Swim Bike Run Faster

Where To Go From Here

2009-09-16T21:03:00.000-04:00

I planned to write a Timberman race report two weeks ago but I haven't gotten around to it. My lack of motivation to do so has a direct connection to how I'm feeling about the sport right now. I have no real desire to swim or bike and my motivation for running is only driven by a previous commitment to the DC Ragnar Relay next week. I've got three legs in two days for a total of 20 miles. And it will be a slow go since I still can't kick the tendonitis in my Achilles heels.

Perhaps there is such a thing as post-race depression. My disappointing showing at Timberman begged the question, why do I crumble at the half-Ironman distance? I figure I had unreasonable expectations to begin with. If I want to be a competitive age grouper maybe I need to do more training. But with my training volumes typically in the 8-10 hours range I don't see how I could fit more in.

Time is not the only issue right now. I have come to accept the life of a triathlete means I will ache from something; a knee, ankle, shoulder, back, groin, hip, calf, arch, or some combination of them. I can't remember the last time I wasn't in pain. My mind has finally caught up with my body and said, "Enough! Let's take a break."

I'm going to take a few months off to heal and rethink what I want from the sport and what I can actually achieve given my constraints. I may need the services of a coach to maximize my limited time. And then I may just keep to the shorter race distances for a while.

Taper Time

2009-08-18T17:57:00.001-04:00

Timberman is now less than a week away! I can't believe I signed up almost a year in advance. It seems so long ago. I haven't been this excited and full of anticipation about a race since Vineman.

This week I'm taking it very easy in hopes that my lingering injuries finally heal up. All of you triathletes out there know about those pains that aren't bad enough to keep you from training but just enough to make you wonder if they will ever go away. It sure would be nice to finally kick the Achilles ankle and calf muscle soreness I've had for the past three months now. Or perhaps that groin pull that typically act up at mile 10 of my long run won't creep into the race. One can only hope the decrease in volume and increase in rest over the past two weeks has helped.

We shall see come Sunday!

Charlottesville International RR

2009-07-28T20:11:00.001-04:00

In preparation for Timberman I returned to Charlottesville, VA to take a crack at what is known as a tough and hilly course. I rode the course last October and squeaked out an average of 18.8 mph, which didn't include the two stops I made for food and pictures. My goal for the race was to see where my fitness stood by testing out the race paces I intend to keep in New Hampshire, now only a month away. I had some concerns about how my recent hip injury would respond to the hill climbing but everything seemed to work out.

.9 Mile Swim - 21:42 (1:30/100m)
The water temperature was 80 degrees so it was time to test my open water abilities sans wetsuit. I was eager to see what I could do and had a pipe dream about posting a top ten time. Reality set in about 400 meters into the swim and I decided to hang back and follow some feet. When I popped out of the water my watch only said 21:00, which was much lower than I was figuring. Turns out everyone had that thought. I calculated the course was 300 meters short.

T1 - 1:09
Not having to fight with a wetsuit was nice. I was going to try to grab the bike with shoes already clipped on but the course jumped into a serious hill right away. I figured the situation was better suited for a traditional approach.

23.5 Mile Bike - 1:08:15 (20.7mph)
I perfectly hit my mark of 20.5 and did so being somewhat reserved. I attacked a few of the steeper climbs early and noticed lingering fatigue from Friday's 25-mile ride up the Custis Trail from Rosslyn (had to test the hip). I watched my average and kept the cadence high over the last ten miles. The 41mph decent to the race site certainly helped the average. As I approached the dismount line I began to slip out of my bike shoes. In the process I felt the right shoe come unclipped so I reached down and grabbed it. I set the shoe on my aerobars but that lasted all of two seconds before it flew off, ironically landing next to my car.

T2 - 0:47
I tried the stretch laces for the first time in a race and it wasn't too much easier. I think I need to loosen them a bit.

10K Run - 41:56 (6:52/mile)
The most exciting part of the race was the trail run. I had never competitively run through a wooded course before and could not wait. I quickly realized its dangerous to run full speed over roots, mud, rocks, hills, and streams, right after you biked. I almost ate a tree when I attempted to turn at the bottom of a hill. I decided to keep a pace that seemed safe until my legs rebounded from the bike. My splits were: 7:10, 7:08, 13:56 (two miles), 6:38, 6:26, 0:38.

Total Time - 2:13:47
I was pleased with the results, especially since I swiped my first AG win! It was a small race of 101 men so there is only so much cheering I can do. I placed 7th OA so that was nice too. But more importantly, I know where my fitness stands and I can now gameplan for Timberman.

Rest Sucks

2009-07-19T17:24:00.007-04:00

The past month I've been able to log some good training. I've hit a few long rides, runs, and even an open water swim. Last week I had planned to go easy so I could start my hard speed work weeks before the big taper for Timberman. I felt great recovering with the slower paced days.

The Tuesday of the slow week I had an opportunity to play softball with a friend and I jumped on it. The next day my hip flexors were sore like I had lifted weights. When Sunday rolled around I rode one loop of the Kinetic Half course hard. During the ride I felt a slight pull in my hip but didn't think much of it. A few hours later I had a tough time walking. On Tuesday my hip felt 90% so I opted to play another doubleheader of softball instead of training, figuring it would be easier on the hip. Wow I was dead wrong. The muscle quickly knotted up and I limped through the games.

The injury forced me to chill on the couch and watch the Tour de France all week. I kept wishing I could be tap dancing my way up those mountains. After watching Contador take yellow this morning I felt well enough to try some easy riding. I managed a meager 27 miles at 15 mph before I called it a day. Don't think I'll take any stages with that kind of effort. I probably could have gone further but what's the point. It looks like I'll be taking a forced taper this week for Charlottesville International. Bummer since I had planned to train through. Oh well, I hope to be healed and able to race respectable by next Sunday. We'll see how the week goes.

UPDATE 7/23/09: Had a decent tempo run yesterday but still experienced tightness and pain. Probably brave some bike training tonight to see if its a go for Sunday's race.

Keeping Rubber on the Road

2009-07-12T17:44:00.008-04:00

After my spill a few weekends ago I started to wonder why I had fallen so easily. Certainly the combination of rain, fresh asphalt, and right-angled corner were the major contributing factors. But I wondered, at 5 mph or so, could I have avoided the accident all together? An investigation of my Trek Equinox's tires uncovered I had zero tread left. I bought the bike used a year and a half ago and haven't paid much attention to the wearable items since.

This week I decided it was a wise investment to purchase a new set of tires instead of ending up with a broken wrist/arm/thumb somewhere along the way. After some online research I decided to roll with Vttoria's Diamante Pro Techs for roughly $55 a piece at the local bike shop. The manufacture boasts they're good in wet weather and puncture resistant. Works for me. I strapped them on, pumped them to 100 psi like normal, and rode to work the next day. What a completely different feeling from before.

The new tires seemed to zap power and felt squishy, like I had a flat. Now worried about dropping $110 on junk, I did further research about road tires, specifically about pressure, weight, tread, rolling resistance, and Threads Per Inch (TPI). Prior to the purchase I had read plenty of consumer reviews on tires, much geared towards the ability to resist flats and wear. A new search turned up studies on the rolling resistance of certain tires and the watts required to overcome them. In some cases, a pair of tires might require an extra 5 watts to move at the same speed as another. The resistance factor is largely based on the width, tread, material, weight, and inflation. I didn't see my Diamante Pro Techs on the list but I knew it was harder to hit 22 mph on the new tires then on the old and bald Rubino Slicks. I wasn't happy with my new purchase since I was trading speed (estimated 1.0 mph) for safety. I then noticed I purchased 220 TPI tires, which means higher internal pressures allowed, which means I can achieve less resistance with more pressure. I went back to my bike and pumped them up to the recommended minimum of 115 psi instead of the 100 psi I was using. The next test ride I felt strong and more in control with less squish, but still some of that flat tire feel remained. I'll have to keep playing with the pressure to see if it makes a difference.

If you want to learn more about tires I recommend checking out this guy's site: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html

ITU World Championship Series

2009-06-24T22:12:00.013-04:00

I had an interesting weekend to say the least. Besides the normal studying and paper writing for my summer graduate class I managed to find time to ride with coworkers. The 6AM start time on a Saturday was not my choice. I'm told until I get married and have family obligations I won't be able to appreciate the early morning workout.

The ride was pleasant and along quiet roads filled with plenty of rolling hills. I left the group after 30 miles to do a few threshold repeats. Along the way it began to rain lightly. I prefer not to ride in the rain but I was determined to get in a much needed long ride in that day. I wanted to take Sunday off to watch the ITU World Championship Series race in Washington, DC. As I turned a sharp corner on freshly paved asphalt my front wheel lost its grip. Before I knew it, I was sliding down the bike trail on my side. The injuries consist of a bruised and swollen ankle, hip, shoulder, hand, elbow, and knee. I have a bit of road rash but not too bad. I think my bike took the worst hit because the handlebars are a little out of whack. I've been taking it easy this week, which has allowed me to concentrate on my final project for school. You got to find the positive, right?

On Sunday I rode my beach cruiser into DC to watch 4 of the 5 top triathlon finishers in Beijing compete for ITU points. All the big guns were in town: Javier Gomez, Simon Whitfield, Hunter Kemper, Jan Frodeno, Jarrod Shoemaker, and Andy Potts. I had a special interest in one athlete, Matt Chrabot, because he's a member of Coastal Racing from Virginia Beach.

My first impression of the Olympic triathletes was, "Damn they're skinny!" At 5'8" and 150lbs I look fat next to these guys. I guess the less weight you carry around the better when you're at that level.

The swim portion of the race was a two loop course through the nasty, brown, debris filled Potomac. I felt bad for the guys because they spent much of the time dodging logs and trash. Afterwards, I managed to watch most of the bike on the big screen they had at T2/Finish. It was pretty awesome.

The lead group of five turned a 10 second lead out of T1 into a 45 second lead on the chase pack of 15 or so guys. The chase pack never could put things together. Shortly after the run started it was clear it was going to be a two man race between Javier Gomez and 21-year old Alistair Brownlee. Seriously, this kid looked like he could have been 16. He dropped the hammer over the last 2km and won his second race of the year.

Bike MS 100 - Washington, DC

2009-06-09T23:32:00.002-04:00

This past weekend I took part in the National Capitol Chapter MS Ride outside of Washington, DC. Coworkers, friends, and I donated $300 for my old roommate Ryan's Team OutSPOKEn. In return, I pledged to ride the century course. I had no idea what the profile looked like but I figured I could handle another 100 miler.

When the ride began I realized I was going to be doing most of this alone. There weren't any "competitive" cyclists around to ride with so Ryan and I headed out as usual. At Mile 36 we split ways since he only wanted 60 miles. Feeling pretty good I took off and attacked a surprisingly hilly course. Despite the grades I managed 19mph for the first 60 miles. It was at that point my left knee began to ache again (remnants from MoM). I backed off but finished strong over the last 15 miles.

So over the past three weeks I've completed my first two century rides. And I don't think I'll be doing any more in the near future. The good news is... 56 miles now seems like a short ride.

MoM RR

2009-06-04T17:08:00.015-04:00

The misery is over.

My Memorial Day weekend was full of excitement in the mountains of Blacksburg, VA. Members and friends of Coastal Racing and I participated in the annual Cycling Doubleheader of the family oriented Wilderness Ride and the ominous Mountains of Misery. Both rides provide cyclists with challenging hills and, yes, mountain passes miles long with grades the organizers boast as reaching 12-15%.

The weekend started with a casual 38-mile Wilderness Ride that Ryan and I cruised through with relative ease in under two hours. Afterward we went back to the cabin to meet up with other members for an open water swim on Claytor Lake. Amazingly the mountain water was relatively warm for May but we still sported the wetsuits. I ended up swimming 20 minutes down the lake and another 21 back for a good solid workout. Afterward we ate like kings, had a few beers, and hit the sack for tomorrow's big ride.

The morning came way too early, partly because I didn't sleep well. I don't know if it was some pre-ride jitters about not getting enough training in or the fact I crashed last year and broke my thumb.

