimming and running for some reason I can do with less enthusiasm. The bike requires me to be excited.

Monday, June 1, 2009

T1 - The Road Begins - Run/Swim Brick

Well, not really begins, since I've been training for over a year now, but this is Training Day 1 of the actual Ironmman Training Program which, I'm guessing, may be a little tougher than what I've done previously. Of course, that's why they call it an Ironman, right? Anyway, this is going to be more of a training log for myself. Short posts, talking about what I did and how i felt about it, what nutrition I used and other such exciting things as that. I may also occasionally use this for training-related musings, or musings stemming from what I might have thought about during 6 hours on a bike. We shall see.

I'm using the program from beginnertriathlete.com, which can be found at http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=441.

We shall see how effective it is. At any rate, here is what happened Day 1

T1 - Gainesville


Run : 45minutes very easy run, RPE 3.

Took 2 Lipodrene and drove down to Gainesville Health and Fitness, ran from there up NW 8th Ave. about 2.4 miles, to the top of the hill that turns around at NW 22nd St. That hill is a serious bitch, so much so that I stopped at the top until the light turned green. Maybe a solid minute or so. The first half felt good, and my knee, which went out again when I was trying to play basketball on Thursday, only bothered me at the beginning. Not sure how much of that was it healing and how much was the left over Percocet from last summer.

Let me tell you that straightaway by the planet walk thing has no shade and was hot as fuck. But I feel like training in hot as fuck weather is probably a good idea, since Panama City will likely not be 87 degrees on race day. Anyway, this 45 minute run probably took me closer to 50-55 minutes, but I didn't note my start time and had no watch on, since speed is not my main concern here. Downed a water bottle and a half afterward before getting in the pool. No ipod was used today. I'm trying to minimize that even though I did go out and blow like $35 on headphones today.

S: long day
wu: 200swim, 200kick, 200pull, 200swim
main: 1 x 1500, RPE 4


Did the swim right after the run, maybe 10 minutes in between (transitions at the gym, not so efficient). The beginning felt real sore, since my upper body muscles weren't fully recovered from lifting this week. Not sure why I thought that would be a good idea, although probably not as dumb as playing basketball. The warm up went very very slowly, even though the swim was the one event I felt like I did ok in Orlando. By about lap 20 today, I started feeling like I was in my groove, although I lost count of laps a few times. Did 1500m in about 35 minutes, which is right on my average. I think the swim is going to be the least miserable of all the events, but again, we shall see.

Overall today felt really good, just to get back at it. Had a Cliff bar after the workout and bought some Muscle Milk for post-workout. This is to help me avoid post workout meals such as the ever-nutritious Whattaburger of the highly-satisfying Orville Reddenbachers Fat Free Microwave Popcorn. Today was easy since I didn't have much else to do and no real travel was involved.