Gainesville
This is becoming a disturbing trend. IDGAF, for the unaware, stand for "I Don't Give a Fuck," which was completely my attitude today. Again, this felt like one of those workouts I was squeezing in, even though I had all of Sunday free to do it. I just didn't much feel like getting off the couch.
Bike - 60 minutes
2 Lipodrene
I took my bike into the shop Sunday morning at the crack of 2 p.m. and had it back in an hour, realigned and retaped and ready to roll. So when I got home I was actually pretty motivated for the workout. So much so that I decided half an hour down Waldo-Williston would be a good trip. It's a little more hilly than Hawthorne, but not too bad. It was also the site of my worst ride ever last cycle, the one where I couldn't sleep so I decided to ride early, found it freezing cold, and ended up averaging about 15. But that was in February. It was cold. I was perpetually stressing out about my girlfriend leaving. And I wasn't sleeping. And oh yeah, I'm a little better of a cyclist now. So I figured no big deal.
One again, I figured wrong. I knew something was wrong when I was going 24-26 the whole way down Waldo. As I said before, you really don't notice when you have the wind at your back, and I looked for flags or trees or something and everything looked still. But whatever, I just figured this showed how much I'd improved. Notsomuch. I turned around and for some reason just lost all motivation. The trip back is all uphill, into the wind. Not something I'm a fan of. It didn't help that I couldn't drop down into Aero because of the massive wound on my right forarm, and my shoulders were jamming up, still residual from the accident.
Basically, I was pissed, felt like shit, and didn't want to be there. So even though I averaged about 20 on the way down, I was going a steady 13 a lot of the trip back and ended up averaging 17 for the ride. That's 1 mph slower than I did on my 5 hour ride, which included the crash. Not only that, I turned around at 28 minutes, and made it back in 1:05. Meaning the return trip, of about 9 miles, took 7 minutes longer than the trip down. So maybe that road really is that bad, and it wasn't just my poorer conditioning and stress that led to that awful, awful ride back in February. But who knows. Maybe the run would go better.
Run - 30 minutes
Alright, so get off the bike, have another spoiled yogurt PowerGel and do a nice run to the stadium and back. Can't fuck that up, right? Well, again, I started out strong, but by the time I got to the stadium I was fucking starving and didn't really want to run back. Again, just started chopping my steps, and by the time I got to about 11th St., I decided to say fuck it and walk the rest. Just didn't want to finish. I really don't know why. I'm not sure if the accident took a lot out of me, or I just had a shitty attitude today, but workouts like this need to be few and far between
Swim - 12x100. Practice bi-lateral breathing every other set. Do much later or earlier, but not within a few hours of the brick session
1 Lipodrene
I got back around 5 from the wasted Bike/Run and followed the advice on the card. Headed over to the pool about 9 p.m., which was nice because nobody was there. I was supposed to practice breathing every other set of strokes, but after about one lap (50 meters) of doing this, I said "Fuck this." Lung capacity is one thing I really haven't worked on, and since I was in a shitty training mood I wasn't about to push it. No excuse, I just didn't give a fuck. So I went back to normal breathing as I went through the motions to get this done. I didn't even time myself. I didn't care.
I think around set 8 I actually started pushing it, either because I was warmed up, or the Lipodrene kicked in, or because I saw a light at the end of the tunnel, but the last four sets actually felt really good. So at least I ended a shitty day on a high note.
But I can't afford many more bad workouts during training weeks. I got a month of balls-out training to go before I taper, and I need to make the most of it. Sometimes a couple of bad workouts in a row motivates you to crush the next one, and I hope that's the case here. This trend cannot continue.
Showing posts with label bad run. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bad run. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
T73 - Conflicting Confidences - Bike/Run Brick
Gainesville
Again, my decision making process perhaps not the best. I opted to do a Power Hour Wednesday night, which led to another power 35 minutes after a quick beer run, leading to me waking up at 8 a.m with some extremely sore legs (potassium shortage) and massive dehydration. But after taking and extra rest day Wednesday (due mostly to the rain and my not wanting to ride in it) there was no way I could puss out on this workout. So, despite gray skies and impending precipitation, I got on the bike and convinced myself I had to go hard.
