nice...

Thursday evening:

After a day of rest from exercising on Wednesday I went right to the health club after work last night to get in my weekly repeat workout per the FIRST schedule I’m following for the Athens Ohio marathon (see link below). Last night I had on the prescription plate a mile w/u then a 1k repeat at 4:03 pace with a 400 meter recovery walk/jog then into a 2k repeat at 8:26 pace with a 400 meter recovery walk/jog then into another 1k repeat at 4:03 pace with a 400 meter recovery walk/jog then into the final 1k repeat at 4:03 pacing and to finish things off a mile c/d.

Confusing yes but 1st you have to break-up what is a kilometer:

1km = 1000meters = 0.6213xxxxx…miles

Then run that properly on a treadmill…yikes!

Below are my specific distance & times with average & max HR values:

1km – 3:59 pace – AHR 146bpm – MHR 153bpm
2km – 8:16 pace – AHR 148bpm – MHR 157bpm
1km – 3:57 pace – AHR 151bpm – MHR 158bpm
1km – 4:00 pace – AHR 151bpm – MHR 159bpm

I was quite surprised at how well the repeat session went for me last night as I was able to meet or exceed my required pace while running the whole 6 mile total distance at a one degree incline. The pace for all repeats felt comfortable for me as I was able to quicken the speed as each repeat progressed so I was really able to bump my VO2 max zone on each one. I wish all speed work routines felt this great...

So Friday is my scheduled usual rest day so I can run a properly paced 4th – 20 miler Saturday morning at the lakefront bright & early…

b

http://www.furman.edu/first/2006%20marathon%20training%20program.pdf

Snow dogz...

What! a squirrel

more like it...

Tuesday evening:

Week number 2 of cycling class “@threshold” was on the agenda and my legs were feeling still beat up like a couple of trucks rolled over them during the workday. Plus my knees were starting to get past the achy point and really starting to hurt so I had no idea how I was going to feel in cycling class. I knew before even getting on the bike that I was not going to attack this session…just survive it but the funniest things happen sometime as I was riding my 10 minute warm-up my legs felt good.

The "@threshold” class is a 90 minute training program focusing on raising your cycling threshold level with a lot of 4 minute 90 to 105% repeats thrown in throughout the 90 minutes and a 16 minute plateau tempo session near the end between 90 to 115% of your current cycling ability wattage which mine tested at 282 watts. Also toward the 2/3rds mark of the class we had 6 - 15 second "stomps" up to 150% of your wattage threshold tested, good fun once again as I really enjoy these for some reason.

I focused on slightly lower cadence during this ride duration. In the 90 minute class I averaged a cadence of 89 rpm with my max being 125rpm and during a "stomp" (max wattage then at 678) plus my average HR was 119bpm with a max ride HR on a 15-second 150% stomps was 154bpm. My mileage covered during this session was 26.3 miles for an average rate of speed of ~17.5mph.

The funny thing about the workout was I actually felt much more in control than last weeks opening cycling session for this class. I felt great when it was over with plus I wasn't exhaust like last week...ya just never know how your body's gonna work during a training session!

b

tempo this!

Monday evening:

I went home for a couple hours before heading back out to the health club to get in my weekly required FIRST tempo run which was a scheduled to be a six mile total run with the opening mile as a warm-up and then a 5 mile tempo portion at a ~7:29 mile pace. The commute there was interesting because it just started to snow heavily after a afternoon of sleet/freezing rain/slush/icy precipitation so the roads where pretty much a glazed hockey rink!

The club was quiet but wouldn’t you know it the only other person in the large fieldhouse treadmill area was on my favorite treadmill…go figure. So I used the treadmill right next to her but I was not able to turn the large oscillating wall fan on because walkers on the treadmills get too cold when the fans are on…I kept my thoughts to myself as I blasted onwards with my speedy workout…rant over :-)

Below is my run time for the 5 mile tempo with mile pace and average & max HR values:

5 miles – 36:29 – 7:17 pace – AHR 140bpm – MHR 151bpm

My total run time was 44:55 with a pace of 7:39 (my w/u mile was 9:15) and an overall average HR of 134bpm. It my look by the numbers that I met and exceeded the pace for my workout but I could only run the first 2.5 miles on a one degree incline and after that my fatigued legs forced me to drop down the rest of the distance to no incline at all. This is the first time during this whole marathon training cycle that I have not run a treadmill workout at a minimum one degree incline so I was feeling very guilty for doing this I attempted to compensate with a quicker mile pace over the last two miles. Also to be honest I’m abit concerned because my legs have not been recovering well over the last week like they normally would.

