Weekly Workout Totals 5/8/2006-5/14/2006, or Am I Really Tapering?

Here are the weekly totals:

Weekly Totals 05/08/2006-05/14/2006
Swim: 12250 yards in 4.12 hours; 24% of weekly workout time; approx. 1532 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 134.46 miles in 7.68 hours; 45% of weekly workout time; approx. 3647 calories burned
Run: Approx. 25.21 miles in 3.77 hours; 22% of weekly workout time; approx. 1969 calories burned
Strength: 1.45 hours; 9% of weekly workout time; approx. 363 calories burned
All Sports: 17.02 hours; approx. 7511 calories burned
Sleep: 8.57 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.4 hours

17 hours doesn't look like much of a taper, huh? Last week I hit 17.61 hours, so in aggregate, the weeks look similar. No worries, though. Last week I swam 2.75 hours, biked 9.6, ran 3.93 and did 1.53 strength. So my bike, run and strength (I also decreased my total strength reps) are tapering down. Swimming not so much, and same will be true next week, but my bike and run will go down to not much at all. I'm starting to feel rested. My legs have plenty of spring in them while running (despite 3 brick runs this week). My legs have plenty of power in them (see previous post). My swim is coming around, and I think this Friday's TT will be good. So yep, I'm tapering, and loving it.

Last night I totally treated myself for dinner--I had pizza (more in a few minutes!), fried calamari (I removed a lot of the breading but added a lot of salt), beer, and angel food cake for dessert (I had some of that cake before today's ride, too). After tonight's meal, it's time to watch the calories and fats a little more closely, but I will be sure to replenish my glycogen every day.

Below is the usual data that I post as part of these weekly total reports. Enjoy!

Season Totals 09/12/2005-05/14/2006
Swim: 298600 yards in 105.25 hours
Bike: Approx. 3052.58 miles in 175.7 hours
Run: Approx. 1014.72 miles in 159.09 hours
Strength: 53.09 hours
All Sports: 493.13 hours; approx. 219671 calories burned
Stretching: 54.21 hours

Season WeeklyAverages 09/12/2005-05/14/2006
Swim: 8531 yards in 3.01 hours
Bike: Approx. 87.22 miles in 5.02 hours
Run: Approx. 28.99 miles in 4.55 hours
Strength: 1.52 hours
All Sports: 14.09 hours
Sleep: 8.49 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.17 hours avg./week

Goals from Last Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night. DONE.
• Stretch over 2 hours for the week. DONE.
• Continue race visualization, and assemble race plan. ALMOST FINISHED!
• Stay on top of nutrition. DONE.
• Be careful to hold back during workouts when I am supposed to. DONE.

Accomplishments This Week:

• Nailed all my bike FT intervals at or above FTP.
• Got through 3 brick workouts quite well.
• Improved my 2.4-mile swim TT time from last week.

Goals for Next Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night.
• Stretch over 2 hours for the week.
• Finish race plan.
• Stay on top of nutrition.
• Remember all the wonderful people who've helped me get to this point.
• Pack!

Weekend Taper Workouts, or Why my Nickname is Crackhead

Click on the chart to see it full-size.

This is data from my SRM for yesterday and today's bike workouts. Both rides were done on the trainer, due to cold, wet weather in Chicago. Both rides were followed by :30 brick runs.

Last year when I was tapering for Ironman Wisconsin, I posted information about some of my taper workouts to the tri-drs LISTSERV. Not in as much detail as here--just the minutes at each level. This prompted a gentleman to give me the nickname "Crackhead," as I guess these workouts might be considered a little intense. Last year they seemed that way to me. Not so much this year! These follow the pattern I've been doing for months now. Although doing 3 brick workouts in a week is a little, well, unusual.

There is a ton of information that can be gleaned just from the above charts:

1. I'm feeling good. Look at the normalized watts for the HIM and FT intervals. I was especially happy to hit 193 on today's FT interval. So, it was only for 10', but it was an effort to hit that.
2. I must be very fit. The average HR for the HIM and FT intervals is the lowest it's been. THAT is way cool--to be able to churn out the watts EASILY (and don't worry, I zero offset the SRM every time I ride so I know these numbers are correct).
3. I have gotten stronger very quickly. The NP for the HIM intervals is the same as what my FTP was just about 4 months ago.
4. I can execute 2 fairly intense rides (with brick runs, no less) back-to-back.
5. My cadence stays within the "sweet spot" of 85-95 RPM.

Last year I didn't execute my biking near as well as I have this year, and it clearly shows. It will feel really good to take this fitness into an Ironman (soon, I know!). It will be an effort to hold myself back on the bike ride, but hold back I will. Ironman riding is not about going as fast as you can go. My target NP for the IM ride is about 138, which is lower than the overall NP for either of the rides above. It will still feel like I "rode the bike," but should leave me fresh as a daisy (well, except for my stinky clothes and body) for the run.

Regardless of how I do in the race, I know I am going in with solid bike fitness.

Now about those 3 brick runs--they all went well this week. Today's run was amazing. I ran outdoors since it was not raining, and, gosh, it felt easy. My HR just would not go above "steady" zone, or Z2, yet I was running about 8:30/mile. I guess the 3rd brick was the charm, huh? Not to mention my running is seriously tapered this week (not so much on the bike and swim--see next post).

This year I have come to the realization that one of the greatest challenges in the Ironman run is being able to run at a pace that your stomach can tolerate. What I mean is, my legs are pretty tough now, but the feeling of "I want to stop" comes more from my stomach than anything else. It feels pretty darn good to me to run with as little as possible in my stomach. Yet I need to take in nutrition during the marathon or else I will just fall over. I am not worried about my legs' ability to muscularly keep going.

I've dialed in my bike nutrition to about 230 calories/hour. I'm burning 450-500 calories/hour while biking, so the 230 is a good number. On the run, I burn about 500 calories/hour, but it seems I can only tolerate 200 calories/hour, sometimes more, only liquid. If those calories came all from Gatorade, it translates to 30 oz./hour. No way! I drink more like 20 oz., but let's say 24 oz. because it will be warm. That's 156 calories, but since I will be swigging Coke and Ultra Violence, I'll hit my target, and I'll carry a few gels "just in case."

My guess is that most people feel better running with as little in their stomachs as possible. Which is why the less calories you burn (due to your weight and efficiency), the easier I think it is to have a decent Ironman run. This is not rocket science to me, yet it makes me wonder why more people aren't in a hurry to seriously improve their body composition, even if they aren't triathletes, but just runners. Sheesh, 5 years ago I was fat and inefficient and taking in all sorts of calories. No wonder I couldn't run for shit! Ah--the benefits of experience.

Another 3-mile Swim (1/2 Ultraman)

Holy crap! This morning I realized that the total distance I swam last Friday, including the 2.4 mile time trial, was 3 miles. That's a hefty swim!

I got to do it again today. I beat last week's time for the 2.4 miles by a minute and change, and my time per 100 yds. went down by 2 seconds, so I'll take it. I figured something out--I get my deep-tissue massages on Thursday nights, and it makes me a little sore the next day, so next week I'll get it on Wednesday so I can see how my last 3-mile swim goes before Ironman Brazil.

I actually thought I was swimming SLOWER today than last week. I could feel some tiredness in my arms and core. I am supposed to be rested!!!! I'm TAPERING!!! Ha ha. I will still hit almost 17 hours this week. So I guess I really am not that rested yet. Next week, though, the volume will really drop, so I will really get to see how well I can swim the distance next Friday.

Although, when you think about it, swimming 3 miles in 1:35 isn't too shabby (that's my total time for the 3 miles). I wonder if this means I could do the Ultraman swim (6.2 miles) in 3:30 or less? Checking the Ultraman website, that looks to be a competitive time. Silly me, always thinking about the next challenge!

At any rate, I am good with what I did today, and think I can beat my time by at least 2 minutes next week (actually I'm positive I can). If nothing else, doing (3) 3-mile swims will make the 2.4 on race day seem not too bad at all. I feel like my endurance is pretty good at this point. I'd be happier if I could 1:10 in the pool, but it is what it is. I am swimming strongly the entire time, and I feel fine (OK, a little dizzy) afterwards.

This weekend I only have to do a 3:30/:30 brick tomorrow and a 2:30/:30 brick Sunday. If I have time, I will add :20 recovery swims each day, which I find get some of the kinks out after these workouts. The forecast calls for shitty tomorrow and a little less shitty on Sunday. One or both of those days I'll be riding on the trainer. Oh well, too fucking bad. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Today's Workout Goes up to ELEVEN

Oh, boys and girls, did I ever have fun today! Here's the bike workout:

WU: 15' warmup, 3 x SpinUps. Then 3 x 2' (1') Zone 3 MS: FT repeats: 3 x 10' (6') @ FT, then 4 x 90" (3') @ best effort. CD: 5' Easy

This to be followed by a :30 brick run, with instructions to "put my head into the first 3-4 miles of Ironman."

