2007/09/10

The season is over for me and it is time to assess what went right and wrong...
Training since last January was an average of 7h20mins per week:
Swim 68hours, Bike 124 hours (3500km), Run 60 hours (668km)

Now it is time to fix my feet and get stronger at running.

2007/09/09

Did a 5k race yesterday. Managed 19.00, which I wasn't too pleased with at the time. Looking at my HR data though I see that the race was representative of my fitness. I went out hard and kept my HR up all the way through. My 1k splits were: 3:20,3:47,4:03,4:07,3:43
Here is the HRM file:
Running

2007/08/27

Because of multiple knee and foot injuries over the last six weeks I considered not starting this race. I did a 1600m swim race and a 10k road race the week before and could hardly walk for three days after. I finaly decided to start the race and see how I feel... no pressure to finish!
Race morning was a bit of a disaster. I mis-calculated how long it would take to drive to the race and only arrived 35 minutes before the start. I was last person to register, last to rack my bike and second last person into the water - I was waist deep in water zipping up my wetsuit with just under two minutes to go to start time!
The gun went and I went out very hard to try to hold onto the lead pack. They were much too fast so I settled in with the second and took it easy for an uneventful swim... Out of the water and on the bike in 27:35.
On the bike I started a little hard and then backed off until my HR settled - 10 minutes into the bike my HR had settled and I was cruising along at 35-38km/h into a brutal crosswind sitting a HR of 150-155... This was when I realised that I had left my gels back in transition! This was to be my only form of energy as I had planned to do the entire day on water and gels. Several expletives later I decided that I would probably be ok. There were aid stations at 20,45 and 65km so I took two 750ml bottles of energy drink at the 20km station (even though I only had one bottle holder!) drank the first one in about 5-10 minutes and settled back into my riding again. All in all I drank about 3 litres of energy drink on the bike and felt pretty good all the way around. Bike Split + T2 2:30.36 and out I went into the unknown... the run.
AvSpeed
My total distance ran in the preceding 6 weeks was 18km spread out over two runs. I started the run thinking that my knee or foot would shout no at some stage so just ran for the sake of it. I remembered my gels and took one gel just before every aid station except the last (at km 3,7,10,13) and washed it down with water at the aid station. My pace was pedestrian but I stuck to an 8min:40seconds Run:Walk and was feeling ok. The time and kilometers just disappeared into thin air, it was the shortest perception of time and distance I had ever experienced - even though it was my slowest ever HIM run-split ever... I crossed the line, with a little wobble, pleased that I had left everything out on the course with a run-split of 1:43.43 and a total time of 4:41.44... an 11min PB... strange!
Running
Bike data:
Run
Run data:
Bike

2007/08/22

It's been a season of injury ... from the knee down has been a total mess! I'm not too sure what went wrong, however, I'll be addressing it over the off-season.
Last Saturday I managed to make it to the start line of one (really two) of my goal-events. The Stockholm2Athlon... I also managed to achieve my goal result, to win!
It's not the most prestigious event, but a win is a win. The event is a 3200m swim starting at Stockholm City Hall. This was shortened to 1600m because of high wind and quite a heavy 'chop' in the water. I got a good start and, unfortunately for me, the calm after the initial storm never came... The chop was so high and irregular that I could not regulate my breathing and therefore could not sustain a threshold pace. I splashed across the line in 9th place with look of fear in my face and a time of 23:40!
Swim photos:
TAthlom1

TAthlon2

TAthlon3

The second part of the race started an 22.00 that night. It's called midnattsloppet (The Midnight Race) and had 20,000 people on the start line to race through thew South Island of the city... There was a bit of a mix-up in my application so I had to start in the third start group. When the cannon went I had 2km of something approximation rugby - trying to get through non-existent gaps between the runners ahead of me. After I had gotten through the major congestion I was well into my stride and running quite well. My 5k split was about 18:30 (3:43/km) but because of my lack of running I started to seriously slow down with every passing kilometer... I crossed the line in a time of 39:30 with an average HR of 179!
Run fitness is definitely a problem and Saturdays HIM will be a challenge to finish... However I'm determined not to let a season pass without doing at least one triathlon, so I'll be on the start line ready to try... We'll see how it goes.



2007/07/19

I went to my tri-club's swim training last night. I wore my wetsuit since we have a 4000m outdoor test-swim (aka race!) on Saturday.
200 w/u 8x50m technique 1000m negative split (7:01,6:42) 6x50 recovery 5x200m on 3:45, build pace ( 3:01,2:52,2;43,2;34,2;28 ) 6x50 recovery 8x50 on 1:10 (34,35,35,35,36,35,36,35) 300 easy (4:37)
Tired tired arms!!!
I'm on my way out for my lunchtime run now... I'll probably do the 12km loop in the forest, have some lunch and tonight -depending on how I feel- I will probably do some hard intervals on the bike (5x8min,2min RI). Friday is rest day and Saturday is the 4000m swim-test... I'll be so bold as to predict a target time: Let's say 55:00 since it's my first time open-water swimming this year and my navigation skills will not be as sharp as they should be.
If I feel ok I might even do a long bike ride later in the day... Gotta try not to overcook it again!

