Back on track

I don't want to jinx myself, and I tend to start off the weeks well but falter toward the end, however, I'm on a roll this week. Despite a disappointing Sunday I got after it on Monday with an hour bike ride followed by a great long run - 20 miles in 2:35. And I felt great the whole time. After a recovery meal and throwing on my compression tights you'd never know I just went for such a long run. A fantastic sign after going out for 20 miles! Tuesday I felt OK too. I was able to bust out a 5200yd swim and little over 2 hours spinning out the legs on my bike. Wednesday was a bit busier so I just did a shorter swim and an hour run in the morning, and I was done for the day by 8:30am. Thursday I slept. Mad and I came up to her parents' place in the Lehigh Valley. When we're up here I sleep like nowhere else in the world. I slept a solid 10 hours and still had to pull myself out of bed. I swear there is some sort of gas pumping through the AC vents that just knocks me out. But when I finally did wake up and have some breakfast, I lined up a monster swim workout. The pool at their YMCA is sooo much nicer than mine in Philadelphia. I liked it so much I swam 5,500m (over 6,000yds!!). I have no idea how fast I was going, mainly because I don't know what a good time per 100m is, but I'm over it. I'm focusing on going long now. I need to get through the swim with enough energy to finish the damn race. And if I can keep putting in these swim, sets I know I'll be fine. It's funny because I used to feel like my brain was going to explode after about 2500yds in the pool. Now, out of nowhere, I've been able to go a lot longer and not feel that way. I don't know what is causing it, but I'll take it. While swimming yesterday I kept thinking that maybe it would be worth splurging for a nicer pool next year so that I don't hate swimming in it so much. Maybe I should/could join a masters swim team. Maybe if I really focused I could become a good swimmer... Lots of things bouncing around my head. Anywho, I capped off the day yesterday with a nice hilly run. Again, I don't want to jinx myself, but I've never done so much in the beginning of the week. In 4 days I've already spent 13 hours training. I also have a 5.5ish hour bike ride schedule for today, plus an hour run. Then a 3 hour run on Sunday.

OK - kind of a rant this morning to fill you all in. I'll check in Sunday night or maybe Monday to let you know if I can keep up the speed I've already gathered this week. It could be a good one! And next week is my last really long week before I start to taper. I can't believe it's so close.

Happy training.

What am I doing?

Not a great streak the past few days... I'm questioning what the hell I'm doing right now when I'm so close to the end??

This past Wednesday it was 95 degrees, and I went out for a 2hr bike/1hr run. Great idea, but I ended up almost bonking bc I was so dehydrated. Why didn't I plan to take enough water??

Friday I planned to go out for a 6hr ride. I got a flat within the first 5 miles, which put a damper on things, but I was back on the road in no time. And I actually like the practice of changing them. I should mention it was 95 and humid again Friday. I totally bonked after about 3.5 hours... It took me a little over 4 hours for the full trip, but I was only going 14ish mph on the way back bc I was cooked. What was I thinking??? I couldn't get my legs the workout they needed bc I didn't hydrate! I lost 6+lbs over the course of the ride! When I got home I had to lay down bc I felt so terrible.

Saturday I had to get in a 1hr ride/1hr run from 6-8am because I had a lifeguard certification class 9am-6pm. I got it in and was actually pretty happy with it. But after the course I decided to go out and celebrate my old college roommate's birthday. A great time, but I didn't get to sleep until 3am.

Today (Sunday) I had to can the morning workout because I had another 9-6 lifeguard training. Well then I didn't get home and parked until 730, and I was just cooked from spending 4 hours in the pool today. All I could muster was a little more than a 1 hour ride.

I also ate like shit all weekend. I'm about 5-7lbs heavier than I thought I would be at this point. And about 8-10 heavier than I'd like to be for the race.

There are 40 days until Lake Placid. What the hell am I doing?? Where is my commitment? Why am I finding it so difficult to hold it together down the stretch? This disappointment is really bumming me out right now. It seems simple enough - set a plan, and stick to it. I've been setting plans, but I haven't been following through.

I have 2 weeks before I start my taper. This should reveal how much I really want it and what I'm willing to do for it.

PS- I put the 12-27 cassette on my bike before the ride Friday. I don't know what I was thinking before when I wanted to stay with the 11-23. At the very least, if I have a day like I did Friday, I might be able to finish the bike course with that 27tooth chainring. The 11-23 is an unnecessary risk with only the opportunity of a minuscule payoff by having that smaller 11tooth gear.