Only four of us were in for the long ride (Joel Bell being a stud and doing the double metric). We got there not long before the start and quickly got ready and lined up for the fourth wave. This time around the directors were limiting the size of the waves, which made the ride somewhat harder than last year because we were spaced out. Ryan and I spent the first 20 miles or so trying to find a suitable group of riders to roll with. Last year I had the privilege to ride wheels for most of the first half of the ride. When you're riding 103 miles in the mountains you take what you can, when you can.

Like before, the first serious challenge arrived around Mile 60 with the first mountain climb. This year I rocked a new Bontrager Race Lite GXP compact crank (50/34) and it made a world of difference. I still had to work like a mule to get the pedals around but I could get them around. By Mile 80 I was cursing the hills of a section with four or five continous steep rollers. My left knee had started to ache from all the climbing. And all I could think was that the person who designed the course was just being mean at this point. To say the least, I was happy when I reached the "five miles remaining" sign, but I knew it was literally an uphill battle from there.

After the ride we headed back to the cabin to eat and play flip cup till early morning, which is hindsight was a bad idea. The next day I felt a bit under the weather (partly hungover) and by the second day I had a full-blown head cold that sidelined me for a week.

White Lake Half II RR

2009-05-10T16:27:00.029-04:00

Two years ago I completed the White Lake Half triathlon in 5:49:52. It was my first ever triathlon and most painful, that is until yesterday. Previously, the pain was largely in part to being unprepared for the half-iron distance. Since 2007 I've learned a great deal about training and racing but nothing that prepared me for the heat I experienced this time around.

1.2 Mile Swim - 34:45 (1:49/100m)
It was a beautiful morning on the lake. The water was flat and a degree under wetsuit legal so everything was set for a quick time. This time around my wave was much smaller than a few weekends ago at Rumpass In Bumpass. When the horn sounded I went hard and focused on stretching out. I had not swam in the past three weeks due to an ear infection so I wanted to take it easy and get into a comfortable groove.

T1 - 2:10
Nothing to mention here. I do however want to work on getting my shoes connected to my bike so I can shave some time.

56 Mile Bike - 2:45:44 (20.3mph)
I had some minor concerns about the bike leg because I didn't put in the long rides I had wanted prior to the race. Nevertheless I wanted to focus on a 22mph pace. By the twentieth mile I had 50-51 minutes on my watch and felt great. I started doing the math and figured out I was way out of my range and backed off. After slowing for the first water station I stood up to pedal back to speed and felt a slight pull in my hamstring. To make matters worse, the wind picked up thirty miles in and was relentless the second half of the race. I decided I'd be content with a 18-20mph and not disturbing the pulled muscle.

T2 - 2:24
Once off the bike I began to notice just how hot the day had become. The weather was in the low 90s but that must have only been in the shade. I spent extra time to apply sunscreen and drink electrolites.

13.1 Mile Run - 2:07:32 (9:45/mile)
I had battled back and forth with a few guys on the bike but saved it for the run. I figured this was going to be my ace in the hole. I have been running 7:20/mile with ease in training so I figured I could rock a 1:37:00 without a problem. What I didn't count on was the heat destroying me completely. My run splits tell the story: 7:16, 7:23, 8:35, 8:38, 11:11, 9:10, 12:17, 9:11, 12:00, 13:10, 9:03, 9:28, 9:05, 1:05. The race became a war of attrition as I ran/jogged/walked my way past other age groupers. The heat was probably pushing over 100 degrees in the sun and there was zero shade for the entire run. No matter how much ice water I poured over me I could not cool off. It was brutal. I felt blisters developing in my shoes and when I looked down at my feet I noticed blood seeping out.

Total Time - 5:32:34
Going into the race I thought I had a shot at breaking 5:00:00. Even after the bike leg I thought my goal was possible. Sadly it was not my day. If you look at the results you'll see 9.6% of the men DNF'd. It was tough mentally and physically. Finishing 14/42 in my age group and setting a new PR in a half isn't bad I guess with all things considered. Good news is, my muscles aren't too sore today, however my feet are another story. It will probably be a week before I lace up the running shoes again.

Muddy Buddy RR

2009-05-03T19:52:00.028-04:00

Muddy Buddy! Last year I was a spectator with a broken thumb and no partner. But this year I conned Ryan to saddle up and get muddy. Thus Team Hammer was born. Most teams dress up so I made Hammer t-shirts for the race.

Some background info - Muddy Buddy Richmond is an eight-mile bike/run course through Pocahontas State Park. Team members share a mountain bike by leap-frogging each other along the way. Between each bike swap teammates complete obstacles like a balance beam, climbing wall, and cargo net. The grand finale is a low crawl through a mud pit.

The course was a little damp from all the rain we've been getting so you had to hold back on the bike a bit. However, we gave it hell through the woods, a river, and dodged a deer, to speed home for an age group win. And as you've seen above the race lived up to its name.

We had a mix-up when I stepped over the start line after the race. The computer system thought we started the race again and deleted our time from the results. After a few anxious minutes before the awards things got straighted out. I have to wait for the online results to see how we placed overall.

Rumpass In Bumpass Sprint RR

2009-04-20T13:48:00.011-04:00

I opened my triathlon race season at the Rumpass in Bumpass Sprint yesterday. Since this was my first triathlon of the year I wasn't expecting anything amazing. In the back of my mind I hoped for a new PR on the course, even without a taper.

750 Meter Swim - 13:55 (1:51/100m)
Brrr... The water was 62 degrees when the horn sounded. I'm not sure how much this affected my performance but my breathing and my ability to reach/extend my body was limited. The mass in-water start was larger than usual because the director grouped the elites with men 34 and under. There was a real battle in the first 200 meters that never truly sorted itself out, at least not around me. A little over halfway I got punched in the face out of nowhere by someone possibly trying to swim back on course. I swallowed water and had to adjust my goggles. As I rounded the last buoy I got kicked in the face.

T1 - 1:48
I had some difficulty with my wetsuit and a long run to the bike mount line.

12 Mile Bike - 35:29 (20.3mph)
The bike course was reversed from last October's Giant Acorn (and I guess shortened?). I welcomed the change because I felt it was faster in the way you approach the hills. However, this wasn't reflected in my bike split.

T2 - 1:15
I finally remembered to put my race belt on while running from transition.

5K Run - 20:08 (6:30/mile)
If there was a real gripe to have about the race course it would have to be the changes done to the run. In an effort to keep the bikers away from the runners the new course was routed through 300 feet of wooded trail and then 200 feet of gravel before reaching the road. The trail was ridiculously littered with roots and potholes. There literally was not a flat spot to step on.

Total Time - 1:12:34
I was hoping to break 1:10:00 but I don't think I've put in enough training to do that yet. Between the subtle changes in the course and my fatigue from the week's workouts I think it is safe to say I haven't lost anything over the winter. Also, another bright spot was my swim, which was somewhat competitive (36th vs 68th OA).

No Motivation

2009-04-16T17:34:00.000-04:00

It has been two weeks since the Shamrock Half Marathon and I'm sad to say my training has been less then spectacular. In all honesty it has been sporadic at best. I've tried to get a fair amount of cycling in to ensure I don't have the same hatred for the bike portion of White Lake Half as I did in 2007. I'm wondering if my lack of motivation is due to the cumulative effect of these factors:

Fatigue - The week following Shamrock you could not find a muscle in my legs that wasn't sore. Even as I write this I can still feel some residual tendonitis in my right knee. I've taken the time off to rest and stretch my hips in hopes to release the tension.

Allergies - When I began solid/lengthy triathlon training about two years ago I noticed long workouts would leave me short of breath in the evenings. It was as if I had irritated my lungs. I couldn't breathe deeply without triggering a cough. I did research last year and uncovered I might be suffering from exercise-induced asthma. This year I began suffering from the same symptoms without long training sessions or weeks. But the coughing coincided with the height of DC's much hyped Cherry Blossoms, which is a wonderful world of pollen. About two weeks ago I performed a 10-day trial of Claritin Allergy. I noticed my breathing was corrected, my itchy eyes were no more, and I did not randomly sneeze. However, I lacked serious motivation and spent most of the week resting on the couch after work.

Work - I've had a rough go the past few weeks dealing with residents, contractors, and projects. All of which is usually spread out over time but came together in a perfect storm that tested my mental toughness. This probably didn't help the whole allergy issue either. Each day was leaving me mentally drained by quitting time.

Life - March had some turmoil in terms of living arrangements. I moved again (but still in Arlington) and had to reinvent where I workout and when. I haven't figured it all out yet. There is still unfinished business concerning my past living arrangement that will probably require more of my free time.

With all these factors I'm concerned about my performance at Rumpass in Bumpass Sprint on Sunday. Top that with this being my first triathlon without a taper and you can't expect much as far as setting a new PR. I hope to benchmark myself given this is the same course as the Giant Acorn Sprint I raced last October. The major difference will be this race's water temperature is 60 vs the mid-70s of October.

Shamrock Half Marathon RR

2009-03-26T11:37:00.010-04:00

My 2009 race season started this past weekend at the Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA. In my last blog I was concerned about how I would perform on race day. And much like last year, my knee was tender leading up to the race. When I tried to push the pace over 7:00/mile in long training runs it would act up. The day before the race I was still debating what my target tempo should be.

Race morning I figured I would give it hell and try maintaining 6:30/mile for a few miles and see how I felt. If things were okay I would then try to negative split the race and finish under 1:25:00. This would be a nice PR from last year's 1:31:33.

Unlike last year the weather was decent with a light breeze and in the high 30s at the sound of the gun. I went with my warm gear, which has no pockets. For some reason I believed there was a power gel station at Mile 8 so I went without nutrition.

At the start line I saw Joel Bell from Coastal Racing. After discussing pacing I figured I would hang with him until the mid-point and then he would probably take off. For the first mile we ran with a few guys and came in at 6:07 with relative ease. I was a bit confused with my speed so I decided to play it safe and slow down. I took the next slightly uphill four miles at 6:18, 6:19, 6:24, 6:30. With five miles down I was feeling tired but with minimal knee pain. Since I was well above my pre-race pace I backed off again for fear of aggravating the knee. The next five miles were 6:40, 6:38, 6:45, 6:45, 6:45. When I passed the Mile 8 water station I searched for gel without success. I had been craving the extra energy the entire mile before only to be letdown. After Mile 11 I began to feel the effects of no nutrition. My pace for the remaining three and some miles slowed to 6:45, 7:00, 7:08, 0:50. This adds up to 1:26:54 (6:38 pace).

While I am happy to set a new PR I am disappointed I made such a stupid mistake with the gel. Apparently I missed the gel stop at Mile 10. That might have helped me cover the last few miles a bit faster. As far as pacing goes, I ran a really stupid race. I got excited with my first mile and changed my race plan on the fly. I should have stuck with the plan.

Running Less. Biking More.

2009-02-27T19:23:00.006-05:00

The Shamrock Half Marathon is roughly three weeks away and I'm starting to worry about the training I've done this off-season. I've experienced knee tendinitis, a painful IT Band, and falling down a flight of stairs. But besides the lingering effects of the injuries I guess I'm more worried about not running enough to achieve my goal of breaking last year's time. If all goes well before the race I'll have ran approximately 290 miles from November to March. In comparison, this is only slightly less than 2008's log of 318 miles. The reduction in mileage is due to running three days a week verses five. But there is more to consider...

Biking has been my weakest discipline over the past two years so I decided to dedicate myself to spinning at least three times a week and reducing my running frequency. With my history of injuries due to cycling too much and maintaining an aggressive running schedule I decided to keep my off-season workouts mildly easy at best. I followed a strict rule of increasing volume by no more than 10% in all disciplines. I also moved to a two-week "growth", one-week "recovery" routine. With this I still experienced the VMO and hamstring pain of seasons past but it was manageable.

I've now hit the peak phase of my running plan for Shamrock and I'm disappointed with the intensity I've displayed doing Yasso 800s. This is likely due to my complete lack of tempo and hill work. Last year I put one or two of those workouts in each week. This year I substituted it with spinning.

Hopefully by the end of my taper my legs will rebound from all the abuse and I'll be pleasantly surprised with my race results. One could argue I sacrificed my running for cycling but I haven't seen appreciable results in either to say I've gained anything in my off-season training. I can say I haven't lost anything though.

