Monday evening:

Class number 5 of the 2nd six week Computrainer 90 minute class winter session was this evening at the LBS (local bike shop). I was pretty tired at work yesterday but once I got to the shop, hooked up the old Cannondale to the trainer it was like I had a big boost of energy hit my body & mind so I used my tested 263 training watts for the whole class duration and was able to train at properly for the 90 minute duration which worked out fine last night…big boost!

My max wattage for a standing stomp came in at 744 watts…which is an awesome number from me tonight as I was feeling powerful especially during those standing stomps. My average HR for the 90 minute class came in at 125bpm and with a max of 154bpm for the third week in a row…Mr. Consistency! My average cadence was at 84rpm (once again) and a max cadence during the last spin-up drill of 122rpm as my average pace for the ride was at 17.3mph and max of 37.4mph during some point of the workout. My average watts burn for the 90 minute session was at 190...

I felt absolutely great especially after the 3 days of strong workouts…things are turning around :-)

Below is my techy Polar chart which shows the workout numbers:
http://www.twodogzdesign.com/cycle09/032309.JPG

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the first time...

Sunday morning:

As I heard the day was going to be sunny & 60 degrees I was referred by several good friends of an organized St. Pats Day bike ride put on by the Wheeling Wheelmen which starts and ends at Wauconda High School, a very far, far northwest suburb of Chicagoland. They had three options of riding distances which were 16, 20 or 36 miles so I choose the 36 mile routine as it was a perfect day for my first outdoor bike ride of 2009 and a perfect place to test ride the new Ridley Dean to get used to it since my first outdoor 10 mile Time Trial bike race is on April 5th 2009. I put the last fine tuning tweaks on the Dean on Saturday evening so I’d be ready to drive up there very early Sunday morning.

I arrived just before the 8am course openings as you ride the marked loops whenever you arrive. I paid my ten dollar entry fee, geared up with fluids & equipment/clothing then un-loaded the Ridley Dean from the car. With the course map in my pocket I headed out on the 16 mile loop solo taking my time getting used to the bike and waiting for the county roads to start the proper warm-up. I hooked up with another rider for the 1st forty minutes of the ride then I decided I needed to see what this bike could do and boy it didn’t let me down. Off I went testing its abilities which were absolutely spectacular…the difference between the Cannondale and the Ridley is like night & day…no comparison in any category. I rode the whole 16 mile loop with a big smile on my face and as we finished that loop at the HS I quickly changed out fluid bottles and consumed some CliffBar shots while next to my car.

Two minutes later I set-off on the other 20 mile loop as I focused on consistent bike pace training thru the rolling hills of northern Illinois with getting in some more time in the aero TT bars to train my body to this position on the new bike. With about ten miles to go while I was tucked in the aero TT position my 5oz EFS gel bottle fell out of my jersey pocket but I had another package of CliffBar shots as back-up. At about 7 miles from the end the seat holder bolt came loose maybe because of the HydroTail two 24oz bottle holders off the back of the saddle rails. No fret as I rode the rest of the way back seating in the saddle doing a balancing act. Then the third charm was I must have pinched my back tire tube about five miles from the finish. It was a very slow air leak so I lowered my speed and took care of all these little things that happened to me during this training day…but still when I pulled up along side my car I had the biggest "grinchest" of grins on my face from an awesome first day outdoors on this great new TT/Tri bike :-) it was everything and more than I expected from it!

Since this was a recovery/base building ride it took me 2:03.22 to cover the 36 miles per the Garmin 305 stat’s; my average HR was at 126bpm with a max coming in at 149bpm. Average speed was at 17.8mph with a max HR coming during a tester blast aero-bar section of 30.7mph.

One thing I did notice is the quicker you ride this bike the smoother it feels…it was a great ride!

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oh yeah...

Saturday morning:

I headed downtown to the lakefront path earlier than normal this day solo as K went an hour later to meet up with her friends as she’s on a taper down week towards the Lakefront 50k on April 4th 2009. This day I needed to run a one hour & forty five minute 3/1 run as next weekend I won’t have the proper opportunity to run this correctly plus I was still upset with my training run performance the weekend before at the March Madness half marathon out in hilly Cary, IL. Positives can be found from poor runs as that one has really jump started my running focus once again.

