Workout recap.

The following is a quick recap of my recent training. Well, as you know I did not do the Crawfishman (well no one did) so I had a good day on the Saturday before. The weather was still raining so I jumped on the trainer. For what ever reason it was unbearable!


I only rode for 30 minutes and decided to brave the mists out of doors. I ran a conservative pace for 8 miles. I was soaked the entire run but I did enjoy it. As soon as I got home I had a message about an open water swim.

I prepared a recovery shake and headed out the door. I had wanted to get an accurate measurement of our secret swimming lake. I bagged my GPS watch in a sandwich bad (I actually doubled bagged it) and put it under my swim cap. You have to remember which way you oriented the watch so that you can hit the right buttons to start and stop the watch. But once I started the watch it recorded my speed and distance just fine. I would say that it is accurate and it looks like I actually swam fairly straight!  The swim is 0.25 miles each way.  We have been doing it twice for a mile of OWS.

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Secret training lake!

Today I was in the pool and did a lot of 100’s. I seemed to be getting a little faster. It was a good swim but I definitely need to be more consistent with the swim. After the swim I tested the bench press again for the pump and run challenge.

I think that I have refined my technique. I have been altering my grip placement on the bar. Obviously the closer the grip the more it works my triceps and the further out the more it works my chest. I am trying to find a balance that allows me to get the most repetitions. In addition, I am now aware that the bench press is actually a skill – not just brawn!

After work I jumped on the trainer for a much feared 6 minutes all out power test! Man I hate these. I warmed up for 15 minutes and then I started the 6 minutes of fury. This all out test is so dang painful. I had some techno music cranked up and I was suffering. I am sure that I was making primordial grunting and moaning noises. When I finished I just had to sit still for a few seconds. My legs were on fire, It has been months since I have done that test and I am happy to say that my wattage increased by 8 percent. This number also reflects not just power but performing the test better. Still, I will take an improvement any day!

Tuesday will be a group ride in the morning and a group running interval session at lunch!

Marco - Polo...

Friday morning I headed to the lake. It was dark. I have to drive to the lake and the air was thick – a blanket of fog covered the roads – visibility was nil. I arrived at Greg’s house right at 6AM. Dan was circling the neighborhood in his truck – he was not sure where Greg lived. It was dark.

We both walked around to the back of the house and Lance and Greg were getting ready to jump in. Did I mention how dark it was? – or how foggy it was? Now there are two or three buoys that mark a triangle of about a third of a mile – visibility was only about 10 feet – we could not see any buoys. The lights in the houses across the lake were very dim. I really did not have any apprehension. Dan said that he had been a swimmer in high school but he had not been in the water in about 10 years. We headed out into the mists. We swam in the general direction of the first buoy. I was going to try and stick close to the others – it would be an easy open water swim. There was no need to push the pace. After a couple of minutes of swimming and looking around we all kind of stopped and tried to get our bearings. It was just Greg, Dan and I – Lance was nowhere to be seen. In the darkness plus the fog we could not see anything. We called for Lance for what seemed like a few minutes – time is very relative when you are treading water in the dark! We finally heard Lance way to the left of us. He yelled that he was at the buoy. We all headed towards the voice. He was probably only 30 or 40 feet from us. We got to the buoy but we were not intact. We had lost Dan. This time we really did call and yell for Dan for a few minutes. We thought he was playing a joke on us and he was going to attack from behind us or something. It started to seem like a bad movie from the 80’s – piranha, alligator or something swamp thing-ish. After a small eternity we heard Dan far in the distance. He said that he had swam almost to the other side of the lake. I was having a good time and playing “Marco – Polo” – it was fun – almost like a swimming hide and go seek or maybe a water scavenger hunt! We made it back to the shore and Dan was humbled by the swim. Not being in the water in so long had deteriorated his swim fitness. I am sure that his swimming skills will resurface in a short time and he will be schooling us! Lance and I went out for another lap in the lake. I ended up swimming for about 30 minutes and had a blast. I think it would be fun to have a midnight showing of one of those movies and then see who is brave enough to swim the lake. It would be great fun!

I thought about the swim later in the day. Last year I would not have even gotten in the water in the dark. I always waited until the sun was a least up a little bit. On this swim I did not feel any apprehension – none - and I think these were pretty challenging conditions. My swim confidence and proficiency have really improved in the last year. Now it is time to work on the speed!

swim x2 and hills AGAIN

Since I would be swimming after work on Wednesday, this left a hole in my training schedule and would allow for me to sleep in! I turned the alarm off and would enjoy the extra 1 or so of sleep. I am such a creature of habit – I always wake up at the same time – well, maybe I got a little bit more sleep but I was still drinking coffee by 5:30 AM. Without the swim / run / bike – I’m not sure where the morning went.

Even though I would be swimming at the lake in the evening I still was going to get a good swim workout at lunch. The pool sessions are valuable. I decided to do an old standby swim routine of decreasing distance sets with increasing intensity. These are tough on me. During the 800 yard set, Jim joined me in the next lane. I’m just a little faster than Jim in the water and he would challenge me – especially the 100 yard set. He took off about 15 seconds before me and I tried to catch him – it was close but no cigar. With the warm up and cool down I logged 3500 yards in 1:02.

