Full Circle

Ironman Canada is 5 days away. It feels weird to say that. Three years ago, when I decided to do this race after seeing a recap on TV, I was looking for something that would push my body to its absolute limits. I wanted a sport that would leave me wrecked at the end so I could feel a true sense of accomplishment.

Since that fateful day, I have grown to love this sport. My outlook changed; the desire to destroy myself in one glorious day of racing was replaced with a desire to live the triathlon lifestyle. Swim, bike, and run were integrated fully into my life. As I progress along with my training, my confidence (or should I say overconfidence?) grew to the point where I convinced myself Ironman would be easy and I should aim for a fast race with a good time.

Life got in the way however; I was forced to take a second job to make money and lost a lot of prime training time. Available hours were cut short and my workout sessions decreased in volume. Then a brutal IT Band problem appeared in my leg and all running was halted for four months. Ironman still felt within reach, but previous goals of glory and fast times evaporated.

Now, with only a few days to go, and having trained next-to-nothing (or so it feels like) for the last month, I feel like the race is going to be a mess. It will be hard, it will be hot, and I'll have to work my ass off just to finish.

That that makes me happy.

I'm back in the mental state where true enjoyment will come from being completely wrecked by the end of the race, no matter what my time. I want to feel like I was run over by a train when I cross that finish line, to hear the announcer (who I hope is Steve King) say I'm an Ironman, and then collapse into a blubbering mess, face kissing the warm concrete, content with all that has happened in my journey thus far.

Then again, maybe I'll go and end up with a Hawaii place. Crazy things like that happen, right?

New Balance Half Iron race report

Copied from www.yournextrace.com/wordpress

For some reason there can never be peace and quiet for me before big races. Something always needs to happen to shake things up, usually some freak sickness that goes away a day before the race, leaving me healthy but worried of lingering performance-draining effects. Well, this race was no different.

First, I expected my run to be a total write-off thanks to a bummed knee, so that was hanging over my head right up until the end of the 80km bike leg (yeah, it was only 80km, so not a “real” half iron race). The real problem this time, however, centered around my girlfriend Robin, who was also doing the race with me.

The day before the race we were at the start line for a mandatory meeting and bike check. After getting our bikes from the car and bringing them to the bike check tent, we realized that somewhere between car and bike check dude, one of the pedals from Robin’s bike had magically fallen off. It fell off in a crowd of 600 people all listening intently to this important meeting, so finding it was nigh impossible. So, 15 minutes before the bike store’s closing time and at least 15 minutes of driving away from the bike store, we were off, in an unfamiliar city, racing through the streets trying to make it to a store on time so we could buy a new set of pedals for a race that was 13 hours away.

We made it with about a minute to spare and saved what could have been a very tragic situation, as this race is a)expensive like all long course races and b)a necessary test of our racing skills before Ironman in August. Being unable to compete in this race would have been a pretty harsh blow to Robin so close to the big kahuna.

After that little shakeup, we spent a couple hours driving around Victoria trying to find a restaurant that wasn’t completely full and ended up at a great pasta place close to our hotel, starving, starving so bad. I ate enough for three people. It was great! After a quick car tour of the bike course we got to our hotel and fell asleep, mostly ready for the day ahead.

The weatherman had predicted rain, but race day was just perfect, with ok temperatures and clouds with some sunny breaks. It was a day for PBs.

I got down to the late a few minutes before my wave was set to go and realized that 2km is actually a pretty damn long distance. The large orange balls they use to mark the course went off so far into the distance that I was having trouble seeing them. This was a little disconcerting, but I had faith in my skills and knew it would just take a little time to get through my worst of the three sports.

About 700m into the swim I pulled something in my shoulder, not because I was pulling too hard, but because I had only been in my wetsuit once before this and I wasn’t fully comfortable swimming in it yet and it threw my form off. So the rest of the swim leg was a little painful. I made it out in exactly 40 minutes, not bad for me, but pretty slow compared to everyone else. I had to pee in transition and wasn’t in a really big rush for some reason so I was pretty slow getting on to the bike. After about 30 feet into the bike leg my legs were burning and I realized I had pretty much ZERO power. Score!