OK, I was psyched for this one. Why? Because I felt so good yesterday after putting in a solid training week last week, and "all" I did yesterday was swim 2,950 yards (and pretty well, I might add) and lift for :50. No running! And today when I woke up, once again, I felt great. Sure I had wanted to sleep a little more (only 8.5 hours last night), but once I got moving around and had some coffee, I figured today was going to be a good day to workout.

I washed and relubed my bike yesterday, so my Bitch was all ready to rock and roll. The temps were high 60's, so very pleasant for a hard ride and run. I got out the door at about 12:15.

The usual warmup section of the workout is well, just boring, admin stuff. I was really looking forward to the FT work today because Sunday's ride was well, not really too exciting. Such is the nature of an Ironman ride--thankfully, on a race day it "feels" more exciting because you know what is going to happen next (a marathon), and you have all these other competitors around you and volunteers helping you--it's much more festive than heading out on your own to ride 112 miles in the aerobars with your head down. FYI, while I was riding on Sunday I kept thinking, "this is what the IMFL course is like." And the thought did not make me happy. I am still undecided about doing that race, even though I'm registered. I really am not thrilled by flat courses, except for a HIM or less. Too boring. I guess I'd rather suffer with hills and wind. I'm sure I'll get my wish on the wind in Brazil, though.

Since coach gave me so much rest between the FT intervals, I took this as an "excuse" for me to work harder that my current FT of 177. What the hell, it's only 10 minutes. Today was one of those rare and joyous days where I felt 150% ON, and figured my power could go up over FT. I certainly made good use of my ELEVEN cog. It was so happy to be used, and I just love the sound of the index shift into that cog. KER-CHUNK. It is the sound of big effort. I hit watts of 185, 187 and 181 (normalized power) for each of the 3 FT intervals. A solid effort, especially since there was wind, there was terrain, there was humidity, there were obstacles (glass on the road and the usual detritus). ELEVEN. I hated shifting out of that cog when I needed to climb a bit.

Those FT intervals were so much fun, but I was REALLY looking forward to the last 4 "best effort" intervals. I like to call them "balls out." Let it all hang out, just ride hard and see what you can do. Wheeeeeee!!!!! ELEVEN. I know that I was smiling for each of the 90" efforts. My Bitch was being ridden hard and enjoying every second. I hit watts of 236, 237, 206 and 215 for each of the 4 intervals. On the 3rd one I do recall cutting myself slack for about 5" (STUPID), but on that last one, I think the wind just picked up a little more. Whatever. TONS O' FUN!

I even looked forward to running. I was curious what that would feel like after all the fun I had just had on the bike. 5' after I pulled into my driveway and I had my running shoes and hat on, a small bottle of Gatorade in one hand and the radio in the other, and I was off and running. I get to run uphill for about 1/4 mile right out my door, not too steep, but enough to make you know you are working and would rather be on flats. My legs felt a little gangly, and I always play "guess my pace" so that when I get to Mile 1 I can see how accurate my "feel" for pace is. I was also laughing inside remembering that I had just done a brick workout (um...SUPER SIZE THAT BRICK) on Sunday, and here it's 2 days later and I'm at it again (FYI I get to do back-to-back bricks this weekend, those are a lot of fun as well). My legs really didn't feel any worse for the wear.

Mile 1: 8:40. That's fine. I should have held back a little more, but hey, I didn't ride very long, I should be able to go that fast. I decided to run up to this small intersection, knowing that I always negative split these short runs, so I'd give myself some extra time on the way out. 6:46, and I figured same pace as for first mile (I certainly wasn't running any slower). Turn around, same distance in 6:30, and last mile in 8:29. Giddy up! Not too shabby, and I wasn't running hard, really. In terms of my run zones, I would call this "upper steady."

It was so nice today to feel the total joy and fun of my workouts once again. It's been a few weeks, and I did think about my mom during today's workout, but it made me grin from ear to ear as I was about to start another FT interval. That's what it's about. Knowing you can push yourself hard again and again, enjoy it, and use that as a platform to show others how good you can feel doing this crazy shit.

ELEVEN, BABY!!!

Weekly Workout Totals: 05/01/2006-05/07/2006

It was another big training week for me. A Race Rehearsal week, to be specific. I also got to retest my bike FTP (Functional Threshold Power). There were good things and not so good things that happened during the week:

Good

• My FTP improved from 171 watts to 177 watts. You may look at that and think that’s just statistical variation, but not from where I sit. I did the test on Wednesday outside, and trust me, it was a trick to keep my watts where I wanted them (and more!) while managing shifting winds and terrain.
• I reestablished that I have plenty of swim endurance after Friday’s big swim of 5,150 yards, which included the 3800 meter time trial swim. When I was done, I felt like I could have kept swimming at the same pace for at least another 1,000 yards.
• I got plenty of TOA (time on ass) on the bike. I added a short (1:42), easy (SHOCK!!!) ride on Saturday just because I felt like it. It was odd to intentionally ride easy, but I figured this would be good practice for Sunday’s 112-mile ride at Ironman wattage guidance
• I ran 9:00mpm off the bike after Sunday’s 112-mile ride. For 5 miles. I have NEVER done that before!
• Based on measurements taken from my hips, butt and thighs, I am one lean machine. My hips and butt both lost 1/2", my thighs did not lose any size (killer bike workouts will do that), and my weight remained unchanged. I am fairly certain I have not lost any muscle; therefore I must have lost a little more fat. Unbelievable. My swimsuits are getting loose in my butt. Never in my wildest thoughts did I think this would happen. I just need to hold this body composition going into the race. Hell, I could even go up a notch in body fat, but I'm going to milk this phenomenon for what it's worth.
• Psychologically, I felt some of the stress and sadness of my mom’s death lifting.
• I slept a ton.
• I feel GREAT today, considering what I did last week. The past 3 Mondays I have felt like someone has been pummeling me with a meat tenderizer all over my body.
  
  

Not So Good

• My FTP improved from 171 watts to 177 watts. This makes both lists, because as I get stronger, it means I get to work harder each time I ride the bike! But it’s OK, because indicators from my rides were pointing to the number going up
• My swim time trial took 1:16. I honestly felt like I was swimming faster than that. On the other hand, I felt really strong, relaxed and held great form the entire time. I get another chance this Friday to see if, with a little less volume, I can go a little faster.
• My 112-mile ride took 6:15. I thought I could go faster, but it is what it is. I rode how I was supposed to ride, and believe me, it was hard to focus for so long on riding SO EASY. I did the ride with an organized ride, so the conditions weren’t ideal (lots of starting and stopping, even a period of lostness, which turned out to be a good thing, as I got in all the miles), and I had plenty of offers to hang with groups (STRONG groups) of riders. But I had to gingerly say, “Nope, I’m riding my Ironman pace today, so sorry, maybe some other time.” That’s self-control.

All in all, I will call last week a success. I feel ready for the damn race now; as usual, I feel like my coach has me peaking right on schedule, upcoming rest will do me a world of good, and I can start my travel preparations. Holy fuck, I’m going to Brazil!

I’m not generally a superstitious person, but a few things happened this week that seem to be omens:

• My black toenail from the Goofy Challenge finally came off today. The top part, that is. There is a perfectly good toenail left that is just waiting to be abused in another marathon in 3 weeks.
• The ruby stud earring I’ve been wearing as my “keep yourself together” amulet since last fall lost its back (the little thing that keeps a pierced stud in place). Thank goodness I didn’t lose the earring. But this tells me that I have been successful in keeping myself together, and that I can go forth and do what I need to do without wearing this anymore.
• I am (deep breath here) not going into Ironman Brazil looking for a Kona slot. I am going to do the best that I can do on the day. It will be what it will be, and as long as I am on my nutrition and pacing plan (which is nearly drawn up), I am really looking forward to having a good run, my favorite part of the race. Why is it my favorite part? Because if the stuff before it went well, odds are I will get to practice the fine art of being in the moment, being in a state of flow, and I will remember the answer to the question I asked myself yesterday while I was running: “Why the FUCK do I do this?”
  