As I started at 6:55am headed south along the lakefront path I choose to run into the SE winds coming off Lake Michigan for some added resistance early on in the run. The path was nice and quiet this early as I knew it was going to get crowded later on as the sunny warmer weather was moving in. I maintained a nice and consistent pace headed southward plus I felt great testing out my 2008 DS Trainer 14’s on a mid-distance run. I got to my turn-around point near Soldiers Field and started back northernly to pick-up my pace slowly so I actually felt so comfortable that this run really turned into a 2/1 run instead. I was able to hit my max HR right near the very end at 154bpm. I covered 13.15 miles per the Garmin 305 in my required timeframe of 105 minutes. My average HR worked out to be 138bpm which is perfect for my required workout for the day.

Below are my split times for the out and back run:
56:11
48:51

Not a bad negative split…another redemption training run in the books for the week :-)

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Great March Madness half marathon photo...

(fyi...click on the picture to see the full image :-))

On March 15 2009 I ran in the Cary, IL hilly half marathon as a training run (capacity is 1000 runners) but a couple of my good friends were using this a Boston Training tuner race to see how their training has been going towards their spring goal race...Boston 2009. My friends Dave S. (singlet, arm warmers) and Greg C. (blue tech tee, goat-tee) are here running almost side by side about 1.25 miles into the half marathon...Dave PR'd with a 1:13.7 - 2nd Overall and Greg PR'd with a 1:13.35 - 3rd Overall...Great job Dave and Greg gentlemen as your both on your way to a great Boston Marathon in April 2009!

BTW...the rabbit/ringer whom won the race is just off the shoulder in the white-tee and won with a 1:12.20 time...very talent young man whom is actually a very competitive Pro-Triathlete at 24 years young...Dave & Greg told me at about mile 6 he basically did a couple surges on them to snap the elastic in the small leader running pack as he then cruised on in for the win...incredible stuff!

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spinnin away no where quick...

Thursday night:

Hooked up the old Cannondale on the Kinetic trainer in the house to get in a one hour spin while watching some more motivational vintage 2005 TdF footage also had the two floor fans pointed at me to keep me cooled off as I needed that forced air blowing at myself while riding a stationary spin.

Basic recovery spin focusing on a good cadence as I covered 16.2 mile in the hour spin with a max speed being near minute 52 at 20.5mph. My average HR was at 106bpm with a max near minute 54 of 135bpm plus my average cadence was good at 91rpm.

Solid recovery training ride in the books yet again!

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revenge...

Tuesday evening:

Attempted recovery run went sour just after one mile after my body was still beat-up and I still suffer from gi issues...return home...to much info?

Wednesday evening:

Health Club time after work as redemption for last night and poor performance at March Madness. If I'm gonna reach my Indy Mini goal I have to push myself to the next level of training! Impromtu speedwork that had strides, intervals and one mile tempo blast thrown in for good measure.

Started off with a two mile warm-up on the indoor track as I continually picked up my pace after each lap (5 laps to one mile ratio). Then I ran another mile on the track but running the 125 meter straight aways (10 total in that mile) as intervals with running recovery around the corners. After those went by well I ran another mile on the track at an 8:30 mile pace.
I then jumped on the treadmill and ran a pick-up mile tempo run starting at a 7:30 pace and finsihing with a 6:54 pace. That mile took me 7:14 to run with an average HR of 145bpm and max HR at the very end at 156bpm.

I then went back to the indoor track and ran a 9 minute cool-down mile...6 miles total for the night in 50:55 with an average HR of 131bpm...that one one solid redemption run and felt great!

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the Dean awaits...

.
before tomorrows first outdoor ride!

Monday night Computrainer class...

Monday evening:

Class number 4 of the 2nd six week Computrainer 90 minute class winter session was this evening at the LBS. I had to coach bump down my average wattage which now to be set at 220 which is more in tune with what my body is able to train at properly after the hilly half marathon I ran yesterday.

My max wattage for a standing stomp came in at 697 watts for the second week in a row. My average HR for the 90 minute class came in at a low 112bpm with a max of 139bpm. My average cadence was at 88rpm and a max cadence during the last spin-up drill of 128rpm as my average pace for the ride was at 18.1mph and max of 29.1mph during the max spin up routine.

My legs felt flushed out and better after this recovery ride! bonus...

I’m still itchin’ to ride outside especially on the new bike!

Below is my techy Polar chart which shows the workout numbers:
http://www.twodogzdesign.com/cycle09/031609.JPG

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March Madness half marathon race (training) report finally...