Bike - 2 Hours
2 Lipodrene
I like that my bike rides now are becoming consistently higher-speed. Like today's ride was a solid pace, making it to nigbridge in 25 and 50 and hitting the end of Hawthorne at 57:50. And it didn't even feel like extra effort. As a matter of fact, on the way back I realized I must have had a slight headwind on the way down as I was tearing up the trail at about 25.5 for the first 10-15 minutes. This ride felt good, but not like I was pushing it al that much, and I still averaged 19, which is a record for a full-trail ride. Made it back in under 2 hours, but the way I see it if I can make it back faster, good for me.
That's under 2 hours of riding time. For some reason at about the 1:30 mark I all of a sudden got really worn out and demotivated and found myself going about 13 up a small incline. So I just stopped, had a gel, and hung out for a minute beofe continuing on. I then proceeded to tear up the rest of the train, going 20 up the final incline. Which is usually a major bitch.
On the bike, I have a definite confidence that on flat ground I can just destroy the course if I want to. I lost it for a minute during this workout. But the race last weekend and my subsequent rides have given me a definite feeling of superiority on the bike, like I can hang with anyone who isn't an elite cyclist (amateur elite, but you know what I mean). But for some reason, this does not hold true on the run.
Run - 1 Hour
I had a Cliff bar when I got back to the apartment because I was just starving, and the 2 gels I had on the bike just weren't cutting it. I had planned to run from Jefferson down to 34th and back, a run I had done with Justin in about 55 minutes a couple months ago. I strided out to just before the stadium before I just started getting slow. I mean, I just started telingmyself "You do not run well, and this run is goingto be a bitch." And a I strided downhill past the Gator Football practice (on a good day I woulda been tempted to yell "Tebow, You're a FRAUD!" I just didn't want to run anymore. I made it to about 20 yards before my 45 minute turnaround and just started walking.
Though I was determined not to abort the run here, I sat for a while at the stop light and stretched out. I walked the same 20 years back then started running again and made it back to Jefferson in about 55 minutes. A sorry run, but a completed run nonetheless.
I'm not sure if I Nuked My Village on the bike and that's why my run sucked, but I think I need to start training to that because I feel like I'm gonna bike hard on the Ironman. I know that's the only place I'll put up an above-average time, so I plan to make the most of it. But I think training with tired legs is probably good. After my previous trail record on Hawthorne, I stopped halfway through my run, so I guess this is an improvement since I was able to continue. But still shitty nonetheless. I just wish I could take some of that bike confidence and apply it to my run. Because some of these runs are starting to become self-fulfilling prophecies.
One bright spot was me being able to have a great bike ride despite the hangover. Not that I'm planning on drinking that much regularly, but it was good to see that I was able to make my body recover enough to really get in a good workout.
Again, my decision making process perhaps not the best. I opted to do a Power Hour Wednesday night, which led to another power 35 minutes after a quick beer run, leading to me waking up at 8 a.m with some extremely sore legs (potassium shortage) and massive dehydration. But after taking and extra rest day Wednesday (due mostly to the rain and my not wanting to ride in it) there was no way I could puss out on this workout. So, despite gray skies and impending precipitation, I got on the bike and convinced myself I had to go hard.
Bike - 2 Hours
2 Lipodrene
I like that my bike rides now are becoming consistently higher-speed. Like today's ride was a solid pace, making it to nigbridge in 25 and 50 and hitting the end of Hawthorne at 57:50. And it didn't even feel like extra effort. As a matter of fact, on the way back I realized I must have had a slight headwind on the way down as I was tearing up the trail at about 25.5 for the first 10-15 minutes. This ride felt good, but not like I was pushing it al that much, and I still averaged 19, which is a record for a full-trail ride. Made it back in under 2 hours, but the way I see it if I can make it back faster, good for me.
That's under 2 hours of riding time. For some reason at about the 1:30 mark I all of a sudden got really worn out and demotivated and found myself going about 13 up a small incline. So I just stopped, had a gel, and hung out for a minute beofe continuing on. I then proceeded to tear up the rest of the train, going 20 up the final incline. Which is usually a major bitch.
On the bike, I have a definite confidence that on flat ground I can just destroy the course if I want to. I lost it for a minute during this workout. But the race last weekend and my subsequent rides have given me a definite feeling of superiority on the bike, like I can hang with anyone who isn't an elite cyclist (amateur elite, but you know what I mean). But for some reason, this does not hold true on the run.