Progressively faster with 60 sec RI
1000 - 15:55 (1:35 / 100)
0800 - 12:27 (1:33 / 100)
0600 - 09:23 (1:33 / 100)
0400 - 06:12 (1:33 / 100)
0200 - 02:59 (1:29 / 100)
0100 - 01:24 (1:24 / 100)

I felt good after the lunch swim but I was not looking forward to the lake swim. The last two weeks the water has been so hot that I have really felt like I was being boiled alive. I think the swim the previous week actually hurt me a little bit – I just could not cool down from it – when we were finally out of the water it was a relief to stand in the 95 degree blazing sun. So, I approached this swim with some apprehension. I was also planning on running that horrible hilly road after the swim. That road proved to be a super tough brick on Saturday.

Luckily, the lake water was much cooler than it has been. There still has not been any rain and it definitely has not been much cooler – but the water temperature was comfortable. There were only five of us and we decided to head out past the third buoy. We guestimated this distance to be 500 yards. This was a relaxing easy swim for me and the first 500 took a little over 10 minutes. The way back 500 took a little under 10 minutes. Nice and easy – there was a little chop to the water and some swells from the boats but just good easy open water swim practice.

Jim was going to be riding his bike to the lake after work and running the hills with me at 6:00 PM. I got to talking with some friends and still no Jim. I was about to call it a day and I see a bike. Fortunately, it was not nearly as hot as it was on Saturday but this road is hard no matter what. We took off at a comfortable pace but my legs were tired. It actually seemed a little harder than it did on Saturday – I know that this is foolish – it was harder Saturday when it was hotter and after the 42 mile bike ride. But still – it felt hard. I was wearing my heart rate monitor this time and trying to keep my HR in my comfort zone. That was hard on the uphills. My heart rate crept up as the run went on – but Jim and I finished this run a little faster than I did it on Saturday and we finished with even splits. The 6 miles were covered in 51:38 with an average pace of 8:37 minutes / mile (Saturday was 8:50 minutes / mile).

Looking at the calendar – half the year is over. I had made some rather generic mileage goals at the start of the year and I thought I would check in on my progress. I wanted 300,000 yards swimming, 5000 miles biking and 1200 miles running. Looks like I am right on schedule but I am sure that my volume will drop off after Louisville.

2009 totals
Bike:-----139h 51m 34s - 2544.06 Mi
Run:------84h 03m 12s -- 590.46 Mi
Swim:-----51h 35m 35s - 155,560 Yd
Strength:--23h 30m

Trifecta Saturday

On Saturday, I met Jim at the lake at 6:15. The water was not quite as warm in the morning as it has been in the afternoons – It was still warm though. I wasn’t going to break any speed records today so I worked on form - bilateral breathing, weak side swimming and breath control. This was a very good technique swim for me. I’m guessing the distance was about 2500 yards (maybe a little less) in 51 minutes.

We took a slow transition to the bike. I ate a peanut and jelly sandwich and changed into cycling shorts and jersey – this was not a transition training day – just all three disciplines. I was sweating just standing there – it was not even 7AM yet. We headed out of the lake area and onto an old highway.

The traffic was light this time of morning. The route that we were taking involves some rolling hills – something that you just do not get on the trace. We travelled around the country side and were planning on winding around to Sumrall. A wrong turn along the way and we ended up making a loop. It was unexpected. We had discovered a very nice loop that was lightly travelled with rolling hills. Sure I felt a little sheepish getting all turned around. I wish I was a better boy scout and then I would have realized that my shadow on the ground had changed directions. With the heat and the rolling hills we did not get as many miles as we had intended. The bike was slow and hot. I was practicing nutrition and now I know that large amounts of PowerAde / Gatorade really bloat me out. I might need to stick to gels and real food and just plain water.

By the time we got off the bike the sun was out in all of its glory. During this transition Jim went and jumped in the lake to cool off. I passed on the lake remembering how warm it can get – I did not think that it would be very refreshing.

No clouds and just intense heat. Jim had a 2.5 mile route around the lake and we took off on foot at a comfortable pace. Jim dropped back a little bit at the 1 mile mark and I went ahead. I did not know where the turn was for the loop and I just kept running. The road that I was on is the hilliest I have ever been on in Mississippi – that might just be the brick talking – but it was a challenging route. The road ended at a T intersection at right at three miles. I was not sure of the way back to the lake so I just turned around to retrace my steps. At about mile 4 Jim drove up – I did not make it back to the lake and he was checking on me. I told him I was doing okay and I would meet him back at the lake. He drove back and then ran out again. I ended up with a tough, challenging 6 mile brick.

Nothing about this training day was over the top – everything was controlled and comfortable. These training days are good for me – you cannot hammer it every day and expect good gains. Jim and I ended up with close to 5 hours of HEAT training and it felt good.

I climb buoys

I had another nice early morning ride on Wednesday. For some reason I thought it was possible to get a 2 hour ride in before work. I guess it is possible if everything just clicks off just right – that would mean leave the house at 5:30 and arrive at the university at 7:30. Damn, I guess it is possible!

Anyway I got a nice 90 minute bike ride in before work on Wednesday but because I would be swimming after work I had to drive. I just took it at a very easy pace and put some miles under me. It still amazes me that you see the same people on the trace day after day. I know a lot of these people and we are all working our own plans but many others I just know by their running gait or their position on the bike. No names but similar goals I am sure.