Steep Stairs

2009-01-30T20:52:00.008-05:00

Seven months ago I moved to Arlington, VA for a new job. I lucked out and found a three-story home. My first impression about the home was, "Damn that's tall!" And what else goes with a big home? Plenty of stairs. Somewhere around thirty of them. Last Saturday after a run I became intimate with eight or so of those stairs.

It had been a long day of training and I was exhausted, laying in bed, relaxing on the third flood. The doorbell rang so I gingerly got up (I was quite sore) and began my descension to the second floor. I carried with me in my left hand; a snack. In my right; a glass of water. A few steps into things I lost traction in my socks and fell backwards solely on my right butt cheek. I then slid down the stairs on my lower back, racking each vertebrae on eight or so stairs. Before I could figure out what was happening I was in a crumpled mess against the decorative railing at the landing. My water glass was still in hand but completely empty. My snack managed to make the turn in the stairs and land several feet away.

Needless to say I was and still am in pain. My lower back suffered a few scratches and deep bruising. It has recently turned a nice shade of green. My right heel is also bruised from where I can only guess I was trying to stop myself. And lastly, my butt is bruised to the bone on the right side. All of this makes sitting straight up and driving a painful task. And who could forget my triathlon training has been turned in with minimal effort. But I'm blaming that on the ice storm we had.

Vermont Vacation

2009-01-11T22:57:00.006-05:00

There hasn't been much to report except I took some time off to hit the slopes of Vermont for New Years. I thought I might find a place to run but who cares... it was too cold.

Winter Training

2008-12-22T19:28:00.000-05:00

I've finally gotten back to a regular training schedule these past few weeks. I still have a persistent stuffy nose at night but who knows. I'm blaming it on the cold weather. Sure it could be related to the illness that destroyed the whole month of November but why stop? I'm seeing my times slowly come down to where I was in October. Good enough for me.

The holidays are almost here and I'm considering taking a two week hiatus from training because I'm annoyed with running in the dark, spinning on my trainer, and swimming endless laps in the pool. I've come to the conclusion that the off-season blows. I'm taking part of the NCC with my triathlon club and every time I login to update my mileage I cringe when I see the Triathlon Club of San Diego kicking our collective asses. Let's forget the fact they have 62 members to our 12. But they are in San Diego! I'm completely jealous. I ran four miles tonight in 23 degree weather with 9 mph winds while they're at a balmy 56 degrees. I need to move.

Sickness

2008-11-16T18:28:00.008-05:00

I'm sick of being sick. For the past two weeks my training has been spotty at best.

It all began with a flu that started the day before Halloween. For the second time since becoming a triathlete I can remember the exact moment I knew something was wrong. And both times were immediately following a tough tempo run. What starts as body aches turns into severe fatigue and a continual search for warmth. I was wrapped in blankets for four days this go around. I also developed a touch of broncitus.

By the tenth day I was feeling up to an easy run. I set out for five miles on this new course I had developed, which incorperates a new lengthy hill I've eyed for some time. Halfway up the hill I thought I was going to cough up a lung. At the very least I figured this was a good way to get rid of the leftover phlem. When I got home I knew something was wrong, again.

The next morning I woke up with new symptoms... sinus headache, stuffy nose, sore throat. I had developed a cold overnight. It seems I've beaten my immune system pretty bad lately. I haven't fought off the broncitus yet and I can't shake this cold, now six days old.

I just want to train!

Charlottesville Course

2008-10-19T22:11:00.016-04:00

My short race season is over and its time to think about the off-season. But before I commit to another training plan I'm going to take some time to relax and enjoy workouts at my own pace.

With the weather rapidly cooling down and the days getting shorter I was lucky to get a beautiful day of riding in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the Charlottesville International course. I would have preferred to ride the Crabtree Falls route I frequent but my legs haven't been up to the task since the crash. I've realized showing restraint and moderation in my workouts is a good thing. So with that in mind I kept to the shorter 23.5 mile bike course I hope to ride next July.

The goal of the day was to push the pace and get a feel for the hills. I figured there would be a few steep sections and wasn't disappointed. I also wanted to get a good effort in the books to see where I stacked with this year's finishers.

23.5 Mile Bike - 1:14:38 (18.8mph)
This was a difficult course. The start of the ride is an eight-percent, half-mile climb just out of the parking lot. Once you get settled in you have two more decent climbs before you hit four miles. By the fourteenth mile I was kicked. Clearly I lacked the stamina I had built up back in May. I took it easy on the back stretch and powered home on the last climb. Here's how my Garmin recorded the ride:

I must confess I had to stop along the course twice to take photos to share with everyone. It was a picturesque ride on a warm October afternoon. I was also amazed with the clear, flat water of the lake. I regretted not packing my wetsuit.

Giant Acorn RR

2008-10-12T18:12:00.000-04:00

Two weeks after Sandman it was time to attack my final triathlon of the season on Lake Anna at the Giant Acorn. Joining me for the race was my roomate Ryan. I had been looking forward to this race ever since last year's finish. My only goal this year, given the circumstances this past summer, was to beat last year's finishing time of 1:14:27. I figured the swim was a wash but my bike and run fitness was superior regardless of missing ten weeks of training.

750 Meter Swim - 14:32 (1:56/100m)
I've never enjoyed the swim portion of a triathlon before this race. I didn't have any expectations in terms of time so I relaxed and swam comfortably. And for the first time I believe I swam a straight line point to point. This is the only reason I can justify why I matched last year's swim of 14:34.

T1 - 1:39
Not bad for me.

12.5 Mile Bike - 33:55 (21.2mph)
As usual I had a difficult time settling into the bike. This time I decided not to force the issue and was content with relaxing and hovering in the 22mph range when I found long flats. Having beautiful weather in the 70s coupled with the moderate hills, turns, and scenery made the course enjoyable. And best of all I finished 1:34 faster then last year.

T2 - 1:38
Same old story... Eat a GU and hit the pavement.

5K Run - 18:51 (6:05/mile)
Since I had slacked off on the swim and bike I wanted to focus on the run to turn in a respectable time and maybe grab a spot in the AG. I missed my split at the first mile marker but felt confident as I passed the second in twelve and change. Fueled by finally seeing Ryan I dropped the hammer and rolled home 1:55 faster then 2007's run of 20:46.

Total Time - 1:10:34
I'm pleased with the result especially since I beat my previous effort by 3:53. An AG place would of been nice but 5th in my AG and 34th OA isn't bad. It was a good way to finish off the season.

Sandman RR

2008-09-24T21:58:00.014-04:00

With four weeks of training in the books since my return I felt good enough to race the Sandman sprint triathlon in Virginia Beach, VA. Now when I say good enough I mean I had been running well and without pain. And I had been seeing some fast times on the bike but not much endurance. That's to be expected after a 10-week layoff. I can't forget to mention the fact with my wrist/shoulder still in pain I neglected to swim a single yard in preparation for the race. I figured it was only 1000 meters. Huh, what was I thinking...

The week before the race I tried to grab a short ride and flatted eight miles in, which was my second flat in two weeks. Luckily both times I had my roommate with me and he rode back to the car to pick me up. On the last occasion we put my tri bike on the roof rack for the ride home. When Tropical Storm Hanna begun to drop rain on us we became distracted and forgot my bike was on the top of his new Lexus. As we entered the garage I heard the crunch of my bike and the scratching of the rack digging into his car. Not pretty at all. The car had a few dents and my Adamo Saddle was toast. The aluminum bike frame appeared solid though. After some tense moments at the Contes in Arlington I was able to acquire a new seat the Thursday before Sandman. I fitted everything that night but didn't get a chance to ride the bike until early race morning. A few minor tweaks was all it needed I thought.

During the five mile ride to the race site I fiddled with my positioning a few times but couldn't get it right like I had been training on. I also noticed my cadence wasn't working anymore. I probably should have rode the bike after the garage crash.

1000 Meters Swim - 18:30 (1:51/100m)
This was my first time doing an ocean swim and it wasn't pretty. The swim consisted of going out 25m and passing three orange buoys by swimming parallel with the beach before returning back to the sand. My wave was full of red caps that looked much like bobbing orange buoys in the distance. My goggles didn't help much when they came off as I dove into a wave and then fogged up several times during the swim. Throw in the fact I was way out of shape for 1000m and you get a crappy time. No shocker there.

T1 - 2:02
Nothing to report other then having to pass too many women from the wave before me that walk their bikes in the transition zone.

14 Mile Bike - 39:28 (22.4mph)
I was excited to finally get a chance to bike on a flat course after all the training in the mountain I had done back in May. During the race I found out why my cadence wasn't working when the bike computer fell off a mile from T1. I stopped and wasted two minutes or so going back to get it and then waiting to merge into bike traffic. If you subtract the extra time from my bike split I was more in the neighborhood of a 23mph average. I was quite pleased with the time but felt I had more power in my legs. With the bike positioning I setup that morning I was unable to get comfortable, thus lacking the power I was used to.

T2 - 1:41
Uneventful here. Notwithstanding I need to work on it.

5K Run - 20:47 (6:42/mile)
By the time I hit the boardwalk along the oceanfront the sun had come out and started baking everyone. I stopped at every water station for a cold drink and a second glass for over my head. I'm proud to say I had a decent time posting the 3rd best run in my AG and 10th best OA.

Total Time - 1:22:29
I felt going into the race I had a chance to place in my AG but the swim was terrible and I lost too much time on the bike. Overall I was happy placing 7th in my AG and 42nd OA on only a few weeks of training. I look forward to getting in a few more weeks before closing out my short racing season at the Giant Acorn in October.

March of Dimes 5K RR

2008-09-22T22:10:00.008-04:00

Three weeks after I began training again I thought I'd get out and run the local Bolt for Babies 5K out of Ballston in Arlington, VA. Since the course ran directly past my backyard I figured I'd kick myself for not being out there if I saw them race by. So without a taper and a few drinks the night before I signed up.

While race-day registering I started looking around at the competition. A few guys looked pretty quick so I knew I needed to go and go hard at the gun. I also knew the course had a few hills so if I could manage a decent first mile downhill and gut out the last two miles mostly uphill I'd be doing good.

The race unfolded as planned however the guy infront of me took off like a bat out of hell. I didn't even try to keep pace with him because I thought for sure I'd catch him in the hills. A mile into things I was surprised to see a 5:24 split. I didn't think my legs could move that fast anymore. With the lead runner still in view the second mile came in around 5:45. By the third mile first place was about 0:20 ahead of me and I wasn't interested in trying to catch him. I had just rattled off a tough 6:00 uphill and decided to coast home for a second place finish and maybe break 18:00, which was the goal to begin with.

The final results had me at 18:01 and second overall (I told you it was small). I won a three-month membership to Gold's Gym for my efforts. After the race my roommate and I went for a nice easy ride through DC to stretch the legs.

Still In Recovery

2008-09-06T20:00:00.011-04:00

Its been 15 weeks since the crash and I'm still dealing with shoulder and wrist issues relating to MoM. But as an impatient triathlete I decided five weeks ago I'd get back to some minimal bike/run training. The shoulder has ached far too much to attempt any lengthy swim sessions so I've stayed out of the pool. Even spending time in my aerobars tends to aggravate the shoulder. Even running simple repeats at the track can make it go numb.

The biggest change in my life since the bike crash has been the relocation to the Washington, DC metro area. Just before MoM I interviewed for an amazing position with a municipality in that area. And it wasn't until I was doped up on Vicodin and laying on my couch all busted up a week later that I learned I got the job. Then three weeks later I was loading a U-Haul and kissing Newport News, VA goodbye.

Since this is a triathlon blog I think its important to mention moving to a new city can completely throw your training off schedule. Besides the whole time factor (moving, setting up your place) you have to learn where all the new places are to train. For example... Where can you run? Where is the nearest public pool and what is the schedule? Are there any bike clubs to join for weekday rides? All important questions, however being unable to train due to injury gave me plenty of time to contemplate them. Is it lame that I considered those questions when I chose where to live?