Some good reading

Just a quick note with a couple articles I've read lately worth passing along...

Ironman comes to NYC/NJ

I won't be doing this race next year for a number of reasons. But it's going to be awesome if/when I do decided to do it! I think I might try to volunteer next year.

A little on barefoot running

A good article on whether or not the barefoot fanatics are right. This guy does a great job on breaking down the pros and cons of each side.

Another NYTimes article - Stretching

This one I just thought was interesting. Found it browsing after reading the barefoot running article. It makes me not feel so bad about having extremely tight muscles in my legs and back. I always thought flexibility was a sign of athleticism...maybe not?


2:00 ride/1:00 t-run scheduled for this afternoon. It's supposed to reach 97 degrees... I'll chalk this one up to Kona specific training.

Finally 4000+!

Well even though I said I would do it months ago, I finally had a swim of over 4000yds this morning. AND it actually felt pretty good! I've been using variations of Sara McLarty's swim workouts, which I think are pretty awesome. Today I did:


WU: 4x200 (2 sets w/fins)
20x50 - 4x(2 kick, 2 drill, 1 swim)
MS: 2x250 pull (1 with paddles, 1 with pull buoy)
2x250 swim (1 hard, 1 easy)
 2x250 pull (1 with paddles, 1 with pull buoy)
 2x250 swim (1 hard, 1 easy)
CD: 100 easy
6x50 (focus on a perfect stroke)

Total: 4200yds

The only thing I can say is - it's about freaking time! This is the longest I have every swam (swum?). It wasn't fast - I did my hard 250's on 3:55 (1:35ish/100yd pace). No idea what my slow pace was, and it doesn't matter. The focus was more on volume today. I'll work on some speedier sets Thursday. Now the trick will be to keep it up. I have some more time now, so I can't use that excuse anymore. It took me 1.5 hours instead of the usual 1 hour to get it done, so I'll just have to get used to it. The goal in the pool is going to be 15,000yds per week from here on out with one swim of 5,000yds per week. It's time to start getting it done. I'm excited. I feel good. No excuses. 

What a great day it's turning out to be... A rest day yesterday. Up early with some coffee and cereal (w/ chia seeds). In the pool by 6:30. Great set. Out by 8:00. Recovery shake, more coffee, and eggs with some shrooms and tomatoes. Showered and down to work by 10 (it's exam week and I didn't have to give an exam this morning). Grades are going to be done today before I leave. I'll have a nice hearty salad for lunch. And then a 1:30 run this evening. And, providing I can get Mad on board with it, I think it's a perfect Tuesday for some tacos...

Carpe diem, amigos.

Nice Sunday

A great weekend. Despite yesterday's early rise and lack of enthusiasm at 6am, I was able to get out on the bike for an hour and spin out the legs, then after a quick change I went out for a 2:05 run. And it felt good the entire time. I was going at a nice easy pace for most of the run, but I did throw in a 2x1mile around 1:30. All went well. I even got to see the start of the Manayunk Bike Race (aka the Philadelphia International Cycling Championship). It was really cool to see all the pros up close, and, of course, their awesome bikes. The winner finished the 156mile race in just under 6 hours...That's 26mph. Whoa.

The best part of yesterday wasn't my training, however. By 10:15am Mad, my other roommate Matt, and I were headed to the beach! By 11:30 we had stopped at Wawa and found a nice plot on the beach to sit and relax for the afternoon.

It was a little overcast when we got there, so not a ton of people were on the beach. We laid out, ate, tossed around the football...

And capped things off by a stroll on the boardwalk.

And just to make sure this weekend couldn't have been better, we stopped at my parents' house for a nice (free!) home-cooked meal.

I just need to get through this week, and school is out. Final exams are all week. Grades due Friday, and comments due Monday. Then I'm FREE! (until my summer job starts...)

Taking a rest day today. Back at it tomorrow. I should be over 20 hours training this week (and every week from here until my taper). BRING IT ON!

A quiet morning

Well it's still before 6am on this Sunday morning. I'm about to hit the roads for an hour bike followed by a 2 hour run. It's important for me to start really building up my run mileage as I haven't gone more than 15ish miles yet this spring. I have a feeling the IM marathon is going to be more about guts than real training, BUT I should still be trained for it. I figured if I put in 2 hours today, bump it up to 2.5 next weekend, another 2.5 the weekend after that, and then a 3 hour run on 6/26 I should be OK. Then I'll do another 2.5 on 7/3 and start my taper. The hardest part (and I know I should have already known this) is that running the day after spending 5+ hours on the bike! My legs don't want to run... I don't want to run... It's time to run though. So I'm going to run. After a short bike ride that is.