Another tough workout is in the books though…

b

Lead for legs...

Sunday mid-morning:

Woke-up still feeling pretty fatigued especially from the hilly 15.4 miler on Saturday in Cary, IL. It was a scheduled swim day anyways so K and I headed over to the health club mid-morning to get in the swimming workout. I had been feeling guilty that I have not swum in 3 weeks so it was a nice change of pace from all the running and biking stuff I have been doing. So I really didn’t have a specific swim workout planned, I just went along with how I felt in the water so below is what took place:

10 laps w/pull-buoy
5 laps w/hand-paddles and pull-buoy
5 laps w/hand-paddles
20 laps freestyle

So I covered 1600 meters worth of swimming at an aerobic, comfortable pace level. K is way faster then me at swimming plus she covered 50 laps in the same timeframe I covered my 40 laps…

It was nice to be back in the water once again and focusing on building up my swimming base towards the half ironman which isn’t till August 2nd 2008. Even though I felt like leaded concrete in the pool it was nice to get the workout in the books...

b

hills in illinois?

Saturday morning:

I decided to drive up to Cary, IL where the March Madness half marathon that a few of us v-teamers are racing in three weeks time. I needed to run 15 miles at a ~8:20 pacing but the hills out there make you re-evalute your pacing . About 5 people from my track group showed up to run various distances but alot of other people were running that day to prepare for March Madness. About a total of 20 of us runners headed out on the course at 8:30am as I hooked up with two other guys that were running in my pace zone. In was a sunny 27 degree morning with little wind which made for perfect training weather.

Below is my total time, mile pace and average & max HR values:

15.4 miles - 8:33 - AHR 133bpm - MHR 151bpm

My pacing was quite abit slower than where it should have been due to several variables; the hills, socializing on the run with the folks I ran with and I was pretty fatigued even before I started this run. I had a tough week of training last week leading into this run and I wasn't fully recovered from those Thursday night 1200 meter repeats...

Still it was great to pre-run the race course, meet some new friends and run a new LSD course besides always running the Chicago lakefront path and Barrington Hills...

b

whoa...

Thursday evening:

After a much needed rest day from exercising on Wednesday I was back at the health club later Thursday evening to run my prescribed, required FIRST repeat program via the treadmill. This one was technical and tough so I’ll try to explain it as simply as I possibly can. The FIRST marathon training plan had me run a 1.25 mile w/u then right into the set of 2 – 1200 meter repeats at ~4:55 pacing with a 2 minute recovery walk/jog in between these two 1200’s, then you get a 4 minute recovery before starting the next set of 2 – 1200 meter repeats at ~4:55 pacing with a 2 minute recovery walk/jog in between these two 1200’s, then you get a 4 minute recovery before starting the last set of 2 – 1200 meter repeats at ~4:55 pacing with a 2 minute recovery walk/jog in between these two 1200’s and finally I choose to run a .75 mile c/d…sorry about the techy description but below is my times with average HR & max HR per 1200:

Set 1.
1200 meter – 4:59 – AHR 142bpm – max HR 149bpm (then 2 minute recovery)
1200 meter – 4:57 – AHR 144bpm – max HR 153bpm
Then a 4 minute recovery…
Set 2.
1200 meter – 4:57 – AHR 146bpm – max HR 152bpm (then 2 minute recovery)
1200 meter – 4:57 – AHR 148bpm – max HR 155bpm
Then a 4 minute recovery…
Set 3.
1200 meter – 4:56 – AHR 148bpm – max HR 155bpm (then 2 minute recovery)
1200 meter – 4:59 – AHR 149bpm – max HR 156bpm

Ok, so I covered 7.5 miles in a total time of 1:03:32 with an average HR of 131. I ran the complete distance via the ‘mill on a one degree incline for the record books. I was slower on all my projected repeat times but whatever…all I have to say is I’m so glad that repeat workout session in the books because it beat me up pretty badly…that last repeat almost spit me of the back of the treadmill…

So I’m already over "that!" workout!!!

b

push it...