  

On that note, here are the happy totals for the week that was:

Weekly Totals 05/01/2006-05/07/2006
Swim: 7800 yards in 2.55 hours; 14% of weekly workout time; approx. 949 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 168.2 miles in 9.6 hours; 55% of weekly workout time; approx. 4671 calories burned
Run: Approx. 26.03 miles in 3.93 hours; 22% of weekly workout time; approx. 2067 calories burned
Strength: 1.53 hours; 9% of weekly workout time; approx. 383 calories burned
All Sports: 17.61 hours; approx. 8070 calories burned
Sleep: 9 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.02 hours

Season Totals 09/12/2005-05/07/2006
Swim: 286350 yards in 101.13 hours
Bike: Approx. 2918.12 miles in 168.02 hours
Run: Approx. 989.51 miles in 155.32 hours
Strength: 51.64 hours
All Sports: 476.11 hours; approx. 212160 calories burned
Stretching: 51.81 hours

Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-05/07/2006
Swim: 8422 yards in 2.97 hours
Bike: Approx. 85.83 miles in 4.94 hours
Run: Approx. 29.1 miles in 4.57 hours
Strength: 1.52 hours
All Sports: 14 hours LOOK AT THIS, KIDS.
Sleep: 8.49 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.16 hours avg./week

Goals from Last Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night. DONE (and I LOVED IT!)
• Stretch over 2 hours for the week. DONE. Came in under the buzzer.
• Begin race visualization. Race Rehearsal weekend this weekend! DONE.
• Watch nutrition, as my training hours begin to decrease. DONE.
  

Accomplishments This Week:
See above for the good.

Goals for Next Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night.
• Stretch over 2 hours for the week.
• Continue race visualization, and assemble race plan.
• Stay on top of nutrition.
• Be careful to hold back during workouts when I am supposed to.
  

I Got Rolled, then I Got Watts, BABY!!!

Evil coach made me do an FTP test on the bike today. I guess it's the last hurrah before Ironman Brazil to see just where we should calibrate my IM ride. And then I get to test it out this weekend.

Recall that I was pretty wasted beginning Sunday's little indoor riding festival. Luckily, Monday was a rest day (I still did some weights), and yesterday I only had to swim 2650 yards, which was not bad, but after which I still felt like someone had run over me repeatedly with one of those roller things they use to level blacktop (see above), especially my quads. I could feel each part of my quadriceps muscle vibrating while I was kicking in the pool yesterday.

I smartly garbaged up on sleep while I had the opportunity. 9.5 hours Sunday night (pure exhaustion). 9.5 hours Monday night (more exhaustion). 9.5 hours last night, and man I did not want to get out of bed this morning. Sometimes when I drop my training down, I go into this "hey, this lethargic thing ain't so bad, maybe I don't really want to train any more" thing. I guess I have rewired my brain so that when I have the opportunity for real rest, I interpret it instead as "I am done training FOREVER!"

Today was no different. I was in no hurry to get my bike prepared to ride. I just didn't feel very motivated. Paralysis was setting in. How about I just continue not doing much and sleeping a ton? I could really get used to not training. Thanks, though, I really enjoyed that last training cycle. Busted my ass. But I guess I will get on my bike and see what I can do, even though I don't feel like I have much energy at all.

So I procrastinate, and finally at 11:30AM I figure that I had better get the bike ready and be out the door by 11:45 since I have to be back for a 2:00PM meeting. I am supposed to ride 1:15 and run :30. I know the ride will go longer, because when I ride outdoors I am almost never dead on. And then there are stoplights, stop signs, and other things. Today, of all things, there was a funeral procession pulling into the road right after my warmup. Any other day, and I would be pissed off. Not today. A little respect for the dead. I was amazed that I didn't even cry over it. I think it was the universe testing me. Seriously! I did sneak by when there was a gap, though, because I just didn't have that much time to wait. Priorities, you know.

I got to my circle TT loop area. It's about 3.1 miles around with minimal stopping. It's mostly flat, but there are some rises and a few small rollers that make it interesting. But it's the best option I have to do my interval work on, and it's pretty safe, so that's where I go. However, I have no control over wind. But I LOVE wind when doing intervals. Makes it more fun. I got my wish on the wind again today. SSW, 8-10, gusting to 25MPH. Excellent!

I got nice temps, too. About 71. Perfect. So I didn't have to wear much clothing. And for a short ride, no aerobottle either. I played Natasha Badmann and did the upside-down drinking thing from one of the XLAB cages behind my butt.

Ah, the joys of riding on a nice day with a power meter! Interesting thing about the SRM--when you stop an interval, the average watts it shows you may be slightly lower than what you get once you download the information, and then in Cycling Peaks, when you get to see Normalized Power (NP), the NP value is typically higher when riding outdoors (because of variation in terrain, wind, etc.). So on my first FT interval (my test protocol is 20' at FT, 2' easy, 20' at FT, and then get NP for the entire 42' range), what I saw was 168 watts, which was fine, since I knew my NP would be higher given the wind (head and tail) and hills (up and down, and I tried to minimize coasting). I figured close enough. On the 2' easy part, at first I just wanted to puke or at least not pedal, but I picked it up to keep my legs in motion to get ready for the second FT interval. On this one I just decided this was so much fun that I would push even harder, or at least try to. Why not? I was under strict orders from Coach to make each of my remaining interval rides (um....which ones AREN'T????) count. When I'd look at my average watts, they weren't looking too great about 10' in, so I pushed harder. At one point, I asked myself, "Does this hurt?" And the answer was, "Nope." It's not pain; it's just effort. What the hell, it's only 20' (and believe me, the 20' goes by MUCH more quickly outdoors than on the trainer).

When I hit the interval button, I thought I saw 170 for the second FT interval for average watts. All I know is there was a 1 followed by a 7. So good enough. I eased off the effort, dropped back into the small chainring, and headed for home. When I was almost there, for some reason I rode through downtown Downers Grove, and a guy on a motorcycle pulls up ahead of me and says, "I prefer a little more power on my ride." To which I replied, "I had plenty of power today!" with a huge smile on my face. He gave me a thumbs up.

I happily rode home and thought, "I wonder how well I'll run today?" It had been 4 days ago that I last ran, and it was a brick run, and so I just got ready as quickly as I could. About 4' later, I'm out and running.

I decided to head west into the wind so I could have a little push on the way back in. Problem is, going west is mostly uphill for about 1.5 miles. Too fucking bad. Just run. I had a new pair of running shoes that I knew would feel good--all cushy and all clean with day-glo orange EZ laces and hot pink squeeze toggles. I didn't feel bad as I headed up the hill right outside my house. Why should I expect to have trouble running? I only rode like 1:20. That is nothing. So what if it effectively included a 40' time trial. I am so used to this it is not even funny. I will say my legs did not feel quite normal, but they didn't feel bad at all. It was more like, "Fucking hill, another fucking hill" until I got 15' out so I could turn around. I was wearing a pair of low-rider DSS bike shorts, with just a skimpy bra top, since I get pretty hot running, so I'd removed the tank thingie after biking (when it gets to be full summer, I will ride with just the nothing bra top during the week, who cares, may as well get a decent tan). Because of this, I was getting the expected incredulous stares from people seeing all my freakish abs staring them down, daring them not to look. One guy in his car on a cell phone just about crashed his car. I just laugh at this stuff thinking, "Hey, I'm 49 and look like this it just doesn't get any better!" There were a few times when I smiled thinking about my mom, how she would probably say something like "ohhhhhh Sheila" (name that tune) if she saw me dressed this way. Before she passed away, I gave my mom a good look at my abs so that she would know that I wasn't really skinny, and that I had all this muscle on me. She even touched them!

The run was fine, and I guess I was motivated by needing to get back home for my business meeting call. Well, when all was said and done, I negative split the run by 1.30. How about that? And I think I was running 8:00/mile? WTF??? It just goes to show you that sometimes when you feel totally lethargic and such that you can have a great workout. I guess I sort of had a little taperoni there. Whatever, I'll take it!

Now for the good part: my NP for the 42' interval, aka the FTP test was....177!!!!! So I have become stronger, even doing it outdoors! Phew. Coach had said he wanted me to hit 175 before Ironman Brazil (remember that?), and I guess I have done it. Only problem is that means I get to ride harder, but I think I have been riding pretty hard the last few weekends, which is a sign that my FTP has gone up.

My FTP watts/kg is now 3.47. WOO-FUCKING-HOO!! My weight hasn't changed, but I know I've lost additional bodyfat because my hips and butt measurements each went down 1/2". My quads ain't any smaller, though. See previous Bike Porn (Fat-Free) post.

I'm a happy camper! Data is below:
FTP Test:
Duration: 42:40
Work: 435 kJ
TSS: 75.8 (intensity factor 1.032)
Norm Power: 177
Distance: 13.608 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 331 170 watts
Heart Rate: 0 254 106 bpm
Cadence: 30 130 69 rpm
Speed: 3.8 28.6 19.1 mph
Torque: 0 488 218 lb-in

Bike Porn

Weekly Workout Totals 04/24/2006-04/30/2006

When you look at the numbers below, you might be inclined to think that this past week was not as hard as the week where I spent time in South Carolina. You would be wrong. Hard to me is not dependent only on volume; it depends on intensity. And this was, by far, the most intense swimming and cycling I've ever done. EVER! Running didn't need to enter into the picture that much, since I've built a solid run base since, well, last September.