Sunday morning:

K and I drove up bright & early to Cary, IL as I prepared to run the March Madness half marathon for the 4th year in a row now. The weather was finally nice at about 40 degrees with lots of sunshine and very little wind. We met up with a lot of V-teamers, Tapers and my track team "Fast Track Racing" people before the race either in the High School gym or just prior to the start of the race. I did a very bare minimal warm-up before the race as I was not racing the race but using it as a long slow distance training run towards the Indy Mini half marathon goal race on May 2nd 2009. I did not have a chance but twice since the Tecumseh Marathon in early December 2008 to run any hill work what-so-ever plus my running mileage is not that high weekly since this early 2009 season is a semi-sort-of running recovering cycle from my 2008 racing season. But even running it as a training run being the competitive person that I am I set a goal of finishing the half at 1:45 which is a 8 minute mile.

Just before the race started I wished Dave-O and GregC best of luck as they had their toes on the starting line. I went to the mid-portion of the starting pack as the starting gun went off. I decided to take the 1st mile or so easy as warm-up as everyone else was already passing me in high-gear. At about mile one Tom M, Frank and Bobby scream by me telling me I’m running too slow :-) but I kept on running at my current pace. By mile two by legs were warmed up and at the 1st water station K, our friend Bridget and her son Christopher so my cheering crew was in place. Just after that point is the drop away downhill that we have to run back up after mile nine so I opened my stride during the downhill to gain alittle time back before the hills would come into play later on.

Up until about mile 8.5 the race for me was pretty un-eventful but I finally reeled in Tom M at this point as we shared a few words of encouragement for each other as "the uphill" was coming up near mile 9.4. As I chugged up the hill it didn’t seem as daunting as the previous 3 years I have raced this event…maybe the Tecumseh trail marathon had something to due with this :-) after the uphill I saw Kristen, Bridget and Christopher near the water station once again as they shouted me onwards to the finish. The rest of the race is rolling uphill’s and downhill’s as I cruised on through the finishline in 1:48:47…no where even close to my previous 3 years racing times here but the result tells me what current condition I’m in heading into the homestretch of training towards the Indy Mini half marathon on May 2nd.

Afterwards K & I headed over to Tracks with the gang for feasting, beverages and social time together…this was the part of the race day I was looking forward to most this day ;-)

Below is a link to my Polar HR data showing how I kept my HR in my LSD training mode:
http://www.twodogzdesign.com/run09/mmphr031509.JPG

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The hoody sweatshirt from yesterday's hilly...

half marathon...race (well training) report to follow later.

recovery run...

Friday evening:

Ran a really ez recovery run afterwork (in daylight!) for 3 miles to speed-up my re-building of my legs from yesterdays tempo run...slightly warmer temps with sunlight was a great new motivator!

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a conditioning sign...

Thursday evening:

Well I finally got in a good run for the week…it’s been much too long! Per my training schedule I had a 45 minute Tempo run to accomplish so I choose to run this in the confines of our health club because I enjoy running these indoors this time of the weather year were having. So I ran my tempo run utilizing the indoor track & treadmill for my specific workout yet again.

On the indoor track I ran a 2.2 mile warm-up to pick-up pace as I felt good right from the first lap and then I jumped on the treadmill for the speed side of things for 2 miles in 14:44 minutes in which I had an average HR during this portion at 141bpm and max during the ending minute at 151bpm. After that I headed back up to the track for a 1.4 mile cool-down portion which I felt strong on also. During my 46:10 minutes I covered 5.6 miles with an average HR of 134bpm.

After my run I always walk a cool-down lap (2/10ths of a mile) of the track and my HR was under 85bpm as I walked down the stairs to the locker room…maybe my conditioning is finally kicking in :-)

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it's getting closer to spring that is...

maybe outdoor mile intervals next Thursday evening on the Dean...

rain, rain go away!!!

Tuesday evening:

Well my bad luck struck again last night while attempting to get in my scheduled run repeat workout session outdoors. I was about a half mile into the run when the clouds opened up on me once again monsoon style with the winds to accompany it also. I then looped around back home to only get in a 1.2 mile run in 11:07 for the evening…back-up plan was now to be activated.

Once in the house I swapped out the running clothes for my biking outfit to hop on the Cannondale via the Kinetic trainer in the house to burn-off some frustration for my lack of proper running. I watched stage 16 mountain climb of the 2005 TdF for continued inspiration & motivation. I focused this one hour spin an aerobic building ride which is describe as "To develop local muscle endurance and mental patience"…perfect for re-focusing! Another thing I focused on during this spin was holding an higher cadence than I have not been able to hold during Computrainer class.