2007/07/18

I've been on again off again for two weeks... I initially thought that I could recover from a hard three weeks in two days. I had ups and downs until finally I went on one day on, one day off training for two weeks followed by three complete days off. I now feel good... or dare I say great! I have started my physio again and the knee is better after only two sessions. It's not too surprising since it was more preventive maintenance that anything else, but the result is that the sensations that were there all the time now only come at the end of a long run. I'm well on my way!
As usual, once I started, I started hard: Monday: AM Run: 12km Hilly Forrest trails PM Swim: 3.9km w/ club Tuesday: 94km interval session on Tri-Bike: Lots of Mod-Hard -> Hard efforts 32km/h average speed Wednesday: Swim with club
Our club is holding a 4km open water swim on Saturday. It's nothing big but some of the other local clubs will attend, so there will be some healthy rivalry. It will be my first open water swim of the year so if I don't get a good pair of feet to follow I may end up swimming considerably more than 4km! I won't taper, but I have to admit I really want to do well.
Anyway, we'll see ... time to do a bit of work!

2007/07/11

Did a hard interval session last night:
5x4.7km (7:00,6:59,6:53,7:12,7:09)
The wind shifted mid way - I think that's why the speed significantly dropped... It couldn't have been anything to do with me!!
Put the new wheels on the bike:
Bling
Bling!

2007/07/10

Yesterday I did my lunchtime run: 2km easy 5km (hilly) Hard-Very Hard (20:56) 2km easy
My right knee is starting to get a little tender again... I think I should book a time with my physio again!
######
Did a before-work swim this morning - Something I have been planning to do for about 3 years. Out of bed at 06:40 and in the pool for an easy 4.1km:
300 w/u: 4:22 7x400 with 15 secs rest (5:47,5:46,5:47,5:51,5:52,5:49,5:52) 1x1000m (14:10)

I have an interval session on the bike tonight. 25min w/u 5x4.7km lap TT pace 25min easy spin home. Very Happy

2007/07/09

I have been overcooking it quite a bit… I had to take a very very easy week to regain both my health and my interest! When I look back I see that I had 5 very hard weeks and, for some reason unknown to me, I decided to back up the 5 weeks with 12 hour week with LOTS of speed work! I was flying on the bike on Wednesday, hitting 4min kms on the run on Friday and did my all time best 5x1000m swim set on Saturday… Saturday evening I did a tough fartlek run and Sunday I did a 90min hard interval session on the bike. Monday I had a swollen neck and attempted a recovery run. Tuesday my legs were sore after my recovery run! I then decided to train EASY every second day… Wednesday: easy bike (75km av, HR 138), Friday: Long Run 17km (80mins), Sunday: easy run 40 mins. I’m back and I think I’ll run during lunch and return to the pool tonight and do a 4x1000 set. I’ll see how I feel and take it from there…
I’ve just looked at my 2007/07/27 entry: “…too tired to write this …”. I wrote this and then did a 12 hour interval focused week. WHAT WAS I THINKING?

2007/06/30

Had a nice rest on Thursday, so I think I managed to absorb the previous trainingbefore I finish the block off. On Friday I did a double run:
AM – 10.2km Hilly off-road (48:48, Av. HR 139)
PM – 10.6km (53:44, Av. HR 131)
I took them both very easy, I don’t want to injure myself again!
Today I did an afternoon wetsuit swim in the outdoor (50m) pool. It was raining, so there were hardly any people there. I did:

200w/u

4x1000

(14:10,13:56,13:48,13:43)

3x100 (1:26,1:25,1:22)

500 easy (7:20)

I was tired, but quite happy. It’s the longest swim set I have ever done. I think I’ll focus on swimming for the next two weeks – try to get swimming 4 times per week and that should put me in good shape for Riddarfjärdssimmmet (a 3.2km open water race in Stockholm city center).

I’ll back the swim up with a 70min run tonight and finish off the weekend with a 4 hour cycle tomorrow…

2007/06/27

I've just finished up a tough 4 days:

Sunday: 78km cycle

Monday: 9.5km run AM, 4km Swim PM

Tuesday: 75km cycle

Wednesday: Run 12.5km AM, Swim 4.2km PM

Tired!

Tme to absorb it so I'll take it easy tomorow and see how I feel on Friday.

The plan is to do a 5+ hour cycle on Saturday or Sunday... I'm actually too tired to write this now...

Later.

2007/06/25

I had a great cycle yesterday. It was the first one since the 300km ride last week, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I started out easy and threw in an 8 min mod-hard effort after 20 mins w/u. I then settled down for 20 minutes and then decided to do another interval – stand for all the hills. I started to feel better and better, so I decided to keep the ‘stand for the hills’ session going for the duration of the ride and also adding some mod-hard efforts on the flats. I ended up averaging 33km/h for 78km!!! I was quite surprised and absolutely delighted. This is my absolute best training ride ever.