I went to the gym at lunch and I thought about running outside. I thought that this could help with heat acclimation. I changed my mind on the walk to the gym. I don’t think an easy run in the heat would actually accomplish anything. I decided to jump on the treadmill for an easy 30 minutes run (that is all the plan called for) – but then decided for something faster. I dialed the treadmill up to a 7 minute / mile pace and was going to churn out a nice tempo run – I don’t think I do enough of these. After about a ¼ mile I turned it back down to a very easy run. After another ¼ mile I called it quits on the running. I was just not feeling it – I usually embrace these runs. Having 86’ed the cardio I thought I would do some weight training. I have missed most weight training sessions for the past 6 weeks – they have been few and far between. A couple of sets on the bench press and a lot of abs finished off lunch period.

Out at the lake after work the water just looked hot. I let the group take off towards the last buoy and I just soaked in the warm water for a few minutes. I took off slowly but tried to swim long and strong. There was a little chop in the water and quite a few swells from a boat and a few jet skies on the other side of the buoys. When I reached the last buoy (about 0.2x miles from shore) I was hot. I lifted my arms one at a time in the air to cool down. I wanted to climb on top of the buoy to cool off. I thought that it was funny that the 95+ degree heat was cool and refreshing. We stewed in the water for a little bit longer and Robin suggested a little bit longer interval than we have been doing– swim to the first buoy and back to the third buoy – this would be a touch over a ¼ mile. I think Robin or Ben was on my feet most of the way out and we separated after rounding the buoy. We all got back to the starting point close to the same time. I felt like I was in a cauldron. I had a lot of trouble cooling off. We all headed back to shore. The HOT oven like air in the intense sunlight felt refreshing. I was glad to be out of the water. It was a good swim and the effort was not too high but it was draining. We really need some rain to cool off the lake swimming.

This swim felt like it took a lot out of me – I am glad I did not do the outside run at lunch.

Hot tub swimming

Yesterday was a good workout day even though it was tough to fit everything in. I did a quick 20 mile bike ride in the AM before work. I really didn’t feel like getting out of bed and my legs felt tired. After about 10 minutes everything started to click and I started to push the pace a little bit. I do an out and back and the back is always a little quicker but this time I was pushing harder. The ride was nothing super special but a good effort. – 20 miles in 56:22 (out HR AVE – 136 / back HR AVE 149) – average speed 21.29 MPH (training wheels and regular helmet).

Work has been busy and I was not sure if I would get a lunch workout in – but anything is better than nothing. I grabbed Vic and we headed to the gym for a quick 30 minutes on the treadmill. My training plan called for a hilly run so I dialed up the ‘Alpine Trail’. I fast and hard 3.75 miles of hilly treadmill – there is no downhill on these treadmills!

After work was another OWS swim at the lake. Nice and easy but it felt like a bath tub – or rather a hot tub. The water would have been okay for sitting around and throwing a football or drinking a beer but we were all just about overheating while swimming. I only swam for about 20 minutes and 1000 yards.

Double the swim

I missed my swim on Tuesday due to a luncheon at work and I would not be able to swim after work. Right now, there are no lap swim evening hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So I hit the pool early on Wednesday – this would be as long as my longest pool workout ever – 4000 yards. That might not be a big deal to some of you fish out there but that is a lot of laps to me. The workout called for a reverse ladder with increasing intensities. I really do not have very many speeds. Fast or drowning used to be the only ones – I have added an additional speed to the lineup - slow. I found that the only real way to alter my speed by sets was to pick up the pace with about 4 or 5 laps to go – this would maybe allow my times to fall as the distances decreased – probably not the best way but the steady even speeds are elusive to me right now.

1x each with 1 minute RI
1000 - 16:03 (1:36/100)
0800 - 12:46 (1:35/100)
0600 - 09:39 (1:36/100)
0400 - 06:18 (1:34/100)
0200 - 03:04 (1:32/100)
0100 - 01:27 (1:27/100)

So, with the exception of the 800 and 600 yard sets being flipped the times did get faster.

During lunch I did not have anything on the plan (well – 15 minute run) – I could have always swum again but 3 in one day is too much for me – just too much time in the water. I did an easy jog out to the stadium with Vic, Chad and Adam. I was not going to be EPIC today – not even try – but I did do 4 or 5 sets of the stadium stairs and then some pretty easy 100 yard dashes on the field. It was hot and I was feeling it. I called it a day at about 20 minutes and Adam and I headed back to the gym. I have not been doing much strength training lately so I thought I would hit all of the compound movements – with the exception of the legs – I did multiple easy sets of chest, back, abs and some calf raises. Nothing major.

I headed to the lake after work. There was some confusion between the security guard and the swimmers – it all got worked out but it was touch and go for a few minutes. The disagreement took about 20 – 30 minutes so we all ended up cutting this swim session a little short. I still had a good swim and on the last sprint I was trying to practice catching someone’s feet and letting them carry me in – well – Ben is just a little bit faster than me. I really tried to grab a hold of him but I just could not – every time I looked up we were not lined up. I am not sure if I was tacking off line or if Ben was (I’m sure that it was both). Anyway, this got me tired in the swim and I had to settle down a little and find my own groove. This was better race practice than if I had actually managed to grab his feet and draft in. I’m not there yet – but I’m working on it.

Swimming, swimming, running, cycling and a taper – hard to do in just a couple of days.

To make up for the missed lunch workout I went to the pool on Wednesday morning even though I knew I would be swimming after work at the lake. I enjoy the lake swimming more than the pool swimming but the pool is convenient and it allows me to work on drills and speed. I swam for 3000 yards in various sets (6 x 200 / 1 x 500 / 6 x 200 / 1 x 100). A nice comfortable swim.

