New Addition

So, we have not posted on the blog in some time…Well, I think we have a good excuse. For those of you that did not know, Mrs. Buckeye was expecting and delivered a baby boy in the beginning of June.

Needless to say, this put a kink in the training of both of us and because he was earlier than we expected….it washed out the half ironman for me as he was born a few days before the race.

Mrs, Mr and Junior are all doing well...although not sleeping and trying to figure out how to take care of this new addition to the family.

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.

Weekend Update

Had a good weekend of training. On Friday night, I did a brick of a 31 mile ride followed by a 3 mile run. The conditions were less than ideal, there was a light spitting rain with a 20+mph wind. I rode DIRECTLY into the wind on the way out....it was tough...during some of the gusts, I looked at my computer and saw 17.5 mph. It was pretty rough and I dropped a few "f-bombs." The good news was when I turned around, I was flying....I saw 25.5 on the flat which is fast for me. All in all, I averaged 19.5. On the 3 mile run, I ran 7:42, 7:46, and 7:56 (hill) with an average heart rate of 141. My thighs felt a bit heavy but was happy with the pace/heart rate.

On Saturday, the Mrs and I went to the pool where I did a a 2000 meter swim....just straight, no sets of anything. I either did it in 35:20 ...or 37:05...I lost count of where I was at and did an extra 50 (maybe) just to make sure. I was hitting my 500's in 9 minutes and tried to pick it up for the last 500...but question if I picked iut up by 40 seconds.... The swim felt good, it is nice to just go for a swim...and not do any sets....just swim... I tried to keep in mind that this was a recovery swim and did not try to push the pace. I wanted to keep the form locked in and I concentrated on being long in the water. I realize these swim times are pretty slow but it is a big improvement from where I was last year.

Today (Sunday) was beautiful here in Cleveland. I did a 13 mile run at an 8:45 pace and a 142 avg heart rate. Last weekend I pushed out a 12 miler at 7:35 pace so this weekend I wanted a nice long slow run. It felt nice to be out and do just a nice steady run. I really kept focus to make sure I did not slowly speed up. I had 1 goo and 2 fuel belt bottles of gaterade. I felt like I could run all day as it was so nice and I was keeping the pace in control. This evening I do not even feel like I went for a run....it was a good 'recovery run.'

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

I’ve been in hiding!

Ok, I have been really lame about posting anything new on the blog lately. For some reason, I just haven’t been feeling it lately….but am getting back in the groove.

As for training, my hopes of Cleveland Marathon have gone out the window. On a 20 mile training run, I stepped of a sidewalk and tweaked my ankle. It was swollen and sore at the end of the run. Over the next 2 weeks, I tried to power through and get my runs in, but was barely able to walk by the time I finished my runs. I decided to take time to let it heal up…which took about another 2 weeks. So I had about a month of very little running during which should have been my highest mileage weeks. I invested a lot of time into it and was already hitting the 20 mile runs….so it was a bit depressing to write it off. Oh well….it happens

….but the good news is that I am now focusing my full attention on doing my first half Ironman in June. I feel like my swimming is good to go, and my running is ready so I just need to get more work in on the bike. The weather here in Cleveland has not been cooperating with this! I have been forced to do most of my riding on the trainer which I REALLY do not like.

For this week, I did a 12 mile run on Sunday at 7:35 pace (152 BPM) which felt really good, swam a 2400 with the Masters group on Monday, did a speed work out at the track on Tuesday (1 mile warm up, 400, 600, 800, 1200, 800, 600, 400 with 400 meter jog rest interval), and rode the trainer for 45 minutes this AM and plan on doing the master swim group this evening…I will post the work out later.

Happy training ever one…as I have been lurking on everyone’s blog…

As for the swim tonight:
Warm up: 1X300 Swim, 6X50 Kick, 4X25 form
First set: 8x75 on 1:15 (this was killer for me)
Second set: 5x200 (pull on the odds, form swim on the evens)
Third set: 6X50 on 1:05 (easy, 80%, all out...repeat)
Cool down: 100 easy

My arms are tired today.