I backed the ride up with a hilly 9.3km run at lunch.

I started out easy, push the hills for the middle 5k, finish easy.

Stats: 9.3k , 43.22 , 4:36/km , cad av. 93

90 mins swimming tonight should then have me nice and tired.



2007/06/22

I'm on my way out for a run now. It's my first ever before breakfast run... I'm curious about how I'll feel, so I thought I'd write a before and after entry. At the moment I'm not very motivated and quite hungry, however, out I go!
I'm back! It ended up being a 12km, 54min run. It didn't feel too good at the start but after 20 minutes I started to do some intervals and after these I was feeling better. The run was: 22mins steady (4:27/km) 6mins Mod Hard(4:00/km) 7mins easy (4:47/km) 3mins Mod Hard(4:09/km) 10mins Easy (4:50/km) 7mins easy (4:45/km)
Shower, Stretch, Eat!
Done for the day.

2007/06/19

I was swimming with the tri club last night and one of the girls in my lane -who is and ex-marathon swimmer- was kind enought to, sheepislhly, point out a flaw in my stroke.
It seems that my entry and catch are on the money, however my pull us pretty much non-existant.
She sais that just after the catch, I drop my elbow and from that point on there seems to be no more forward propulsion generated. I imediately tried to focus on this and got tired after 50m! I'm delighted with this because my swim times had plateaued of late, so now I have -to use a star wars term- "a new hope"!
It's time to slow down and re-build ... again!

2007/06/18

Vätternrundan is done! It didn’t go quite according to plan, however, considering the conditions, the time was not too bad. We started off with a nice wind behind us for 100kms however the wind came around and was in our face for the next 200kms - this slowed things down quite a bit!
I was hoping for 9:15 total but came in at 9:52 – that’s 9:09 of cycling with 43 mins of piss/food/drink stops.
The positive side of it was that I felt strong all the way throng and worked hard for the last three hours. It is, I hope, a good springboard for some good cycling this year. I now know I have a good endurance base, so the next order of business it to get a bit of speed into the legs.
I’ll swim tonight, run tomorrow and depending how I feel, I’ll hit the bike again Wednedsay or Thursday… I should have some good form coming my way!
Finished:

Finished

2007/06/12

I managed to recover quite well from the inaugural 10k of the year…
Thursday: Race
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 90 mins bike – 20min w/u, 4x8min TT pace, 25 min w/d
Sunday: 15km run – 8min:45 seconds Run:Walk easy pace.
Monday: Swim 3.9k with club

Saturday morning is the 300km bike ‘race’ – I’m not sure at all how to approach the week. On the one hand I know I need to rest and recover beforehand, however, I am also at the beginning of a run build and don’t want to lose any run durability.
My initial plan was:
Tuesday: Cycle 50-60km (tonight), with a couple of 90 second efforts.
Wednesday: Run AM (9k easy), Swim PM.
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Travel
Saturday: Race


It looks conservative enough, but there is a voice in the back of my head saying “Back off!”… that’s usually the voice you remember hearing after you have overdone it. One last thing, I’ve managed to get a saddle sore. I’m trying my best to shake it before Saturday – but at this late satge – I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’ll have some undercarriage pain on the day.

2007/06/08

It’s been a tough couple of weeks… I’ve hitting some relatively long distances on the bike and am running 3-4 times/week injury free. Swimming is taking a bit of a back seat – I’ll have to address that next week!

On the up-side –although, nothing seemed ‘up’ about it last night- I performed relatively well in a 10k cross country race last night. It was on the tail end of a very heavy week, a brutally tough course and I have no threshold run training at all. I staggered across the line in 21st place (of 500) in a time of 41:12. At the time I thought it was pretty bad, but the winning time was only just under 38 – so tough course.

Polar data showed: HR av. 170, max. 177, Cadence av. 95 max. 102.

Next week is all about cycling. 300k on Friday – plan to get it done in 9hours…


2007/05/27

Just back from my first long(ish) spin on the new bike… I don’t have a speedo on it yet but reckon that it was about 135km. Nice day, hardly any wind and I think that I managed to average 29km/h. It’s the first time I’ve been on a road bike this year, also it’s my first non-Powercrank ride.

There were a few major differences noticed:

1/ I’d forgotten how stable (relative to my P-X Stealth) a road bike is… Some of the downhill sections that I ride down and considered treacherous on the PX were taken full speed, with no need to even touch the brakes – amazing!

2/ I’m not sure if it’s because of the slacker position of the rode bike or simply because I’ve been exclusively on the Powercranks for so long, but I found it very very hard to get my HR up. On the PCs I find a HR of 140 is my cruising speed and 150 is my steady speed. On the road bike I found the HRs to be a good 8 bpm lower. So, cruising was 130-132, steady was 140. I’ll give it another while before I make any conclusions, but at the moment I have three theories:

Time will tell – I’ll stick to the PCs during the week and ride the normal bike on weekends.