Lunch called for some longer intervals. I was going to do these on the trace with Chris, however, it had started to sprinkle outside and I did not see Chris anywhere. Well, up to the treadmills for some forced speed work. I should not do this but I altered the intervals a little bit. The plan called for 5 x 5:00 minutes at LT with 60 seconds RI. Last week it was 8 x ½ mile at the same level. Well I increased the duration but decreased the number of sets. I did a 10 minute warm up followed by 4 x 1 mile repeats at a 6:30 pace - (60 second RI) with a 10 minute cool down. Towards the end of each interval my heart rate would get well above LT but the average for the interval was much lower. The entire workout consisted of 6.3 miles in 49:06 for a 7:47 pace (take out the WU and CD and that is a 6:46 pace with the rest). Not too bad on tired legs.

TREADMILL INTERVALS (10 WU / 10 CD)
4 x 1 mile (6:30 pace) with 0.1 mile (1 minute) RI

1. 6:32 - HR AVE 157
2. 6:28 - HR AVE 156
3. 6:34 - HR AVE 157
4. 6:31 - HR AVE 164

The OWS after work felt great. JD measured the distance to the buoys with a GPS in his boat. It is pretty close to 0.2 mile to the second buoy so that an out and back would be 0.4 mile. To simulate my race this weekend I decided to do this distance twice with a small rest in between. No warm up – just like a race (except for all of the anxiety, tension, elevated heart rate, etc). I took off and settled into a rhythm – Robin was off to my right and I was using him to sight. I tend to lose so much momentum when I have to sight. We drifted apart a little and I was off course to the left so I corrected. I think most of the swimmers stopped at the buoys but I just rounded it and headed to the shore. I waited to see if anyone had followed me but they were all bobbing around at the buoys. I ended up waiting 90 seconds and headed out for another loop. This was a slower, easier pace – mainly because I was now warmed up. I just cruised this loop and the swim felt great. The second loop ended up being about a minute slower.

OWS -
0.4 miles - 12:06
90 RI
0.4 miles - 13:04

After the swim, I was last out of the water; we talked about the upcoming race. The Heat Wave is pretty big in Mississippi and everyone wants to do well. Lance was saying that JD was going to kill the bike and damn the run. This would give him bragging rights - he has really become a strong cyclist this year. Lance is determined to not allow JD to beat him on the bike. I just want to do well in the race and beat my times from last year. After most everyone had left Lance told me that Robin was gunning for me and that I was marked. Again, I told Lance that I was just going to run my own race – let the cards do the talking so to speak. Lance called me out – he said that he reads my blog and that what I said was bull – he said that he knew that I wanted to beat everyone. SMACK!!!

Later, I found out that he called Robin and told him that I said that I would beat him by 5 minute. Lance is such an instigator – I love it – game on.


I really am treating this race as a training day – just a very intense training day!

Drafting in the swim and working the diet.

I had an interval session on the treadmill. The plan called for so odd pacing – it said to pick your goal marathon time and use that for ½ mile intervals (x8). For example, if your goal marathon time was 3:05 then to run the ½ mile repeats in 3:05 (or a 6:10 minute / mile pace). I do not understand the logic – and is this standalone marathon race pace or ironman death march race pace? Anyway, this is doable. I have never ran a marathon but my goal pace is 3:15 (Boston qualifying time for me). So 8 x ½ mile at 3:15 with a 1 minute (0.1 mile) rest interval. After a good 10 minute warm up my times are below:

TREADMIL INTEVALS 8 x 1/2 mile (6:30 pace) with 0.1 mile (1 minute) RI 1. 3:15 HR AVE 154 2. 3:16 HR AVE 161 3. 3:15 HR AVE 164 4. 3:17 HR AVE 158 5. 3:14 HR AVE 168 6. 3:16 HR AVE 158 7. 3:18 HR AVE 177 8. 3:15 HR AVE 176


This was challenging but not insurmountable. In fact I believe that I could have ran them much harder but I would have been dead at the end – I did run a 5k earlier this year at a 6:10 pace. I will try this workout again in a few weeks and see where I stand.

Following the plan, I skipped the lunch workout since I would be doing an OWS after work. On the diet front, working the plan and following the diet is actually working – go figure. I think that not beating myself into a pulp has even improved the weight loss. I do not think I am fatigued as much and I am able to stick to the meal plan. In addition, I think that not being in such a calorie deficit has been beneficial.

Jen and I drove out to the lake together. There were about dozen people for the swim. It was a good group and all skill levels were present. Many of us swam out to the first buoy (about 0.2 miles). I have an old Timex GPS watch with the GPS sensor that you wear on your arm. I plastic bagged the sensor and stuck it in my swim cap to try and get some more accurate distances. I got 0.2 miles to the first buoy and then another 0.1 miles to the second buoy – I wish that I could map the results – I am sure that I am not swimming straight. So we swam to the first buoy and regrouped. We would sprint back and forth between the buoys 4 times. The last session was from the first buoy to the second and then all the way home – this would be a 0.4 miles steady state swim. In total we swam for a mile. We also recruited a couple more people for the morning group ride.

Do you feel EPIC?

In a word – NO.

I moved my training around this week to better accommodate my schedule. My training plan consistently has a Saturday swim which is just not happening. This left Wednesday with only a swim – this would take place in the lake after work. I am still feeling run down so I decided to skip EPIC DAY. This is very hard for me. With my ironman training these additional days are just pushing me over the edge.

