Monday, November 29, 2010

Laziness abounds

S: 11,500 yards
B: 30 miles
R: 21 miles

Time: 8.3 hours

Well, this week was all about indulging in the greatest of human abilities: apathy.  I had a lot of intertia this week and refused to get off the couch on Thursday and Friday.  Had two good swims on M/Tues and a great run on Tuesday as I helped out Jackie with a marathon workout (3x3 miles at 6:50 pace) that ended up being a few more miles than I really wanted (14) but it all worked out ok in the end...

On another note, I've been talking a lot with Brian Stover of Accelerate3 coaching and I think that is a route I'd like to take for next year (http://www.accelerate3.com/).  If my end goal in triathlon is to reach whatever potential I may or may not have then I think it's best - especially in these early "formative" years - to put my training in the hands of someone more capable than I (as impossible as it is for me to admit that ANYONE knows more about anything than I do I think I should in this instance...) and hopefully my "abilities" (loosely used ) will increase exponentially.  Nothing formal as of yet but I'm pretty excited about the possibility of working with a coach as it's always something I've wanted but could never justify.  Even now it's tough to justify the expense of a coach as triathlon is still just a hobby (and maybe it always will be) but if the goal is to improve then it's important to take steps to reach that goal.

This next week will be about getting back into a regular routine and just kind of enjoying unstructured training, as when Brian gets in control that will change quickly!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Another super duper exciting weekly review!!

S: 15,200 yards
B: 80.5 mi
R: 40 mi

Time: 14.9 hrs

MMMMmmmm, some delicious swimming this week.  When I say delicious I really mean it because the taste of chlorine is so good once it hits your lips; SO GOOD!  I had one real workout that had me seeing some stars and the rest was a mixture of filler, drills and light workout type stuff.  One of my favorite swims was on Sunday when I was at the Dowd YMCA and saw a lady who I haven't see in some time.  It's always nice to see a familiar face and this time was no different.  She looks middle-aged (maybe around 50?) and she's pretty short and wears a one-piece bathing-suit that looks like it's from the 1950s.  Unlike most "swim suits" this "bathing suit" had a lot of coverage.  She walked in and - as usual - jumped into the lane (no goggles or cap) on the wall and began her regular workout of holding on to the side of the pool and dipping her head under and coming back up, simulating what I assume to be pull-ups (I'm probably being very generous here...).  She completed some number of these and then left to go back to the women's locker room.  Several minutes later, she reappeared and began the process anew.  She has the strangest routine of any regular "swimmer" I've seen at the Y.  Makes me glad I now have the option to go to the MCAC.

Dominated some roller action on Tuesday night while spectating the Inside-Out trainer ride.  I averaged a staggering 23 mph!  Unfortunately for my ego, with no resistance it's rather easy to average a high rate of speed on rollers.  I also got back on a mountain bike on Saturday morning with Behme and Fletch.  Due to my lack of experience (both long-term and recently) on the mountain bike my legs felt fine but my hands got so tired after only an hour-ish of riding!  I was practically cramping at the end of our third lap on non-technical, albeit rooty, trails.  I also did a longer ride on Sunday with a nice group that was nice and easy with amazing weather.

Running this week was just about building the volume back up a little bit; no workouts of any sort and a long run of only 10 miles (although the average pace for this 10 miles was under 7 min/mi...).

All in all it was a good week, hopefully more swimming and running building will come in the future.  If I don't go crazy or die first, I'd like to string together 5-6 weeks of 20k+ swimming and 55-65 miles of running before February.  That'd be some excellent building for a fruitful 2011 season!! w00t

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Week 46

S: 12,600 yds
B: 75 mi
R: 36 mi

Time: 12.7 hrs

Managed to bounce back after a down week fairly well although I was pretty tired early on in the week.  All the spectating down in Panama City (4am-10pm day!) really wore me out and my one weekly run meant that I was sore in the ol' leggies for this week.  I managed to get in a good 10 mile tempo workout at the Spencer Mountain 10 miler on Saturday morning, which made my legs even more sore!  Although I think now, by Tuesday, they've calmed down a bit.  I also had a nice 'n easy long ride with Melissa and Jason on Sunday.  I hadn't ridden since Tuesday (12 days before) so it was nice to finally get back on the bike and enjoy the nice weather!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Almost no training week

S: 8,820 yds
B: 70 mi
R: 6.8 mi

Time: 6.8 hrs

Not a lot to say this week; I had been planning on a down week and the trip to Florida seemed to be a perfect excuse to not do very much as far as training goes.

I got in a fun open water swim with the wetsuit in the Gulf the day after the Ironman in perfectly clear, cool and calm water.  Other than that, I really didn't do very much this week.  I rode long on Tuesday by myself since I knew I wouldn't be biking while I was down in Panama City so that was a good ride.  Next week I'll be looking to get the swimming back up to par and I also will be doing the Spencer Mountain 10 miler road race.  I'm not looking for much there, just a nice hard workout.  I don't expect to be very fast.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Quick Update

Swim: 12,000 yds
Bike: 90 mi
Run: 40 mi

Time: 13.5 hrs

Swam Monday-Friday again this week, nothing special in that department.  I have a lower week coming up but after that I'll be kicking it up into another gear (well, from 4th to 4th and a half gear) soon thereafter.

Biked three times this week but no long-ish rides.  We were too tired from the Halloween party on Saturday night to do anything of significance on Sunday so our ride was short but hard.

Had two light workouts on the run this week and have been feeling pretty good lately.  I had a fantastic run on Saturday and I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the fact that the weather has been glorious lately.  w00t!