Tuesday evening:

Tuesday night was the first session of the 6 week bike training program that I signed up for at a local bike shop in our area which is round number two for me this winter season. I provided a link here to Village CycleSports website that has detailed info about all their winter program courses: http://villagecyclesport.com/ and I have a also provided a link to the CompuTrainer website which is the equipment they use for this training:

http://www.racermateinc.com/computrainer.asp?gclid=CNmugaun7JACFQGdPAodjVojWQ

The class I’m taking on Tuesday nights is know as "@threshold" which is a 90 minute training program focusing on raising your cycling threshold level with a lot of 3 to 4 minute 90 to 110% repeats thrown in throughout the 90 minutes and a 17 minute plateau tempo session near the end at 90% of your current cycling ability wattage which mine tested last Saturday at 282 watts. Also in the middle of the class we had 6 - 15 second "stomps" up to 150% of your wattage threshold tested, good fun!

I focused on cadence the whole ride because the wattage rating changed much too quickly and over a larger number span. Since you do not shift during this class its easier to focus on this 100%. In the 90 minute class I averaged a perfect cadence of 90 rpm with my max being 124rpm during a "stomp" (max wattage then at 665) plus my average HR was 128bpm with a max ride HR on one of those short 150% stomps was 154bpm. My mileage covered during this session was 25.5 miles for an average rate of speed of ~17mph. Above is my usual techy graph for your viewing pleasure, click on it for the bigger picture...Now that sure was one tough and satisfying workout.

b

sailing...

Monday mid-morning:

Since K and I had the day off from work we both needed to run longer marathon paced FIRST runs for the day. We drove down to the lakefront at about 9am hoping it might be slightly warmer as it turned out it was at 19 degrees with a constant 20mph west wind with gusts to 30mph so with the windchill it was slightly below zero degrees Fahrenheit…yikes but I couldn’t run on the treadmill again plus my legs needed some asphalt/concrete training. K needed to run a 9 mile marathon pace run and I needed to run a 10 mile marathon pace run at approx ~8 minute per mile.

We ran the warm-up mile together as we noticed the lakefront path still had so spotty glazed ice patches on it. During the w/u I noticed my quads felt heavy but they slowly loosened up within several minutes. After that w/u mile we ran at our own required paces southward on the lakefront path till our turn around points and then the return trip northward. Even though the winds were out of the west no matter which direction; south or north it felt like it was in your face for 80% of the run and the gusts made it just that much worst. At 6’4" tall I was basically like a sail on a boat catching all sorts of strong winds but I kept thinking to myself even this was better than the 20 miler I ran on the health club treadmill just 24 hours earlier.

Below is my 10 mile projected marathon pace time with average mile pace, average & max heart zone info:

10 mile – 1:17:25 – 7:45 pace – average HR 140bpm – max HR 147bpm (while pushing a big wind gust burst)

I ran a half mile cool down after the tempo portion for a run total of 11.5 miles before heading back to the car and waiting for K’s return. I was pleasantly surprise to see how recovered my body was after the 20 miler the day before & the 30 minute all out an-aerobic cycling test time trial on Saturday. I had several 3:45 paced half mile sessions during the run duration which were not to taxing at all plus I kept all my mile paces under 7:56 with not too high of HR values which I think the cold weather kept those numbers down somewhat. All in all it was a strong run day for me (and K too!)…

b

no thank you...

Sunday morning:

I was the 1st person in our Rosemont health club Sunday morning as the doors opened promptly at 7am and I was running on the threadmill by 7:05am! I was forced to run my 20 miler on my favorite 'mill because it was an absolute downpour all night & morning as I played it safe due to outside icyness issues...