Vic and I both successfully completed another day of the 100 pushup challenge. These are getting harder – more sets (8) and less rest (45 seconds).

So for lunch there would be no EPIC DAY. So, foolish me, I decided to do a little running on the treadmill. I thought to myself -why not a 3 or 4 mile run at LT – a hard and fast tempo run – maybe even a 5k PR. What am I thinking? I warmed up for half a mile and then adjusted the speed to a 6:30 pace. I ran a quarter mile. My heart rate was staying low – I increased the rate to a 6:00 minute / mile pace. My heart rate slowly started to respond and get into the appropriate range. This was hard. Why was I doing this again? Oh, that’s right – there was no purpose behind this session. I just wanted to prove to myself that I was still fast – that my fitness has not suffered. I stopped the work out after 1 mile. I did an ego check and this time I won!

A little dejected but happy that I made the decision to scrap the run I headed towards the stadium to cheer on the EPIC DAY participates. I did not run the stairs or lunge the bleachers, instead I did a bucket load of crunches out on the field. As the guys were finishing up in the stands I jogged a few football field lengths with them. I was not feeling fast and I was still a little tired. For this lunch session – I just went through the paces.

I still had my swim after work. I was tired all afternoon and was thinking about blowing this swim off. I knew that I would regret this decision. I got to the lake and JD and Jen were already there. The wind was blowing right at us and there was a considerable chop on the water. These were rough conditions – this would be a good test. Lance, his friend Todd and Terry soon arrived. Then Robin came running up. The water temperature had really dropped in the last week. We have had some cooler days and nights recently. The water felt cold but we soon warmed up. There would be no sprinting today. I just wanted some endurance swimming and the rough conditions just made the session that much better. I swam out to the second buoy – the chop was on my left side – my non-breathing side. I swam into the wind – it was coming at me at about 10 o’clock. I would have thought that the wind would have pushed me right but I have a natural tendency to drift left – the wind could not overcome this drift. I rounded the buoy and headed back to the dock. I traded off between which side I was breathing. Breathing to my left feels awkward and I feel slower. I switched back to my dominate side and was able to time my strokes. Even with the chop breaking into my breathing side this was still preferable. Back at the dock I turned around again and was going to do a second out and back loop. When I got to the first buoy there were several swimmers hanging around. Shawn was there – I am not sure when he pulled up. We chewed the fat for a bit and talked about upcoming races – I think he has talked me into the Dragonfly. I set out towards the second buoy and rounded it home. I ended up with a mile swim with never touching bottom or resting. I did tread water for a bit but it was for the most part a straight swim in rough conditions. I believe that these types of swims will pay the highest dividends.

Lance and JD were still planning on the group ride in the morning. I told them that I did not think I would make it – I am going to take some rest time – better now before the training really builds. I have read so many times that most people train too hard and do not let themselves recover. I am going to be smart this year and swallow my pride when necessary.

EPIC DAY – WEEK 2

EPIC DAY – WEEK 2

Tuesday night it was thundering and lightening and the rain was fierce. Being proactive and not willing to chance missing an early morning ride I hooked the race bike up to the trainer (or drainer as some might call it). The trainer is not fun. I applauded people that can ride the device for hours on end. I do not care what you are watching – the trainer gets old quick.

Anyway, that being said, I do believe that the trainer has a place in my workout routine. You can take all of the variables out of the bike and just look at the cold hard data – are you improving or not? That was not my early morning workout this week. I jumped on the trainer with the only objective of doing a nice 20 mile recovery ride. The legs have been tired and an easy spin would do them well. Two and a half episodes of The Simpsons later and I was done (wow – this show is getting a little stale). It did not matter that I had a fan inches from me – the sweat was pouring off. The bike portion of the day was done.

Lunch would bring another EPIC DAY. Word has spread like wildfire! We had 3 new members show up for the festivities. In addition to the ‘REGULARS – Vic, Chad, Richard (sometimes) and me’ – first week Adam, Ryan (from across campus) and Keith (Thursday group ride) showed up. Not to mix it up too much and I was not very organized we headed towards the stadium (THE ROCK). Today would be 20 sets of stadium bleacher lunges (stepping on each seat and walking the entire height of the stadium (forty something bleaches) superset with alternating sets of 10 pushups / 10 squats. This would be more of a strength time exercise with endurance thrown in for good measure. The heat and humidity of Southern Mississippi was upon us – so much humidity that there was a misting rain at times. This was hard work – not insurmountable but hard work.

Once complete with the first leg we hit the field for a round of 250 crunches (anyway / anyhow) as fast as you can. This will have to be changed up for the next EPIC DAY – this has already become too easy!

Several 100 yard dashed with left / right grapevines with little to no rest were next – there were some more dashes with skipping and then we ran the length of the field backwards. We were exhausted at this point and headed back to the gym. This EPIC DAY stuff is becoming viral – Lance already said that he was sorry that he missed it and Jim is showing interest – I said BRING IT next week.

After work would be the Open Water Swimming. The water has become warm enough that wetsuits are definitely not needed. I hooked up with Jen and she came out to test the waters. She will be doing her first triathlon this weekend and was anxious for the open water swimming experience. Terry also came back after a challenging swim last week. Both Jen and Terry swam out to the farthest buoy and did great! Jen downright loved the lake swim. As far as my swimming, not much racing this week – we would concentrate a little more on endurance. I felt good in the lake – a little slower without the wetsuit but comfortable. There were no water demons on this day. I was not pushing the pace but swimming and just breathing every stroke per normal. At this slower pace I thought I might be ready to practice breathing every other stroke and bilaterally – not yet. Just a few strokes and I switched back to my normal breathing. It is coming but it needs more work.