To give you an idea of my running base, since September I've completed 20 runs of 1:30-2:00, 10 runs of 2:00+, and 2 full marathons. That's over 36 weeks, so 32 out of 36 weeks I've run 1:30+. That's what's known as consistency. One of the measures of Ironman training success is the ability (and I'm quoting my coach here) to do at least a 1:30 run every week, from now until forever. That distance of run will prepare most folks for a half or full Ironman.

So this past week we did not need to worry about my running, as I needed to polish off some very serious cycling.

Since I'm just an average swimmer, and swimming tends to be a good recovery vehicle (for strong swimmers; and I may not be fast but I am strong), we also did some overdistance swimming this week. I already knew my endurance was there; but this week we did long, muscular endurance sets. ME sets are characterized by short rest intervals. They force you to swim at a pace that is close to your "continuous" pace. For example, 3x500 with 15" RI. 15" of rest ain't much; so you can't swim the 500's too much faster than you would if you were swimming 1500 straight.

The week would have been hard enough just based on the above; but life decided to make it more difficult for me with the passing of my mother. If you think I didn't think about that during every single workout, you would be wrong. I did. Just as it's important during an Ironman to hold your emotions at bay until the end (trust me, there's plenty of time at the finish line to get all choked up and such, so why ruin your actual race by wasting that energy on the race course?), I needed to practice this week. And by that I mean just not crying during my workouts! I feel very intensely and deeply; but it's mostly just that--feeling. I have learned over the past 8 months to simply be with my thoughts and emotions, and not judge them or go into the past or future over them. This is the same technique that I apply to managing my ability to push during workouts. If you can just be with the sensation of discomfort or effort (I prefer to think of it as effort) instead of getting emotional about it or comparing it to your past efforts or worrying about your future efforts, you will be able to achieve what you set out to do.

I did 2 "epic" swim workouts this week, and even better, I did them back to back on Wednesday and Thursday, because I needed Friday clear for the funeral. Sure, I could have skipped one of the workouts or shortened one, but I made a commitment to myself, to my training, and to my parents to not bag my goals. Wednesday was 4,600 yards, and Thursday was 3,900 yards. And then on Thursday mid-day I went and ran 2 hours. Part of my pea brain was saying that I should be running abysmally, since Wednesday I did a big swim and a 1-hour tempo run, and then I did the big swim on Thursday morning. The other part of my pea brain reminded me that I am incredibly strong, and while I shouldn't dismiss the effort as "no big deal," that I would be able to get through it. I did do my hilly trail run that day, and I nearly PR'ed my half marathon that day. By "nearly," I mean that I ran very strongly for 9 miles, then I had to climb out of the hole (it's about 1 mile up at a decent pitch), which temporarily demoralized me, then I remembered I needed to do 20' of tempo work, so I just willed myself to run very close to my 10K pace somehow, and then I realized I was, indeed tired, and cruised the last mile in.

Friday was a full day off. In the back of my mind I really wanted to fit in my second abs/core workout, but if ever I felt completely exhausted, it was at the end of that day, so the thought quickly passed. And I needed to be rested and ready to go for the weekend of pure hell. Well, not quite hell, but very challenging, focused riding. The stuff that is way harder than the Ironman ride. The stuff that tests your commitment to the training and your desire to be good at this Ironman thing; to not just finish the race, but to have raced it.

Saturday's plan called for a 5-hour ride followed by a :30 run as follows: WU: 120' @ 65-70%, MS: 2 x (40' @ 88-90%, 10' Easy), 20' Easy, then 1 x 20' @ FT. Remainder (90') is 80-85%, as you feel. The weather was windy (thank you!), but this day it was also on the cool side (around 50), and rain was expected in the afternoon. I wore lightweight running tights over my bike shorts and put on the arm warmers, and I was still slightly chilled. I got out the door at 8:15. I started out tired, and during the 2-hour warmup, it felt like I was struggling. I thought I was close to hitting the required watts, but it didn't feel easy. It made me wonder how I would get through the remaining even more difficult stuff. I rode into Fermilab again, and found the lab where one of my cousins works (I had forgotten about that until mom's funeral, and then he (Ed) and I had a nice discussion about circling around where he works), and at about 2 hours in, the first raindrops began falling. All I could think was how dreadful it would be to finish a 5-hour ride on the trainer (and while I might be inclined to use the algorithm that 1.5 x trainer time = outdoor time, I wasn't going to shorten ANYTHING this week), so would I rather put up with rain, or would I rather put up with being on the trainer? It's amazing how long such a small thought can entertain you while you are riding solo doing focused work, and my legs were kicking in just fine on the first HIM interval, and the rain wasn't hard, so I just kept going. I looked at the sky periodically and figured it wasn't going to rain too hard. It was mostly just sprinkles, but when you are kicking out watts, it seems you are being pelted. So I just kept circling in Fermilab. The watts were coming, but at some point I made a deal with myself: finish all the really hard stuff, and then finish up the last bit on the trainer. It was a good decision. When I was about 8 miles from home (which was enough time to do the FT interval and then some), it began raining harder. This was all the encouragement I needed to push really, really hard. I hit normalized watts of 176 for the interval. Pretty good into a headwind and now driving rain. Motivation to get home fast. When I was almost home, since I knew I would need to run on the treadmill and my bike was a mess, I made an executive decision to just head to the Y and finish up :45 on the Precor bike. Did I really need to bike more? No. But to me it was a matter of principle for the week. No wimping out, no stiffing my workouts for any reason. So I get to the Y and some man gets on the Precor next to me and wants to have a conversation. It was the usual bullshit about how he wants to have a better physique (while eyeballing mine up and down despite the fact that I stunk to high heaven). I wasn't really in the mood for this, so I told him this: You have to really want it, or else don't waste your time. He had all the usual excuses: my wife buys cookies (I told him to just not eat them); I want to emulate someone else's diet exactly (I told him that won't work--he is not that person). It was one of those days where I was so happy to need to run! Despite the several costume changes and equipment changes, the run felt good. Of course, I ran an extra 5', as part of this week's commitment. When all was said and done, my total riding time was 5:14. I actually averaged higher watts than required during much of the ride, and overall (thanks, Rich, for pointing this out to me), I average close to what my FTP had been last fall! There's real progress!

Yesterday, I knew I'd be on the trainer for the full time, since the forecast called for rain all day, and the forecast did not disappoint. My workout was 4 hours like this: WU: 60' @ 65-70% MS: 1 x (40' @ 88-90%, 10' Easy), 20' Easy, then 1 x 20' @ FT. Remainder (100') is 80-85%, as you feel. Ugh. Did I really want to spend 4 hours on the trainer? Hell no. Would I? Yep. Did I? Yep. It was hard. When I woke up, I felt pretty darn trashed. A combination of having already put in 17 hours of training, a hard ride the day before, and I'm pretty sure I didn't make up all 3,000 calories I had burned on Saturday. So there were 2 pots of coffee before I started, which helped a little. I always allow myself one out in a workout: if it ain't happening, just do the best you can. But I managed to do what I needed to, and got the job done.

Here are the happy totals.

Weekly Totals 04/24/2006-04/30/2006
Swim: 11550 yards in 4.07 hours; 19% of weekly workout time; approx. 1423 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 191.33 miles in 10.93 hours; 52% of weekly workout time; approx. 4747 calories burned
Run: Approx. 32 miles in 4.88 hours; 23% of weekly workout time; approx. 2686 calories burned
Strength: 1.12 hours; 5% of weekly workout time; approx. 280 calories burned
All Sports: 21 hours; approx. 9136 calories burned (Blackjack!)
Sleep: 8.42 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2 hours

Season Totals 09/12/2005-04/30/2006
Swim: 278550 yards in 98.58 hours
Bike: Approx. 2749.92 miles in 158.42 hours
Run: Approx. 963.48 miles in 151.39 hours
Strength: 50.11 hours
All Sports: 458.5 hours; approx. 204090 calories burned
Stretching: 49.79 hours

Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-04/30/2006
Swim: 8441 yards in 2.99 hours
Bike: Approx. 83.33 miles in 4.8 hours
Run: Approx. 29.2 miles in 4.59 hours
Strength: 1.52 hours
All Sports: 13.89 hours
Sleep: 8.47 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.16 hours avg./week

Goals from Last Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night. DONE.
• Get in at least 2 hours of stretching for the week. DONE.
• Keep up the mental focus. This is the hardest week of all. DONE.
• Stay mentally strong for my family and myself. DONE.
• Stay on top of my nutrition. Close, but no cigar. It was tough to keep up my normal eat-every-2 hours schedule through Thursday. I did the best I could.
• Keep my head in the game during every key workout. DONE.