Weekend in Lake Placid Recap

What a great weekend! Lots of work done, lots of knowledge gained, and lots of fun had. My buddy Chaz was a great host, and his house was the perfect home base for a weekend based on training and getting away from it all. The only minor setbacks were the rain and the lack of running water at his house. Yes - I went 3 days, over 10 hours of training without a shower.

So here's the summary...
Friday it took us just over 7 hours to drive up to Elizabethtown, where Chaz's house is about 20 miles to LP. When we got there we crashed. Saturday morning I got up, ate, packed up, and Chaz took me to Lake Placid then dropped me off at Mirror Lake. Since he needed the car, I asked if I could use High Point Cyclery as my changing/storage room. The wonderful people inside were more than accommodating, AND they gave me some great tips on the bike course. I hit the course about 10am. As I was heading out I noticed all the little turns right out of transition. I'll take it easy here as there is no need for a crash that early on. Then heading down to Keene it gets FAST! There was a stretch of a couple miles where I didn't dip below 30mph, and I think I hit 48mph at one point while sitting up - not even down in the aero position! I was then lucky enough to meet some brothers from Connecticut, Billy and David, who I rode the first loop with. They have ridden the loop before so knew the distance of the out and backs, and having people to talk to made the ride go sooo much faster. Taking the climbs I realized a couple things... 1- I don't think I need to change up my gearing. I could maybe use one more gear... but I don't know if it will be worth it. The hills are more long and gradual than steep in my opinion. And for the downhills I really like having the eleven tooth ring so I can rip it. I'm still kind of up in the air, but leading toward NOT changing my gearing for the race. 2- I also learned that I can do it! The longest ride I had done before this was about 4 hours (maybe 4.5), and I felt fine for the most part. I just have to be patient, come up with a plan, and stick to it. 3- Certain places are made to push it, others are not. I'll be making a more concrete plan as I get closer, but it will probably go something like this: rip it for the first half, easy up 86, push hard coming up the 3 bears (**side note- did anyone else notice there are "the 3 bears", and then another decent hill right after that is somehow forgotten even though it's just as steep??), easy around the lake before starting lap 2, and repeat.

Anyway, I broke off from the Connecticut brothers after the first lap (timed at 2:58) and set off on my own. The second lap I cut out the out and backs (shame on me), but I wanted to get done. It also started to rain. And I mean downpour. For like 40 minutes. I was 88ish miles in for the day, and it just opened up. Not the motivation I needed, but I rode through it. I finished with 100 miles even in 5:23. I canned the t-run (more shame...), but the rain was just coming down hard. I'm over it. I'm still happy with the day.

On our way out of Lake Placid we swung by Saranac Lake, where my support crew and I will be staying during the race. The places look great!

Parents' place

Where Mad and I will stay

Both places are right on the water and a block apart. It should be very nice.


By the time I got back to E-town we just went to a little restaurant, sat outside bc the weather cleared up, and I had a burger and a beer. A great day. Capped it off with a little male bonding over the most recent James Bond movie - Quantum of Solace.

Sunday I got up and ate. It was pouring rain again so I opted not to head all the way to LP. When the rain stopped I went out on the bike to loosen up the legs before my long run. Chaz told me an "easy" route to take. It was a 7 mile climb out of town. At one point I literally just yelled some profanity out of frustration.

it just kept going up

looking back down

After my 1:30 minute "easy" ride from hell, I hit the road for a run. It was hot and humid. I only went 1:40, and not the same route as I biked, more rolling hills. The run felt pretty good, although I was hurting at the end. I was sweating a TON and had no water with me so I think I slowed down a bit near the end. I need to bump up my mileage, so I think I'm going to do about 16 miles today. Anyway, after the run it was just after 1pm, and Chaz wanted to take me out to see some cool hiking trails. Why not? Not like my legs were tired... About a 2.5 hour hike around Lake Champlain later I was good for the day. Great views, and a really cool day, but the trails were flooded, and my legs were toast. 

Monday I wound down a 1:45 ride through some rolling hills. It was really nice. I set out going north on rt 9 and just went. Very few cars passed. There were some nice hills. Beautiful day. Really couldn't have been happier. 

Just after lunchtime we headed home. On our way we did stop to see this waterfall...

A great weekend. I'll check back in later this week. Happy training, folks!