EPIC DAY – WEEK 2 is in the books!

Epic Day!

I listen to a lot of podcast. Mostly they are running, biking or triathlon. I really like IM talk with Bevan James Eyles and Coach John Newsom. Another podcast, which Bevan does, is Forever Fitness with Ish and Bevan. They are a couple of cheeky Kiwi’s and they provide fresh training ideas. A couple of weeks ago I was listening to episode 55 – EPIC TRAINING DAY. The gist of the show was to take it up a notch.

I had been thinking of this and got some buy in from the lunch crew. Wednesday’s are STADIUM days and yesterday was to be the first of the EPIC DAYS!

We hit the stadium steps – we generally do 30 reps of steps or 20 reps of bleacher lunges. Today we decide to do 20 reps of steps (alternating single and double steps) while adding 10 push ups at the end of each repetition. This was challenging. This kicked up butts (and legs and chest – 10 push ups start to add up).

Next it was on the football field with some ab work – 250 reps of crunches (regular or oblique with a few bicycles thrown in) as fast as you could. This seemed so much harder than the usual Swiss ball, medicine ball, planks and such that we normally do. Oh yeah, we did add a plank at the end – just until you could not do it anymore.

Next came 100 yard dashes across the football field with 10 seconds rest. These were close to all out and exhausting – I think we got 4 reps. The last rep we got about 30 seconds rest before giving it out all. Vic led this last one out with a very surprising burst of speed and beat me by about 5 yards. Tough stuff.

A nice quick run back to the gym because we were not done yet. We finished off with 30 pull ups / chin ups any grip as fast as you can. I busted out a solid 10 and then with a few seconds recovery tried to add 5 more each time. Once I got over 20 I was only adding 1 or 2 per effort. My upper body was toast from the push ups (did I mention that we have also been doing the 100 push up challenge thingy).

By the time that we completed everything we were spent – done – used up – game over – satisfied.

After work I was meeting some guys out at the lake for what would be an EPIC SWIM. It was only epic to me. This will be the last time to wear the wetsuit this year! We swam out to the first buoy which is about a 1/8th of a mile from shore. We then proceeded to race each other to the next buoy – only about 150 yards away. For me this was full on – no holds barred – full attack swimming. I won all of these mini races (no doubt the wetsuit helped me immensely). I am sure that I was red in the fast after each sprint. About half of us had wetsuits on and half did not – one of the guys without the wetsuit was holding onto the buoy for dear life as we recovered from the intense effort. I’m not very good at treading water – I was glad I was in the wetsuit. These sprint efforts, although they only lasted about 1:40 were intense! Hard stuff! Loved it! This was an overall good and fast swim – total mileage was about 1 mile.

Last night and this morning my body was feeling the effects of EPIC DAY. Thursday is the fast group ride and I have been feeling slow. Last year I was able to hang and lead quite a bit – this year it is a different story. I think, due to the volume of ironman training, I have lost a half step or so. It is frustrating but I think my endurance has increased just the max speed is down - especially in the last month or so following the 1/2 ironman, century ride and the cold that I had). Anyway, we have been smacking the ride – we beat last weeks by about a minute and a half – I only did a short pull there and back – the legs were dead from EPIC DAY! Total group ride was 22 miles in 59:15 (22.28 MPH).

Today is an easy day – just a little swimming at lunch.

Episode IV – A New Hope

I felt better yesterday afternoon and I get an ‘A’ for effort. I actually made it back to the gym after work to complete my swim workout. However, there is no lap swim at 5PM on Tuesday and Thursday – SMACK. So I just hopped on the bike and rode home. The effort was a little higher than I would have liked.

I had a nice evening and started to organize morning group activities. I sent the call out – a lot of people are still busy with school being still in session. But Tony was up for a swim. I asked him what the temperature of the lake was and he said that wetsuits were not allowed! I thought to myself – he is a bigger man than me. I gathered all of my gear up prior to bed so that I would not be stumbling around in the dark.

The sun was up by 5:45AM (good times) and I had my coffee and put on my wetsuit. I’m no fool. Got to Tony’s house and he was wearing a wetsuit also – nice joke. When we got in my feet were cold – not freezing – just cold. Tony put in a small beach during the off season – that was nice in the feet. After swimming for just a few minutes the temperature was near perfect. We swam across the lake. Man I wish I could swim straight – I’m working on it. I might be just a little faster than Tony but the zigzagging negates much of that. I started to swim next to Tony and sight off of him. This was much easier. I then decided to draft off of him. It made a big difference! I would swim in his draft and then swim out of his draft. While in the draft I really had to slow my stroke down – I had to add a lot more glide. It was like I was coasting. The next race I think I will really try to get on someone’s feet. Without losing all of the momentum with sighting and the efficiencies of drafting – well – if I can pull this off…

Tony went ahead and signed up for the Gulf Coast Half in Panama Beach on May6th – tempting – Sam, Chris, and Mike and now Tony and several more will be there. Speaking of Sam – he won the Mullet Man Triathlon (I love the name of this race – they also have a Mullet parade and a Mullet toss – FYI – it is a fish) in Pensacola last weekend. He got 5th last year and just keeps getting faster.