Accomplishments This Week:

• Completed every workout per instructions, even adding time to almost all of them.
• Kept myself together.

Goals for Next Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night.
• Stretch over 2 hours for the week.
• Begin race visualization. Race Rehearsal weekend this weekend!
• Watch nutrition, as my training hours begin to decrease

Mom's Funeral

It was Friday. Springtime in Chicagoland comes with dicey weather, but it was a picture-perfect spring day! The sky was clear, there were minimal clouds and minimal wind. It was in the mid-60's, so we were able to be outdoors in the bright sunshine without our coats on.

It was wonderful to have my brothers (Mike and Tom) and sisters (Carla and Lisa) there, as well as two of my uncles, several first cousins and some of their spouses, and a few friends of my mom's and dad's.

I wore a black crepe dress that was my mom's. She gave me 3 dresses that she wore in her early 20's. Everyone remarked that they couldn't believe she ever fit into the one I wore! I reminded them that mom had quite the figure back then, although truth be told, I would never fill out the top part of a dress the way I think that she did. I also wore her pearls. She gave them to me right before I got married in 1986. They survived the marriage, the divorce, and all the other things that have happened to me since then.

We had a simple funeral all taking place at the gravesite (this was all my doing; my dad nominated me as the planner). The pall bearers walked with the casket from the hearse to the grave. In a moment of comedy, the casket needed to be spun around 180 degrees so that my mom's head would be in the correct position (I guess for a viewing the head is supposed to be opposite the headstone). I later asked my brother in law if he felt like laughing at that moment; he said not then, but then we decided this should be a new family tradition, to spin the casket one time before laying the person to rest.

The casket was opened and everyone paid their respects. I thought it would be hard for me to look upon my mom's face again, having seen it taking her last breaths of life. But it was OK, and again I was happy knowing that her suffering was over.

The priest spoke the commital prayers, some of which we prayed along with. After so many years of not attending church regularly, I still remembered them all.

The casket was closed, and most of us passed by it one last time. Then we all assembled at a restaurant for lunch, or whatever it was at that time of day. I was so hungry--just being depleted from the week of duties and travel and then there was my training--I was up to 11 hours by Friday, and I didn't even do anything on Friday! I knew I was behind on my calories, but I ate slowly and savored the presence of the others, and we shared quite a few good stories about mom.

When all was said and done, and Mike and I had dropped off my dad, I was home a little after 5PM. All I could think was that I needed rest. But it was still a beautiful day, so I took off my rings and bracelets, and headed out into my front flower bed. I left the dress on--I thought it would be fitting. I was smiling to myself thinking how tired I was, yet how good it felt to pull some weeds and get my fingers dirty. I had a beer with me. There was a nice breeze, and I felt good that the day had been so nice for my mom's honor. I then realized that I had a lot of work to do the next few days, so I went back indoors to get some more food, prepare my bike and bottles for Saturday's riding, and get some sleep.

Speaking of work, I had better get on my bike again. I'll recap the training week later today.

Peaking and Grieving

What a strange combination of events--here I am in my most difficult training week of my life, and my mom has died. The funeral is Friday. Can I, should I keep up my training? Hell yes, it's what mom would have wanted, and it's what dad has insisted upon. I seem to have been given extra energy care of my mom.

Yesterday I did 1:35 on the trainer (it was only 32 here, if you can believe that), and then ran :35 on the treadmill. I had watts galore on the bike, and while their generation didn't feel effortless, I think I could have kept churning them out in spurts. When I got on the treadmill, my heart rate was nice and low, and I warmed up for 5 minutes and my legs felt weightless. How could that be? I just drilled myself on the bike; running should not feel this good. But it did, so I kept increasing the speed. My legs felt almost like they weren't there; there was no pain, almost no sensation, so I had to look down and check that I was, in fact, running. I wanted, needed effort. I should not feel so good with the weight that is on me now. Yet, I was floating. I just went with it, and at the same time I choked back tears every few minutes. No crying while running! Perhaps it was my body shifting its negative energy just to my mind, leaving my legs free to do their muscular thing, which by now require almost no thought at all to do their thing.

But, once I stopped running (and it's very hard for me mentally when I get to the end of a workout now because the floodgates open), and I wanted to collapse in a heap on the floor, I didn't. I forced myself to go to the Y yesterday so I could face people and face myself and, well, if I lost it, so what. Once I began to stretch, every muscle (and I am quite attuned to them all) in my legs would cramp. I don't know if it was because it was 5PM and I hadn't eaten since 10AM or what. It was just an interesting sensory combination to have had weightless, floating legs, followed by cramps. But I eased into the stretching and was OK.

I got home, fixed something for dinner, carbed up and thankfully got to sleep around 9PM, knowing I had to be up, get something to eat in me, and into the pool bright and early to swim 4,500 yards. My swim workout this morning wasn't by any means fast; it was an endurance session (2 sets of 3x500 with 15" rest type of stuff), and knowing that my swimming is most affected by my state of fatigue, I just settled in to get it done. I didn't feel particularly worn out, but knew I'd be swimming a little slower than I'd like, which was fine. But I had absolutely no endurance problems, and focused on my form, which felt very good to me. I ended up swimming 4,600 yards (this week in honor of mom I am swimming 50-100 yards extra each workout and every other workout I am doing 5 extra minutes), and really didn't feel too worse for the wear except I wanted to eat everything in sight.

Around 2:15 I headed out to do my tempo run. I was supposed to do a total of :55, but of course, I had decided I'd run for a full hour (this week's rules, you know), from home, meaning my rolling 6-mile course plus some more. I ended up doing almost 7 miles in an hour, which means that I pretty much ran tempo pace the entire time, although I was only supposed to do :25 worth. No worries. It felt good, I felt good, it was all good. My legs weren't floaty like they were yesterday, but what I noticed today was not so much effort in my legs but more like just in my aerobic capacity. Which is undoubtedly HUGE. I feel like a machine right about now. If I can hold this fitness and then get my taper rest in I should be not only good to go, but almost great to go for Ironman Brazil.

I have never felt this way in my life. I realized today that many of the challenges I faced this past fall were the universe's way of preparing me for this week. Not just the week of peaking; but also the week of grieving. I am taking things one day at a time. I am astounded by the level of care being expressed by friends, family, and people I don't even know on the Internet. I think everyone knows the importance of a mother. There's nothing like your mom! I think I am able to move through this fairly well because of my insane focus on mental work that I've had the past 6 months, and I suppose the physical strength helps out, too.

The other thing that comes to mind is that unlike my 2 brothers and 2 sisters, I have quite a bit of mom in me. She was a good seamstress, cook and gardener. She always joked to me about how I had to be better than she was at all these things (and most anything that I tackled she remarked how I had to be the very best at whatever I did, haha not so much at marriage, though), but also that she was very proud of me for it. I never set out to be better than her; I just set out to be the best that I could be. And I got a lot of it from her. So these most excellent spring days (and by the way, I am so happy my mom died in the springtime--the very most beautiful time of the year to me) when I'm out poking around in my flower beds, sure I am sad that mom won't see the new things coming up this season, but I have plants that were cuttings from hers, I have the green thumb she had (not for indoor plants, please, I will kill them all!) and most of all, I have the same attitude towards it that she had, which is that the garden is a place of comfort and solace. If something's bugging you, go pull some weeds. It will help you think things through. Put your hands right into the dirt--no gloves--you will feel cleansed by the real contact with the Earth. Listen to the birds and watch the bees and other insects flitting about you. This is nature at its most accessible and pleasurable. Every day! While I don't spend as much time on my garden beds as I used to, they are there for me every single day and give me so much pleasure. At least once a day I make a point to "patrol" the premises. I look at things, pull a weed here, smell a flower there, and it is very relaxing, almost like meditation.

When I look in my closets, I see all the beautiful things I've sewed for myself over the years, and know that my mom inspired me to take up the craft. Initially it was out of necessity, since she used to make my clothes through 7th grade, but I realized she didn't have time when she began working again, so I told her one day that I needed to make myself a dress and would she take me to buy fabric and a pattern, and then would she help me if I got stuck? Well, she did, I didn't get stuck, and several months later I made my 8th grade graduation dress (very stylish--bright yellow with kelly green velvet ribbon on the bodice and wrists). And then I discovered that I liked sewing and chose progressivly more difficult things to make.

