Since my last training update post (Indoor Triathlon), I’ve had a couple of rough weeks. Immediately following the indoor tri, I was out of town in Las Vegas for over a week. Biking was non-existent, I got a little bit of swimming in, and also some running. The running was really slow as I didn’t know how long my route was ahead of time, and my new Gamin Forerunner 305 was waiting for me at home.

Back from vacation, I set about picking up where I left off. My biking performance was the most impacted, with running and swimming close to wear I left off. This makes sense since I got no biking in, running was focused on base building, so not much to loose, and swimming was focused on technique, which I didn’t seem to forget. However, by the following week, things were back to normal, at least for a couple of days.

About a week and a half after my return from Vegas, I came down with the stomach flu, which sidelined me from Wednesday to the following Monday. Once again, my biking was shot, and running was about the same. In addition to the stomach flu, our community pool was closed for a annual maintenance and I lost out on 3 swim workouts. However, I’m still doing pretty good on the swimming. My 200m intervals are a couple of seconds slower then they were before, but today I swam 1000m and then did 8x75m on 1:15 (actually a little faster). I’m also starting a 4 week master swim program in a couple of days, and I’m really looking forward to some instruction/coaching.

With the unusually warm weather we had this past week, I decided it was time to switch over to biking outdoors instead of on the indoor trainer. I forgot how much wind resistance plays a roll in outdoor riding, and I’m really thinking a tri-bike would make things easier ;) I got in 21, 24, and 30 mile rides and I am looking forward to the most riding I’ve ever done this season. The 24 miler, was supposed to be 43 miles, but unexpected rain and an unsure forecast forced me to cut my ride way short. I did however complete my brick workout by doing a 30 minute run after the bike, and that went really well. While the route was a little flatter then what I have been running on, it was still a great confidence builder to feel as good as I did on the run after 24 miles on the bike.

This season, starting sometime in may, my goal is to ride to/from work at least 3 times per week. I will be incorporating a specific bike workout on the ride home at least 2 times per week in order to continue to build my bike skills. This will be in addition to my long Saturday endurance ride, which will feature quite a few attempts at the Ironman Wisconsin bike course. A co-worker of mine also gave me some info on local coach who offers bike classes 3 times per week, but at $20 per class, I’ll probably only do a few this season just to try them out.

What’s a training update without some new gear? I mentioned earlier that I picked up a Garmin Forerunner 305, and could not be any happier with it. The constant knowledge of how fast your are going is great for training. I was a little worried the Garmin software wouldn’t work on my 64bit Windows Server 2008 install, but it installed and runs great. It’s not crappy software either, it actually has a decent UI with lots of meaningful data. I think one of the coolest features of the software and watch, is the ability to program in workouts, like interval sets. Using the software, you can program something like, warm up in zone 3 for 10 minutes, then do a 30 second sprint in zone 7 followed by a 30 second cool down, repeat 10 times. If you are looking for a wrist mount GPS for running or biking, look no further then the Garmin 305 (I think it’s better then the 405 even). The price on the 305 has been slashed. I got mine off E-Bay, new, for around $130. I just saw Bet Buy advertising it for $149 as well.

Next up is the iBike Aero power meter I purchased for my bike. After training with a power meter on the stationary bike all winter, I just couldn’t see switching to outdoor riding without one. Not only that, but the data I get off the iBike and the analysis provided by Training Peaks is worlds better then the average watts I’d get off the stationary bike. I picked up a used iBike Gen 2 Aero for $314 off E-Bay, and then used the iBike upgrade program to get a brand new Gen 3 unit for only $249. So instead of paying $799, I only had to pay $563. Getting the wireless sensors mounted turned out to be a longer task then I had anticipated. You need to have at least 12 inches, if not more, between the cadence and speed sensor, or you will get whack readings. The speed magnet that goes on the wheel also gave me a good deal of trouble, as I couldn’t seem to get it tight enough to keep it in-place without deforming it.