Here’s a photo I took on Saturday:
Field

2007/05/26


Here is my new bike... Just finished building it and had a quick spin to sort out the gears - it seems ok. Wieghs in at 7.3kg, nippy and responsive - I'll give it a good spin tomorrow. Can't wait!


Finished

2007/05/25

I’ve just confirmed a belief that I’ve had since I started to train for Ironman. It was my firm belief –however unsubstantiated it may have been- that swim fitness was of great importance to the IM as a whole.

While training for IM France last year one of my club members –a veteran of 10 IMs- commented on how much swim training I was doing. He said that I was probably doing too much and should instead focus on more running and/or cycling. I gave it some thought and in the end decided to ignore it – my reasoning was that I wanted to not necessarily swim fast, but to be fresh when beginning the cycle.

I swam at least three times/week: 2x1h30mins with the club and 1x4000m straight set.

By the time IM France approached I was not considering my swimming as training, I thought of it more like practice – it took little or no effort.

I am now back swimming after a 5 week lay off and have got 4 swims done in the last 10 days. Upon returning I didn’t really notice any difference: Pace may have been 2-3 seconds/100m slower, but that was about it. Last night we did a distance set: 200w/u, 500 technique, 800@IM pace and 5x200 negative split… After this set I was tired and running during lunch I ran my years slowest 5k. It may not be conclusive proof, however, it’s enough to make me believe in what I have long suspected: “The Swim is the foundation of the IronMan”. And if it’s not solid the rest can crumble around it!

2007/05/23

Just in from a great ride! 75km on the Powercranks, 30km/h average speed and felt great. The pain that normally comes after 90mins of Powercranking never came... I think I have made a breakthrough. Just last night at swimming I was saying to someone that I was about to give up on the things - I think I'll give them another while yet, however, I'll start supplementing them with normal cycling. At the moment I'm considering doing my long cycled with normal cranks and my shorter -mid week- rides on the PCs.
I've spent the last hour or so looking through all my Cycling HR curves for this year and last. The reason was to compare my PC data with last years 'normal' data. I did see some differences, specifically, the PC rides have much smoother HR curves. This is -I suppose- because when starting out on the PCs I found it very important to conserve my energy - just so I 'could make it home! Now that the conservation of energy is not so important the habit/pattern has stuck. Maybe it's something to consider when I switch back to normal cycling.
While looking of differences I inadvertently came across a similarity... I have trouble sustaining pace/HR on the flat! Hills and rollers are comfortable at my steady HR but I almost never hold my steady HR on the flat. I'll work on this. Not sure how at the moment, It might just be a matter of concentration... I'll keep my senses open on the next ride.
'Till then...

2007/05/22

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything – decorating the apartment has made my routine impossible.

In the last few weeks my running has become stronger and stronger. I’m hitting 3-4x8-12km runs/week at an average pace of 4:30/km sitting on a HR of about 148-152. I’m concentrating on holding form and increasing my cadence. I have the Polar RS800SD so can check my cadence at a glance – I’m trying to keep at ~ 94 all the time… I find that it slips down to 92 when I get tired.

I’m breaking my runs into thirds at the moment;

1st Part: Build to steady (4:20-4:30/km).

2nd Part: Mod hard (4:00-4:08/km)

3rd Part:  Easy pace, high cadence (4:40-4:50/km, Keep cadence at 95)

I’m focusing on frequency at the moment but after a couple of weeks I’ll start to build duration… I just might sign up for Helsinki Marathon, it looks like a beautiful course and getting a place to stay should be no problem for me. All I have to do is avoid getting too excited about it – I always seem to injure myself once I sign up for a marathon – to date I’ve signed up for 4 and made the start line only once!

The inaugural 100km+ Powercrank ride took place last Saturday. On a very windy day I managed to do 135km at 28.2km/h on 140bpm av… To say it hurt would be an understatement! From km 95 on it got progressively harder and harder – I’m not sure how long my determination/stubbornness can hold out! I’ll give it another go next week and see if it gets any easier and may then consider introducing some non-PC cycling…

Had my longest break from swimming in years – nothing for 5 weeks. I started back on Sunday and was surprised that I hadn’t lost that much speed. I, now more than ever, need that swim-focus week… Next week maybe!?

That’s that for now…

2007/05/03

I still have not managed to get that 100km Powercrank ride done! The weather has turned pretty bad – most days are 6-8 degrees with winds of anything from 20-40km/h.

On Saturday I managed to get 90k done in very windy conditions and averaged 28km/h… This was pretty good. The ‘dead’ feeling that usually sets in after 90 mins of Powercrank riding never came. It seems that Phase 1 of adaptation has taken place!

The next thing to work on is getting into the aero position. At the moment I can manage this for only a few minutes – it’s much harder to bring the leg over the 12 o-clock position when on the aero bars… I’ll start trying to improve this from now on.

Running is back – but I’m being very very careful not to exacerbate the injury again.