Run - 1 Hour
I had a Cliff bar when I got back to the apartment because I was just starving, and the 2 gels I had on the bike just weren't cutting it. I had planned to run from Jefferson down to 34th and back, a run I had done with Justin in about 55 minutes a couple months ago. I strided out to just before the stadium before I just started getting slow. I mean, I just started telingmyself "You do not run well, and this run is goingto be a bitch." And a I strided downhill past the Gator Football practice (on a good day I woulda been tempted to yell "Tebow, You're a FRAUD!" I just didn't want to run anymore. I made it to about 20 yards before my 45 minute turnaround and just started walking.
Though I was determined not to abort the run here, I sat for a while at the stop light and stretched out. I walked the same 20 years back then started running again and made it back to Jefferson in about 55 minutes. A sorry run, but a completed run nonetheless.
I'm not sure if I Nuked My Village on the bike and that's why my run sucked, but I think I need to start training to that because I feel like I'm gonna bike hard on the Ironman. I know that's the only place I'll put up an above-average time, so I plan to make the most of it. But I think training with tired legs is probably good. After my previous trail record on Hawthorne, I stopped halfway through my run, so I guess this is an improvement since I was able to continue. But still shitty nonetheless. I just wish I could take some of that bike confidence and apply it to my run. Because some of these runs are starting to become self-fulfilling prophecies.
One bright spot was me being able to have a great bike ride despite the hangover. Not that I'm planning on drinking that much regularly, but it was good to see that I was able to make my body recover enough to really get in a good workout.
Monday, August 31, 2009
T71 - Hammerhead Olympic Triathlon - Swim/Bike/Run
Camp Blanding, Florida
The training card called for a 15K run to finish off recovery week, but since this race was close to home, and, let’s be honest, probably a lot tougher than a 15k, I figured it would be a sufficient substitute. It was my first race since the abysmal Half-Iron in Orlando back in May. Three months without a race is a little long, I think. This was to be my first tuneup race for the Ironman, and I’d hoped to give in a personal best showing. Especially since training has definitely upped my speeds. In the swim and bike at least.
This had all been my intention. But sometimes in life we make some choices that derail us from out goals. After my phenomenal workouts Friday, I decided to celebrate by going to a party over at my friend Kirks. I figured I’d slowly drink some beers, leave by 2, take Saturday off to recover. Well, a few beers turned into large amounts of beer, jungle juice, and then – my personal favorite – straight vodka out of a plastic cup. Long story short, I drank way more than I should, and did some things I probably shouldn’t have. The accompanying hangover and stress allowed me to sleep all of about 3 hours Friday night. Which, for those who are familiar, is the most important night before a Sunday race. I spent the next day stressed out and nursing a hangover, and even though I went to bed at 8:30 for the 4:30 wake up, I only ended up sleeping about another 3.5 hours.
Point is, I didn’t get much sleep. But the 8th season of South Park, pretty good shit. I drove up to Camp Blanding Sunday morning hoping that my improved conditioning could make up for the lack of rest my body had gotten. I took 3 Sudafed on the way, just in case.
Swim - .9 miles – 30:41
2 Lipodrene
I was once again in the last wave, as is customary in the Fat Boy Division (they call it Clydesdale, but we all know). After my encouraging time trial, I decided that I would line up near the front and try to actually compete in this part of the race. The open water swim starts are always a cluster fuck, but since I’d decided I actually wanted to try and get ahead here. I didn’t mind. It was kinda fun pulling and kicking people as I went past them, and pretty soon I found myself with no one I could see in front of me except the green-capped ladies from the wave before. There may have been some other guys way out ahead or off to my side, but otherwise it looked good.
The outdoor goggles helped a lot, and though my sighting still needs improvement, I kept pretty far left so I wasn’t having to swim back to the buoys. At about the end of the backstretch, which is about 500 meters to go, this blue cap (that was the cap assigned to my wave and, consequently, my division)passed me on the inside of the buoy, and inched ahead of me. Usually I would just let this go, but fuck it, no, not this time. The guy was swimming at a pretty solid pace, and I had to really push it to keep up with him. I even got in front of him a few times, and we stayed pretty even all the way to the finish. I was proud of myself for actually pushing the swim and going fast, and learning to breathe enough to have the oxygen to do it. The guy ended up finishing the swim just ahead of me, as this is probably a result of my still not being competitive enough to give it the extra push at the end like he did. But I mean, I think he crossed the swim finish 5 seconds ahead of me, so I’m not too broken up about it.