I rode along, suffering, and after a few minutes ate a Clif bar I brought with me. After about 20 minutes and some Gatorade I was in business: my legs regained some life and my drive turned on. From this point it was 2.5 hours of passing people and going fast. I estimate that I must have passed about 200 competitors throughout the day, but it was probably more than that based on my swim start time and how I finished compared to everyone else. It might have been more like 300. In any case, I pedaled steady and kept thinking to myself “just reel them in one by one,” and so I did. One or two others passed me on the bike, either slower swimmers and better cyclists than me, or people in the relay teams that started after I did. Passing people is just great for the confidence and I used each person I passed as a slingshot to the next.

As I approached the end of the bike my legs were getting pretty tired. I averaged about 150bpm on the bike which is 5 beats below my aerobic max (calculated using Mark Allen’s method) and a little harder than I probably should have gone. I was still expecting my knee to give out at the start of the run and figured I’d be walking it anyways so I didn’t care too much if I blew myself on the bike.

After a quick shoe change and another pee in transition, I was off on my run. This is where a miracle happened. I hit my perfect form instantly. In every other triathlon I’ve ever done, the run is usually a thing of pain and suffering (both a path to the dark side, as everyone knows), but this time I felt amazing. I hovered at my perfect HR of 155bpm and just cruised along, still passing people, occasionally being passed by the super fast competitors finishing their second lap of the course. At about 13km into the run my knee gave a little twinge that I expected to end my day, but I kept on running and kept it at bay. A Japanese man that I had been keeping pace with for most of the race was in front of me as we neared the end of 20k and I decided to give a final push, crossing the line feeling great and strong at 5 hours 9 minutes.

I couldn’t have been happier with my performance. Well, I would have liked a faster time, say in the 4-hour mark, but as far as body-feel went, it was perfect. If I can have a race like that in August, I will be a happy, happy man. If I don’t have a race like that…well, I can hopefully smile and at least remember what got me there.

Half Iron Fun!

Less than 3 weeks to go until the New Balance Half Iron in Victoria and I'm still tentative about running. A little over a month ago I pulled something while running and I've barely been able to go for more than 20 minutes at a time since then without pretty sharp pain in my left knee. Yesterday I ran in the morning for 30 minutes and seemed to be ok, and found that things seemed to be more stable when I kept my ankle/foot more rigid (as opposed to loose).

Anyhow, that 30 minute success story inspired me to give up foolish ideas of not competing in the half iron and reserve a hotel room for the trip. I've been getting some great cycling in over the last month or two so I'm looking forward so seeing how that translates into race-day success.

I just need to keep on truckin, and hope for the best.

Ironman is less than 3 months away now. Getting a wee bit nervous.

Sick

Sorta sick.

My body feels "tingly" and I'm a little weak-feeling. At first I thought it was just a regular cold-type deal, but now I'm wondering if it's training related. I went for a ride to see mom for mother's day on Saturday (60k, 3 hours) and the next day was when I started to feel bad. I've done much longer, further rides before without problem but maybe this is a bit of overtraining. I was feeling a little more sluggish than usual this weekend, to the point where I made a point of not doing anything on Sunday (partly because I had no time, partly because I wanted a day off).

Hmmmm. I'll have to see how I feel over the next few days.

Always Move Forward

Obviously this is a phrase you hear from anyone who is going somewhere in life. Always look forward, never go back, etc. Well, today I mean it in a literal sense.

I've been unable to train for the last week due to a ton of work at my two jobs. This is good for the wallet, but bad for the legs. I got a chance to go for an hour long run today which felt great, but something was missing. I felt like I was working harder than I should and wasn't going as fast and I wanted. I attributed this to a lack of training over recent weeks, but then I stopped (mentally) and analysed my running style.