I managed to get and 3 runs done and no pain… I must constantly remind myself to take it easy thongh!

Missed my 1500m swim test - in fact all swims this week - the first time I have done this in over a year!

I’ll put in a swim focus period in the next few weeks… Swim every day for 10 days.

2007/04/24

I got a good week cycling done – I managed two back-to-back 75km rides on the Powercranks.

I’ve been in the gym doing my knee-physio and all in all things are looking up!

Average speed on the powercranks is now at around 28+ km/h – which is still slow for this time of year but it does at least show vast improvements… Three weeks ago I was struggling to to 30k at 26km/h average speed.

I’m hoping to get a 100+km ride done this weekend – If I can do that I’ll be pretty happy.

Last night I tried running again – the first time for 4 weeks!

I started out with a very conservative approach: 6x(6min run:40secs walk) @ 150bpm.

The run went well – so from here on in I just have to take it easy!

Sunday is another 1500m test-swim. I have to decide if it is to be with or without wetsuit…

If it is with w/s I’d love to go under 20’.

If it is without I’d love to go under 23’.

So – just so I can see for myself – my goals for the week are:

That’s that!

2007/04/13

Speedplays are back on the bike! My reasoning is that while using them I never had any knee problems, so I'm hoping that they will fix my current problem... I know, wishfull thinking!
Off out in a few minutes to give them a try. The last outing left the knee a little delicate - not painful though! Hopefuly I'll be reporting a painless, non-delicate knee later on.

2007/04/10

Since my last post I have been nursing a case of runners-knee!
I can still cycle and swim, but it's hard to find the motivation when I know that I can't back-up the swim-bike with a run!!! However I have been outdoors on the Powercranks for the first time and am adapting pretty well to them...
Three consecutive days: Ride 1: 32k - Av. Speed 26km/h Ride 2: 46k - Av. Speed 26km/h Ride 3: 32k - Av. Speed 26km/h
The first time out was pretty scary. There is a helpless feeling whe both legs are at 6 o'clock and a pot-hole is rapidly approaching... Slow-speed maneuvers and getting moving were also pretty difficult tasks too. I suppose -from a skill, speed and endurance point of view, it's pretty much like starting to ride a bike all over again. If this does not yield results I'll be pretty pi$$ed off!
Since I will not be running I plan to get a 100km Powercrank ride done next weekend... The 27km/h av. speed is pedestrian enough, so I also hope not to drop below that speed - it's a good 3km/h off my usual speed for this time of year!
So - Goal for the week set!

2007/03/16

Plan for day: Rest – get a train to Dublin. Possibly an AET run in the stadium in the evening.

-#-#-#-#-

Eventually did my follow-up AET test and I have to say, I am very happy.

The format is 5x1600 at AET - aka MAP followed by 1 threshold run. The first test was done about 8 weeks aga and the results were:

7.53/8.05/8,26/8.45/8.53/7.06

Todays test was:

7:22/7:30/7:34/7:38/7:45/6:40

So -not surprisingly- on aerobic threshold training alone, my AET pace has increased considerably and my threshold pace has increased only slightly (12% increase in AET pace, 6% increase in Threshold pace)... So I think I can safley say , that gamble paid off... I will do two more weeks of AET running and then introduce some top-end work to try to increase my threshold pace...

2007/03/15

Great day today. I Jumped out of bed when the alarm went off thismorning. Early morning swim was great -apart from the face that half way through  my 100s set two old-biddies complained to the life guard - they said that I was making them scared, so I had to change out of the lane that I was in - the lane that was EMPTY when I arrived to the pool!

Set was: 2x600, 11x100 on 1:35, 1x600

I went for a run after work- headed out just before sunset and went in a different direction that normal... I'm working in Athlone for a couple of weeks, so didn't realy know where I was going so I was just running in the general direction of the river. I happened uppon a road that stretched out for miles accross a flood-plain... It was absolutely beautiful - a long narrow flat country road surronded by motionless water with the sun setting in the background. Every few minutes there were farms and houses in the middle of the water - totally surreal!

Anyway - the run set was:

10min start easy, build to hard - av. HR: 145 av. Speed 13.1km/h

1 min walk

10min steady: av. HR: 147 av. Speed 12.9km/h

1 min walk

10min start steady, build to hard - av. HR: 154 av. Speed 13.6km/h

1min walk

10min steady: av. HR: 147 av. Speed 12.3km/h

Nice - and -yes- after 2 years I have replaced the battery in my polar running pod!

2007/03/14

Annother early morning swim today. Felt a lot better than yesterdays one.

3x400,11x100 on 1:35, 1x400

After work I did a 70 min run. Easy pace - only 14km in 70 mins... Felt good afterwards though.

2007/03/13

Been ‘busy’ for a few days! Traveled home from Sweden on Saturday… Had a few beers in the airport, plane, connecting airport, next plane and then headed into town for a few more once I got home… Sunday was a right-off and Monday was a little better.

As a result, I only trained for the first time today.