I've found out Washington, DC is a wonderful place to be a triathlete. There are several triathlon clubs, running clubs, and group rides. Thanks to Google they're just a few keystrokes away. During my return to training I've hooked up with a nice group of runners that meet up in downtown DC. Check out where I run my five mile loops at now:

One of the nicest features to the area is the plethora of commuter trails in Maryland, Virgina, and DC. If I'd like to ride to West Virginia one afternoon I could walk out my back door and take a bike trail to Harper's Ferry, WV. Pretty sweet.

Week 24 Recap / MoM RR

2008-05-30T14:55:00.006-04:00

Going into the long weekend I knew I'd max out on bike mileage while on the trip. So I kept the week's activities to three swims and one run.

When Saturday arrived I felt great and was ready for the easy 38-mile Wilderness Road Ride that would precede the big event. I spent the untimed ride relaxing with my triclub and eating everything in sight at the rest stops. After the ride I went for a beautiful open water swim across Claytor Lake in Radford, VA.

On Sunday morning the crazy Coastal Racers (myself included) started the century ride dubbed Mountains of Misery. I would soon learn the ride would live up to it's name. For most of the morning Joel Bell and I stuck together with a small pack of guys. Joel, being a tremendous triathlete, would occasionally drop us but we'd meet up shortly at the next rest stop. By Mile 50 we had averaged around 20mph, which was decent considering the course. When the ascent up the first serious mountain began at Mile 60 it became clear I should have bought another gearing setup. My standard 25 forced me to do a ton of mashing. Halfway up the mountain I told Joel I'd have to catch him later. Once on the top I rested a minute before the descent. I though perhaps I'd catch Joel since we'd been stopping for five or so minutes at every scheduled break. Around Mile 70 I was all alone in aero cruising the flats and enjoying the day. I felt great and was ready to climb the last mountain and finish the ride in 6:30 or so.

I caught up to two guys and decided to take a rest and draft off them. After another group went by, our group picked up speed (22ish) to try and add to their line. At the same time, two cars passed us but not the other guys. Our lead guy got spooked when the last car hit his brakes. This caused the guy I was behind to jam his and quickly move left cutting me off. The next thing I know I was flying over my handlebars and tumbling down the street. I landed on my back on the side of the road. The guy who wrecked me came back and blotted my chin while his buddy called 911 on his cell. All the one guy could say was, "Sorry man. I did you so wrong." Shortly afterward a member of my club showed up and convinced me I should take the ambulance to the hospital. I'm glad I did.

As far as my injuries go, besides my pride, I have a fractured thumb, six stitches in my chin, a sprained shoulder, and two very swollen, road-rashed knees. At this point the thumb will not require a screw (depends on if it rotates any further over the next two weeks). If my shoulder doesn't improve I'll be heading back for an MRI. Basically this means no training for 4-6 weeks. That mean's I'll miss the Yorktown and Bath County sprints.

Here's a look at my thumb x-ray:

Week 23 Recap

2008-05-19T07:43:00.001-04:00

Last week's minor shin injury put a slight damper on my training. With the Memorial Day weekend trip looming I figured it would be best to keep myself healthy at all costs. And with that, I reduced my running for the week to the whenever I feel like it plan, which wasn't much. Although the injury felt good by Wednesday I kept off of it till Friday just in case.

Training volumes for the week came in around 7 1/2 hours with 5660 yards swimming, 99 miles biking, and 5 miles running. I had planned for 10 hours but skipping the long run on Sunday for much neglected lawn care was nice. I even got around to planting a tree.

I'm pleased with my biking progress over the last six weeks. Lately I've been able to expand my volume by roughly 10% as planned (72,90,99). I'll reach my ultimate goal of 130 by mid-June. My rides have been a mix of quality but mostly quantity without care for pace. I figure the hills I've faced have been all the strength training I've needed during this build phase. When biking flats and rollers I've concentrated on keeping my cadence around 100. I find this keeps my legs feeling energetic when I ride more than 40 miles. In the past this was where I typically dropped in speed on race day.

Week 22 Recap

2008-05-12T07:41:00.003-04:00

With the Mountains of Misery trip being roughly two weeks away from the date of this post I knew this past weekend would be the last chance to test the legs. I headed back to Charlottesville, VA for another climb near Crabtree Falls. This time I decided to bike the course in the opposite direction of Week 20's 44-miler. By doing so, I didn't have to attack the steepest part of the entire ride right out of the gates. Instead I had to face a short yet challenging climb six minutes into the ride (800 feet of elevation). From there I rode a mix of rollers and flats until I climbed for a solid 53 minutes up the valley (2000 feet of elevation) to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Here's an idea of how I taxed my body during the long climb (note one rest stop for a snack at 1:27, and anaerobic @ HR > 170):

I knew the magic number on my Garmin was 39 miles, Reeds Gap. From here I held on tight and dropped 1700 feet of elevation over five miles in nine minutes. Whew!

Even though I've been feeling some deep fatigue lately and had a big ride on Saturday I felt decent enough to try a 13-mile romp around the Yorktown Battlefields on Sunday. I took a little extra time to make sure I was stretched before setting out. Nine miles into the run I felt something give below my right shin. It appears to be a ligament I overused between the two days. It was so painful the front of my leg cramped up while I jogged back to the car. I don't think it’s serious but I'll be taking it easy this week just in case.

The injury is disheartening considering I was on a training roll. Week 22 featured some tough workouts and had great results. I put in just over 10 hours of training with 5100 yards swimming, 90 miles biking, and 26 miles running.

Week 21 Recap

2008-05-05T11:35:00.009-04:00

Call it a post-mountain ride hangover or possible overtraining but I lacked the motivation to accomplish my training goals for the week. I'm specifically talking about my lack of swimming, largely in part to the constant discomfort I'm feeling in my shoulders. Usually after I finish my speed/tempo runs I head to the pool for 2500-3000 yards. Lately I've been slack because by 6PM I'm overwhelmed with visions of an ice pack, couch, and dinner. I live an exciting night life as you can see. This week I'll focus on getting in swimming. But for now I'll have to stare at the fat zero in the swimming column of my training plan. I still worked a bit over 8 hours this week with 79 miles biking and 28 miles running.

I've developed an urge to eat 24/7 with my recent increases in mileage. While this makes perfect sense I still dropped close to 5 lbs this week. This puts me officially at the 140 mark, which is 5 lbs off what I weighed when I started college more than 10 years ago. This is 30 lbs off what I started with last year.

And for those who wonder if I eat enough... Here's what I had this weekend:

Friday
Two packets of oatmeal w/ground flax seed
One green tea
Half a medium peperoni pizza
Outback 9oz sirloin
House salad
Broccoli side
Mashed garlic potatoes side
1-1/2 Loaf of Outback's bread

Saturday
Bowl of Total
Two Powerbars
12oz Can of Coke
16oz Bottle of Accelerade
Footlong Subway sandwich (turkey/ham)
Two hand fulls of Wheat Thins
Entire large portion of chicken and broccoli w/ white rice (it was probably meant for two people)
Five Oreo cookies
8oz Skim milk

Sunday
Bowl of Total
One Powerbar
16oz Bottle of Accelerade
McDonalds Quarterpounder w/ cheese
Med fries (was craving the salt)
Med Coke
Spinach salad w/ cucumbers and carrots
Macintosh apple
1/2 Cup of wild rice
8oz of Baked cod
8oz of Cranberry juice
Two hand fulls of Wheat Thins

Week 20 Recap / Charlottesville, VA

2008-04-28T07:54:00.003-04:00

With the recovery week at hand I tried to keep my level of effort low and volume of training about half. I noticed a possible trend in my training log that indicated I get sick and/or injured every five weeks so I wasn't taking a chance. Everything was going well until Saturday arrived and I headed up to Charlottesville, VA to have my first experience cycling in the mountains.

Thanks to the Charlottesville Bicycle Club I printed out a ride map ahead of time. Not being one to wuss out on a ride I selected Crabtree Falls - Devils Knob. This route offers an option of 44/53 miles with 115/120 feet of elevation per mile respectively. Here's a look from Google Earth and a profile I made using my Garmin:

I started from Beech Grove as recommended but rode the route in reverse because I wanted to challenge myself early while I was most fit. In hindsight this was not a great idea. I later found out my first test was Reeds Gap (elev. 2637). About five miles and one hour later, and 1700+ feet higher than I began, I was standing at the top contemplating what would be a very quick decent to the car. But I thought, who goes to the mountains just to ride 10 miles? I also thought about how my heart almost exploded during the climb. Against my better judgement at the time I proceeded but skipped the extra 9 mile leg that had promised killer climbing.

I easily cruised the picturesque Blue Ridge Highway for 10 miles until I reached Big Spy Mountain Overlook (elev. 3200). I snapped off a few pictures to give readers an idea of the beauty I enjoyed along the way.

About Mile 20 I learned riding in the mountains can be spectacular as well as extremely dangerous. Decending from 3200 feet is a frightful ordeal when the slope is steep and the roads are curvy. What makes it worse is when you're trying to keep it under 40mph and then realize your brakes are too hot to be effective. To say the least I was happy to make it down without incident. I even managed to stop near Crabtree Falls for a picture of the river.

After it was all said and done I took a dip in the frigid water.

When I added the trip to the workout log I ended up with a total of 6 hours. That put me at 2200 yards swimming, 62 miles biking, and 10 miles running for the week. It was a good recovery most of the week and concluded with a solid test of my legs on the bike. I proved I'm ready for serious hill training in preparation for MoM.

Swim Stroke Analysis

2008-04-25T07:52:00.004-04:00

One of the perks to joining the Coastal Racing Team is having access to training seminars provided by Joel Bell of SISU MultiSport & Endurance. Last March Joel was kind enough to video and analyze my swim stroke for free at the local dive shop. Here's what I learned...

From above the water the important things to note are head position, a high elbow, relaxed recovery, and where the hand enters the water. I have all of the above except my hand enters too close to my head. I've indicated where it probably should first touch the water.

When observing your stoke from below the crucial thing to look for is body position. To swim streamlined you need to be level. As you can see, my body is parallel to the water surface. To do so I continually remind myself to "lay on my lungs" thanks to Terry Laughlin and his Total Immersion DVD. This helps keep my body well balanced. Also, you may notice my leg kick is a bit wide. I was told it should not exceed the "hole" in the water my body passed through.

Apparently my largest stroke deficiencies are in the catch and pull. In the picture you can see I keep a relatively straight arm. Proper arm position (shown in green) keeps the arm bent in an almost 90 degree bend. This allows you to catch more water while utilizing your stronger lat muscles. To correct this issue I need to concentrate on hinging at my elbow and then keeping that elbow higher during the pull.

Shortly after the analysis I purchased swim paddles to help strengthen my lats. They also help technique by forcing your arms to follow the correct path. Without the wrist strap the paddle will fall off your hand unless you use the good form. So far I enjoy the paddles but I haven't noticed any gains in my swim times.

Week 19 Recap

2008-04-22T16:15:00.003-04:00

Week 19 was, like the past two weeks, excellent. I've been able to achieve the volumes I'm targeting in preparation for the looming Memorial Day weekend ride at MoM. I rounded out the week with a shade under 9 hours of training. That's 4500 yards swimming, 69 miles biking, and 27 miles running. The amazing part so far is the fact I don't have any serious injuries. It's a nice change from last year's constant battle with my hamstrings. My IT Band has been annoying but constant icing and anti-inflammatory medicines have done a good job keeping me moving.

I had hoped to break 10 hours this week but the weekend didn't go as planned. Mother nature decided to drown me a mile into my 15-mile run. Since the weather report said the temperature would be 58 with light rain I had opted to wear pants. When it was all said and done I only finished 13 miles. When I got home I discovered my outfit weighed 10 pounds soaking wet. At that point I had enough of rain, and water in general, so I didn't get my third swim of the week in. My mental toughness had been tested enough by sticking out the downpour for almost two hours. It must have been a sight to see.

Next week should be a nice recovery although I think I could have taxed myself awhile longer. But I'll play it safe and stick to the plan.