When I cook, now it's mainly for sustenance, but I can remember all that I learned by watching my mom cook and savoring whatever she fixed and asking what was in it. When I was in high school, again I sensed that my mom needed some more help in the house, and she was driving me to a job, so I thought the least I could do was cook dinner for the family before I went to my evening job after high school. So I fixed some of the things she taught me, I bought a few cookbooks and went nuts. Every night there was a main course, side dishes and a dessert. Needless to say, my brothers and dad were in hog heaven! But to me, it was just the right thing to do, and my secondary purpose was to acquire another skill and do it well.

So even though I break into moments of sadness over my mom's death, and I know it will continue for who knows how long, I am also spending a whole lot of time smiling about how much of her is in me and know that there's nothing for me to forget because I live it every single day.

I am thinking about singing a song at my mom's funeral. If I think I can hold it together long enough to do that, I will; if not, I will just read the words aloud. And yes, I was in the choir in junior high and high school and also accompanied the choir on the piano on some difficult pieces. So I can sing pretty decently. We shall see.

I did work today and will also do so tomorrow--sort of. I will be swimming 4,000 yards in the morning and then running 2 hours in the middle of the day. It's time for me to hit the trail run. My boss is being very good to me, so I'm sure I can finesse being gone for 3 hours in the middle of the day. It will be a beautiful, spring day. I look forward to it.

My mom passed this morning

Friends,

After weeks of ill-health and hospitals, preceded by years of fragility, my mom passed this morning. I was fortunate to be with her, my dad and my sister-in-law at the end. I visited with her most of yesterday, and judging from her condition, I knew that death was imminent. Ultimately, it was congestive heart failure that took her, but it was just the last systemic failure in a long line of complications from diabetes.

The end came quickly, and we hope, comfortably. I had an opportunity to speak with my mom this morning, and whether or not she heard me, this is what I said:

Thanks for letting me become hyper-independent and self-sufficient.
Thanks for letting my intelligence blossom with only gentle nudging, and giving me plenty of tools like flash cards, puzzles and mentally challenging games.
Thanks for encouraging me to seek excellence at the young age of 4 at the piano, that would spill over into every other facet of my life.
Thanks for showing me how strong a person can be in the face of adversity.

And most of all, I let her know that she has been the primary inspiration behind the level I push myself in sport to be the very best that I can be. While she never saw me race, she's been there at every finish line, and I will welcome her spiritual presence again in about 4 weeks. Yes, I am still going to Ironman Brazil. Yes, it might be hard, but it's nothing compared to the suffering my mom just went through. She is no longer suffering. I am not really suffering right now--I would say it's more just the beginning of a grieving process. If you can feel a hole in your heart, I guess that's what I feel! But at the same time, I feel so fortunate that I am so strong, and I know that mom would want me to keep on keeping on to keep myself strong.

As my dad and I were leaving the hospital just an hour ago, he told me to keep everything going. He was on his way to his YMCA, and shortly I'll be on my way to mine. No crying in the pool, you know. And no feeling sorry for myself. I have so much to be thankful for.

I am just so happy that my mom is at peace. She is with her God, and as she was the kindest, gentlest woman I have every known (in contrast to me, and I did apologize to her for that), I can only hope to be as good of a human being.

Peace, and know that I will be OK. Life marches on. Take care of yourself and your loved ones. We only get one body while we are here, treat it well!

Weekly Training Totals 04/17/2006-04/23/2006

Weekly Totals 04/17/2006-04/23/2006
Swim: 10150 yards in 3.58 hours; 19% of weekly workout time; approx. 1254 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 155.77 miles in 9.17 hours; 47% of weekly workout time; approx. 4278 calories burned
Run: Approx. 33.05 miles in 5.04 hours; 26% of weekly workout time; approx. 2708 calories burned
Strength: 1.52 hours; 8% of weekly workout time; approx. 380 calories burned
All Sports: 19.31 hours; approx. 8620 calories burned
Sleep: 8.86 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.68 hours

Season Totals 09/12/2005-04/23/2006
Swim: 267000 yards in 94.51 hours
Bike: Approx. 2558.59 miles in 147.49 hours
Run: Approx. 931.48 miles in 146.51 hours
Strength: 48.99 hours
All Sports: 437.5 hours; approx. 194954 calories burned
Stretching: 47.79 hours

Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-04/23/2006
Swim: 8344 yards in 2.95 hours
Bike: Approx. 79.96 miles in 4.61 hours
Run: Approx. 29.11 miles in 4.58 hours
Strength: 1.53 hours
All Sports: 13.67 hours
Sleep: 8.47 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.17 hours avg./week

Goals from Last Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night. DONE
• Get in at least 2 hours of stretching for the week. DONE
• Keep up the mental focus. DONE
• Reestablish my power readings, after a week without the SRM and good power readings. FTP is unchanged, but the important thing is to push, push, push during every ride now (so that Ironman ride will be easy!), and I was able to do that.
• Stay on top of my nutrition. DONE. This was key in recovering from the big workouts so I could get up and do it again the next day.
• Keep my head in the game during every key workout. DONE

Accomplishments this Week:

• Drilled myself (watts-wise) on the bike even though I was riding alone and in strong headwinds.
• Remained strong for my father, who is truly suffering.
• Practiced optimal recovery techniques in order to tolerate the training load and other stress.

Goals for Next Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night.
• Get in at least 2 hours of stretching for the week.
• Keep up the mental focus. This is the hardest week of all.
• Stay mentally strong for my family and myself.
• Stay on top of my nutrition.
• Keep my head in the game during every key workout.

In case you are interested, here are the workouts I did:

Monday: Swim 3,000 yards in 1:04, Strength :57, Run :40

Tuesday: Bike 1:15 (FT Test), Run :42

Wednesday: Swim 3,250 in 1:10, Run :56 w/:30 tempo pace

Thursday: Run 2:15 building to :20 at tempo pace

Friday: Swim 3,900 yards (none of them easy except for the warmup!) in 1:22

Saturday: Bike 5:15 at IF (Intensity Factor) of .85 (essentially means I went at 85% of FTP for the entire ride, which is just below HIM effort); Run :30 (ran just slightly off my 10K pace)

Sunday: Bike 2:40 at IF .90. Was supposed to go 3 hours, but needed to go to the hospital. I still managed to drill myself.

F******************************************CK

....was the word coming to mind during today's workout, among others. Here's the workout:

Bike 5 hours (ended up at 5:15, 91 miles) and run :30 off the bike.
Bike workout: WU: 60' @ 65-70%, 60' @ 80% MS: 2 x (40' @ 88-90%, 10' Easy), 20' Easy, then 1 x 20' @ FT. Remainder (50') is 80-85%, as you feel. (All percentages are as % of FT. 65-70% is easy (below IM watts); 80-90% is HIM watts. So not an easy ride, really. I had happy 15-20MPH winds , but today got the tailwind on the way home. That part was SWEET!--going 27-30MPH with a huge, silly grin on my face. Also, the groovement was gone, so I got to ride some fresh asphalt for about 3 miles. Also a pleasure!
Run workout: Easy out, steady back. Well, I just ran as best I could on the way out. I averaged 8:25/mile or so. What the hell? I can't believe I can run like that.

Below are excerpts from my internal dialogue while on the bike:
Pay attention! (said to numerous cars with drivers on cell phones)
Fucking stoplight.
This sucks. No, this is how it's supposed to be. If all I do is ride easy, I am slow.
Thank you (pointing upwards) for the wind today. It helps me to work harder.
I feel very scientific! (I rode in Fermilab, one of our National Accelerator Labs, again today)
I LOVE Nitrogen (thought while looking at one of the numerous Nitrogen tanks).
No, wait, I LOVE Oxygen (but there were no tanks of it--I just got to breathe it in)
PLEASE BE WINDIER (thought while the wind was gusting to about 35MPH in my face)
Hello, Bobbleheads (while looking at the buffalo)
Thank you (to a man in a car who let me cross this busy road ahead of his left-turn right-of-way)
My ass hurts (well, DUH)
My neck hurts (after first 2 hours in the aerobars, but I got used to it or else I ignored it)
UGGGGHHHHHH (after the first HIM interval)
I like to pee (while peeing at one of the Fermilab entrances)
Hi! (to at least 50 cyclists today, lots of riders were out)
(hand gesture) Thumbs up (to the guards at the various Fermilab gates since they saw me 4 or 5 times)
I suck (whenever I felt I wasn't generating enough power)
I am fucking great (other times)
I can't believe I am doing this right now cuz I've already put in 11 hours of training this week
I wouldn't rather be doing ANYTHING except riding my bike today (whenever I saw a convertible with the top down)
My bike is better than yours (whenever a motorcycle would drive by me)
I'm disgusting (2+ hours in the saddle you are pretty much like this, right?)
Why do I do this? Oh, it doesn't matter, I have a workout to do.
Why do I do this? I don't know, but I may as well keep pedaling.
Why do I do this? I spent good money on the stupid race fee.
What a great way to get a tan!
I am fucking out of my mind. 6 years running now. It could be worse, though.
Maybe I'll stop doing this after Ironman Brazil and just work out 1 hour a day. That would be like--well, NOTHING.
I can't believe I'm OK with circling around this lab like 6 times. I'm like a hamster or something.
The squirrels look really happy. They don't question their existence, do they?
I LOVE Ultra Violence.