The iBike is a little more complicated then the Garmin, but I don’t consider that a con in anyway. The calibration rides were pretty easy, at least easier then mounting the wireless sensors. The amount of information available from the iBike is overwhelming, and I will need to finish reading the instruction manual to learn all the features and how to begin to interpret the data. Thankfully I also picked up a book, “Training and Racing with a Power Meter” which has a lot of good info on how to interpret, and act on the data provided by a power meter.

With the acquisition of the Garmin Forerunner 305 and iBike Aero, I’ve gone back to TrainingPeaks.com and signed up for a premium account. While BuckeyeOutdoors.com is free, and has some nice features (Interval and Race specific workout entry), the analysis features in TrainingPeaks is too much to give up. Also, you can upload workouts from the Garmin and iBike to TrainingPeaks, and this saves on a lot of data entry. I had only wished I would have made the decision earlier, as not only did I spend an hour moving the last 8 weeks worth of workouts over to TraininPeaks, but now I’m in the middle of   my training plan, and can’t very easily switch over to the virtual coaching (training plan) that Training Peaks offers. I think I’ll wait until after my first race in June and then look to make the adjustment over to the TrainingPeaks virtual coach.

Until next time.

This week was a pretty good week for training, in that I achieved two milestones, all before even starting my formal training plan. I have to admit that I’ve been doing “training” for the last couple of months, where the rest of the tri-community are all doing cross training. I was doing cross training last fall until it started to take a toll on my legs (interior shin splints), and then switched over to biking, followed by swimming, and then decided, why not try running a triathlon. 

Anyway, about those two milestones I archived this week. First, I averaged over 230 watts (232 watts) for the first time on my two hour endurance ride. All of my winter training is done on a Keiser M3 stationary bike wearing my normal biking shoes. The workout consists of 120 minutes of tempo work, divided up between a base gear (~90 RPM to hit target wattage) for 40 minutes, 20 minutes of a higher gear, then 60 minutes of the base gear. The gearing really won’t mean much to anyone else, but I did 13, 16, and then 14. I was doing 13, 15, 13 for a 8 weeks, but switched up to 13,16,13 a couple of weeks ago, and this week was the first time I was able to push gear 14 for the full second half of the workout.

The second milestone, was a 1500m time trial in a pool, in which I broke the 30 minute mark, setting a new personal best at 29:26. When I first started swimming back in November I think, I was able to swim 1500m in around 38 minutes, so in about three months I’ve shaved off over 8 minutes. Now if only it would be as “easy” to shave another 8 minutes off. I think the biggest impact on my swimming has been improving my technique, although I do feel my swim endurance getting better, and I feel less out of breath.

I am really looking forward to starting my actual 16 week training plan next week, in preparation for the Capital View triathlon. I still have to work out the details of the plan, and am trying to decide between a couple of different “levels” as defined in the book I have. Some of the starting distances for the swim, and bike duration seem awfully low, but instead of stepping up a level, I could just try to increase the intensity. Most of the reading I have done indicates that higher intensity workouts pay greater dividends then lower intensity but longer workouts.

Given my 1500m time of 29:26, I figure I could have increased my pace for a 20 minute test by 10%, so my 100m pace would be 1:45. I will use this number to figure out my different training zones for swimming, and based on some training sets I’ve done in the past, this will be a very good pace for me to shoot for. At this point, I’m hoping to break the 25 minute mark in the pool by June, which should hopefully equate to a 30 minute open water swim, although I have nothing to base this on.

You can view my online training log at Buckeye Outdoors (yeah, I think it’s a weird name for a training log site as well).

Last week, I registered for my first Triathlon, the Capital View Triathlon, held here in Madison, WI. I will be competing at the Olympic distance, which is a 1500m swim, 24.85 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run. I’ve been spending about 6-7 hours per week getting ready to start my 2009 annual training plan (which I still have to finish creating). Following the guidance of “The Triathlete’s Training Bible” by Joe Friel, I’m looking at some weeks requiring 14 hours of training, or double what I’m used to. I don’t know if I’ll be able to fit in all that training, but we’ll see how it goes. I would like to start doing some workout before work, but waking up before 6am does not seem like fun, although I better get used to it, as I can’t just wake up at 5:45am on race day after months of waking up closer to 7.