One thing I've been discovering in recent weeks is the importance of feeling the work I do propelling me in a forward motion. When I make myself do this, instantly everything I do feels much smoother and fluid; deadzones disappear, speed is increase, and effort feels less.

Today I tried to visualize a smooth forward motion while running and suddenly everything clicked into place. My form stabilized, power output went up, and effort went down. It was the perfect end to the workout.

Remember: visualize forward momentum. It may not drastically change your technique, but it will make you feel faster and more fluid. If nothing else it's good for the mind.

Hydration Matters (YNR Post)

Today I learned the importance of good hydration on the bike.

I set out to do a multi-hour ride this morning and had a blast. I got to explore more of my city, enjoyed the cool weather, and made a second trek up the hill to Simon Fraser University, this time up the back side of the hill which was much nicer than the hell that was the other road I took up last week.

Three hours into my ride, I was having trouble keeping my heart rate down. Riding that felt easy was still putting my HR in the high 140s and low 150s, which made absolutely no sense to me.

…until I realized that I had only had about half a bottle of Gatorade and almost no water since I left my house. Generally, my main concern on longer rides is having to pee; actually, more it’s finding a place to pee when I have to go. Public restrooms seem few and far between in my town.

In any case, I said screw it and downed a full bottle of Gatorade while waiting for a light to change. The scientist in me wanted to know if it would get my HR back down to normal levels, and how fast it would take to do so.

Somewhat surprising to me, it did! After a few minutes of riding my body felt a lot fresher and my HR went back into the 130s where I wanted it. I don’t know if I was expecting it to drop back to normal so fast, but I was sure glad it did. I was thinking of taking a Skytrain and Bus home before that.

I recall reading somewhere that a lack of water in your body is just as sure a way to blow a race (or training) as having no calories/glycogen/food in your body. The body is a complex system and all parts of the engine need to be firing in order for you to reach your maximum potential.

I think from now on I’ll risk taking more pee breaks and focus on getting more hydrated as I ride. Maybe I should just learn to pee on the bike, then I’ll be all set!

Many Miles (YNR Post)

By Lincoln Penner

Actually, it’s kilometres since I’m in Canada, but for the sake of alliteration…

In the last 7 days I’ve ridden 242km. Actually, it was over only 4 days with a bunch of work days in the middle, but it’s by far the longest I’ve ridden in any one week period ever. By more accomplished Ironman triathlete standards, that would probably be the distance you ride in one day, but I’m still happy with my success.

I really feel like I’ve gotten a good feel for how my body feels at certain RPE intensities and heartrates. I’m not sure how things will change once I get to 100 miles on an Ironman course, but it’s looking like I can maintain a good speed and cadence on flat-ish terrain at 125-135 bpm. Obviously hills and wind have differing effects on this, but during an IM race, keeping my HR in this range (so I’m told) is very important for success on the run.

Total training time this week was about 10 hours, almost all of it cycling. I’m really happy with this overall because I think cycling is the sport I’m most worried about vis a vis my overall triathlon fitness. I haven’t been in a pool in months and I still feel that my cycling needs to take priority. I’m not sure what that says about me…

…probably that I just don’t like swimming that much.

It's so good to be alive!

Triathlon is a very "pure" sport. By that I mean it uses the most basic of skills and little or no equipment. Aside from the bike, you could be a naked caveman with nothing but your spear and hairy body and do a triathlon. Maybe you could ride a dinosaur for the bike portion...?

I sit here after finishing a good, fairly hard 60k bike ride and I can't help but feel some measure of pity for the multitude of people in our society who have completely lost touch with their physical selves. Sure, maybe they hit the gym once in a while and lift some weights, but they rarely get to know their bodies intimately. They eat crappy processed foods for every meal, sit at a desk all day staring at a computer, and get out for maybe 30 minutes of light exercise a week, if that.

I recently had hours cut at my job due to major budget issues and have been forced to look for a more regular job to pay the bills. A friend of mine got me a job at a bank and for the last three weeks I have been working two jobs during the day, leaving little, if any time for training.