T1 – 4:42
Bike - 24.9 miles – 1:13:37
1 Lipodrene, 3 Advil, Salt Tablet, gel
Transitions today were slow. I’m going to go ahead and say they were probably the only area that were slowed by my lack of sleep, but my brain was just not all there. Whatever, I got my shit on and hit the bike course determined to continue my solid performance from the swim. And the first mile, it looked as if that may not be the case. I couldn’t get up over 18, and while I wanted to blame a lack of warmup, I also realized this might be where my unrested muscles might not respond how I’d hoped. Now, the bike course at Blanding had a few pretty good sized hills, and by the time I finished climbing the first one (at mile 2, I might add) I was doing about 15. Things were not looking good.
But a funny thing happens when I hit the flats. Trevor told me during our last ride that on the flats I could pretty much keep up with anyone, and I repeated this to myself as I got down in aero and passed bike after bike after bike. I was going a solid 25 through most of the flats, and even ended up muscling up some hills at around 18-19. But not all of them. This course was a lot like Hawthorne in that it had some inclines and inclines that looked like flats, so much so that you’d be going down one on the way to the turnaround going 27, thinking you were the shit, only to be slowed to 16 on the way back. I didn’t feel a headwind, so I’m blaming optical illusions. I took a gel at the 45 minute mark, figuring a Cliff Bar would probably slow me down. I did notice though that I lose time on tight turnarounds like this one where I have to unclip because I feel like I’ll fall over, and when taking a drink or eating. These are things which require coordination, I suppose, and really my bike speed is not due to that at all. Not sure if this is something that will get worked out before the Ironman, but really, I’m not terrible concerned.
At any rate, I was only passed by two people on the bike, both of whom were going well over 25 and had bikes that cost more than a new Saturn. So I didn’t feel too bad. I passed a lot more than 2 people, and was averaging 20 right up until the last 5 miles, where the subtle inclines and wind got to me. And by this I mean I was doing about 17 until I hit the final few straightaways , where I ended up doing about 21-22. I looked at my computer at the end and my average speed was 19.8, which, if you do the math means I would have had to have finished in a lot more time than this. Later I looked, the course was only 24 miles. But whatever. I’ll just call it a confidence booster.
T2 – 3:17
Run -6.4 miles 1:09:02
1 Salt Tab, 1 Gel
Again, transition was slow, as I sat on my ass to put on my shoes and took my time getting on my running shoes and having another gel. I also downed another Vitamin Water and hit the road.
Well, I have come to realize that though I have learned to push it and be competitive when swimming and biking, running I just do not give a fuck. Maybe it’s because I’ve been miserable on so many runs over my life, but I just make no effort to run fast at all. The only people I passed on the run were either walking or puking, and I lost count of how many people passed me. Mostly thin, older women working off their child birth weight, I would guess. And then some older guys I had passed on the bike. Justin once told me watching me on the bike and run was like night and day, and today I fulyl understood it. I held to my 10-minute mile pace, even knowing I only had to run 6. The course had a couple of serious hills, which was not cool, but it was not impossible.
I took a gel at the 4-mile mark, and drank water at every aid station, although I only stopped to allow myself to drink the whole cup without spilling. I never felt tired or overheated or sore at all on the run. Maybe it was the Advil, or the adrenaline from all the supplements, but this was just like a nice late-morning jog. I thought about pushing it like I had on the other 2 events, and just couldn’t do it. I’m not sure why this is, but I think my focus during the last 8 weeks is going to be pushing the run a little. I’m not sure why, though, given that the run on the Ironman is more about survival than speed. But maybe I can make it a goal for my next tuneup race.
Final Time – 3:00:57 – 1st in Division (Clydesdale Under 39)
All in all, I was happy with how this race went. Shit, I mean I won my division, even though it only had five people. My events I felt strongest in, I did strongly, and I totally blew the run. I’m not a good runner. Weighing as much as I do will do that. So I guess today I just focused on doing what I do well really well, and saying fuck it to the rest. My final time was not a great improvement over the Escape t o Miami last fall, but my bike and swim splits were. Aside from someone inadvertently taking my right bike shoe, the event was pretty good. I’ll have to get new shoes and cleats before Tuesday, so we’ll see how that goes. But a satisfying tuneup to be sure. Just kinda scary to think it takes 4 of these to make an Ironman.