I ended up getting in a nice ride via the trainer and met my goals for this impromptu workout. I covered 17 miles in the one hour speed which as a perfect 17mph pace…ez calc :-) with a max speed of only 19.1mph. My average HR was at a nice biking aerobic level of 126bpm with a max HR several times at 141bpm during several 5 minute smaller cassette gear intervals. I’m happy to say I met my average cadence goal of 94rpm with a max of 104rpm.

The Polar chart link if interested ;-)
http://www.twodogzdesign.com/cycle09/031009.JPG

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Mr. Dean waits patiently...

for spring to arrive some day?

computrainer class notes...

Monday evening:

Class number 3 of the 2nd six week Computrainer 90 minute class winter session was this evening at the LBS. I had to coach bump down my average wattage which now to be set at 250 which is more in tune with what my body is able to train at properly for the 90 minute duration which worked out fine last night.

My max wattage for a standing stomp came in at 697 watts…which once again that’s down from the previous 3 week’s wattage but I did the best I could. My average HR for the 90 minute class came in at 130bpm once again with a max of 154bpm. My average cadence was low once again low & identical to last week for me during the class at 84rpm and a max cadence during the last spin-up drill of 167rpm as my average pace for the ride was at 17.2mph and max of 34.1mph during the max spin up routine.

I’m itchin’ to ride outside especially on the new bike!

Below is my techy Polar chart which shows the workout numbers:
http://www.twodogzdesign.com/cycle09/030909.JPG

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Sunday's soggy weather day...

nothing but monsoon rains, hail, thunder and lighting all day...

monsoon lakefront...

Saturday morning:

K and I headed down to Lake Michigan for our typical Saturday morning long run routine as we meet up with our friends. K was on a down week at 12 miles scheduled and I needed to get in a 90 minute 3/1 per the half training schedule which I'd been looking forward to all week. As Kristen headed southward on the lakefront path with her friends I wished everyone well as I decided to head into the wind northward on the path 4.5 miles till the turn-around point.

It was about 43 degrees with alot of humidity and storm clouds rolling in from the NE over Lake Michigan so I knew rain was coming soon. About a mile before my turn-around point the monsoon winds and rains hit as they came in abruptly off the lake. At my turning point I was completely drenched with rain that was falling heavily sideways (thunder & lighting kicked in also) so I picked up the pace slightly on the return trip southward. Even though the wind was for the most part from my back it started to fall even heavier. At the hour mark on my Polar watch I kicked in the 3/1 portion but I knew a 90 minute run wasn't going to happen today because now I was starting to get really cold as it took alot of focus to even finish this run...below are my lap split distances, times and average mile pace:

4.5 miles - 38:56 - 8:40
2.5 miles - 21:10 - 8:22
2.0 miles - 15:51 - 7.49

I covered 9 miles in 1:15:57 with an average HR of 132bpm plus a max HR in the finishing straight at 149bpm. I felt strong as I finsihed but I felt guilty on not getting in my required 90 minute MD run for the day but I needed to be realistic given the severe weather conditions.

When I got to the car I noticed K was already there as she informed my they only got in 5.5 miles of their required run for the day...they took a cab back from the Navy Pier region...anyways we all went out for a great breakfast at Schuba's afterwards which helps out tremendously :-)

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friday night spin...

Well the winds have settled but we have had two days of solid rain now with temps at 40 degrees...could be worse though!!!
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Friday evening:

Easy bike spin on the Cannondale via the trainer to flushout by legs before tomorrow mornings MLR down by the lakefront. Spun for 40 minutes in easy gears for a mileage count of 10.2 with an average rate of speed of 15.3mph. Average HR was recovery low at 101bpm with a max of 117bpm plus average cadence of 88rpm.

Just what I needed for my legs :-)

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the great winds...

Thursday evening:

Well I needed to get in my 40 minute tempo run as per my training schedule so I choose to run this in the confines of our health club for one main reason over outdoors…sure it was warmer outside last night but the constant 25 to 35 mph winds out of the SSW with gusts to 40mph are not optimal conditions for me to get a proper tempo run correctly. So I ran my tempo run utilizing the indoor track & treadmill for my specific workout.