It's driving me nuts.

I can't really imagine myself succumbing to that 9-5 lifestyle. I'm not saying it's a bad way to live life if it is giving you the satisfaction you crave, but for me I have become so used to being an athlete that I'm fairly certain any future career moves I make will need to head in that direction.

That was a bit of a tangent, but what I'm getting at is that through triathlon, I have really discovered my inner physical self. I feel very in tune with my body and it's a truly wonderful thing. I believe that if I was to lose everything I own, I would still be happy so long as I had a pair of running shoes and a heartbeat.

Life is too short for me to spend my life behind a desk, and being outside interacting with nature just feels so right. It really is good to be alive.

Your Next Race Contributing Writer!

Wooo! I now get to tell more people about my crazy multisport lifestyle! I'll try to post here the stuff I post there. Without further ado...


Life Skills Development

It’s been pouring rain in Vancouver for a good week now nonstop…not a bad time to start a new job!

I have been studying the ins and outs of training now for about 3 years, since I got into the sport. I think a large part of my success so far (how fast I’ve gotten good and how I’ve remained pretty much injury free) has been because I’ve been able to read all of the information out there and really filter out all of the good stuff.

What the good stuff is telling me is that real Ironman training begins 20 weeks out from race day. I’ve seen a couple of people extolling the virtues of this, one of them being Mark Allen, so I’m pretty sure it’s good advice.

20 weeks out from Ironman Canada this year is the week beginning April 8th, so that is the day that my real work begins.

Anyway, I figured that now would be a good time to get into a new job since hours at my current job are going to be cut pretty heavily come May. What this means is that right now training has pretty much come to a halt. I’m training at one job during the day and working another at night. I’ve got about 20 minutes to myself during the day, 19 of which is spent preparing and eating food (never gonna give that up!).

So, until April 2nd, there will be very little running, riding, or swimming of any sort. It really hurts since I love doing those things so much. I’m coming off a month of highs, placing 2nd in my AG at the UBC Duathlon on March 12th, then coming in a respectable 49th out of 500 people at a St. Patrick’s Day 5k, so the fear of losing some of that gained fitness is making me a little nervous.

That said, I’ve taken more time off before and not felt bad coming back, and the mental time off is something I’m going to miss once heavy training begins, so I’m sure it’s all for the best.

Oh, and having a job to pay for this ridiculously expensive sport is probably a good idea too.

Training Hiatus

Looks like training is on the back burner for the next week or two while I get my work life sorted out. Just started a second job today at HSBC that I need to do training for over the next two weeks before my other job. This means free time has officially fallen to 0.

I'm not sure I'll work every day of the week, but I'll be lucky to get in 3 or 4 workouts I think.

Oh well, the real thing starts April 8th, so hopefully I'm still good to go by then.

It's funny how this situation is putting my life into perspective. I'm realizing just how important Triathlon is in my life, pretty much overriding all other things. I'm willing to quit all work that gets in the way of my goal.

Last week I placed 2nd in my AG and 20th overall at the UBC Du. This weekend I finished 49th overall in a 5k out of about 490 people, running it in 19:50 (a new record, by a few seconds). My potential is definitely there, and all I want to do is explore it.

How to do that and maintain a standard of living suitable to both myself and my girlfriend is the big question, but I think I can figure something out.

Best Day Ever?

Possibly.

First, the race: pretty damn good. It was raining HARD all day, and was quite windy, so not the best conditions for a fast race. I did the first run in 20:00 flat which is definitely one of my best times. I was even "trying" (read: not really) to keep a little in reserve, but that didn't go so well. Between the speed I was going and race nerves, my HR went as high as 191 in that first 20 minutes; pretty fecking high, considering my theoretical max is 194.