The training card called for a 15K run to finish off recovery week, but since this race was close to home, and, let’s be honest, probably a lot tougher than a 15k, I figured it would be a sufficient substitute. It was my first race since the abysmal Half-Iron in Orlando back in May. Three months without a race is a little long, I think. This was to be my first tuneup race for the Ironman, and I’d hoped to give in a personal best showing. Especially since training has definitely upped my speeds. In the swim and bike at least.
This had all been my intention. But sometimes in life we make some choices that derail us from out goals. After my phenomenal workouts Friday, I decided to celebrate by going to a party over at my friend Kirks. I figured I’d slowly drink some beers, leave by 2, take Saturday off to recover. Well, a few beers turned into large amounts of beer, jungle juice, and then – my personal favorite – straight vodka out of a plastic cup. Long story short, I drank way more than I should, and did some things I probably shouldn’t have. The accompanying hangover and stress allowed me to sleep all of about 3 hours Friday night. Which, for those who are familiar, is the most important night before a Sunday race. I spent the next day stressed out and nursing a hangover, and even though I went to bed at 8:30 for the 4:30 wake up, I only ended up sleeping about another 3.5 hours.
Point is, I didn’t get much sleep. But the 8th season of South Park, pretty good shit. I drove up to Camp Blanding Sunday morning hoping that my improved conditioning could make up for the lack of rest my body had gotten. I took 3 Sudafed on the way, just in case.
Swim - .9 miles – 30:41
2 Lipodrene
I was once again in the last wave, as is customary in the Fat Boy Division (they call it Clydesdale, but we all know). After my encouraging time trial, I decided that I would line up near the front and try to actually compete in this part of the race. The open water swim starts are always a cluster fuck, but since I’d decided I actually wanted to try and get ahead here. I didn’t mind. It was kinda fun pulling and kicking people as I went past them, and pretty soon I found myself with no one I could see in front of me except the green-capped ladies from the wave before. There may have been some other guys way out ahead or off to my side, but otherwise it looked good.
The outdoor goggles helped a lot, and though my sighting still needs improvement, I kept pretty far left so I wasn’t having to swim back to the buoys. At about the end of the backstretch, which is about 500 meters to go, this blue cap (that was the cap assigned to my wave and, consequently, my division)passed me on the inside of the buoy, and inched ahead of me. Usually I would just let this go, but fuck it, no, not this time. The guy was swimming at a pretty solid pace, and I had to really push it to keep up with him. I even got in front of him a few times, and we stayed pretty even all the way to the finish. I was proud of myself for actually pushing the swim and going fast, and learning to breathe enough to have the oxygen to do it. The guy ended up finishing the swim just ahead of me, as this is probably a result of my still not being competitive enough to give it the extra push at the end like he did. But I mean, I think he crossed the swim finish 5 seconds ahead of me, so I’m not too broken up about it.
T1 – 4:42
Bike - 24.9 miles – 1:13:37
1 Lipodrene, 3 Advil, Salt Tablet, gel
Transitions today were slow. I’m going to go ahead and say they were probably the only area that were slowed by my lack of sleep, but my brain was just not all there. Whatever, I got my shit on and hit the bike course determined to continue my solid performance from the swim. And the first mile, it looked as if that may not be the case. I couldn’t get up over 18, and while I wanted to blame a lack of warmup, I also realized this might be where my unrested muscles might not respond how I’d hoped. Now, the bike course at Blanding had a few pretty good sized hills, and by the time I finished climbing the first one (at mile 2, I might add) I was doing about 15. Things were not looking good.
But a funny thing happens when I hit the flats. Trevor told me during our last ride that on the flats I could pretty much keep up with anyone, and I repeated this to myself as I got down in aero and passed bike after bike after bike. I was going a solid 25 through most of the flats, and even ended up muscling up some hills at around 18-19. But not all of them. This course was a lot like Hawthorne in that it had some inclines and inclines that looked like flats, so much so that you’d be going down one on the way to the turnaround going 27, thinking you were the shit, only to be slowed to 16 on the way back. I didn’t feel a headwind, so I’m blaming optical illusions. I took a gel at the 45 minute mark, figuring a Cliff Bar would probably slow me down. I did notice though that I lose time on tight turnarounds like this one where I have to unclip because I feel like I’ll fall over, and when taking a drink or eating. These are things which require coordination, I suppose, and really my bike speed is not due to that at all. Not sure if this is something that will get worked out before the Ironman, but really, I’m not terrible concerned.