Finished up with the just under a mile swim and it was still early. I was going to drive to work but since I had time I went home and put my gear away and jumped on the bike. A nice 6 mile trip and shower at the gym.

I have a run at lunch and have organized the Tuesday / Thursday morning ride again. I love this time of year.

I know that I will not lose my fitness being sick - I'm just frustrated - I'm just not very good at being sick. I'm the guy who says feel my forehead and regardless of the temperature I want you to say - "Wow - that is so hot - I don't know how you could ever endure this - you are so strong - can I get you anything?" I then say - meekly, "No - I'm fine - I'll be okay". As you start to leave the room - "Maybe some ice cream would be good." It is just a damn good thing that I am not sick very often - I go years and years with nothing - Knock on wood.

On the illness front – not 100 percent but much better.

NOLA 70.3 - T-minus 1

I did a triathlon check list last night and packed up everything for the race. I still need to pack some clothes for the weekend. We should get to NO by about lunch time. Jodie has prepared all of the travel food - the drive is less than 2 hours, but... - we still need travel food.

I realize that adding the swim portion seems to require so much more stuff than the Duathlon I did just last weekend. For the Duathlon - bike, bike shoes, bike, helmet, running shoes, sun glasses and race belt.

True, this is a 1/2 Ironman and I have to travel so the list is much longer.

goggles
extra goggles
wetsuit
unitard thingy
towel
bike
bike flat repair stuff
bike shoes
floor pump
crack pipe - adapter thingy for race wheels
helmet
race wheels
socks
sunglasses
water bottles
bike tools
running hat
running shoes
socks
camera
contacts
directions to race, etc
race foods (gels, etc)
heart rate monitor
heart rate monitor strap
towel - post race
transition bag
USAT card
wallet - money
victory speech

So once I get to NO I will go to the host hotel and do the mandatory race briefing, hit the expo (a little shopping maybe) and then drive to the bike check-in.

I hope to get a quick swim in the lake this afternoon. Kristin blogged about there being a pretty good chop in the water yesterday. I'll need to check that out.

Then off to the hotel to check in. I'm having dinner at a Tony's sisters house tonight in Meterie. Tony invited all of us Hattiesburg people down for pasta. It looks like a lot of fun.

I got up this morning in East Texas and ate breakfast, played badminton, kicked the soccer ball and then went for a run. The run was with my brother-in-law Joe and niece Isabelle. Isabelle rode her bike and we raced up and down the hilly terrain. It was a good hill workout with many repeats.

Later in the day we did brave the frigid lake. Joe was without a wet suit and his core temperature probably dropped 5 degrees in the 20 minute swim. With my wet suit my feet were frozen for the first few minutes but I was comfortable once I got moving. The water was so cold on my face it was hard to get started in the swim. Breathing was difficult but I soon settled in to the swim. Joe will usually smoke me in the pool but I had an unfair advantage - the wet suit for one and just the temperature of the water. I had intended on practicing on drafting but I was just a little quicker than Joe. Like I said - if it was an apple to apple comparison Joe would have been lengths ahead.

Tomorrow will be another travel day but I hope to get a bike ride in before dark. I have still not decided about the Sunfish Duathlon on Saturday. Meridian is about 2 hours away and I would have to leave the house at 6AM. I don't know if I am that committed to the race.

My sister got a puppy - Oscar -

Ready for the open water - not yet.

One who bathes willingly with cold water doesn't feel the cold. - Tanzania Proverb

I did an easy swim this morning. Warm up then 1000 yards in 15:56 - the same time as last week. I have been working on form all this past month with my swim class. I am really going to increase the volume during March - my 1/2 ironman is just a month away. I have to get in the water with the wetsuit. I have never swum in it! I have heard some horror stories about being claustrophobic and panic attacks and such - I do not want that to be me.

Funny thing, I bought an aquarium thermometer the other day so that I could see how cold the lakes are right now. I tied a string to it and found a bobber (it was actually a rusty small propane tank – the individual sized ones). I tied the bobber about a foot up from the thermometer and threw it out in the lake. I guess I either threw it too hard or the string was not long enough because the string broke. There was my thermometer and bobber floating in the lake about 20 feet out. I was not planning on it but I pushed the kayak in the lake to fish out this apparatus. Long story short, the lake is 57 degrees. A little cold to say the least. On top of everything else – I ended up breaking the thermometer.

Swimming through the holidays - NOT

I just noticed that the pool will be closed starting this Friday through the first of the year - something like 20 days! That is going to take a toll on the swim plan for the rest of the month. Over the holidays I may brave the open water with the wetsuit and see if this is indeed possible during the winter months. I’m not looking for the OWS to be toasty but it has to be tolerable. That being said I have been getting my swimming in just fine. Having a 'real' schedule plan is forcing me to 'work the plan' and nothing is being missed.

On Monday I swam for a full hour - this was the first time since OWS in August. I can’t say that I am enjoying the swim and looking forward to it but I am not dreading it either. I’m counting that as progress.

This morning I actually pulled myself out of bed to go to the pool. I can generally motivate myself for a bike or run but the pool is a little different. Part of it is that it is just so dark right now in the morning (and afternoons for that matter). To reward myself I opened a new pair of swim goggles that I purchased sometime last year on clearance. Little things do motivate me sometimes.

