Category: training

Runt and the downward spiral

I am the first to admit that I am in a downward spiral. Beyond discussing personal, work stuff on a public forum I would rather discuss the athletic downward spiral.

I have 23 weeks to ironman . Yes the 2nd ironman in 2 years and 23 weeks left to prepare. Where did all the time go. For the last couple of weeks training has been lack luster to non-existent. Mainly because I didn’t workout . Yes the horror. I didn’t workout. I just didn’t feel like it. I worked out a couple of times (2-3) /week but nothing consistent and nothing hard. So how the hell am I thinking I will be preparing for this ironman.

Yes by all accounts I should start to freakout. I should start to wonder what the hell I am planning to do . But like everything else I have learnt from years of racing. I need a plan. I need to be organized and after that I need to execute.

The one thing I can say is that I can’t lose a single day between now and ironman. EVERY DAY COUNTS.

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Being Lazy

So I have been lazy for the lazy couple of days. Before and after the trip to lake plaicd just did not feel like working out. Maybe it was the 2feet of snow outside or the bitter cold. Just was several stop and go times.

So after getting back I decided with 158 days to go to ironman, I have got to make every day count from now to the race. That means every run, bike and yes even swim. Yesterday was the first day back and I had pretty good brick workout . Biked 90mins @190watts and then finished with a solid 20min run at 8:30 pace.

So now I have to do better. No matter what the curve balls with life , logistics are there is a race on july 24 and I need to be on the start line.

Good Brick

This weekend was my 2nd brick as building up to 2011. A brick is a bike-run. Physically 1 of the more challenging parts of a triathlon. To run after getting off the bike is “toooghh” . And plus for most of us (ok maybe just me) , it is also a mental challenge.You get off your bike and then to run hard got to build that mental 6pack.

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No Swim

I haven’t swum since august. Surprising ? Well it just mean I was busy with other things . And plus I was lazy . How many times can you motivate yourself to wakeup at 5:30 on a weekday to go to the pool ? Especially when it is cold and wet outside. Maybe I should have gone for a walk , with all the rain CT was getting I would be able to call it a swim.

So after starting OS training , I figure I should take it upon myself to add swimming. Hmmm. Darn that 3rd sport is always problematic. Goal for the initial 2 weeks is to just get back to the feel of the water. Do about 1200 -1700 yds 2-3/week. From there ramp it up build technique and form.

So I guess now it is time to drown myself.

ftp Test

Numbers Numbers. I like numbers , I live for numbers. And because I take my hobby as a hugely analytical exercise I love when I get new numbers.

So week 1 and day 2 , I am meant to do an FTP test. For me this is a bit of mixed bag. I don’t own a power tap yet (on the list of purchases). So till then I have to use heart-rate , perceived effort, and cadence at a specific gear as an estimate. Yeah I know after all that I would much rather have a power tap which tells me how many watts I am generating. Get a headache just getting a good ftp measure.
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vDot Test

I started out-season with EN in November. So part of the first week was we are meant to do vdot tests. VDOT is a number that is used in running using the Jack Daniels running formula. The idea is the higher the number the better runner you are. Also it allows you to relate paces over different distances. So if you can run a 5k in xx:xx time how fast can you run a 1/2 marathon or a marathon. The idea with vdot is that you can train more specifically to build your pace and then when it comes to racing you are able to execute better. Anyway I digress.
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Start Training

I start training today for ironman 2011. Not extremely seriously but is the pre-prep for outseason which is going to start in November.The plan is to focus on the run intensity, and core workouts. The run will be high intensity with some frequency thrown in. The goal is to drop down to a sub 20min 5k but december. I will be running 4/week about 3 – 6 mi.

The core workout will be 2-3 times a week.

Let the games begin. Sub 12 or bust.

The screwed up hotel

So after being sick for the last couple of days. We didn’t know if we were still going to be able to make it up to LP. Rhian had booked the hotel about a week before. Thursday night I was still feeling horrible, so we decided to delay it for a day and drive up on sat. That would mean I would have to do my race rehearsal on either saturday afternoon , or sunday. Driving up on saturday we left late, on the way up heard the worldcup game on pandora.

We get to the hotel and find out they have majorly screwed up. They had over booked the hotel, and when we had called to change our arrival date from friday to saturday they didn’t put it in correctly. And since we didn’t come in on friday they canceled our reservation for sat to mon. Needless to say both of us were pissed. We knew getting a reservation in LP on jul4th was close to impossible. We complained to the managment , and had them in all sort of twists but they just couldn’t do anything. They were fully booked.

So now we were stuck trying to find a new hotel in the adirondacks on jul4th. In the end we went over to sarnac lake, where we were able to find a decent place.

D.C Heat

Another weekend and we are traveling again. This ti,e it is to dc to see my family. I have to take the bike along because it is another training weekend . I start off on sat around 12 and it is hot hot. Around 97 . I bike the wo&d loop by the time I have done the loop from regan to Vienna I am cooking. I start to try to cool down by throwing water on myself . That only helps a little. Get to dulles and I have to take a 2 min break because of the heat. I ride back to vienna and get to the car. Kamil meets me outside. I grab a water bottle throw it on my face and then grab the last of the infinit and start to run. After 70mi I meant to do a 4 mi run. The run around the park is enough to do me in. Stop at mariam’s house to grab more water.
My cousins are there, considering my state I think they wanted to stay well away. I was sweating buckets. I sit down for a while and then go back to fatimas’s house to take a shower and come back for a late lunch. Nothing better than a diet of nihari and haleem after a hard days workout.