I’ve been pretty happy with the stats in the various disciplines. I’ve had a couple of spinning sessions were I have had 255 watts over 40 minutes, and I’ve been averaging 8.6 mph (7:00 minute mile) over 30 minutes running. I’ve recently begun altering my running style/technique in an effort to increase my cadence (number of times my foot strikes the ground). So far that has been going pretty well, I’m able to keep a higher cadence without counting all the time, although on my last run I brought a metronome, and realized I have a lot more work to do in keeping that cadence where I want it (180-190 foot strikes/minute).

I’ve been getting to the pool once or twice a week for about an hour each time. I’m still a complete novice when it comes to swimming, so after doing 1500m in my first couple of workouts just to make sure I could go the distance (note: just swimming 1500m in a pool, grabing the wall each time and getting that extra breath does not equate to 1500m in the open water), I’ve been trying to work more on technique. I think I’m making some good progress on this front. Today after my drill set which consisted of 1350m, I swam another 250m in 4:51, which is a new personal best for me. It’s sad comparing my times to those of actual swimmers, who are almost twice as fast as I am. Oh well, gives me something to shoot for.

I’m creating my shopping list for the event in June:

• New Bike Helmet (my current helmet was a fairly cheap one, and is almost 6 years old. Looking for something a littler lighter and comfortable)
• Sun Glasses (My current el-cheapo pair won’t stay on while running unless I have a head band on, and all scratched up)
• Wet Suit Rental
• Power Meter (the stationary bike I use has one built in, and I’ve really gotten use to using it.)
• New Heart Rate Monitor
• Bike Fit (I switched cleats and pulled my seat off to use the stationary bike, so I need to get everything set back up once spring comes along).
• New Bike Seat
• Aero Bars (Maybe)
• Areo Wheels Rental (Maybe)

I recently ordered some training gear for swimming, including some freestyle stroke/pull things (yeah, not sure how to describe them), freestyle snorkel, underwater metronome (help work on stroke count). The coolest thing in my order, a large, underwater stopwatch/lap counter. As a techie, my motivation for training usually involves gadgetry of some sort. Speaking of gadgets, my list above lists a power meter and new heart rate monitor. Not sure what I’ll get, as I don’t have an unlimited budget, and would like something that will work on the bike and run portions. I’ve been thinking about the iBike Pro wireless with a Garmin Edge 305 or 405, as it should all work together. However, people have been giving mixed reviews on the Garmin stuff. The other option are two completely different systems, one for the Bike and one for the run.

That’s all for now. I’ll try to post some reviews of the gear as I get it.

Did a 1500m swim test today and set a new personal best of 34:17, shaving another 45 seconds off my previous best. To put that into context, top pros swim 1500m in open water for the Olympic Distance Triathlon in about 18 minutes. So while that is probably outside my reach, getting down to 30 minutes seems like a reasonable goal, with a 25 minute time a stretch goal. Today, after watching my wife swim a couple of laps, I as able to better visualize what I was feeling in the water. Sine we are both starting out, we are making allot of the same mistakes. After my 1500m, I swam a couple of laps where I forced myself to go slow, and really try to focus on my technique. To my surprise, even though I thought I was going really slow, I was doing 25m in 30 seconds, which is the pace I need to hit my 30 minute goal.

You read allot about technique over raw speed, but most of the time (at least for me), I don’t believe it until I have some first hand experience, which I think I got today. It’s a fairly large psychological breakthrough, and I believe it will help me focus during future workouts. Some key points in my technique that I was able to put together for the first time today were: Full extension, shoulder rotation, smooth hand/arm entry setting up for my s-stroke. The pool is closed on Wednesday (my usual swim day along with Sundays), but my parents have an indoor pool at their condo and I’ll be on that side of town anyway. It’s probably closer to 10-15m, so I’m thinking of technique drills followed by lots of short sprints for the intensity component. Maybe I’ll swim around the edges to get more of a feel for a long distance instead of laps, as I always touch and stop at each end (still haven’t learned the flip turn).