Garmin Forerunner 205 / Google Earth

2008-04-17T12:04:00.008-04:00

Given that the Garmin Forerunner 205 is a GPS reciever it only made sense when I learned you can view your workouts overlaid on spacially referenced maps such as Google Earth. Here's what you need:

1) Garmin GPS unit with data logging capabilities
2) Garmin Training Center software
3) Google Earth Pro
4) ForeConv (freeware)

Once you've completed a workout and downloaded the data into Training Center you need to export your history to a TCX file. Then use ForeConv to convert the file to a KML file. From here you select File>Open in Google Earth Pro. Under Places you should notice a folder called History-Data Garmin. All you need to do now is select the workout you want to view. You'll end up with an image like this one of the Noland Trail in Newport News, VA.

At first glance the accuracy of the data looks quite impressive. But a closer look may discourage you from relying on a GPS receiver all together. I noticed substantial deviations or 20 feet or so from the start. As the run continued the margin of error only increased. By the conclusion of my second mile I was around 50 feet off the path, which can be seen below.

When I crossed the final long bridge a little after 4 1/2 miles I'd estimate the receiver had me 200+ feet off course.

It's tough to say at this point if the Garmin Forerunner's poor data collection is the culprit for the errors or if Google Earth's aerials are true orthophotography.

In one of my earlier posts (February 2008) I stated I had difficulties duplicating distances on clear days during the winter while tree cover was minimal. Based on the randomly weaving data points on straight, open sections of the course it is pretty evident something is up with the Garmin GPS receiver. I still maintain the unit is good for letting you get a decent idea of how far you've run on easy and long run days. The Noland Trail is five miles long and the Garmin Forerunner 205 has always given me a similar mileage total. With a tool like this you can run aimlessly through town, into a park, and down a street you’ve never been on with reasonable accuracy.

Week 18 Recap

2008-04-14T08:02:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure what's changed but I've been able to rock all my training sessions for the past two weeks. My volumes for Week 18 came in at: 5000 yards swimming, 72 miles biking, and 28 miles running. This equated to 9 1/2 hours of solid training.

Early in the week I was able to score a nice 33-mile ride through the hills of southeast Connecticut with my buddy Jeff. It was a treat since I had to board an airplane back to Virginia three hours later.

On Friday I headed over to the 1/2 mile hill I've been killing myself on for the past few months (see weeks 4, 10, and 13). My PR for a single interval had been 2:55 until this week's 2:51. I had hoped to do six repeats but my IT band had other ideas. I kept the workout short so I could ride comfortably the next day.

Saturday's group ride turned more into a time trial. I found myself alone twice, battling the strong wind, and riding 20-22mph trying to bridge the gap between pace groups. It was a great workout. I felt so good afterwards I ran three miles to stretch my legs.

Week 17 Recap

2008-04-09T12:30:00.002-04:00

Since I felt like I had been in a perpetual taper for the last month it was time to get back to serious business. I've decided to skip the two VTS circuit races I had planned to focus on building my cycling base. I mapped out a plan that increases mileage approximately 10% a week for the next 10 weeks. The goal is to be fit enough to comfortably ride Mountains of Misery with my tri club during the Memorial Day weekend. To give you an idea of the pain that awaits me; the course traverses 125 miles and contains 13,000 feet of climbing. Sounds fun doesn't it?

I knew this week would be a bit short on volume due to a mini-vacation I took on Friday to Connecticut. But I went ahead and worked out as planned and hoped to get at least a long run in while I was gone.

From Monday to Saturday I felt like a million bucks. Everything I threw at my body was well received. I had the minor aches and pains of a triathlete but nothing worth mentioning. On Wednesday I substituted my Yasso 800 workout for 4x1200s. I read that I should be looking for longer intervals given the distance and pace I'm aiming for. I'll probably continue with this line of thought for a few months and see how things go. On Saturday I got the opportunity to take a leisurely 10-mile run along the Thames River and through Gales Ferry Village. It was a peaceful, sunny morning. Sunday afternoon I had planned a 20-30 mile ride with my old high school buddy who's gotten the extreme road biking bug but we had to postpone it to Tuesday.

Instead of riding on Sunday I decided to relax and get a deep tissue massage from a serious Sports Massage Therapist that works with the WNBA's Connecticut Sun. She's a friend/coworker with a member of my family so I got a sweet deal. All I can say is, "Ouch!" I got worked in places I didn't even know were sore. She attacked my IT Band for a solid five minutes of excruciating pain. I hobbled around for the remainder of the day. But the next morning I wasn't sore anywhere. And for that reason, I would recommend getting a good massage anytime you get that deep fatigue in your muscles. It's magic.

Even with two days off this week I logged a shade under 7 hours. I cranked out 4800 yards swimming, 28 miles biking, and 24 miles running.

Week 16 Recap / Smithfield RR

2008-03-31T08:20:00.004-04:00

Instead of training through the Smithfield Sprint I decided to let my IT Band relax for the week before the race. I did 30 minutes of easy spinning, which brought my total cycling mileage for the year up to an anemic 81 miles. Then I hit the track one day for 800s and 400s to get my 5K pacing set. This brought my total running mileage for the year to 256 miles. My final workout was a quick tune-up at the pool that featured a few intervals with 300 yard recoveries. By Friday I had a hard time trying to keep my legs still. I was ready.

Virginia's beautiful weather in the 70s and 80s turned into low 50s and windy on Saturday. Not exactly what you want to ride your bike in after swimming.

Swim 300 Meters - 5:27 (1:49/100m)
Being my first in-pool start I wasn't sure how this was going to work. I was however optimistic I could pull off a great swim based on the times I do while training. I conservatively seeded myself with 1:40 per 100 meter. It turns out SetupEvents needed a 100 yard time. Regardless, I felt I was in the appropriate time range and wouldn't clog up the lane. Starts were staggered every :15 and ordered by race number (predetermined by submitted swim time). I was 232. The race officially began at 10:00:00 and I hit the water at 11:08:00. It became abundantly clear I was in for a terrible swim when I caught my first swimmer within the first 100 meters. Apparently the mix of my conservative/screwed-up time and other athlete's optimistic times created a traffic jam in the pool. I wasted a good deal of time waiting for the right moments to pass while swimming under lane lines. By the end I passed five swimmers, two of which finished 2:13 and 3:14 after I left the water. Yes, after! This guy even cuts me off after I passed him in the water.

T1 - 2:39
I'll admit my transitions need work. I opted for warmth and decided I'd spend an extra minute drying off and putting on pants and a windbreaker.

10 Mile Bike - 30:58 (19.4mph)
I figure I got what I put into bike training and that wasn't much. The course was relatively flat and windy at a few points where the road opened up to fields. My legs didn't warm up until mile three and I wasn't pushing it. I was still pretty steamed about the swim and began thinking this was going to be a training race, thus lacking the intensity I wanted to bring. Overall I was pleased with the time all things considered. I might reconsider the jacket idea though.

T2 - 1:36
The transition was pretty uneventful. I took an extra moment to take off the windbreaker and throw on my Coastal Racing shirt.

5K Run - 20:32 (6:37/mile)
I approached the run with a moderate effort. My legs were a bit rubbery, as would be expected coming off the bike, so I didn't have a good understanding of my pace. My first mile split of 6:39 felt good so I settled in. I glided into the second mile at 6:51 and capped off the race with a 6:23 mile split plus :39 for a tenth.

Total Time - 1:01:11
This race turned out to be somewhat of a disaster for me. It hurt my pride because I know I am capable of so much more. I'm thinking Smithfield was a good learning experience. And if nothing else, this race has certainly renewed my desire to train hard for Timberman.

Shamrock Half Marathon

2008-03-28T16:32:00.001-04:00

If you read my Week 14 Recap you already know I ran the Shamrock Half Marathon 2008. I learned the race photos were now available so I surfed over to check them out. It's interesting to see the difference five miles can make in my mood.

Week 15 Recap

2008-03-26T11:05:00.004-04:00

This week was all about recovery from the Shamrock Half. I can't believe I slept close to 22 hours Sunday and Monday combined. I didn't realize my true level of fatigue until I tried running on Wednesday. By Friday I had only logged 2 1/2 hours between running and biking. I attempted a swim session one day but the pool was evacuated for kiddie poop (again) before I even dipped my foot in.

The only excitement of the week was on Monday when I met up with a guy from Final Kick to have my Trek Equinox finally professionally fit. He shortened and lowered the neck to get me in an aggressive position. I also opted to switch out my taint busting saddle for the Adamo, which I'm enjoying.

I took the newly fitted bike on my first outdoor ride of the year on Wednesday. The wind was brutal but the temperature was in the 70s. I'm happy to report I averaged 18 mph without much effort. I'm hoping with a little training I'll be in the 20-21 range in a month. I don't think any of this would have been possible without the great fit I got. Kudos to Dani!

Week 14 Recap / Shamrock RR

2008-03-17T13:00:00.003-04:00

The goal of the week was to prepare myself for a tough run at the Shamrock Half Marathon. Given this was my first half marathon race outside of a half-Ironman triathlon I intended on putting forth a good effort despite my minor injuries. I had trained hard this off-season and a good race was going to be my payoff.

When race day arrived the weather took a turn for the worst. The forecast was miserable with temperatures in the 40s and 15-20 mph winds. Luckily the rain ended before the race began. I registered a time of 1:45:00, which I felt would be a great achievement since my PR from the Duke Liver Half triathlon was 1:57:13. This time put me in the first coral with some serious distance runners. I decided not to toe the line with them. Instead I huddled with a mass of individuals that appeared to be more my speed. The plan was to draft off the pack as long as I could before braving the wind alone.

Once the horn sounded the pack separated rather quickly and I chose to stay with two particular guys. I had spoke to them pre-race and knew they were shooting for 1:40ish. When I reached the first mile marker I was surprised to see 6:57 appear. The pace felt good, almost unchallenging, so I decided to keep it although it was out of my planned range. Before the second mile marker, the small pack began to separate when someone blew past. I thought we had slowed down too much so I made a move. My second mile came in at 6:51, which was much faster than I wanted to go, but I was feeling great. I continued to click off 7:00 or so miles to the halfway mark. I thought once I had the wind at my back I could ease up and coast home at the same pace.

At mile eight I began to feel my hip tightening and my IT band soon followed. I noticed I had begun to lean forward from exhaustion. The poor form not only hurt my legs but my back as well. I had to concentrate on my posture for the remainder of the race. Once I reached eleven miles I was ready to walk but didn’t want to ruin a good race. I had somehow managed to run a 7:00 pace for eleven miles so another two and change was nothing. A guy noticed me laboring and tried to coax me to break 1:30 but I wasn’t having any of it. I didn’t want to blow out my knee on the first race of the season.

I ended up finishing with a PR of 1:31:33 (7:00 pace). I placed 25th out of 380 in my age group. Not bad for my first half marathon. My splits were as follows: 6:57, 6:51, 6:59, 7:00, 7:05, 6:55, 6:59, 7:00, 6:59, 6:55, 6:59, 7:55

By the end of the week I logged 4100 yards swimming, 6 miles biking, and 17.1 miles of running in 3 1/2 hours. If I can manage to get my biking up to par I should be good for the Smithfield Sprint in two weeks.

Coastal Racing Club

2008-03-12T12:36:00.003-04:00

I've basically trained for a whole year now and learned a wealth of information in that time, much from my NC triathlon connection (thanks Scott). I can honestly say 98% of my training has been done alone. I initially thought this was a good thing since nobody will be there on race day to draft off of. To me, triathlons are about you and the course. There didn't seem to be a need for anyone else.

On Monday I made a great decision to join the Coastal Racing Club in Virginia Beach, VA. It's a bit of a drive for a Newport News resident such as myself but I think it's worth it to hangout and learn from like-minded athletes. Triathlon is not only a sport, it's a lifestyle. It will be nice to chat with people who feel the same way.

I look forward to making new friends and participating in all of our planned group trips, training seminars, meetings, and socials. It feels great to be part of a team again.

Week 13 Recap

2008-03-10T13:11:00.009-04:00

Another solid running week in the books. And now just a little closer to the Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA on March 16. It's nice to think I won't have to swim or bike before I race on Sunday, although the ocean is right there...