My Pet Tapeworm

He's baaaaaack. Constant hunger. Metabolism is racing like a good BBQ fire. Throw more wood on it! I don't think it matters how much I eat now, as long as I E-A-T. And try to match that to my training. This is not easy, but I'm trying.

Yesterday, thankfully, I got my Bitch back. All with SRM re-energized with new batteries, speed sensor works, recalibrated, bike all tuned up, gosh I missed her. So I needed to do an FTP test yesterday.

I was supposed to do a brick run, but that would need to wait until later in the day, since it took some time getting to the bike shop, and then I needed to wait for new cleats to put on my shoes (luckily I spotted the worn out metal on the old pair last weekend). The run would get done after work.

I had about 300 calories at breakfast, I ate a banana, I snacked on jelly beans, and I started on a can of Ultra Violence before the workout. During the workout (my FTP hasn't changed, by the way, still holding at 171), I polished off the UV and a little Gatorade. When I finished (around 1:45PM), I drank a serving of Endurox R4 and had about 300 calories of lunch. So at this point I'm up to about 1400 calories.

At about 6:15 I went to the Y to do a short run. I figured I'd run on the treadmill just to keep my QL/piriformis issue in check, and then I'd stretch afterwards. I drank a 20-oz. bottle of Gatorade during and finished up while I stretched. I got home at 7:30 ready for dinner, relaxation and sleep.

As soon as I got into my house, I felt a little dizzy and weak. My good friend Mr. Hypoglycemia had come to visit! Since I knew what it was (although I was a little surprised--I didn't think I was that depleted), I decided to gamble a little and see how long I could wait to eat something before passing out, or at least falling over. But I threw my dinner into the microwave for 2 minutes 45 seconds, and when it was done I finally sat and chowed down. I literally shovelled the rice into my mouth, because I was no longer willing to mess with Mr. Hypoglycemia. About 10 minutes and 700 calories later, I felt fine. Actually the dizziness passed within minutes of getting the rice down (see this is why sometimes you need to eat high glycemic foods). But it made me laugh, and I wouldn't have written a post if this hadn't happened. I figured I was still low on calories for the day, so I polished off the remainder of a package of Jordan almonds, maybe 20 of them? It doesn't matter. I needed calories.

I lasted about :45 reading before it was lights out. And I went down FAST, by 8:45.

I know that tapeworm is still with me because I woke up hungry, ate, went to the pool, was hungry while swimming, and I'm eating again. About 4 more weeks to deal with the tapeworm and then it will be taper time! But it's totally worth it to be on the lean side; it's what I want for Ironman Brazil, and dealing with some level of hunger is worth the effort.

Weekly Workout Totals: 04/10/2006-04/16/2006

It was another banner week! I capped it off with a 3-hour ride today. Same directions, same wind, only stronger, and as a bonus, I got to play storm-chaser on the way home. When I woke up, it was rather cool (about 50F) and it had rained overnight. The forecast called for sporadic rain throughout the day and cool temperatures. Well, since I "only" had to ride 3 hours today, I procrastinated, and luxuriated with the Sunday paper and coffee and organizing my day and next week and such. As I procrastinated, the weather improved, and I decided, what the hell, I'm riding outdoors. ALWAYS a better option than the trainer.

Today I wore a regular short-sleeved jersey and regular length tri shorts. I got a decent sunburn yesterday and didn't need a repeat performance! As I headed out west, I could feel the wind pushing me there, only today I wasn't so happy about the prospect of >20 miles back in headwinds. Oh well, this is about work now, so I needed to get to work.

I shot a can of Ultra Violence before I started, which helped to clear the cobwebs from yesterday's big day. That really helped! And I loaded up some more Ultra Violence onto the bike, because I thought it might come in handy today. Big week, big workout yesterday, everything is pretty huge in training right about now!

The ride felt hard today, and I don't think I was able to push as much as I wanted to, yet I was pushing most of the time, because I was battling seemingly swirling winds. Although the weather had cleared somewhat, there were clouds gathering (lack of sun was not something I missed today!), and I needed to be on the lookout for potential storms.

Long story short, when I was about :45 from home or so, the sky looked really dark to the south and east where I was heading. I guess this was all the impetus I needed to push harder to make it home before getting soaked! All I could think was BEAT THE STORM, BEAT THE STORM. And I didn't want any stinking cars getting in my way. So I pushed, riding through the groovement zone again (arghhhhhhh), and about 3 miles from home I felt the first raindrops. No lightning or thunder, though, so I was good to go. I just kept pressing and pressing. I knew that at any minute the sky could open up and I could be in for some serious weather. I started to feel bigger raindrops. GO FASTER, DAMMIT! Luckily, it being Easter Sunday and all, there wasn't much traffic those last few miles. And I reached my house, exactly 3:00.38 after I started, and the sky opened up! Although my actual riding time was more like 2:50-something, I'm calling it 3 hours on the nose. That was enough for today!

After the typical admin time at home to suck down Endurox R4, eat a quick lunch, and lay in bed for about an hour (to the accompaniment of heavy rain and thunder, you can't beat that), I motivated again since this was my day to catch up on things. Laundry, dishes, cooking, a little cleaning, fixing bottles, washing bottles. At this point in training, there is precious little time on the weekends, so in a way, I was glad to have drunk the Ultra Violence and not actually napped as I still had some energy to get these things done.

And now for the happy totals. I'm on some kind of roll, as I should be, given how close Ironman Bra-zeel is:

Weekly Totals 04/10/2006-04/16/2006
Swim: 8,800 yards in 3.13 hours; 18% of weekly workout time; approx. 1,096 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 158.96 miles in 9.08 hours; 52% of weekly workout time; approx. 3,789 calories burned
Run: Approx. 25.41 miles in 3.9 hours; 22% of weekly workout time; approx. 2,075 calories burned
Strength: 1.47 hours; 8% of weekly workout time; approx. 368 calories burned
All Sports: 17.58 hours; approx. 7,328 calories burned
Sleep: 9 hours avg./night
Stretching: 3.9 hours

Season Totals 09/12/2005-04/16/2006
Swim: 256,850 yards in 90.93 hours
Bike: Approx. 2,402.82 miles in 138.32 hours
Run: Approx. 898.43 miles in 141.47 hours
Strength: 47.47 hours
All Sports: 418.19 hours; approx. 186,334 calories burned
Stretching: 45.11 hours

Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-04/16/2006
Swim: 8,285 yards in 2.93 hours
Bike: Approx. 77.51 miles in 4.46 hours
Run: Approx. 28.98 miles in 4.56 hours
Strength: 1.53 hours
All Sports: 13.49 hours
Sleep: 8.46 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.15 hours avg./week

Goals from Last Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night. DONE! I can't believe I've averaged about 8.5 per night for the entire season so far!
• Stretch 15’ per day. DONE! Highest amount of stretching ever. I needed to attend to the right side of my body due to running on the roads again. I seem to be keeping things in good shape.
• Stay on top of calorie needs and nutrition. I'll check back on this tomorrow. I don't think I'm losing weight. I did well on the nutrition except for Friday. Oh well, I'm not going to worry about that.
• Get my head in the game during every key workout. DONE! I am amazed at the power of my mind to work with my body, not against it. This will continue to be key in the next few weeks.

Accomplishments This Week:

• Achieved highest ever amount of stretching!
• Persevered despite a "crash" day on Friday
• Reestablished my usual healthy eating after a junk festival on Friday
• Kept my piriformis in good stead, even though it bugged me for a few days this week

Goals for Next Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night.
• Get in at least 2 hours of stretching for the week.
• Keep up the mental focus. Next week is harder than this week!
• Reestablish my power readings, after a week without the SRM and good power readings.
• Stay on top of my nutrition
• Keep my head in the game during every key workout

Make it HURT

My friends, the ultra-focused long rides, are back. As it should be. I've got to get in a number of them in the next few weeks to be ready, REALLY READY, for Ironman Brazil. I just wouldn't have it any other way.

Last summer, prior to Ironman Wisconsin, I got my first taste of these rides. They are the sort of thing that to execute them properly, it's tough to ride with someone else, unless they are willing to do what *I* need to do. They are best done on the flats (how convenient that I live in Flatland!), and I enjoy them more with a stiff headwind (cross winds not so much).

