Category: triathlon

Recovery day

After 2 weeks of bashing my body into oblivion for out-season training finally coming to a recovery day. More than anything these last 2 weeks have helped in getting consistency and also getting my routine in order. Biking and running have slowly been coming back to form . Can’t say I am close to where I want to be for ironman training, but I am pleasantly surprised at how well I have physically responded to the training stress. There were definitely some days where it felt awful, but if you expect ironman (or any endurance event training) is peachy and easy then you have picked the wrong sport. It is really mentally draining to push yourself on the bike or the run when your body is sore, and just the day before you have pushed yourself.

So in a way the day off is a way to reset. About time to enjoy a nice glass of wine or a margarita and maybe cook something less than healthy for myself.

Sore knee and 50m pool

So R. Convinced me to visit the new Stamford Chelsea piers. I had been doubtful because I didn’t like the fact they were charging an exorbitant fee to play squash. After a quick tour I liked they had different opportunities and especially their 50m pool. It must have been over 15 years since I swam in a regulation pool. So anyway we signed up.
Considering the pain I am having with my left knee since the last brick, I am going to be swimming a lot lot more for the next few months. Well bring on the cl.

Ctrl+reset

Close to 4 months of being off and it feels weird to write a training log. Started running after a back injury 3 weeks back. This weekend was the 1st bike ride. Feels good to be back but need to regain some fitness. Quick stats running about 8 min/mi and bike FTP around 220 watts. No swimming till oct1st

115 days to lake placid

My countdown clock tells me it is 115 days to ironman lake placid.
Here is more than the 4 point checklist triathletes describe.
1. Bike faster
2. Bike longer
3. Build run speed to sub 7 pace
4. Do brick runs at 8min pace
5. Swim swim
6. Contact charity and get stuff going

Ok so not 4 points and not all simple. But let’s get this done. Tomorrow is 114 days

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.

Continue reading “Runt and the downward spiral”

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.

Janus Charity Challenge

So WTC (the trademark owners of IM — ironman) , yes the big and bad corporation which holds all the ironman races, has decided to cancel the collaboration they had with Janus to create the Janus charity challenge. For a lot of triathletes who use the sport to raise money for their charity this is a huge blow. Apparently according to the rumor-mill , WTC has a separate sponsor for a charity program that they will announce later. I was planning to do a the charity challenge for my next IM race in lake placid. So now I have to wait to see what WTC brings to the table.

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.
Continue reading “vDot Test”

100 pushup challenge

Nemo at EN started the 100 pushup challenge. It is off-season all the triathletes are bored (has to be it). So to keep ourselves busy, we start various challenges. This one is pretty famous. The goal is simple do a 100 pushups in 1 go.

The website and the iphone app (yes there is an app for that) will build you towards the goal. You are meant to do it 3 times a week. First day is the test. I was able to do 14 in 1 go. Yes pretty dismal. The next day was 44 over 5 reps.

We will see where this goes.