Plowing along.

After the weekend workouts, my legs were pretty tired on Monday. I felt like taking a day off but decided to go to masters swimming in the evening. There were a few other triatheletes there that wanted to do a long swim workout and not the workout that was posted by the coach...so I thought I would give it a whirl. We did a 300 warmup and then 3 sets of 12 minute swims as far as you coudl go. We did 725, 725 and 700 on the last set.....which translates to 1:39/100 and 1:42/100 which I was pretty happy with. 7 months ago I could not swim a 2:15 100...so I feel like I have come a long way.

The 3 of us that swam together were almost the exact same speed. I lead the first and third set and was #2 in the second set. I never realized what a HUGE difference drafting in swimming makes. The second set was like a stroll in the park. I was not working at all and was trying to keep from grabbing the feet of the person in front of me. When I lead the sets, it felt like work the entire time...

Yesterday I was supposed to go to the track and do a workout but could tell my legs were not up fo it at all....like not even a possibility. I ended up going for a 6 mile run at an 8:15 pace with a 142 bpm average. I ran the first 3 miles at 7:55 then slowed it down for the last 3 as I was getting a bit of a tight hamstring and really felt like I was overdoing it. I think I am going to try to hit it hard this weekend then have a recovery week with only light workouts next week.

I plan on going to masters swimming tonight then hopefully a ride tomorrow.

Brick by Brick

So I thought I would do a quick post of what I have been up to. On Wednesday I swam with the masters group. I think it was around a 2500 or so. On Thursday I ran 6 at a 7:28 pace with a avg heart rate of 154.....which is a little higher than I would have liked but I I didn't feel too bad. Friday I took the day off as I knew I had a brick to do on Saturday.

Today I went out for a brick. I rode 56 and followed it up with a 4 mile run. My goal was to have a nice easy ride and work on my nutrition. I had a profile designs water bottle on my aerobars with gaterade and 2 water water bottles on the bike with a custom blend from Infinit Nutrition. This was my first try with Infinit so I did not know what to expect...really liked it The first half of the bike was really nice as I had the wind at my back....I would have preferred it in my face to start but what can you do. I was flying on the way out but knew I was going to pay dearly for it on the way back. The flags were standing straight out...the wind was 25 mph. ugh. I tried to eat something every 30 minutes and drink something every 15 minutes. It was only 60 degrees here today so I was not sweating all that much. I ate 2 goo's, 1 oatmeal pie and 4 cliff blocks. The stomach and calories seemed pretty good...although I am sure I will continue to tinker with it.


As expected, the trip back home was rather slow. I felt like I was going to come to a stop during some of the gusts. I ended up with an 18.5 avg (134 bpm avg) which wasn't too bad given the conditions and the 6 stop lights I got stopped at.....and I did not feel like I worked all that hard. I spent most of the ride on my aerobars. The only thing that was getting sore was my neck...maybe I need to look at getting a lighter helmet. I can still feel it now.

One complaint...I HATE my Profile Designs water bottle. I got a gatorade shower at every bump I hit in the first 5 miles. I chugged down half the bottle just so it would stop splashing me. I have the little sponge in there...but it did not seem to help all that much...any suggestions here? I need to figure something out as this was driving me crazy.

While I am asking for tips....does anyone have any suggestions on help with 'chaffing?' I always seem to get it. Today I put a sizable glob of Vaseline and moisturizer im my nether region but still got a bit of a rub.

When I got home, my 'transition time' to the run was 3:43 and I was off and running. I felt really good. I did 4 miles at 7:56 pace with a 144 bpm average. My goal was to keep the heart rate low and keep the effort in the 'comfortable' range. I felt better as the run went on.

That's all I gots.

A short update...this AM (Sunday) I went for a 10 mile run. I did an 8:21 pace and an avg heart rate of 142. The legs were a little bit sluggish and tired...but I got through the run without any issues. I kept the effort pretty easy.

Mid week update

I am still trying to ramp up the biking to see if it is realistic to do the HIM in June. I rode 41 on Saturday and then ran 10 on Sunday pretty easy @8:30 pace.

Monday I did the Master swim:

600 Warm up (bk, br, fr)
200 Pull

300 pull (:30 seconds rest)
2X100 kick (20seconds rest)
repeat 2X

100 easy

7X100 @1:35

75 Easy

Yesterday, I did a track workout in the AM of 1 mile warm up, then 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400, 200...with a 200 meter rest interval which I walked. I was really glad when it was over. At least I felt better this week on the track compared to last week...but I never find the track workout 'easy.'

Yesterday night, the Mrs Buckeye was at dinner with some friends so I headed out for a bike ride. The weather in Cleveland was quite warm (for here)...78 degrees...so I decided to ride along the lake. It was great. The temperature is noticeably cooler at the lake compared to my house and I only live about 3 miles from it. I finally had a ride with no wind! Originally, my intention was just to spin the legs but I felt pretty good and worked a bit. I ended up doing 31 miles with a 20 average.

Off to masters swim tonight.

Oh the wind....

Can I get a bike ride that does not have gusting winds? Not to cry about it, but my last 2 rides have had some brutal winds. I feel like Lance Armstrong in one direction.....and like a 3 year old with training wheels the other. Oh well.

On Monday, I went to master swim and did ~2400. I took it a bit easy and mixed in a bit of pulling as my legs were a bit lead filled from the longer run on Sunday. On Tuesday, I went to the track to do some speed work. I was tired before I even got there....in hind site I should have taken a rest day...but I did a 1 mile warm up, and was slated to do 6X800 with 90 seconds rest. I did the first 3 in 3:08, 3:06, 3:05 but on the forth went to 3:16...I was on empty and spent. Rather than put in 2 more crappy 800's, I called it a day after a little cool down. It was a bit crazy at the track as the fire department was setting up a car crash site on the football field as a drinking and driving dispaly for prom. So I was having to use all 8 lanes of the track to weave in and out of the tow trucks and other equipment that was getting setup.

Yesterday, I did 33 mile on the bike at a 19 average. I was just trying to ride very comfortable and not push it. I was flying on the way out....wind aided....on the way back it was a real pie in the face and felt like I was barely moving. I then went to master swimming where we did:

warm up:
1x200 swim
400 IM
2x100 pull

Set 1:
6x200 @ 3:35

50 easy recovery

Set 2:
4X25 @ 30 seconds
4X25 @ 28 seconds
4X25 @ 26 seconds
4X25 @ 24 seconds

75 easy

Hope to get a run in this afternoon.