There's plenty else to worry about before the race, namely my newest injury, the dreaded iliotibial band. I've suffered through this moderate pain several times in my career as a high school/college runner and never though twice about where it came from. Until a few days ago I didn't even know there was a name for it, which is ITBS. In the past I kept running and the pain would eventually disappear. However this time the pain has remained. It probably has something to do with my recent increase in run intensity and poor bike positioning. Prolonged efforts in both disciplines induce acute pain on the outside of my right knee. I foresee a week of rest, ice, compression, and elevation in my future.

Week 13 was, for all intents and purposes, a taper week so my volumes were down to 6100 yards swimming, 10 miles biking, and 13 miles running. That equates to just over 4 hours of work.

The toughest workout session of the week was four hill repeats on the same 1/2 mile stretch of hill used in Week 4 and 10. Much like the previous workout I forgot to check my times for the course before heading out. After an easy mile warm-up I struggled to run 2:55, 3:00, 2:59, and 2:58. These times were exactly on pace with Week 10's efforts so it wasn't too bad considering I recently went close to two weeks without serious training.

Early in the week I tried getting in some much needed biking on my trainer. Yet for some reason, both 20 minute sessions seemed extremely difficult. I began to wonder how much damage I had done to my biking abilities by neglecting it for months. A few days later I decided to do a little maintenance on the bike and noticed my rear brake had been knocked into the tire. It had been continually rubbing for who knows how long. I heard this happened to Lance Armstrong during his 5th Tour de France victory.

Week 12 Recap

2008-03-07T10:13:00.003-05:00

As promised in my last blog I returned to solid training on February 25th. My breathing still wasn't quite right but I figured running would help clean out the remainder of the phlegm in my lungs. It did. On the other hand, I felt like I was training at altitude because I became light-headed easily. I guess I wasn't getting the proper oxygen absorption due to the bronchitis.

The week's workout plan featured another trip to the track for Yasso 800s. Since I was a bit under the weather I kept it down to six repeats. I certainly didn't set any PRs that day but I managed to keep all of them under 3:00. I can't wait to run my first 5k at the Smithfield Sprint.

Although my swim times have been steadily declining, especially now that I do more kick drills, I've decided to use a new plan structured by Chuck Burr. He maintains a thread at the US Masters Swim Forum. I've linked to it on the right. If you're not a swimmer, you'll have to decipher the swim lingo before using the workouts. I still ask a collegiate swimmer friend of mine what everything means. So far the training has been tough but manageable.

It was a good week coming off an illness. I logged another 6 1/2 hour effort covering 6900 yards swimming, 5 miles biking, and 30 miles running.

On a semi-sad note I played my last rec soccer game this past weekend. I've retired. The constant injuries from flagrant fouls have worn me out. Now I can concentrate fully on triathlons. I can also ease my mind and legs each Saturday because I'll not be taking a beating from some hack.

Week 11 Recap / Heart Rate Training

2008-02-25T11:15:00.008-05:00

After having the death flu for a week I'm not even going to mention anything concerning training from 2/10-2/17. My immune system couldn't have taken any abuse that week. But I am finally feeling better and plan to resume serious training on 2/25.

So this leaves us with this past week, which I'll call Week 11. Since I was still coughing up strange things when elevating my breathing I decided to keep all my workouts indoors. When I was in high school I had a similar illness and had to run indoors at the YMCA's 25 meter walking track for two weeks. It was pretty ridiculous. Lucky for me they've invented the elliptical machine since then (I don’t care much for the treadmill). I find it’s great for getting the legs moving and the heart rate into the desired range. For me, that range is 140-150 BPM for an easy “run” workout.

There’s not much to report about my adventures with the elliptical machine so I’ll take a moment to talk about how I use my heart rate to train. I’m not a doctor and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn last night. Take this information for what it is; just some random triathlete sharing how he approaches training.

First off it’s important to know what my resting heart rate is. I found this out by laying in bed a few minutes after waking up and then, while still lying down, counted my beats for a minute using my alarm clock. I’ve got a near death RHR of 43 BPM. Once my resting rate is known I needed a maximum rate for cycling and running. The two are not the same. The best way to figure out my MHR was to perform several maximum effort intervals. I was sure to warm-up good to lessen the chances of injury. By the final interval of five I was peaking. I won’t lie, finding my MHR was hell. Another less accurate method is to use this generally accepted formula:

MHR = 205.8 - (0.685 * age)

When I use the formula my MHR is calculated as 185. This is off a slight bit from my MHR (from intervals) of 190 and 184 for running and cycling respectively. Heart rates are a function of genetics and age so there is a ton of variability. That’s why I put myself through the ringer to get my MHRs.

Once RHR and MHR was known I created an exercise zone chart by percentage. The math is simple.

(MHR – RHR) * (%) + RHR

For each percentage (50 to 100) I calculated my target heart rate, shown here:

I use Zone 1 mainly for a warm up. Sometimes my warm up creeps into Zone 2 because I’m impatient. But for the most part Zone 2 is an easy/recovery day effort. Zone 3 takes up the majority of my time because it’s great for endurance building. I’ll typically do 8+ mile runs and 40+ mile rides in this area. Zone 4 and 5 are my interval zones. I’ve found it difficult to keep my HR monitor on during run intervals so I go by feeling. When the lactic acid burn begins to rear its ugly head I know I’m pushing myself to the right level. Cycling is a different story, but when I’m going that fast I don’t feel comfortable looking down at my watch. Again, I have to go by feel.

There are other ways to monitor the amount of work I’m performing (such as a power meter on a bike) so I’m not cheating myself or wasting time. Though I find the HR method is not only easy to understand but to use. It’s also nice when the weather sucks or illness strikes and I can hit up the gym to get a good workout at the right intensity.

Week 10 Recap

2008-02-15T08:58:00.006-05:00

In Week 4 I performed my first good hill workout on a 1/2 mile stretch I've found in Yorktown, VA. In my blog I described running those intervals in "adequate times." This was two months ago. Until Week 10 I had been unable to make it out to the location due to the lack of sunlight after work. As you'll soon see my return was a triumphant one.

On Tuesday I was standing at the bottom of the hill, all warmed up, properly stretched, and mentally prepared to kick my own ass. Then I began to wonder what type of times I ran last December. Nothing came to mind so I decided to challenge myself but not over do it on the first repeat. 3:09. I thought not bad, but had to have been slower than before. 3:08. "Okay so maybe this is all I've got in the tank today." 2:59. "Whew, where did that one come from?" 2:55, 2:55. "Wow, it's time to cool down." I was losing sunlight quickly and I didn't feel like getting hit by a car.

The next day I added the data to my workout journal and noticed my previous efforts of 3:26, 3:21, 3:15, 3:37. All I can say is I must be doing something right to drop, on average, 0:26 off a split.

The rest of the week was going well until I felt sick on Saturday. I played the full 90 minutes of a soccer game and then immediately afterwards ran the trail for 7 miles. I had to force myself to run the last 2 miles. The whole time I contemplated how much fitness I was gaining from a meager 2 miles more and if it was worth it. After the run I ate lunch as planned and thought I could sleep my way through an easy 2500 yard swim. I had a headache and my back was aching a bit so I figured I’d take a nap and stretch some before the swim. Once my body hit the couch training was over.

Sunday's soccer game was out of the question, along with the remaining training I had planned. My body ached from head to toe. My chest and stomach hurt from coughing. A trip to the doctor’s office on Monday revealed I had the flu and bronchitis. I had felt miserable since Saturday afternoon and had continued to feel so until last night. I’ve probably only been awake 16 hours in the past five days. Thank codeine. I won’t be working out till next Monday so Week 11 training is a complete bust. I've also decided to cancel my adventures in Hal Higdon's marathon plan for some much needed time on my bike trainer.

Even with a reduced amount of training I put 6 hours in over 6800 yards swimming, 9 miles biking, and 22 miles of running.

Garmin Forerunner 205

2008-02-07T14:44:00.000-05:00

For the last month and a half I’ve been using the Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS receiver watch on all of my easy and long runs. At first I borrowed it from a friend for the trip to Europe. Once I got back she stated she wasn’t using it due to her pregnancy and that I could try it out on a few local commonly used run/walk courses. Both of us had been curious to see how the watch faired against a specific course in particular, that being the 5-mile loop of the Noland Trail in Newport News, VA.

The course is a packed dirt and sand trail that winds along Lake Maury. Along the way the trail includes fourteen bridges, scenic lookouts, benches, water fowl, a million squirrels, turtles sunning, and importantly 1/2-mile markers. The trail is heavily wooded and has some relief but nothing I consider challenging. I’m guessing the largest “hill” has an elevation of +25 feet. However a few locations could be considered steep, especially if you do all your running in southeast Virginia.

After two measured runs on the Noland Trail the GPS unit indicated the course to be approximately 0.2 miles shorter than published. If you’re running a 10 min/mile pace this means you’d need to run an extra two minutes on the course to get your distance in. I believe 0.2 miles is a substantial difference if you want to gauge future performances off trail times using the existing markers.

I wondered where the mileage discrepancy occurred so I began to keep a lap count for each 1/2-mile. This is when the watch began to give some oddball answers. Over two consecutive sunny days this winter (no leaves on the trees) I ran 18 miles combined on the trail. By doing so I was able to record at least three pieces of data for each segment of the trail. The results showed 9 of 10 markers to be shorter than 0.5 miles. I averaged each segment length and summed the total distance, which was surprisingly 4.6 miles, not 4.8 as previously measured on continuous runs. The fact that the data points for each segment showed a variation of approximately 0.05 miles was troubling. If you’re running a 10 min/mile pace that’s a difference of 30 seconds per half mile.

The point I’m getting at is that the Garmin Forerunner 205 is not as accurate as most people would like, at least not on the Noland Trail. I am concerned it is difficult to consistently replicate a distance over a known course with this watch. Yet I do believe it is a useful tool for 1/2 marathon and up training.

What the watch is good for is letting you get a decent idea of how far you've run on easy and long run days. It would appear that the discrepancies even themselves out over larger distances. With a tool like this you can run aimlessly through town, into a park, and down a street you’ve never been on.

I think one feature that could be removed from the watch is the pace function. It consistently indicates I'm running 2-3 minutes per mile slower than I end up running for the whole workout. It has never been a reliable source for pace information. You can only deduct that information from the watch by looking at lap times on key intervals and multiplying in your head. But even that's not accurate because the mileage can easily be off 0.1 or 0.2 miles. But it’s something, which in some cases is better than nothing.

Week 9 Recap

2008-02-04T10:15:00.000-05:00

With each recent passing week becoming a personal best in terms of mileage I welcomed Week 9, a recovery week. I'm sad to report that all the running has begun to burn me out a little.

I took Tuesday off of work for a me day, which was very nice indeed. I slept in late, made a big breakfast, napped, and then set off to get some training done. Six Yasso 800s and 2500 yards at the pool were on the schedule. Since I was ahead of my usual after work training hours I was not a bit surprised to see the local university holding track practice. I proceeded to stretch and scan the competition. Eventually I asked the coach if he minded me jumping in for some repeats. The athletes were running what appeared to be race-pace efforts of varying distances (2-3 miles) so I felt I wouldn't disturb them much. Coach didn't mind at all. By my fifth 800m (5:40/mile pace) I had gathered a bit of attention from the students, one whom asked if I was interesting in running track. For fear of getting runoff, not being a student and all, I politely told him I'm a triathlete and kept running. Makes me wonder if I have any eligibility left...

My swimming volume took a big hit this week because it's little kid swim lesson season. A swarm of children will infest the pool for several hours at a time over the next month and a half. I don't necessarily mind having to wade through kids in the locker room or on the pool deck. What I do mind is the countless times I've had to clear the pool for turds and vomit. Tuesday was one of those days.

The rest of the week was rather dull in comparison. I finished up with a total of 5550 yards swimming, 5.2 miles biking, and 31 miles running in 6 1/2 hours. I was hoping my legs would rebound with the reduced amount of mileage but they haven’t felt right all week. I’ve got maybe four good weeks of training till the Smithfield Sprint so I may shift my focus away from the marathon plan and into biking.