I did an early morning swim first – 7x600. I never got into a rhythm and did not enjoy the session at all.

After work I convinced myself to go for a run. Once I got out I felt great and averaged 4:30/km for just under 9k… Tried to read in bed but kept falling asleep. All in all, a good day!

2007/03/08

Did not run to work today… I barely made it out of bed! It was one of those mornings where I woke up and felt like I had been glued face-down to the bed.

I think my body is trying to suggest that I should take some rest. Travelling to Ireland tomorrow, so I will take it easy until I get there. Scheduled TOA is 18:40 so I might do my 5x1600m test on Saturday night and not go out. Sunday morning I’ll then probably go out cycling with Swords CC for an easy 90k… Having said that –once I hit Ireladd my plans usually go out the window.

2007/03/08

I ran home from work today - with the intention of swimming after. I felt pretty flat during the entire run, so decided to knock the swim on the head.

Drinking wine now and feeling a bit better. I might run to work tomorrow since I know that I won't be doing anything for a couple of days...

2007/03/07

Longest ever Powercranks session today.

65 mins !!! Never thought it would be possible. I just shifted between 39x13/14/15 to alter the cadence every 2-3 mins and kept the power at approx 200w.

For the last 10 mins I kept it above 220w. Nicely cooked!

2007/03/06

Had a shord day at work today so I decided to hit the trainer for a while before swimming. Did:

Powerctranks session...

23x30mins (2:3 min,80:6 5rpm,190w)

Swimming:

Main set was 500 (7:55)

Then lots of 100s

Felt sluggish - no speed.

2007/03/05

Quick run today - found it hard to get myself out of the house but finaly decided to go for a 30 min run. Once I got outside I felt better and did a 9.2k brisk run. 10:1 still but hit a good pace. Verey happy.

2007/03/04

I have been doing nothing since Wednesday... Lacking motivation and drive. I think it's because my goals are not clearly laid out yet. I must sort that out ASAP.

We did a 60 min non-stop swim tonight. I did it in a wetsuit and managed 4225m - that's 1:25/100m, not too bad but I would hope to hit 4500m/hour this season.

This week I plan to have a 'boost' week - do 2 sessions/day Mon-Thur with a general focus on running...

One last thing. I started building the 'coss bike yesterday ansd hit a few snags.

1/ I've -up until now- got away without a star-nut tool but on this build I bent the nut while straightening it out.... I suppose I was just lucky on the other builds.

2/ I just discovered that the front deraileiur cables run across the TT, so therefore the 105 on I have should be wired from the bottom - I can only assume there is a pulley attachment that I must buy to u-turn the cabel... I'll slap a question on the forum tomorrow...

2007/02/28

Another PC session today. It was quite hard - much harder than last week... I'm beginnig to wonder if I'm better off ONLY using PCs until I have achieved better adaptation to them. Maybe the spinning is hindering the whole adaptation process.

Session was:

20 mins 200w

2min rest

20mins: 10min 65 rpm @ 190w

10min alt 65/75rpm on 2 min

2min rest

10mins @ 65 rpm/180w

1min rest

10mins alt 65/75rpm on 2 min

1min rest

10mins alt 180/220w - 39x13

I've been thinking more about training with power... The Polar CS600 seems to be what the book "The Paradox of Choice" calls 'good enough'.

+ relatively cheap

+ 50/50 power distribution

+ download reliable

- 2:40 record time if sample rate set to 1second

- not actual power

- bumpy roads can skew readings.

The alternative is the Ergomo Pro, which too seems to have it's faults...

+ Reliable and stable power

+ Norm Power displayed dring ride

- Download seems finiky

- Battery life??

- Build quality??

- 2 x Price of Polar

Decisions decisions!

2007/02/27

Spinning AM. It was shorter than usual so I took itharder than normal... Hammered the last 10 mins.

Swimming later on. Main set was:

400m neg split (3:00/2:59)

20x50 on 1 min - most 50s in 40-42

2007/02/26

First long run in months - 18k in 1:28. Didn't intend to go that far but it's done now so that's that. Stuck with the 10:1 run:walk with HR capped at 150... I hope I recover ok.

2007/02/25

Swimming - main set 2100: 700 easy,700 steady,700 mod-hard

10:15(147av.)10:10(157av.),9:51(167av.)

Would like to compare the figures with a real swimmer.

2007/02/24

Quite big day today:

3 hours spinning -  Mainly steady. Followed by a steady 35 min run. 8:07,8:09,8:22 1600s steady followed by a mod-hard/hard 1600 in 6:48

2007/02/21

It's been a while since I entered anything. I'm back in Sweden and training way.

Did my first Powercrank session in 3 weeks.

15min w/u

35mins steady - no rest... I'm very happy with that.

Last night I hit the 50m pool for the first time in 3 weeks. We did a 400m as part of the main set. I managed it in 5:57. All in all things are going well.

I would like to do a 5x1600 AET test but have no access to a track here... I'd really like to know if there has been an improvement on last test, just to see if the current training is having the affect that I am hoping for.