At any rate, I was only passed by two people on the bike, both of whom were going well over 25 and had bikes that cost more than a new Saturn. So I didn’t feel too bad. I passed a lot more than 2 people, and was averaging 20 right up until the last 5 miles, where the subtle inclines and wind got to me. And by this I mean I was doing about 17 until I hit the final few straightaways , where I ended up doing about 21-22. I looked at my computer at the end and my average speed was 19.8, which, if you do the math means I would have had to have finished in a lot more time than this. Later I looked, the course was only 24 miles. But whatever. I’ll just call it a confidence booster.
T2 – 3:17
Run -6.4 miles 1:09:02
1 Salt Tab, 1 Gel
Again, transition was slow, as I sat on my ass to put on my shoes and took my time getting on my running shoes and having another gel. I also downed another Vitamin Water and hit the road.
Well, I have come to realize that though I have learned to push it and be competitive when swimming and biking, running I just do not give a fuck. Maybe it’s because I’ve been miserable on so many runs over my life, but I just make no effort to run fast at all. The only people I passed on the run were either walking or puking, and I lost count of how many people passed me. Mostly thin, older women working off their child birth weight, I would guess. And then some older guys I had passed on the bike. Justin once told me watching me on the bike and run was like night and day, and today I fulyl understood it. I held to my 10-minute mile pace, even knowing I only had to run 6. The course had a couple of serious hills, which was not cool, but it was not impossible.
I took a gel at the 4-mile mark, and drank water at every aid station, although I only stopped to allow myself to drink the whole cup without spilling. I never felt tired or overheated or sore at all on the run. Maybe it was the Advil, or the adrenaline from all the supplements, but this was just like a nice late-morning jog. I thought about pushing it like I had on the other 2 events, and just couldn’t do it. I’m not sure why this is, but I think my focus during the last 8 weeks is going to be pushing the run a little. I’m not sure why, though, given that the run on the Ironman is more about survival than speed. But maybe I can make it a goal for my next tuneup race.
Final Time – 3:00:57 – 1st in Division (Clydesdale Under 39)
All in all, I was happy with how this race went. Shit, I mean I won my division, even though it only had five people. My events I felt strongest in, I did strongly, and I totally blew the run. I’m not a good runner. Weighing as much as I do will do that. So I guess today I just focused on doing what I do well really well, and saying fuck it to the rest. My final time was not a great improvement over the Escape t o Miami last fall, but my bike and swim splits were. Aside from someone inadvertently taking my right bike shoe, the event was pretty good. I’ll have to get new shoes and cleats before Tuesday, so we’ll see how that goes. But a satisfying tuneup to be sure. Just kinda scary to think it takes 4 of these to make an Ironman.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
T42 - Nuking The Village - Bike/Run Brick
Gainesville
This is an expression I learned from the guy who taught me how to blog, a fellow named Matt in New York who wrote a blog called the IJC. I won't talk about him here, but the term refers to a night when you go out drinking, and start doing shots and chugging beers like a moron to the point that you are either incoherent and passed out by midnight, or you power through the entire night being "that guy," who requires extensive babysitting. Either way, you went too hard, too early, and now at the end you're a total fucking mess. I didn't go out drinking, but today's workout, I nuked my village. Think I just got a little too excited and forgot I had a brick.
Bike - 1 Hour
2 Lipodrene (down to my last pill, that refill better fucking get here soon!)
I took yesterday off as my knee seems to have decided it wants to start acting up again (no idea why)and thought it better to switch the rest day that was supposed to be today to Monday, then do last Sunday's workout today and skip the Tuesday workout altogether. You lost yet? Basically I am skipping the first workout of this recovery week and doing the last one from the last week of Base 1 instead, since they are almost identical. ANYWAY.....
I had to wait until 4:15 to start the bike, and as I was getting my water bottles ready, Trevor looked up from his iPhone and asked how long I was going. Having just gotten his Super Cervelo fixed, he wanted to come along. Usually long rides with Trevor consist of me keeping up with him for about 10 minutes, wasting my legs, and dropping back for the other 2 hours and 50 minutes. But today was an hour, so I figured why not push it a little. See how long I could keep up. This is a guy who averaged over 20 for the entire Ironman, so it's a good lead to follow.