Week 8 Recap

2008-01-28T11:10:00.000-05:00

I considered titling this post as Bringing the Pain because that's what I actually did to myself. Pure punishment was dealt over 8 hours in the form of 7500 yards swimming and 37 miles of running. That's right, no biking this week due to fears that my hamstrings couldn't handle it.

The effects of my first 16 miler were felt way into Week 8. The level of fatigue was compounding with each run. I ended up taking Wednesday and Thursday off as a result. On Friday I dusted off the running shoes and resumed training feeling 80%. Then Saturday's race-paced 7 miler followed by three hours of tackle football did me in. When Sunday afternoon rolled around I forced myself to get out there and run.

Sunday was 43 degrees with a chilling 10 mph wind so it felt more like below freezing. I suited up, stretched good, and started off well. After four miles I began to feel a dull ache coming from both femurs. I thought maybe I was going too fast yet I was right on pace. I tried to ignore it but by mile five I realized there was a problem. I had just dropped a 10:18 mile split. Eww... Since I was now five miles from my car I persuaded myself to try running back. After some light stretching I got back at it. My next two miles felt reasonable and were only :15 off pace. It was at this point I told myself I needed to go the distance. The dull ache eventually faded and I was able to gut out the run without an injury to anything but my iPod. You'll be missed.

Some time ago I asked my buddy Scott if he'd rather do a 70.3 or a marathon. To my surprise at the time he answered the triathlon. After Sunday's 17 mile ordeal I'd have to agree. I can't imagine having to run an additional 9.2 miles.

2008 Off-season Plan Revised

2008-01-25T16:24:00.000-05:00

Just like I mentioned during my initial post concerning the 2008 Off-season plan; sometimes life gets in the way. An avid reader of the blog would know I was lucky enough to take a vacation to France and Germany during the holidays, thus suspending training for a while.

I've re-worked a huge portion of my original plan to show the new schedule, which leads up to the Shamrock Half Marathon and then the Smithfield Sprint Triathlon. You'll notice there has been some substantial changes to the biking and swimming portions but I've held rather firm to the running plan.

Week 7 Recap

2008-01-21T12:02:00.000-05:00

When first recording the song The Distance I doubt the band Cake realized the level of empowerment it can instill in an endurance athlete such as myself. I ran a new PR of 16 miles on Sunday and was driven by the continual thought, "he's going the distance." With two partially swollen knees and a stiff groin from Saturday's soccer game/mud bowl, I almost stayed home to heal knowing I had MLK Day off of work. Instead I braved the small injuries, 27 degree weather, and a fresh snow covering to get the long run in as planned. I'm glad I did because the 13 miles of Yorktown Battlefields I ran on were beautifully glistening in the sun all afternoon. This kept my thoughts entertained with something other than the fatigue welling in my legs.

The rest of Week 7 was rather uneventful. I skipped my 5 x hill workout and replaced it with 4 x Yasso 800s due to daylight issues. I like speed work. Also, I did manage to hop on the fluid trainer for a total of 40 sad minutes. I've got to start somewhere, right?

Total volume for this week: Swim - 6200 yards, Bike - 10.2 miles, Run - 37 miles, all in roughly 8 hours.

Week 6.1 Recap

2008-01-14T17:37:00.000-05:00

After the two week vacation from training I thought I'd take it easy during my first week back. To do so I ran and swam short distances every other day without paying too much attention to pace. During the workouts my legs felt great. However I didn't open it up knowing full well what punishment awaited me next week in the form of a 16 mile run. I didn't want to over do a thing and risk hitting a big week injured. To close off the solid week I put in an easy 12 miler, if there is such a thing.

I was pleased with the week's efforts and put another 30 miles running and 7100 yards swimming in the books. All of it in 6 1/2 hours. Although I maintained an easy pace for each run I consistently dropped 30 seconds off my normal pace without feeling it. It seems the break was just what I needed to re-energize the legs.

During this past week I finally spent some time fitting my new TT bike. And I'm excited to announce that Week 7 will include some long overdue biking on the fluid trainer. The training should give me a good chance to catch up on my Tivo'd Mythbusters.

Europe Training

2008-01-13T11:20:00.000-05:00

Sure, call me naive for thinking I would run while vacationing in Europe. You'd be right because I didn't even give it serious consideration. My constant need for sleep kept me all warm and inside. The freezing temperatures outside weren't helping my motivation either. Sure I was losing fitness but I didn't care.

I underestimated the amount of jetlag I'd incure flying six hours to Germany from the Atlanta, GA airport. Not only that, the six-hour time change was brutal. Probably the most prudent way to handle the travel without lasting effects would be to sleep as much as you can on the transatlantic flight. But that can certainly be difficult when the posterchild for Satan's spawn is sitting behind you doing everything possible to annoy you.

Once I landed in Germany the sun was up and the day had begun. There was only time for a quick nap before heading out to view the country. I spent the remainder of the vacation playing catch-up with my sleep. And then to boot, I was fighting off the beginnings of a cold. Running 16 miles was last on my list.

With two weeks basically lost I'll need to adjust my off-season plan considerably. I figure I'll take an easy week to get back into the swing and then pick up with Week 7 on January 14th.

Oh, and I missed the sign-ups for White Lake Half. Grr... We'll see how the wait list goes.

Week 6 Recap

2008-01-10T10:23:00.000-05:00

I had been looking forward to Week 6 since I knew I could relax on mileage and would have an opportunity to run more speed work on the track in the form of Yasso 8s. I also had enough use-or-lose vacation time to take before Jan 2008 to take most of the week before Christmas off. This meant I could sleep in and then workout at convenient times.

The week started off nicely with a terrific session at the track. Higdon's plan called for 5x800s at 6:00/mile pace. This proved to be quite easy and a real confidence builder. My swim plan was to take the extra time available to me and gently up the total volume to 8000 yards.

Training was going well until I began to feel chills and body aches on Friday afternoon/evening. On Saturday I didn't have my usual soccer game. I thought since I had a good night of sleep I might as well run an 8k at race pace. Hal Higdon asked for 7 miles but I didn't think my body was up to the task. It turns out I was right. Once I finished the run (in good time) I had a resurgence of the illness I had felt the day before. It worsened over the next two days only to break for Christmas. Needless to say my training for the remainder of the week was shot.

Due to the flu I only logged 17.5 miles of running and 6200 yards of swimming in just over 4 hours. I know... Pitiful.

Week 5 Recap

2007-12-18T10:46:00.000-05:00

After five weeks of marathon training I can already see and feel the differences in my body. I'm maintaining a weight of 150lbs or so but loosing fat I didn't realize I had. I may need to step up the volume of the food I'm consuming or by March I'll look like skin, bones, and lungs. The other not so apparent change includes increased flexibility. This can probably be associated with my increased regiment of speed work with special attention to stretching in an effort to remain injury free.

Total volumes for Week 5 were slightly below the plan due the gradually building fatigue I've been suffering. My sleeping habits haven't been the best to say the least (attributed again to neighbor's relentless barking dog). Saturday night I slept a solid 11 hours and needed every second of it. Regardless, I was able to muster up enough energy to swim 6000 yards and run 33.5 miles in 7 hours this past week.

Week 5 also included a personal best for me. My long run of 14 miles was .9 miles longer than I have ever continuously ran before. Additionally I was able to maintain my target 9:30/mile long-run pace without much difficulty. This gave me a huge mental boost given last weeks 13 miles of hell.

Week 4 Recap

2007-12-11T11:10:00.000-05:00

When I run long distances sometimes it seems as if I can feel the many microscopic muscle fibers in my legs tearing with each step. Maybe I'm just odd but the thought is pleasing to me. Sure the whole process is exhausting and somewhat painful but I remind myself this is what I want, this is what I came here all decked out in running attire for, this is why I will succeed. To quote Nike, "Just do it."

Sunday's 13 mile run was nothing short of a physically and mentally draining day. What started in the morning with a headache progressed into an upset stomach by mid-afternoon. My tight and tired body from the soccer game the day before didn't feel like cooperating at all. However my mind rules so I dragged my sick body to the trail for battle, and a battle it was. Once my legs woke up the run was no longer and issue of energy but an issue of where and when I'd have to share my lunch with the wildlife. After eight miles I thought it was over. I took ten seconds to breathe deep and relax, hoping this would fight off my stomach. The instant relief of walking instead of running also enticed me further to the dark side. I vehemently resisted the urges to quit and forged on. To my amazement I was able to finish without incident in a shade over two hours. I spent the rest of the evening with body aches and in a continual search for more layers and blankets to wear.

The earlier part of Week 4 was all roses for the most part. I found a decent 1/2 mile hill to run on speed days and did so in adequate times. I'm also beginning to remember how long my stride was ten years ago. Hill workouts really do help in that department. It seems like I can feel a difference in my running abilities each time I do a good speed session.

The totals for Week 4 are: 31.5 miles of running and 4800 yards of swimming in just over 7 hours. I'm pleased with the running efforts I putting out there, especially since this time I hit my mileage right-on with the plan. My swimming has been troubling due to a sore rotator cuff. I've purposely been keeping the workouts short and easy until I'm 100%. And then there is my biking or lack of it... That's another blog entry though.

Week 3 Recap

2007-12-03T10:39:00.000-05:00

Week 3 was considered a stepback in the mileage building process of my marathon plan. I ended up running 19.5 miles and swimming 3500 yards in a little over 6 hours worth of training. A slow week indeed.

On Wednesday I didn't wake early enough to run in the morning so I decided after swimming that evening I'd face my running archenemy, the gym treadmill. With only three easy miles to run I figured it would be an in-and-out battle and then I'd be back at home to eat dinner at a reasonable hour. I wasn't expecting to be painfully cut short. I'm toying with three ideas of why I always hurt while running on a treadmill. Perhaps its a combination of these:

1) I change my stride because there's a display in front of me.

2) I run on a treadmill always after swimming, never the treadmill alone.

3) I do most of my training on soft trails and the extra impact gets to me.

After a mile on the treadmill I cautiously stopped and moved to the elliptical machine due to a dull ache in my shin. I continued for another mile and a half, which was until the ache became painful. The extra "easy" mileage wasn't worth increasing a possible injury. On Thursday I warmed and stretched the area several times without pain but decided to hold off doing anything till Saturday's soccer game.

On two days rest I was a soccer machine, only my legs weren't made of metal and the opponents' cleats didn't exactly bounce off the area left unprotected by shin guards. The spot outside and just above both ankles are now bruised from the hacks in my league. Nothing serious though. We won the game 4-0 for anyone who's wondering.

Sunday's long run definitely took strong will. Had it not been only eight miles I might have sat at home and called it a lazy day for recuperating from soccer. But after a good warm-up and stretch I was awake and ready to go. There was some residual pain from the bruised ankles but none from Wednesday's shin/treadmill episode. Luckily the pain I did have didn't alter my stride so I ran well. Afterwards I got a feeling of tremendous accomplishment. That familiar feeling to which I can only respond with, "I'm glad I did this."

Week 2 Recap

2007-11-27T11:09:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a nice, long Thanksgiving break this past weekend. I know I did. It was a relaxing, albeit lazy week since I skipped a few workouts. That's to be expected though, right? After eating some turkey, eight rolls, a pound of mashed potatoes, and drinking a liter of Coke, who wants to do a tempo run? Not me.

From Thursday on out was not a complete loss. On Saturday I took part in a friendly game of tackle football. Sure I'm 30 years old and probably shouldn't be playing but I couldn't resist. After a few plays it was quite evident I was in much better shape than any of the 20-something guys I was playing with. I've found its difficult to be modest about being a triathlete when you're schooling people with fitness alone. I won't even get into my other grand football abilities.

Sunday was a day of rest to recuperate from the football game. I was tight from all the sprinting to say the least. I broke out the heating pads for a few sore spots and stretched them out good. If you've been following along, this meant I was missing the important 11-mile run I was scheduled for. Given that Week 3 is an easy week I opted to replace the first easy day with the long run. I finished that last night and felt great the whole way, which was a huge difference from Week 1's 10-miler. Some might find this odd but I'm looking forward to Week 4's 13-mile run.

Week 2's volume was up slightly to 5 1/2 hours due to my introduction of swimming. I swam 3500 yards and ran 22.5 miles (including Monday's run). You might have noticed I didn't do any of the planned biking. I've decided to wait until I purchase a time trial bike, which could be this coming weekend.