On the indoor track I ran a 2.2 mile warm-up to pick-up pace and then I jumped on the treadmill for the speed side of things for 10 minutes in which I covered 1.35 miles with an average HR during this at 135bpm and max at the ending minute at 148bpm. After that I headed back up to the track for a 1.2 mile cool-down portion. During my 40 minutes I covered 4.75 miles in 41:04 for an average HR of 125bpm.

After my run as I walk out to my car realizing I made the right choice where to run tonight as the wind was absolutely brutal in our region!

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Memories from last November...

it's a warm day so I broke out race jacket to wear...

concrete run...

Thursday morning:

Decided to go out for a recovery 3.1 mile mile run this morning after the repeats last night and my legs were absolutely shot...more like filled with lead. They just didn't want to move at all so I recongnized this immediately and just focused on getting the run over with no matter what my pace was to be. Finished in 29:09 with and average HR of 117bpm...

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a bit of a wind today...

as I went out at lunchtime today...

400's...

Wednesday evening:

My running scheduled called for 8 by 400 meters at 5k pace with 90 second recovery between each for Tuesday but I push that back a day as I had the stomach flu that day. Once again I ran these in our neighborhood as I have the distance tracked out perfectly for accuracy so I ran a 2.4 mile warm-up as I leapt into the first 400 after my body was properly at temperature…below are my repeats time with average & max HR per each:

1:40 – AHR 143bpm – MHR 151bpm
1:38 – AHR 143bpm – MHR 152bpm
1:40 – AHR 146bpm – MHR 154bpm
1:37 – AHR 144bpm – MHR 154bpm

…then a jog home for hydration for recovery time of 2:30…

1:44 – AHR 139bpm – MHR 149bpm
1:39 – AHR 141bpm – MHR 152bpm
1:43 – AHR 145bpm – MHR 153bpm
1:41 – AHR 143bpm – MHR 155bpm

Ran a cool-down 1.2 miles afterwards so I covered a total of 6.4 miles in 59:01 with an average HR of 128bpm. My time weren’t where they needed to be for a proper workout towards my goal race but acceptable given the illness I just went thru on Monday evening and into Tuesday. You can see my performance fall-off in the second set of 4 by 400 meter repeats but at least I got the workout in the books.

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bugger...

Monday evening:

Off to the bike shop after work to start the second class of the 2nd six week Computrainer 90 minute class winter session. I started with my average wattage which now set at 263 which would be training myself now for the next level performance. As my legs felt good my body was fighting something over the last 24 hours I did my best to attempt to train this night at my 263 watt setting for class but at about 43 minutes into class I had to have the coach turn my training down to 240 watts if I was going to survive the night.

My max wattage for a standing stomp came in at 711 watts…once again that’s down from the previous 2 week’s wattage but I did the best I could. My average HR for the 90 minute class came in at 130bpm with a max of 151bpm. My average cadence was low once again low for me during the class at 84rpm and a max cadence during the last spin-up drill of 144rpm as my average pace for the ride was at 17.1mph and max of 38.4mph during a leg spin burst on a recovery cycle early on.

Below is my techy Polar chart which shows the workout numbers:

http://www.twodogzdesign.com/cycle09/030209.JPG

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ps...turns out about an hour after class and through the night into Tuesday morning I had the stomach flu/bug…yuck!

time...

Time moves by to quickly...we miss you our Kirin

a fraction of exercise time...

Sunday afternoon:

After an unproductive Friday & Saturday on the exercising front due to more important things in life I had a sliver of exercise time mid-afternoon Sunday to get in a 1 hour bike ride via the Cannondale on the Kinetic rear wheel trainer. After adjusting the seatpost saddle height just 5mm taller to help get the proper leg extension during pedaling I hopped on the bike with two fans going along with the dvd of the mtn Stage 15 of 2005 TdF for inspiration and anyway I went on a biking endurance workout. After the first ten minutes of proper warm-up spinning I started the endurance burn by selecting smaller gears on the rear cassette till at about minute 15 I found the right selection of proper gears to get me into the proper endurance burn HR zone. I worked it like this until minute 55 when I use the last 5 minutes for cool-down.

The stat’s for ride looked like this; 60 minutes of ride time for 16.5 miles covered which works out to an easy calculated 16.5mph average speed with a max speed around minute 50 of 20.8mph. Average HR worked out to be 115bpm but a lot to the riding was in the 120/130bpm zone with a max of 139bpm at about minute fifty-five. My average cadence was back to being nice again at 91rpm with a max spin-up during warm-up being at 100rpm.

Now that’s the kind of training ride I needed :-)

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