He managed to lose me at the first stoplight (I hit the red) but did wait at the trailhead. I kept up with him at a solid 22-24 clip until we got to some hills, where he kept that clip and pulled ahead. Well, lasted about 14 minutes this time, I thought. Still, an improvement. But once the hills flattened out he has slowed down and looked over at me when I caught him and said "I was just seeing if I could drop you. I can't keep that pace, shit. I thought I'd lose you a while ago." With that I shot up the first big hill in the hammock at over 20, maintaining that almost to the top. Trevor pulled back out in front for much of the rest of the ride, but I hung with him at 22-24, taking the lead a few times to give him a break from pulling. Although I made a point to avoid drafting as much as I could since that wouldn't really be keeping his pace as much as using his bike to make me go faster. But at the end of the ride, I'd more or less hung with him the whole time. Took a gel at 45.
When we got back to the light at Main, he was like "You're a real strong rider. The only way I'm dropping you is tactical shit like knowing when to push it going around curves and up hills, and timing light and accelerations. That's advances shit you can work on and get a good 20 seconds on people every time." He also advised me to start practicing using my small ring. Since I don't feel like a pussy now for using it, I feel like this should be to my advantage. But on flat ground, I can keep up with this guy. And that's a major stride from where I'd been previously. So that felt good. I ended up averaging 19.4 for the ride, and when I got back I had some serious adrenaline going. So I took the iPOd, feeling a good run coming on as well.
Run - 60 Minutes. At least, that was the plan.
Soooo, yeah. Learned a few things today. Good as my legs felt on that ride (they never burned for more than a few seconds, even going up hills) at minute 22 of run they went out. Now, granted, I was running up and down the hills on the backside of the campus loop at a much faster pace than usual because I was so pumped from the ride, and I had the iPod on. And though I've decided I was overusing that Silversun Pickups CD on so many levels, I think I can still use it for workouts. And it worked here. But as soon as "Panic Switch" ended, my legs did too. Like the just went "Hey, fuck you pal. These quads have been working harder than ever the past hour and a half, and you can just hold the fuck on while we take a little breather." So I took me second gel a little early and let them relax as I stopped and did some stretching.
Well, all that adrenaline must have made me forget about my knee, because as soon as I started up again, it was like someone had re-ripped my meniscus. Also, probably becasue I was tired I was plodding more than usual and putting more stress on my knees, but after another half mile or so, my knee was done. My legs felt better, but the knee was just not feeling this run. So, for only the second time ever, I adopted my "quitters punishment" policy and forced myself to walk the rest of the course home, even though turning around would have been a lot shorted. You're gonna be miserable either way, I figure, and the only way to be miserable for less time is to start running again. But every time I tried, my knee was once again telling me to go fuck myself. And I wasn't going to push it as I'd rather puss out on a run during a recovery week than do damage that may hinder longer runs down the road.
So a few things. First, on bricks, don't go balls to the wall on the bike. This was not a max effort today, but it was a hard effort, and having a 6.8 mile run after that I probably should have laid back a little. Also, on long runs after long bikes (or at least fast bikes) I'm going to stick to a flat course to preserve my quads. I don't feel bad about this given that the Ironman course is, in fact, completely flat. I may jsut do a series of stadium-and-backs so that if my knee gives out, I don't have to walk 4.5 miles home. On a bad knee.
I'm not sure why my fucking knee has decided to be a bitch again, but whatever. Short of surgery I can't really control that. But this is my last run of recovery week (in keeping with the recovering theme) unless I feel 100% on Sunday, which is a scheduled 90-minute run. The week after that is swim-intensive, so this should be just the break it needs before getting a real test in 2 weeks.
This is an expression I learned from the guy who taught me how to blog, a fellow named Matt in New York who wrote a blog called the IJC. I won't talk about him here, but the term refers to a night when you go out drinking, and start doing shots and chugging beers like a moron to the point that you are either incoherent and passed out by midnight, or you power through the entire night being "that guy," who requires extensive babysitting. Either way, you went too hard, too early, and now at the end you're a total fucking mess. I didn't go out drinking, but today's workout, I nuked my village. Think I just got a little too excited and forgot I had a brick.
Bike - 1 Hour
2 Lipodrene (down to my last pill, that refill better fucking get here soon!)
I took yesterday off as my knee seems to have decided it wants to start acting up again (no idea why)and thought it better to switch the rest day that was supposed to be today to Monday, then do last Sunday's workout today and skip the Tuesday workout altogether. You lost yet? Basically I am skipping the first workout of this recovery week and doing the last one from the last week of Base 1 instead, since they are almost identical. ANYWAY.....