Week 1 Recap

2007-11-21T11:44:00.000-05:00

The first week of training is always difficult. In the back of my mind I kept thinking, "maybe I'm doing too much, too early." During every run I felt like I was freakishly tuned to each ache and pain in my legs. The 10-mile jaunt at the end of the week left me wondering why I'm following a marathon plan.

Now a few days and workouts later my body has recovered from the rough week and is begging for more punishment. Its been a while since my legs felt this good. I think I'll go leg press a VW Beetle a few times after this blog.

Week 1 consisted of Hal Higdon's plan with minor changes; the first being my lack of weight lifting due to the ACL pain I was experiencing, and the second due to soccer practice. Overall I managed approximately 28 miles in under 5 hours of running. Not a bad first week.

Its Official

2007-11-19T11:59:00.000-05:00

I'm going to Europe the day after Christmas! Sure I'm excited about crossing the big pond for the first time but I can't help but wonder how this is going to effect my training. Is it just me or is this how all triathletes think?

There is no doubt in my mind the vacation will seriously limit my swim and bike efforts. Even though I'm absurdly dedicated to my training here at home I don't think I can bring myself to waste part of a European vacation sitting on the hotel's stationary bike for two-plus hours. And there is no way I will attempt to swim 300 laps in a hotel pool slightly larger than a bathtub. The only discipline I can easily keep up with overseas will be running.

Weeks 7 and 8 of my plan are very important to the running mileage build-up and contains long runs of 16 and 17 miles respectively. If I want to keep the three 20-mile efforts planned in weeks 11, 13, and 15 I need to fit in these long runs. Otherwise I'm not sure I'll find time to do additional mileage build-up once the tri season begins. Missing those weeks would ultimately put a damper on my plans for doing the inaugural Beach2Battleship Ironman-distance triathlon in Wilmington, NC next November.

Now that I've convinced myself I need to run while touring Germany and France I'll need to do some research on where to run near my hotel. I don't feel like being mugged because I ran down the wrong street. Paris must have something like a Central Park I could enjoy. Stay tuned.

Lazy Day Horray

2007-11-16T14:49:00.000-05:00

Its only been four days since I began the 2008 plan and I'm already happy to see the mandatory rest day. There's a good possibility the 14 miles I've run so far this week have something to do with it. Perhaps its my neighbor's relentless barking dog combined with their lack of common decency to bring him inside at 1 AM in 40 degree weather. Hmm...

Not much to report on my training since I'm still feeling my way through the marathon plan. Hal Higdon's plan is well written and doesn't leave much for me to wonder about. The only issue so far has been finding a proper hill with adequate length to run repeats on. The lack of relief in southeast Virginia makes it difficult in that respect. The search continues.

Daylight, or lack there of, will become an issue next week. Right now I hardly have enough light to fit in a three mile run after work. So it only makes sense to run before work and then swim, bike, and lift in the evenings. This means I need to get up about 5:30. Ugh.

And It Begins

2007-11-13T15:44:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the first day of my new plan for 2008. I'd like to say it went well but sadly I can't. It seems my ACL doesn't want to run marathons.

Back in 2003 I partially tore my ACL while playing basketball. I skipped surgery hoping things would heal up tight. After three months I began rehabbing with light resistance. It took another month to heal well enough to run. The true test of its stability came once I returned to soccer because it requires quick cuts back and forth. Its easily been four years since I've thought about the injury.

Now that part of the new plan involves a combination of running and weights I've immediately noticed my legs aren't ready. This surprises me since I can do both independently without pain. Today my ACL aches a bit like a sprain although I didn't hyperextend it. I guess this means no lower body lifting for a while.

I ran the scheduled "easy" three mile run in 25:42, which was a bit faster than the 9:00 pace I wanted. Its going to be tough to slow it down on easy days. I can see now I'll have to swallow my pride on the trail and crawl if I expect to stay healthy in 2008.

2008 Off-season Plan

2007-11-08T16:25:00.000-05:00

If you read my last blog you know my first season was a constant injury. A tremendous amount of mental anguish was also suffered. Its frustrating to have the heart and mind to perform when you're physically unable to. Some of my injury problems stemmed from lack of moderation due to the fact I am extremely competitive. Triathlon training not only takes time and willpower, it takes patience. For me, patience is derived from a solid, well-designed, training program. Going without a plan is a dangerous path.

Today I'm going to discuss my 2008 training program. Most of it is derived from different sources around the internet. There is a ton of free stuff out there, you just have to look for it.

Swim

Last season's swim was the only bright spot of my training. I never claimed to be a swimmer and never will. But what started off being the event I feared the most became the one I was most proud of. I used a combination of the Total Immersion DVD, About.com swim workouts, YouTube freestyle videos, and a collegiate swimmer friend of mine to hammer down my swim stroke and maximize what swim ability I had. It took some long, boring hours in the pool but was time well spent.

This year I'm continuing the same type of workouts as before but expanding the total weekly volume from 10,000 to 15,000 yards. In essence I'm adding a fourth swim workout to my weekly routine. For the first and second month I'll focus on swim stroke and strength using buoys, paddles, and rounds of swim golf. Additionally I'll gradually work the volume up so my arms don't fall off. Once the base is established I'll replace some of the drill work with speed while maintaining volume. During this time I make sure I don't sacrifice form for longer intervals.

Bike

Spin class is not a good way to train for triathlons. Trust me. I was writhing in pain from the bike portion of my first triathlon. While the weather is unsuitable for riding outdoors I intend to keep the legs moving on my fluid trainer. If I find the cash this winter I'll finally purchase a triathlon bike to switch up riding. I've heard this helps stimulate more muscles due to differences in the seat post angle.

One of the mistakes I did last year was try to play catch-up with my bike volume. I rode too much spin bike during the base phase. Once I realized the error of my ways I had to pile on the mileage to prepare for Vineman. Yes, a recipe for disaster. And even as I write this, some four months later, my hamstrings still ache a bit.

This season's bike volume will start early and very easy since I'm building a running base off a marathon program at the same time (probably not good idea but I like to walk the line). Now when I say easy, I mean keeping a heart rate in zone 1 or 2, nothing more. I intend to keep this pace, with gradual volume increase, throughout my marathon program. I'm also going to throw in a few one-legged drills from time to time. After the Shamrock Half Marathon I'll begin focusing on bike speed while keeping one long endurance ride for the half-ironman distance. Hopefully the weather will cooperate by mid-March and I'll be outdoors.

Run

Running has always come easily to me. Being genetically predisposed to a small frame and having a good strength to weight ratio has certainly helped. During my first triathlon season I thought it wouldn't take much to regain my collegiate abilities given I could still bust out a 6:00 mile. It was that line of thinking that ruined most of my run training and about half of my bike training last year. My 2008 campaign should keep me healthy if I don't push it.

I'm excited to start my first ever marathon training program, especially Hal Higdon's Advanced-II plan. I chose his program because its free and detailed. All of his programs are well written and easy to follow. The difficult part is finding the time to fit it all in.

To keep from getting shin splints and ending up at the doctor's office begging for pain meds I'm using McMillan's running calculator and previous known efforts at given heart rates to structure my running program. Let me give you an example. I know I can run 9:00/mile easily for 8 miles with a heart rate in the 150-160 range. This is perfect for long runs. With this information in mind I entered a few different marathon times into the calculator until McMillan's suggested long run was 9:00/mile. This equated to a 3:15:00 marathon. You'll notice the calculator also provides estimates for the training paces I'll need for Hal Higdon's program (tempo, race pace, Yasso's 800m).

The Plan

Below is a screen capture of the workout program I've outlined. This is basically the off-season workout geared for Timberman 70.3 in August 2008. The running and biking numbers are shown in miles while the swimming is in yards. HI stands for high intensity workouts.

With all programs and our good intentions to complete then sometimes life gets in the way. When I skip a day I don't make up for it by adding to other workouts because that can lead to injuries. I just move on to the next session. I view a plan like a guideline that is always subject to change. I don't get down on myself if I need some random Tuesday off because I have to work late.

2007 Training Review

2007-11-06T09:15:00.000-05:00

The first wave of cold weather is here and with it is the reality that my first season as a triathlete has come to a close. Actually its been closed for nearly a month due to other career aspirations (studying for the professional engineer licensing exam). Before the off-season training begins its important to evaluate the previous season and learn what did and didn't work.

Sometimes I need a kick in the pants or a goal to get me started. A coworker of mine did both when she challenged me to race Vineman 70.3 in July of '07. I had an '05 Litespeed Sienna collecting dust in my garage (gift from a sugar-momma the year before) so I figured what the hell, the race is 24 weeks away. And at the very least I'd get a nice west coast vacation out of it.

Being a flag football and soccer weekend warrior I thought I was in good enough shape to jump into solid triathlon training right away. Wrong.

Let the pain of ignorance begin!

Without a formal training plan I began with three-mile runs every other morning. Seven years ago this workout would have been cake. It was disappointing to struggle for 8:30/mile but I managed. I continued to keep the pace since the level of effort was rapidly declining. During week three a dull ache appeared in my shin but I ran through it. A few days afterward it was too painful to run. For the next eight weeks all the running I could stand was for soccer games.

I shifted my efforts to swimming and biking while the leg healed. Now fully aware of how quickly overuse injuries can happen I swam only three days a week; all drills (thanks Total Immersion). I saved my real cardio efforts for 1-hour spin classes. To say the least, I attacked the spin bike with a vengeance. This turned out to be a bad plan because it prolonged my shin injury. I eventually had to stop both and focus solely on swimming.

With swimming I found success. I quickly improved my stroke and managed to get my volume up to 9000 yards a week. I tried pool running for my shin but found it strained my back too much. I didn't need another injury to nurse.

Once my leg felt healed I took advantage of the warmer weather and began a new biking plan (still no running). It had become apparent after my first ever triathlon (White Lake Half in Spring 07) that spin class was not an ample training tool and that I needed to actually ride my road bike. Who would have guessed? My plan was to ride an easy 30, a hard 20, and an easy 64 miles each week. Like everything else, I stupidly jumped into it. A month later I had a pinched nerve in my foot from an improper cleat position and hamstrings so tight you could play them like a guitar.

I eventually ended up in physical therapy to see if there was something I could do to help my hamstrings. The pain was not debilitating so I could still train, just not hard. The whole injury issue became a question of whether triathlons were worth the trouble or not. One thing was for sure, I was committed to finishing Vineman. I plowed on.

During the last month of training I battled the hamstring pain with a daily regiment of ice and anti-inflammatory meds. I finally managed to run again, but carefully so the shin pain wouldn't return. Luckily I live near a five-mile wooded trail loop that is easy on the legs. I also began to understand how to use heart rates to control workouts and the importance of easy days.

After Vineman I continued to train smarter with a ton of easy days. I stayed fresher for my once a week (per dicipline) speed work days. My hamstrings were still painful now and then but I didn't need the drugs to cope. During that last month and a half I saw my biggest increases in bike and run speed. Finally I felt like a triathlete and not a walking injury. I can only hope this will carry over to my second season.

Meet The Author

2007-11-02T15:10:00.000-04:00

As the caption below the main title says, I'm a second year triathlete. Even now at the age of 30 I tend to approach things haphazardly and triathlons were no different during my first season. Injuries have happened. Lessons have been learned.

This blog is an attempt to pass useful information along to active and aspiring triathletes alike. If that wasn't enough I'll also chronicle my own training along the way. By no means am I an expert so take everything I say/do for what it is (ramblings from a random crazy triathlete on the internet).

If you've read this far then you must either seriously enjoy triathlons and/or my boring writings. Should you continue to read below I'm sure you'll be further captivated by standard statistics of yours truly.

-Widdy

Vitals
Sex: Male
Age: 30
Height: 5-8
Weight: 150
Background: College track

Track PRs (all in high school)
400 - 0:56
800 - 1:56
1600 - 4:34
3200 - 10:20
5000 - 16:48

Race PRs (since the comeback)
5K - 18:48
Sprint (750m, 12.5 mi, 5K) - 1:12:32
Half-ironman - 5:34:06