I got my wishes in spades today. The high only got to 68, and there were stiff east/east northeast winds blowing. When I do these rides, I go west. So in a perverted sense, I was excited today because I knew I'd have to ride home into a headwind!

I loaded up the Lobster bike (my road bike--the SRM isn't back until Monday, unlike what the service center promised--so it's road bike this weekend, and the Power Tap is fucked up or just needs a battery or something so I'm riding on feel, but I know what FUCKING HARD feels like!), and suited up. I chose rather skimpy riding clothes, since the plan was for a 4-hour ride followed by a 30-minute run. I pulled some weeds in my front yard flower bed to test out the temperatures, and knew I'd be fine.

The bike workout was to be this:
WU: 60' @ 65-70%
MS: 2 x (40' @ 88-90%, 10' Easy), 20' Easy, then 1 x 20' @ FT.
Remainder (50') is 80-85%, as you feel.

Remember, I rarely just go out and JFR anymore, although I did so in South Carolina due to the presence of certain "mountains." With those, you just push it up and hang on as you fall off the damn things.

I headed out and oh joy! Tailwind, so I'm in the 52/13 (highest available gear) heading west to Fermilab. Fermilab has an accelerator ring that you can see from an airplane. Very high-tech. Since I am going senile, I didn't remember how long it normally takes for me to get there from my house, nor did I have an odometer, but I figured on about an hour, and I was correct. Then I figured I'd do the 2x40' in there (a couple of loops), and then head back to a T intersection (Eola Road and Bilter, for those of you who might know the area), then west again to do the FT interval, and finally turn around and head for home.

What a beautiful day! I love being in Fermilab, because, well, it's so scientific. You see these various buildings where they are doing who-knows-what, and there are huge tanks of liquid helium and liquid nitrogen hanging around. And REALLY BIG electrical thingies. But there are woods in there, and also a herd of buffaloes (which I like to call bobbleheads), and there is very little to no traffic in there, and the roads are decent, so it's a nice place to put the focus hammer down.

And focus I did. The loop was mostly windy, and I would just pop into the big chain ring and ride as hard as I could for as long as I needed to. I could feel the muscular fatigue in my quads, but I didn't care. It was good I didn't have a speedometer, because I didn't care. All I cared about was make it hurt. Make it count. And I did. I could tell sort of from my heart rate and my calorie burn that I was kickin' it. And since I was riding mostly on flatness, there was no coasting, although I did have to stop and pee a few times, but I made it quick, because I was so into getting it done today.

While I was in there, I saw: buffalo, horses, egrets, herons, robins, cardinals, a red-tailed hawk and at least 10 other cyclists, all of whom had on way more clothes than me. All of them were happy to smile and wave at me, as I did to them, except for one woman. She looked a little surly on her tri bike (perhaps she was looking down at my silly clip-ons on a road bike which I was barely even using) as if she was the only one "working." WTF??? I can always at least lift my left hand off of wherever it is to give some sort of acknowledgment.

As I was leaving Fermilab, I thought to myself that I have come a long way, when I really have no problem looping around to get my "work intervals" done. There are other places I can ride, but I like being surrounded by science in a safe-riding haven even though I suppose I am picking up some spare electrons or something. I always feel pretty good when I'm in there!

But, as is always the case, all good things come to an end. So I left the place with one more nasty interval to go. And this one would include a few short hills. The deal was NO shifting into the small chainring even for those. I had to grind it a little bit, but no worries, it was only 20'. Most of it was on a north-south road, so I avoided the stiff easterly winds. But then I turned to ride home. Total headwind! Which was great, since I was not allowed to lollygag on the tail end of the ride.

About this time, my right foot started to hurt a bit, which was funny because usually my rule is 5 hours riding or 80 miles before that happens. But I guess with all the wind and with all the effort I was pushing (I would REALLY like to have seen what my true watts were--oh well, next weekend I get the big surprise!), it happened a little sooner, at just 3:30 in. At this point, I knew I had a long ride back into the headwind, so I unclipped that foot and stretched it a bit, and kept going.

Stupid road bike doesn't have quite the aerodynamic position of my tri bike, but I made do. I got sick of riding in the hoods so I used the silly clip-on aerobars, which helped with the aerodynamics a little bit. I think I was gritting my teeth all the way back.

But wait--when I was about 5 miles from home (more or less), I got a special treat--2.5 miles of recently grooved road. I envisioned that I was riding the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix or something like that. It was actually better on the road bike than it would have been on the tri bike, but it still sort of sucked. But I was laughing, like how much more could this hurt? Here I'm kicking out HIM watts (most likely), I'm riding into a stiffy, I'm on fucking GROOVEMENT (that's what I call it, anyway), and joy of joys, now I get to ride up another hill! It just doesn't get any better than this! I was thinking that if I can remember shit like this during Ironman Brazil, the race should be a piece of cake. Note: training rides should ALWAYS be harder than the Ironman ride, if you are pacing properly, that is.

When the groovement ended, I was grateful (er...maybe I was grateful while I was on it). And it was then that I began thinking about my run to come. I have this bad habit of not holding myself back enough when I am supposed to, so I began a mantra, "GO OUT EASY, GO OUT EASY."

Since I'd be running from my house, I figured, what the hell, run east first, right into that headwind, to make it hurt even more, and at least I'd get some relief on the way back.

When I got home, I had to wash my face because I was such a mess of drool, Gatorade, salt, sweat, you name it. I put the running shoes on and assessed my legs. They felt worked. As they should have. OK, so now RUN, asshole.

And out I went. It did not feel good. My legs felt like lead weights. There were 2 young girls stretching as if they were going to run, and I felt obligated to tell them, "I really CAN run, but I just got off my bike after 4 1/2 hours," because I felt like I must've been running like a drunk person. Now, remember, right out my house I have to run up a 1/4 mile hill, so I really get to keep making it hurt. Then I turn left into the headwind.

The wind doesn't feel too bad on the run. I think it died down just a little. No wait. Now it's gusting, and picking up my feet and almost making me fall down. That's one of the fun things about being so lightweight. I literally get my feet picked up more than I'd like when they are already in the air. But it makes me laugh.

As always, I am battling the brick demons. I am just running as best I can. I'm not looking at the HRM, as it would be pointless. I'm just trying to get a decent cadence with tiny wittle steps (a la Elmer Fudd). I pull my hat down further over my eyes as the sun is bugging me and so is the wind. I get to the first mile. 8:42. What the fuck is that? I shouldn't be running that fast (remember, I am S-L-O-W). Especially after that hard ride. But really I don't feel all that bad. Just the usual this-fucking-sucks-it's-a-brick-run-why-the-fuck-do-I-do-this-shit bad. So I figure that since I'm into a headwind, and I will always run faster back towards home, what the hell let's do another 7 minutes out and then turn around.

No problem. It does suck just a teensy-weensy less with the little tailwind. I figure I must look like total crap, but then my head registers, "Hey, we don't really feel all that bad maybe we CAN keep a decent run pace up in an Ironman." I guess the more you do this shit that hurts you, the easier it feels. Thanks coach! My threshold for suckiness is much bigger now. I am thinking that few of my friends that I used to train with could keep up with the shit I do now. Or maybe they could. I alternate between feelings of invincibility and total suckitude. This is what keeps me training, I guess.

I start the last mile home, and all I can think is, "MAKE IT FUCKING STOP." No walking, no slowing down now, just run and get it done. In reality, I was also thinking how long could I keep going like this? And I know that with a little Coke or Ultra Violence, a long, long time (I didn't even use the old Ultra Violence today!!!). I was listening to some music on the radio, but seriously I didn't even hear it.

And I got home. 2300 calories later, you would think I ate my entire house, but I didn't. See yesterday I sort of crashed (verge of overtraining), and knew I had better seriously load up on carbs. So I bought a bunch of crap. 2 Butterfinger easter eggs. 3 Fannie Mae creme eggs. I made a high-fat salad of Boston lettuce (in honor of the marathon on Monday, of course), grape tomatoes, crab meat and Marie's Thousand Island dressing. I forgot the damn avocado! It's a good salad, but hey, it's salad--that's WHAT FOOD EATS! I ate all the candy, the salad, and then snacked on some Cheetos and Jordan almonds. I know, I know--not exactly the most nutricious choices, but I needed to REALLY CHEAT for once. And it was all good! I've been piling on the volume lately, and I didn't want to go into today's workout feeling like shit.

So I stretched some more, and I got my lunch down and now it's about time for dinner. I can't wait to ride tomorrow--3 hours sort of like what I did today, but no brick run (yippee-cay-ay). It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so most likely I'll be on the trainer. Oh well, it's got to be done.

Happy Easter!