Dear Blog

Swim: 11,300 yds
Bike: 162 mi
Run: 41 mi

Time: 18.9 hrs

Another week, another set of consistent workouts, another batch of improvement.  I'm recovering from workouts very quickly and eating a lot.  Ahh, to be 26.  For everyone out there older, I do not envy you.

The only real downside of this week was that I missed one swim workout due to some obligations (which I was more than happy to fulfill) on Friday out at the Whitewater Center.  I had a mediocre workout on Wednesday (times were still good but didn't feel particularly fish-y) and a good one on Thursday with Scott in the LC setup at the MAC but then wasn't able to swim again until Sunday.  What's most amazing to me so far (other than myself) is how quickly my standards change.  On Sunday I hit really great times for my 100s but I wasn't as pleased as I was a couple of weeks ago.  It's like I constantly raise my expectations each time and am not satisfied until I push the envelope a bit more.  That's a double-edged sword since it can either lead to total burnout (a la Nick ____) or to constant improvement and new PR's (a la Mr Woodbury).  Luckily, I'm around Scott a lot more often so I'm hoping that's the route I take with swimming.  It's always best to surround yourself with people that are better than you.  Our new swim "group" consists of Selle (53 min swim at Louisville), Ashley (~28-29 minute 70.3 swims), Melissa (sub 23 minute 1500m swimmer), me (35 minute Triple T half swimmer!!), Scott (26 minute swims at two 70.3s in 2010), Sebastien (German Euro and they're always fast in the water).  I've certainly got the slowest swimming resume but I'm also the newest so with these people I'm looking to make the leap to that next level(s).

I had some very good bike rides this week, with two including some tough workouts (11x30sec zone 6, 3x3mins vo2 max) that show some good numbers according to Brian.  I am still learning what all these numbers mean and how they'll relate to triathlon but I certainly trust him to know what he means when he says "Your numbers look good."  I'll take that to mean "I am awesome."  Which I wasn't really in doubt of anyway, but it's always nice to hear affirmation.  Tongue in cheek people, tongue in cheek.  I haven't yet done a power test but from looking over some of my power metrics so far (since I've had the powertap and analysis software) my highest 20 minute power on a rolling course (just during general riding) is a hair over 300 watts.  Luckily I'm not especially heavy so anything close to that means fast bike splits, especially once I get on my new Cervelo and get aero.

I was consistent with my running again this week, only missing out on a total of 25 minutes of running as per the schedule.  That was also due - as with swimming - to being out at the Whitewater center for 8+ hours on Friday marking the CRC Trail race course with Marcus and Donny.  While it was at times frustrating that day, it was nice to hear people say that they appreciate how well-marked the course was; it's always nice to do things for a reason.  My long run was 12 miles (1:40:00) out on the Trails with 10 minutes of tempo on the Lake Loop.  The time was a bit longer than I was scheduled for but I knew I needed to make up some time from my missed run on Friday.  Also included in this week was a light workout of 20secs of fast paced running with 40sec recovery during which I averaged anywhere from 5:00 to 5:19/mi pace.  Just to get the legs moving a bit quicker.

Next week it's looking like I'll be on my bike a good bit more so it's time to stop typing and start recovering!