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.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
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!
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!
Friday, February 16, 2007
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!
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!
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, February 05, 2007
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.
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.
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