The bike was more like a canoe trip down some crazy rapids, but I made good time. The wind was against us moving downhill and at our backs coming back up which made for a nice balance. I kept thinking that superior aerodynamics would win the day here so I tucked in and rode hard. I don't think I passed anyone in my heat, but I absolutely blew past several other competitors like they were standing still. That's a nice feeling

(Funny moment of the day: me on my 2006 Dual passing a guy on a Cervelo One, then another guy right in front of him on a 2005 Dual. Somewhere, a cash register in Cervelo's head office is going "Ka-Ching!")

I went into the 2nd run feeling pretty good. Had one small calf cramp tweak, but that was it. I did have a problem feeling like I was giving it my all cardiolarly (new word), but not moving very fast, but my 2nd run split was 21:30 or so, so I definitely was moving pretty good.

This run was the first time in this sport where I went truly competitive against another individual. A man running behind me had passed me on the first run, so I knew he was a little faster than me. I dug deep trying to stay ahead of him, knowing that any slowdown would cost me a position.

I beat him by 20 seconds. Pretty f-ing cool!

So, the results: Race time about 1:24, 20th overall, 2nd in my AG. I GET A MEDAL FOR THAT SHIT!! WOOOOOOOOO!

I've decided I don't want to have to scroll down after a race to see my name, so I'm just going to finish all races on the first page of the results. I think it's better this way.


Today I fired off two emails, one to the ITU and one to the WTC asking about jobs. Both responded. The WTC forwarded my email to NA Sports, so I hope something good happens there. The ITU linked me to some volunteer work for the Vancouver World Cup happening in July, something I had totally forgotten about.

In any case, I'm stoked. I'm hoping to get a ton of experience from the ITU people (and maybe a job!) and see where my future goes from there. Racing or planning, it sure is looking bright right now.

Race Day Tomorrow

Well, in a standard case of goal-inflation, I've gone from want to simply have fun in this duathlon tomorrow to wanting to win it. Why do I do it? I have no idea. Maybe I have this misguided belief that the field won't be as competitive at UBC (probably a big lie) and I have a good chance of placing in, say, the top 10. If I hit the top 10 on this race I would probable die happy. Then I would die for real as I probably would have pushed myself way past my limits physically.

I'm going to try incorporating some mental games into this race. I want people to fear me right from the start. I want them to know in their minds, even before the race begins, that they can't beat me.

Yes, dance puppets.... DANCE!!

Sick again

I think I've been sick during the week before almost every single race I've ever done. It's really quite fun (NOT).

I went for a hard speed session on the bike last Friday, when flurries were coming down and the temperature was just around freezing. The last time I got sick this was pretty much the same condition, so I guess I should have known what to expect.

Snow = going to get sick

I could feel it coming on by Saturday night, but I think it's just about broken now on Wednesday night, like I expected. Just a general feeling of discomfort and the sniffles. Nothing too bad thankfully.

Race day is fast approaching. A couple more quick workouts and then it's off to victory!

I hope.

Goin' fast...

Three months of long, slow endurance training can wear one down over time as it's quite monotonous. This week, however, is speed week, and comes with it's own set of problems, namely the urge to puke after a hard interval.

On Monday I ran hard, 3x8 minutes as hard as I could sustain. This meant a heartrate hovering in the high 170s, a place I haven't been since I can't remember when. I was pretty sure I was going to fall over after each interval.

It took my legs three days to recover to the point where I didn't feel pain when I walked, pain like when I used to lift heavy weights in the gym. I forgot that the simple act of running could do this to my body.

Today was my bike speed session, 3x8 again. I'd spent the last few days tinkering with my new Dual, getting the aerobar angles right, dropping the cockpit down an inch and adjusting the seat. The result is a bike that feels fast, and more importantly, comfortable. Awkward on the handlebars, being at a 78 degree angle (compared to my road bike), but natural in the aerobars, where it counts.

I did one hard interval and was ready to puke after. My legs were burning, my lungs were burning (it was starting to snow, so it was cold) and I thought my calf was going to cramp. The second interval was more up hill, and I couldn't seem to get the same power output (HR) as the first interval. By the end of the third I was ready to call it a day.