The FIRST program wanted me to run my 3rd - 20 miler at a 8:30 pacing. I broke my 20 miler up into a 3 segments of 6.75, 6.75 and 6.50 miles because the threadmills shut-down at 60 minutes. I had a short 30 second break to refill my waterbottle, take a eGel and re-boot the 'mill between each split. Below are my mileage splits with mile pace, average & max heart rate per time:

6.75 miles -57:52 - 8:34 - AHR 124bpm - MHR 134bpm
6.75 miles -56:25 - 8:21 - AHR 129bpm - MHR 135bpm
6.50 miles -53:43 - 8:15 - AHR 135bpm - MHR 140bpm

Total 20 mile run time was 2:48:01 for a mile pace of 8:24 with an average heart rate at 129bpm which I acheived running on a one degree incline the whole distance. I had 4 - eGels; one before starting and every 5 miles after that plus I went through 3 - 26 ounce large biking waterbottles because it was so stinking hot & muggy in the health club. Because of the abrupt outside temp change and the massive size of our fieldhouse in the health club theres no way they can regulate this correctly...arrrrrrrrrrrgh!

With 2 and half miles to go the heat & humidity with the lack of air movement pushed me into a small "bonk" zone which I recognized immediately as I backed off the pacing to survive till the end...even though this winter is what a typical Chicagoland winter is somewhat like it sure makes it a challenge when it comes to meeting your marathon running training goals!

Please don't let me have to run another long run on the 'mill

b

da health club...http://www.wccfitness.com/

wattage in the cottage...

Saturday morning:

So I went over to my friends, Vince's bike shop early-morning for my "Functional Threshold Power Assessment - FTP" for my bike wattaged assessment for my next round of cycling classes on Tuesday evening known as "@threshold" and night classes that start-up this tuesday...shop info: http://villagecyclesport.com/ I knew once again it was gonna be an all out 30 minute Time Trial on the 8 person CompuTrainer set-up for which I understood alot more this time around compared to my first FTP test on January 5th 2008 for which my training wattage number was at 253...

We spun about an easy 12 minute warm-up then went into a 30 minute repeat session that had several repeat blasts with the last one being at 100% effort...I was properly warmed up after this as I covered 11 miles during this warm-up cycle. Aster a 5 minute break to drink, take in some nutrition then onto the bikes again for a 30 minute all out time trial blast...I once again mentally was prepared to ride on the slight conservative side for the first 15 minutes then let it have it for the last 15 minutes...it's always easier said than done so below are my numbers for each 15 minute portion of the total 30 minute:

First 15 minutes:

Average HR ~147bpm
Max HR ???
Average cadence ~94rpm
Average wattage 267

Second 15 minutes:

Average HR 154bpm
Max HR 162bpm
Average cadence 94rpm
Average wattage 282

First thing you will notice my first 15 minutes are approximate values and that has to do with my problems I have been having with my Polar s720i HR watch. I noticed at about just after the 14 minute into the session it stopped at 4 seconds into the ride so it actually only recorded the last 15:17 of the 30 minute time trial FTP test. Also during the last 15 minutes I was comfortably able to ride in the 300 to 320 wattage zone to help bring up my overall wattage average...

It was a really great effort I could give the CompuTrainer that day...I covered 11.5 miles at a 23mph (max 27.4mph) pace with an average HR of ~154bpm and average cadence at 94rpm. My distance and speed were recorded by my VDO wireless bike computer...

So now my baseline wattage of 282 (up by 29 watts from previous 253 - big numbers in cycling terms) is now know for my personalized training based on my current level of cycling wattage fitness...that sure was workout as always as I was able to control my pacing very much so during this 30 minute Time Trial FTP test.

b

@threshold...

Last week I signed up round number two of winter class with my friends local bike shop where they are having CompuTrainer coached 6 week workouts at various times and abilities/goals that meet your cycling training needs. The class I signed up for this time on Tuesday night hour and a/half session know is known as "@Threshold"...description is in the pdf link below that I provided:

http://www.psyclepower.com/Descriptions.pdf

Tomorrow I head over to the bike shop to ride a "Functional Threshold Power Assessment - FTP" test via the CompuTrainer which is based on watts used during this test and it will tell us if I have gained any power wattage after this last 6 week sessions. This will give the coach (and me) the baseline personal cycling start values to customize my next six week training session. The goal is once again after six weeks to re-take the FTP test to see how I have hopefully developed after this cycling training time period...all this info is within the pdf link I attached if your techy interested.

b

Below is a re-print of my results from my first FTP test on January 5th 2008:

So I headed over to my friends, Vince's bike shop mid-morning for my "Functional Threshold Power Assessment - FTP" for my bike wattaged assessment for my Weds night classes that start-up this week...shop info: http://villagecyclesport.com/ I knew it was gonna be an all out 30 minute Time Trail on the 8 person CompuTrainer set-up but little did I know 6 of the 8 people were serious hardcore junkie roadies...even these things turn into race events for them as I heard them talk about all session...