Biking and running are coming along nicely as well. While I had a DNF during last weeks two hour endurance training (had to stop at 1 hour 47 minutes), I was averaging 227 watts. This week was a little better, as I finished very strong, but I had to stop at the 1 hour mark to use the bathroom. I’ve slacked off a bit on the intensity component for biking, while training to squeeze more running in, but I think I’m going to limit my running to one time per week until these shin splints clear up. Even though the shin splints are annoying, I was able to set a pretty good pace on Thursday, running on the treadmill for 30 minutes covering 4.5 miles (6:40 mile, 9 mph average). I would do 1 minute of 9.5-9.6 mph followed by 30 seconds of rest at 8.1 mph. This worked out really well, and I think I’ll keep working with this format to build up my speed and endurance.

I’m really looking to getting back outdoors for biking in the spring. I didn’t do any biking last winter, and my workout routine was sub-par compare to what I have been doing since April. I remember getting on my bike the first time and taking so long to bike to work that I was really disappointed (although it was maybe 50 out, and I had a strong head wind). I was able to build myself back up during the summer, but still couldn’t do much better then 21 mph average over my 12.5 mile route from my office to home. I’m really looking to a 24 mph average over that 12.5 miles in the early spring, and then keep that pace for 24-25 miles for the triathlon. I don’t know if that will be possible without more aero tires and at least clip on aero bars, but I’ll give it a try.

Yesterday I attempted my first bike to run activity. I started out with a 10.5 mile bike ride (which I wasn’t too happy with in terms of performance), followed by a 5 mile run. I had about 10 minutes of rest in-between, because even though I had “planned” this, things just didn’t work out for a quick transition.

While the bike ride was a sub-par performance, and my quads were really tight, I actually completed the 5 mile run in about 42 minutes, or about 2 to 2.5 minutes off my best 5 mile time (without riding the bike). The 42 minute time made me feel pretty good, and gives me something to shoot for in terms of improvement.

I am working on resolving two issues with my legs. The first is an IT band condition around my right knee, the second is medial tibial stress problems (shins) on both legs. Surprisingly running isn’t all that bad on the shins, and is only painful during the exercises at Monkey Bar’s (I guess that is a little unfortunate). Like I said, I’m working to get these issues resolved with the goal of being able to run 15-20 miles per week pain free by the end of January.

After establishing a good base for running, I will be working to ramp up for the Madison Marathon, as well as train for running at least one Olympic Distance triathlon in 2009. Speaking of triathlon’s, I really want to trade my bike in for a Cervelo P2C ;)

I’ve decided to add a new non-technology related category to my blog, simple titled Fitness. I plan on blogging about various fitness activities I do, such as running, biking, swimming, general workouts at Monkey Bars, Ju-Jitsu, and race training. I should have started this in the spring, as I’m not sure how much interesting stuff I will do over the winter, but I have to start sometime.

Today I did my second 40+ mile bike ride, basically to set a baseline for next season. Like last week, I did one time around the Ironman Wisconsin loop (Verona –> Mt. Horeb –> Cross Plains –> Verona). You can view this route on MapMyRide by clicking on this link.

Today’s Status:

Time: 2:25:07
Miles: 42.8
Avg Pace: 3:23 min/mi
Avg Speed: 17.7: mi/hr
Avg HR: 139 bpm
Approx Calories Burned: 2072

This weeks ride went allot better, although it’s hard to say why. It was about 10 degrees cooler, and cloudy this week, I’m two weeks past the head cold I had instead of one, and of course I have the experience and training effort from the previous week. I didn’t ride the early hills as aggressive in an effort to save the legs, and I think it paid off.

Last week I could barely make it back to my car, and was extremely sore, this week, I feel like I could have made it around a second time, albeit slower. I think this will provide a good baseline for when I start up again next season.

I also ordered a RoadId for me and the wife. While I bring my drivers license with me, I can’t really attach it to me like the RoadId, so I have a lot better chance of it staying with me in a really bad crash or accident (knock on wood). One thing I really took away from being an Eagle Scout was “Always Be Prepared”, and for $19.99, this was just something I couldn’t pass up on.