The shitty thing about biking hard is that you cover a lot of ground and it's hard not to run out of room on a stretch. Finding room meant 20 minutes of riding, which meant 20 minutes of riding back home.

Suffice it to say, I was pooped.

Race day is just over a week away now. I'm going to try cutting all caffeine intake next week and do this race au naturel. I can't wait!

Speed training

Wow, haven't been this sore in a while.

Did 3x8mins hard on Monday (total workout time about 45 minutes) and now, 48 hours later, my legs are still sore. I'm impressed that such a short workout had such an effect on me.

I plan to do a hard 30 minute TT tomorrow or Friday and then just a bunch of short recovery-type stuff for the week leading up to the duathlon. I will consider the race a speed workout too, but I probably won't do any more before the race only because I want to be really fresh for it. I hope to place well in this race and want to go into it as prepared as I can.

No beer for a while either, which is something new. I have a habit of getting drunk the weekend before a race. It will probably have been 3 weeks without a drink by the time the race comes around, so I can factor out alcohol consumption as a reason for poor performance.

I think I'll do another speed week following the duathlon and then probably take a couple recovery weeks off until April 8.

At that point we're 20 weeks out from Ironman. That's when the real work begins.

Soooo Tired....

Well, not that tired, but definitely fatigued.

Probably one of the biggest weeks I've done in the sport yet, so far up to about 9 hours training time. Not much by professional standards, but I'm working my way up.

The week went as follows: long (1.5hr) run on Monday, long (~2hr) bike on Tuesday, day off Wednesday, 2+ hour run Thursday, 3 hour ride today (Friday).

If I can work in a 1hr 2min swim this weekend, I'll hit my 11-hour training goal for this week, the last big one before the Duathlon in two weeks.

These long days are definitely tuckering me out, but if it allows me to go a little further next time, it's all worth it. I just hope I don't get sick in the process.

That 180km ride seems so long right now when it takes me 3 hours to do 50k (albeit on roads with cars, stop signs, traffic lights, etc). I'd like to average 30kph at the race, which shouldn't be too bad considering most of the course it quite flat.

Hey, if I can do a marathon run, I can do a 180k bike. Take that!

Breakthrough Workout

Wow, talk about a good day.

It's funny how the best days I tend to have start of pretty shitty. I got on my bike at around 11:30 this morning planning to do a 3 hour ride. About 3 minutes in I felt sluggish; pedalling on the 2nd largest cog in the back was hard and the wind blowing in my ears was getting on my nerves. I sucked it up and kept on pedalling.

I had been planning on simply riding for 3 hours, but after an hour I decided to try something different. Instead of complaining about how weak my legs felt on the bike, I decided to do some strength work. I was going to using the big chainring for the rest of the day, not shifting down for any reason.

Well, this worked great! My speed was up, but my heartrate didn't climb as much as I thought it would. My cadence was definitely slower, but my legs felt ok all day and my HR stayed around 140 the entire time (a couple of spikes when climbing some steep hills, but otherwise good). I'd guess my average speed was 28-30 KPH on the flats, which is a good speed.

At the start of this workout I was worried about how long it would take me to do 180k in an Ironman. Now I know that if I work on it over the next 5-6 months, I will be a lean mean biking machine when August 26 hits.

I can't wait!

On the road

As the start of my goal to train for 7 hours this week, I did a 55k, 2:30 ride to and around Stanley Park (4 laps) and back. It was a kind of BT workout for me in that I tried to keep my HR as low as I could, below 140 if possible. I'm pleased to say I was very successful, even climbing that ridiculous hill in the middle of the park. I think I was using 42-23 the entire time, but speed wasn't too terribly less than when I'm hammering (maybe 18kph vs 13kph) and I was pretty fresh for most of the ride.

Some guy on a shitty old bike thought he would race me on my last lap...we went back and forth but I won in the end. Unfortunately that whole "leave your ego at home" thing went right out the window as my HR hit 161 while proving my point, but it was only for a couple of minutes so I'm sure I can forgive myself.