I had to wait until 4:15 to start the bike, and as I was getting my water bottles ready, Trevor looked up from his iPhone and asked how long I was going. Having just gotten his Super Cervelo fixed, he wanted to come along. Usually long rides with Trevor consist of me keeping up with him for about 10 minutes, wasting my legs, and dropping back for the other 2 hours and 50 minutes. But today was an hour, so I figured why not push it a little. See how long I could keep up. This is a guy who averaged over 20 for the entire Ironman, so it's a good lead to follow.
He managed to lose me at the first stoplight (I hit the red) but did wait at the trailhead. I kept up with him at a solid 22-24 clip until we got to some hills, where he kept that clip and pulled ahead. Well, lasted about 14 minutes this time, I thought. Still, an improvement. But once the hills flattened out he has slowed down and looked over at me when I caught him and said "I was just seeing if I could drop you. I can't keep that pace, shit. I thought I'd lose you a while ago." With that I shot up the first big hill in the hammock at over 20, maintaining that almost to the top. Trevor pulled back out in front for much of the rest of the ride, but I hung with him at 22-24, taking the lead a few times to give him a break from pulling. Although I made a point to avoid drafting as much as I could since that wouldn't really be keeping his pace as much as using his bike to make me go faster. But at the end of the ride, I'd more or less hung with him the whole time. Took a gel at 45.
When we got back to the light at Main, he was like "You're a real strong rider. The only way I'm dropping you is tactical shit like knowing when to push it going around curves and up hills, and timing light and accelerations. That's advances shit you can work on and get a good 20 seconds on people every time." He also advised me to start practicing using my small ring. Since I don't feel like a pussy now for using it, I feel like this should be to my advantage. But on flat ground, I can keep up with this guy. And that's a major stride from where I'd been previously. So that felt good. I ended up averaging 19.4 for the ride, and when I got back I had some serious adrenaline going. So I took the iPOd, feeling a good run coming on as well.
Run - 60 Minutes. At least, that was the plan.
Soooo, yeah. Learned a few things today. Good as my legs felt on that ride (they never burned for more than a few seconds, even going up hills) at minute 22 of run they went out. Now, granted, I was running up and down the hills on the backside of the campus loop at a much faster pace than usual because I was so pumped from the ride, and I had the iPod on. And though I've decided I was overusing that Silversun Pickups CD on so many levels, I think I can still use it for workouts. And it worked here. But as soon as "Panic Switch" ended, my legs did too. Like the just went "Hey, fuck you pal. These quads have been working harder than ever the past hour and a half, and you can just hold the fuck on while we take a little breather." So I took me second gel a little early and let them relax as I stopped and did some stretching.
Well, all that adrenaline must have made me forget about my knee, because as soon as I started up again, it was like someone had re-ripped my meniscus. Also, probably becasue I was tired I was plodding more than usual and putting more stress on my knees, but after another half mile or so, my knee was done. My legs felt better, but the knee was just not feeling this run. So, for only the second time ever, I adopted my "quitters punishment" policy and forced myself to walk the rest of the course home, even though turning around would have been a lot shorted. You're gonna be miserable either way, I figure, and the only way to be miserable for less time is to start running again. But every time I tried, my knee was once again telling me to go fuck myself. And I wasn't going to push it as I'd rather puss out on a run during a recovery week than do damage that may hinder longer runs down the road.
So a few things. First, on bricks, don't go balls to the wall on the bike. This was not a max effort today, but it was a hard effort, and having a 6.8 mile run after that I probably should have laid back a little. Also, on long runs after long bikes (or at least fast bikes) I'm going to stick to a flat course to preserve my quads. I don't feel bad about this given that the Ironman course is, in fact, completely flat. I may jsut do a series of stadium-and-backs so that if my knee gives out, I don't have to walk 4.5 miles home. On a bad knee.
I'm not sure why my fucking knee has decided to be a bitch again, but whatever. Short of surgery I can't really control that. But this is my last run of recovery week (in keeping with the recovering theme) unless I feel 100% on Sunday, which is a scheduled 90-minute run. The week after that is swim-intensive, so this should be just the break it needs before getting a real test in 2 weeks.
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