2007/02/14

200 w/u

2x600 (9:33,9>20)

10x100 on 1:40 - all 100s sub-1:28

100 w/d

Got a slignt PF strain in my left arch.

That's the first time I had any PF probs since my Orthodics... I'll rest and return to the run:walk strategy... Shit!!!

I'll cancell my run tonight and have a sauna instead.

2007/02/13

Good swim this morning.

20x100 on 1:40

1x600 in 9:33

Run lap of Athlone ignoring my run:walk protocol. Fast!

2007/02/12

Drinking all weekend!

Might have overcooked it on my return to running. My left medial anterior knee is slightly painful. I have just started 3x15 dips - 2x/day and we'll see what happens.

I will perfrorm my AET 5x1600m test on Sunday. I'm probably hoping for miraculous resultys but we'll just have to see how it goes and accept whatever the result is!

2007/02/08

Thinking of  what could be possible…

6:05 1600s at threshold ~ 3:45 /km … if I could string a few of them together it would be even better!

I wonder what that would equate to for AET speed?

If I am now at 8-9 min AET with 7 @ threshold, I suppose that I would be looking to hit 7 or less at AET ~ 4:22 /km … The best thing to do is just do what I am doing and keep measuring… don’t force it and see what happens.

To put it annother way, I'm looking to have an AET pace equal to my current Threshold pace...

2007/02/08

I have been hitting my 20x100 (SCM) quite easily now - so easily that today I did 25x100 and hit them all with 10seconds rest...
I think that I'll be so bold as to state a goal of 20x100 LCM on 1:35
... 4 weeks time??? We'll see.

2007/02/06

Stockholm Mararthon is now on the agenda for this year.

I am going to try to hit a sub 3 hour marathon here without focusing too much on running. .. If that is at all possible.

I plan to do 3 runs per week:

2007/02/03

Back in Irealnd and managed to get out on the bike for about 100k.
Steady pace, quite hilly, nice day!
After 5k my right STI lever stopped working - so I had to complete the remaining hilly ride in 39x15.
####
I'm getting closer to deciding what I'll do this season. Because of other commitments, it doesn't look like an IM is on the cards, so I'll probably work on some of my other sporting goals this year...
1/ Sub 3 hour Marathon - Stockholm June 9th 2/ Sub 4:30 HIM - Sala, Sweden, August ?? 3/ Get faster on the bike - Not sure how to measure this yet!
My target for this week is:
Monday: Run 9k Tuesday: Swim 45 min AM/Run 9k PM Wednesday: Swim 45 min AM/Run 9k PM Thursday: Swim 45 min AM/Run 9k PM

2007/02/01


Up at 07.15 and in the pool for 08.00
20x100 on 1.40 (most 100s done in 1.30) 2x300 on 6.00 easy (5.50,5.53)

2007/01/31

Skipped swimming this morning - I am on the border of over-cooking it!
After work, I decided to to an easy 9k run instead and opted for a 10:1 run:walk strategy, since it is my 5th day in a row running... I don't think I have ever done 5 straight days running before.

#######

Not too long ago I decided that I would not do an IM this year... Having got right back into training and allmost injury free, I am now beginning to change my mind.
Just last week I changed my mind and decided that I would probably do a local, independent IM distance race: http://www.kalmartri.com/
One week later and I'm thinking of my original plan - IM France. There are still 800 places left, so I don't have to make my mind up yet...
2007/01/30
Morning swim 20x100 on 1:40
Evening Run 11k lask 1k in 3:20 ... I paid for that this morning: I couldn't get up for swimming!
2007/01/29
Lunch time run - easy pace.
Had intended to get up and swim before work today, but when the alarm went off at 7.00 the body said "Stay in bed!", so I did!
Not sure what I'll do tomight... I'm working abroad and staying in a hotel so no Bike/Powercranks to play with...

2007/01/28

Did another test today…

6x1600 first 5, HR under 150, last Mod-Hard->Hard

Times: 7.53/8.05/8,26/8.45/8.53/7.06

Quite disappointed with the way the times fall off – It really shows a lack of

base fitness. All I can do now is just train easy and wait until the results of the

next test…

2007/01/27

Did a run test of 3x1600m today.

The idea was to benchmark my Aerobic Pace and track it as the season approaches.

Protocol:

HR kept under 150

5k w/u

Then 3x1600 were @:

8.01/8.16/8.25

I would like at least a minute off these times by mid-June.

Next run test is 2007/02/17

We'll see then!

2007/01/25

It's good to be back training but -once again- I'm getting obsessed!
I did a 13+ hour week last week... I told myself that it was a boost week, just to get me back into shape and I planned to rest the follwing week.
Well it's the following week now and I haven't eased off just yet!
Monday was rest Doctor/Physio. etc... day. Tuesday: 55 mins Spinning AM, 60 mins swim w/ club PM Wednesday: Run -easy pace- 47mins Thursday: Powercranks 2x20mins followed by swim w/ club 60mins
I promise myself that I will then rest Friday & Saturday, then next week is planned as a swim-focus where I will try to swim 3k every day for a week.