We spun about an easy 15 minute warm-up then went into a 20 minute repeat session that had 4 repeat blasts with the last one being at 95 to 105% effort...I was exhausted after this! 15 minute break to drink, take in some nutrition then onto the bikes again for a 30 minute all out time trial blast...Vince told be to air on the slight conservative side for the first 15 minutes then let it have it for the last 15 minutes...yeah, easier said than done so below are my numbers for each 15 minute portion of the total 30 minute:

First 15 minutes:
Average HR 145bpm
Max HR 151bpm
Average cadence 91rpm
Average wattage 252

Second 15 minutes:
Average HR 153bpm
Max HR 155bpm
Average cadence 89rpm
Average wattage 253

First thing you will notice is my average wattage bumped up slightly and I was consistent there but my effort in the last 15 minutes was much stronger yet it netted me minimal results and my average cadence dipped below 90rpm as I attempted to push bigger gears...it was the best effort I could give the CompuTrainer that day plus I finished 6 out of 8 people (non-competitive assessment, right!)...I covered 10 miles at a 22mph pace with an average HR of 149bpm and average cadence spot-on at 90rpm.

After the 30 minute Time Trail was a very slow paced 10 minute cool-down...after that I was pretty well spent, drank my recovery drink and went home to eat like a horse!!!
So now my baseline wattage of 253 is know for my personalized training based on my current level of cycling wattage fitness...that was sure some workout indeed.

Happy V Day...

Happy Valentines Day to All

Brian

ah snow...

Well our region got hit with about 4 inches of fluffy lake michigan effect snow later yesterday afternoon for which the weather forecasters did not even expect...so now over the last two days their 0 for 2 in the prediction arena...


To the left is a photo of my 'ole dinosaur triathlon bike in it's indoor winter training trim & set-up. I use a Kinetic Road Machine rear wheel resistance trainer for spinning purpose's in the house. I'm also currently enrolled in a once a week - 6 week Computrainer class program at my friend's local bike shop...more to follow on that topic later! Since I am currently training for a early spring marathon I bike between 2 to 3 times a week to maintain my cycling base which works out perfectly with the running program I follow because if fits right in on my cross-training days.

Last night I spun on the trainer for a recovery 42 minutes within a very easy gear range to maintain a lower heart rate zone to help clear out the runner's "dead leg syndrome" I was feeling all day yesterday...mission completed!

b

What snow?

Well once again the weather people are completely wrong about forecasting which is fine with me. The severe weather alert has been lifted...ha!

As you can see by my countdown time I'm currently in a training mode to run the Athens Ohio Marathon on April 6th 2008 and k is too. Since the Chicago Marathon was a failed attempt at BQ'ing last fall (what weather?) and my patellar injury that happened during that race which sidelined me from complete exercising for 5 weeks after the race allowed me plenty of time to think about the 2008 racing season. So I decide to pick a flat & fast spring marathon for my next attempt and this little marathon fit the bill...so here we are with less than 8 weeks to go and knock on wood all is going well on the training front.

Here's alittle info about the race: http://www.athensmarathon.org/

b

Chilly Sunday...

Well yesterday was a un-expected day of rest from any sort of exercising. You can call me crazy but after Fridays nights 7.1 (quarter mile repeat workout) on the treadmill at the health club then running at 7am Saturday morning at the Chicago lafefront path for 18 icy path miles I was exhausted Sunday morning...

plus I blamed my slackerness on the very abrupt artic blast that rolled into our region late Saturday night...I woke-up early Sunday morning to see the outside temp was minus 4 degrees and with the gale force NW winds it was minus 30 degrees below zero. The high temp for the day finally warmed up to 1 degree with a wind chill still at minus 20 degrees...rest day for the week utilized on the spot!

b

Chicago skyline

After a cold, windy and icy 18 mile training run...

Maui morning

Sunrise in Hana in late September 2006...

T

The start of the new mobile blog...

More to follow soon...

b

Maui 2006

South Hana area