Legs were pretty tired by the end; I'm not sure if this is due to a lack of calorie intake or just fatigue from not going this long in a long time. Probably both. I need to be consuming more stuff on longer rides (2+ hours) for sure. 1 bottle of Gatorade and a Vector bar probably isn't enough.

Quick update

Plan for the next 4 weeks:

7 hours this week (Feb 5)
9 hours week of Feb 12
11 hours week of Feb 19
5 hours taper week before UBC Du (March 11).

I need to remember these goals so I can commit to them. It's too easy this time of year to let the weather dictate my training strategy.

Wunning Woes

An interesting thing happened today. I was out for a pretty long run (around Stanley Park...took about 2.5 hours) and just as I was on the last stretch home (after Macdonald) my RPE shot up and I had trouble keeping my HR below 150, even at a snail's pace.

Now, I had just eaten and Eat More chocolate bar, so I suppose it could have been due to digestion, or it could have just been fatigue. In any case, I should watch and see if/when it happens again.

As an aside, today was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was bright and it had that "triathlete" feel for me, the memories of early morning races in the summer sun.

Ahhh, what a wonderful life!

Weight

It's kinda fun evaluating these parameters...especially when you see progress in areas like VO2max (which appears to be reliable within something like 6% of actual tested maxes).

Anyways, current weight appears to be:

175lbs

It appears I've lost about 5 pounds over the last year, give or take. I'm not sure where I lost it from as I'm pretty slim as it is.

A lighter weight tends to equal a higher VO2max apparently, so I'll have to retest that in the next day or two and see how it differs, if at all.

VO2max and HRmax

I did two fitness tests with my Polar S210 last night and this morning. I'm not sure how accurate Polar's testing software is for calculating ones OwnIndex (VO2max), but to its credit it did give me the same readings both times (once late at night after work and once first thing in the morning).

OwnIndex/VO2max - 68
HRmax - 194

My VO2max has gone up 3 points since I last did the test in May when I first got the HRM. My HRmax has dropped one point.

I'm not sure just how accurate this test is, but I have a very high, and obviously increasing VO2max. To say that I'm excited for my prospects in this sport is an understatement.

Lactate Threshold Test

First the parameters:
2 hour easy bike on trainer yesterday
1.5 beers last night
~7 hours sleep, maybe less
Uncertain about resting HR, but it seemed on par when I put the monitor on.

Test consisted of running 10 minutes to track (too wet/snow covered to use) then going 20 mins all out and using that average as my LTHR. Apparently this is Joe Friel's method.

Results:
179 bpm HR average

(Distance was only 5k. 10k might be a better indicator, but I still felt like I had some gas left in me by the end so I'm not sure how much it would change.) I'll do another test in a month and see how it differs.)

2 hours on the trainer

...smashing my previous record of 1 hour. Yay! I watched the entirety of Spiderman 2 whilst pedalling away, with a few short breaks here and there.

I think that's my longest ride this year, indoors or out. Not too shabby...

Half Iron coming up...

June 17th (I think)

New Balance Half Ironman triathlon.

I told myself I wouldn't do a 1/2IM this year because it was too expensive, but it's hard to deny that a nice structured race is far superior to the idea of simply "doing your own 1/2IM on a Sunday." Aid stations are very nice, as is official timing. You can also compare yourself to the 549 other athletes out there in the field and see how you stack up (probably not too high, but I haven't been tested at a long course yet so who knows?).

In any case, I'm looking forward to it.

In related news, training is slowly starting to get back on track. I've been running and cycling with increasing frequency, which is nice, but swimming, um, never, which is not nice. Hopefully tomorrow I can drag my ass to the pool for 30 minutes and start getting back on that rather high horse.

(As an aside, it looks like I will soon be working for HSBC. Rob is confident that I will get in there, and soon. I don't doubt his good intentions, but I will wait until they actually offer me a position before I get too excited.)