2007/01/23

I have had many niggling pains from head to toe over the past three years.
This year I decided to take action to fix them all... so far it has gone like this:
Doctor, referred me to annother Doctor and a Physio.
Physio gave me exercises for my ankle injury and referred me to an Orthotic Specialist Centre for my arch pain.
Orthotic Specialist Centre -of course- fitted me for Orthotics - which I will collect on Friday.

So, depending on how this goes- I'll set new goals for the year.

2007/01/22

Just finished a 'boost weekend' with our IM Group.
It consisted of:
Sat: 09.30-12.00 Trainer w/ Powercranks (10min@70rpm, 1min rest)x3 (5min@70rpm,2min rest)x16 12.00-13.00 Lunch 13.30 Run Technique 35mins 14.00-15.23 Run in forrest
Sunday: 09.30-11.15 Trainer w/ Powercranks (10min@70rpm, 2min rest)x6 15min@70rpm x1 11.30-12.39 Run 10k in forrest in 20cm of fresh snow!
18.30 Swim 45 mins flat out!
20.00 Pizza,Couch,Bed!
So, I'm getting there with the Powercranks... I hope it will be worth it since I am not really enjoying it at all. It reminds me of how I felt when I just started running - Lots of pain with little apparent reward!
On the plus side, my right leg is getting more smooth and stronger on the up-stroke, also, during the Sunday set, my left and right leg felt -almost- equally tired! This may have been because of the volume, of maybe my legs are balancing out??? - too early to say yet... time will tell.

2007/01/19

I have been off running for 6 weeks and finaly decided to give it a try again on Wednesday. I managed about 9k @ 5min/k with no problems. At times I was tempted to up the pace but held back and completed a 45 min 100% aerobic run pain and injury free.
Powercrank session 2 went pretty well also. I managed to do the following set: 12 mins @ 200w 70 rpm , 1 min rest 23 mins @ 220w 79 rpm , 1 min rest 10 mins @ 190w 70 rpm
It was by no means easy, but my legs were coordinated and I managed to keep a cadence of 79rpm for the 23 min set. The last 10 mins were very tough. I was -once again- finding it hard to bring my right leg over the pedal stroke... It's geting better though!
I'm still amazed by the difference in strength and mobility between my two legs -My left leg has -as yet- not felt tired on the Powercranks.

2007/01/16

Well, to say I was humbled would be an understatement.
My initial plan was to do 30 mins steady cycling and add whatever I could if I felt I had anything left. As started my first pedal strokes I discovered my plan was a bit ambitious.
After a minute or two of un-coordinated pedalling I managed to find a cadence that I could hold without too much trouble... 10 minutes later I had to stop. The pain was only in my right, anterior, lower leg - probably the Tibialis Anterior muscle. This leads me to believe that most of the power in my normal pedal stroke comes from my left leg.
I managed to complete two more 10 min sets without too much trouble, I then went for a fourth set -out of stubbornness- and the power dropped from 195W -> 170W for the same HR. My right leg started to constantly drift out of synch - basically, I shouldn't have bothered.
The most unusual thing about the whole session was that the power o/p and cadence were not chosen by me - Once I settled into 195W/70rpm that was the only Power/HR at which I could pedal in synch... If I drifted outside the Cadence or Power my pedal stroke fell to peices!
Anyway - in summary:

10min 195W@70rpm, av.HR 146 (max 156) 1min rest 10min 195W@70rpm, av.HR 148 (max 161) 1min rest 10min 195W@70rpm, av.HR 151 (max 162) 1min rest 10min 170W@~70rpm, av.HR 152 (max 161)

2007/01/15

Finally my Powercranks are fitted!
Tonight I will do my maiden training session... I can't say how long it will be. Some people are only capable of 5-10 mins their first time, some more - it depends on how efficient they are on the bike.
I'm going to stick my neck out and say that I'll do 30 mins min!
The Power/HR that I achieve will be interesting... normaly I can hit 180W well within AT.

2007/01/09

My training is on hold for a while... Just when I have bought my Powercranks, finished building up my 'Cross bike and got a new turbo trainer, I broke a few ribs and sustained stomach complications with the injury... #@?# #@?# #@?#! It's been 4 weeks and at least I'm managing to sleep properly now - it might be annother couple of weeks before I'm back trainig again.
On the bright side though the whole experience has taken me out of obsessive training mode and made me realise what is realy important... I finally got down on one knee -after years of procrastination- and will thus postpone my 'road to kona' plan. This would have been unthinkable 5 weeks ago. So all in all not too bad... A bit of pain, a bit of perspective!

2006/12/08

I have just purchased a set of Powercranks (PC) and an Elite, Crono Wireless trainer. Over the next few weeks I'll post: My Turbo-sessions with: Power vs HR and comments. I'll also be monitoring my Non-PC Power vs HR to see if it changes. I hope to have it all going within the next week or so.