My training plan called for a slow warm up and then 500 yard time trials. I am not fast by any means but I gave it a good effort.

Warm Up – 300 yards (bilateral breathing)
1:00 minute Rest Interval
Working Set –
500 yards @ 8:48
1:00 minute Rest Interval
500 yards @ 8:49
1:00 minute Rest Interval
Cold Down –
500 yards @ 9:08

The cool down was much easier than the working sets. I felt like I could continue swimming indefinitely. With that time it should give me a slow but doable ironman swim (2.4 miles or 4000 yards) of swim time of sub 1:20. I am continuing to work on the swim and hope to see these times improve over the next few months. With the pool and gym closed for much of the holiday I believe that only the swim will suffer. The running, biking and strength training can all be done in and around the house. After all, the Long Leaf Trace is in my backyard.

Common Triathlon Swim Distances & conversions
25 YARD POOL

1 length = 25 yards (from wall to wall)
2 lengths = 50 yards
4 lengths = 100 yards
¼ mile = 500 yards = 20 lengths
½ mile = 800 yards = 32 lengths
1 mile = 1700 yards = 68 lengths
1.2 miles = 2000 yards = 80 lengths
2.4 miles = 4000 yards = 160 lengths

COLD OWS swimming - maybe...

Jim gave me a call Friday night and said that the local FFN (Hudson's) had wetsuits. I asked if they were triathlon specific and of course they were not. But the price was right. Headed over to FFN Saturday afternoon to have a look around. I walked and walked around the store but could not find anything that resembled wetsuits. They had the all usual 'stuff' - coffee makers, books, cheap clothes and now even fishing poles. I asked several people working there and finally I found the wetsuit rack. They had my size. For $50 this might get me out into the lake a couple of months sooner and allow me to stay out a couple of months longer.

I tried the suit on when I got home and it fit like a glove (body glove, no doubt). I wore it for about 5 minutes and this suit is hot. It really traps the heat in!

So I have been riding the trainer quite a bit in the mornings before work. Every ride is a race or time trial. I am going to have to schedule some base mile rides or recovery rides, but right now I am enjoying setting my benchmarks.

I ran on the treadmill at lunch on Monday and did not fare as well as I would have liked. I tried to maintain my projected fantasy 1/2 marathon pace ( 13.1 miles @ 6:53 pace ). Cardio wise I was feeling pretty good even though my heart rate was starting to creep above 170 beats per minute. The legs were heavy. I would like to run the majority of the 1/2 marathon in the high 160's ( like right at 168 ). I finished the run at 30 minutes for 4.25 miles. Not what I wanted. Having to take a huge break from running has really set me back. The cycling is doing well but I have the Gulf Coast 1/2 marathon the Saturday after next ( November 29 ). This is going to prove to be a challenging race - both physically and mentally. Chad and Vic worked me over with a vengeance with the medicine ball - I think they were trying to break me on the ab bench. I really felt my core today!

Hit the trainer this morning for a 10 mile time trial - dead flat course. I kept my heart rate below 165 and was able to clock a 27:30 for an average of 21.82 MPH. Yes, this is on a trainer and indoors but the exertion and times seem very realistic.

Tuesdays and Thursdays have become lap swim days. At lunch I got a good 1500 yards. Chris is feeling ill and Laura had to prepare for a meeting. I generally prefer a group swim to keep me motivated - it can be really tough for me to put in the time swimming laps. The swim felt good and I was strong throughout. Not a bad day in the pool. I did not miss the 50 or 100 yard intervals.

Ballroom dance class tonight - this will be the first class for Jodie and I. It is class 3 of 5 so we will have some catch-up to do.

Stadium Days

No exercise this morning. Was originally supposed to go swimming at Lake Serene with Jim. However, I stayed up late doing the Mystery Beer Tasting. I think that everyone had a really good time.

I woke up later than usual (at about 6AM) and heard my phone beeping. It was a message from Jim stating that we was not able to make the swim. This was a relief. I have not done any swimming in a couple of weeks, much less OWS.

Hit the stadium with Vic and Chad. Vic is having a great week. Chad trailed him most of the way. (Chad is still struggling with the quad.)

I ran the steps out in front of both of them and ran the transitions - no recovery at all! It was a good work out. I doubt I will be sore tomorrow at all - this work out is starting to build strength.

Hit the weights after the stadium. A little shoulders and a lot of abs. The core is also getting stronger.

Special thanks to Julie (Vic's wife) for the awesome banner!

Washing machine

Went for a swim this morning. The wind was stout and the water was rough. I brought an old pair of swim goggles with me in case the others leaked. Looking at the water I did not even try the leaky pair.

The wind blew me off course a little and I had to be conscience of which side I was breathing. A mouthful of water quickly lets you know which side is correct.

Swam to the other side of the lake and the water was calmed from the tree line. An uneventful swim south until I once again had to traverse the body of the lake. Swimming back to the initial point would be a challenge - straight into the wind. Once again I was forced to breath from my non-dominate side - fearful of the mouth full of agua. I fought the wind and surf. A difficult swim by any standard. On a positive - I was only off of my best time by a couple of minutes - less than 5 percent. This swim will be filed away for another challenge.

Thursday was more of an adventure run. Vic and I explored the ROTC playground. Rope climbs, log runs and walls to scale were the order of the day. I had to check my slight fear of heights while climbing he rope. Lots of hand and arm strength are required, as well as, a good deal of leg strength. A fun way to fill the lunch hour.