Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Recovery
Helping to organize and direct a race was about 10 x as hard as actually competing in one. I can't believe how much last week took out of me.
My training was close to non-existent for the second half of last week and I felt so weak and tired due to the stress associated with the impending race day that it was a struggle to push more than 200 watts at times!
Life got a lot less complicated as soon as Monday rolled around this week though, and I celebrated that fact by rolling out a 4.5 hour ride w/Dean (featured leading off the bike in the Gloucester Tri video below!) Monday morning and then following that session up with a distance swim Monday p.m. (in my fancy blueseventy point zero3+ speed suit). I followed those sessions up with my final long run of this Ironman progression: an easy 3 hour/25 mile run (Tuesday).
It's good to be back.
I'll take the next couple of days relatively easy (swim practice will not be easy tonight of course!), hit up some bike and run interval work between Friday and Saturday and then enjoy Nick Dufresne's wedding in W. Mass Saturday evening. Sunday will be one final long ride, executed out in the Berkshires, and then it's an easy week heading into Timberman; an event that'll serve as a tune up for the big day on 9/13. I do hope, however, that I have a little juice in the tank for Timberman as Chrissie Wellington was too close for comfort in '08! :)
My training was close to non-existent for the second half of last week and I felt so weak and tired due to the stress associated with the impending race day that it was a struggle to push more than 200 watts at times!
Life got a lot less complicated as soon as Monday rolled around this week though, and I celebrated that fact by rolling out a 4.5 hour ride w/Dean (featured leading off the bike in the Gloucester Tri video below!) Monday morning and then following that session up with a distance swim Monday p.m. (in my fancy blueseventy point zero3+ speed suit). I followed those sessions up with my final long run of this Ironman progression: an easy 3 hour/25 mile run (Tuesday).
It's good to be back.
I'll take the next couple of days relatively easy (swim practice will not be easy tonight of course!), hit up some bike and run interval work between Friday and Saturday and then enjoy Nick Dufresne's wedding in W. Mass Saturday evening. Sunday will be one final long ride, executed out in the Berkshires, and then it's an easy week heading into Timberman; an event that'll serve as a tune up for the big day on 9/13. I do hope, however, that I have a little juice in the tank for Timberman as Chrissie Wellington was too close for comfort in '08! :)
Monday, August 10, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
RACE DAY
It's 4:20 a.m., Sunday August 9th... This is it: One year of planning and hard work all on the line.
Time to roll.
Pictures and race recap coming soon. Weather is looking perfect. I've been dreaming of this day for over 10 years.
Time to get back out on the course and finish setting up before 900 or so of my friends arrive :)
Monday, August 3, 2009
Good Block
I've managed to chalk up a couple more good weeks of IM prep; not the BIG numbers the full time pros hit mind you, but pretty good for a guy who's working full time. Some of the "keys":
Looks like I'll be on the sidelines for the Gloucester Triathlon. Given the fact that I'm the co-founder and that I designed the course, I feel that it is my responsibility to MAKE SURE that everything is in place for the 800+ athletes who'll be pouring into my beloved hometown this Sunday. I don't think that I could live with myself if something small was overlooked and led to an injury out on the course. I'll be that guy with the head lamp on cruising the course @ 5 a.m. on Sunday morning making sure that everything is good to go. I'm very excited about the big day. In a way, it'll be awesome to watch the event unfold from the sidelines; although I'll be missing out in some ways, it'll be a blast to see so many of my friends, athletes and comrades tearing through the streets of Gloucester. Good times ahead.
- 17 hours (over the course of the week) in the saddle 2 weeks ago, but those numbers were largely due to the fact that I didn't do all that much running that week (save a 21 mile long run and a couple of lesser run sessions) due to my knee flaring up.
- A really nice 3 day "block" between this past Saturday and today that included: A quick tempo/fartlek track workout on Saturday morning + an eventful MTB ride Saturday evening; My chain snapped mid ride and I sat there alone in the woods, swarmed by mosquitoes wondering whether I should run or walk the bike home. I was feeling too lazy to run, so I used my "MacGyver" skills and reassembled the chain using 2 rocks. I'll leave it to you to figure out how I did that (hint: It's something a caveman would do, so I shouldn't be bragging). On Saturday, I joined Dean "The Machine" Phillips and M50 - 54 year old national 1 hour record holder Mike Pavlov for an extensive 70.3 pace session. I knew I was in a bit over my head when I clipped through the first 25 miles @ nearly 300 watts, so the numbers dwindled a bit in the final hour or so, but not by much: 285 avg. between min. 60 and 90 and 284 between 90 and 1:59:xx. I covered 50 miles in <2 hours @ an avg. of 290 watts. Not bad. I had a bunch of Gloucester Tri related meetings this morning, so I didn't get a chance to train until mid day. I capped this 3 day block with a 30k out around the Cape course. Between the mid day sun, hills and lingering fatigue, I can't say that I was moving all that quickly, but it was another solid endurance session in the tank, and that's what matters most.
Looks like I'll be on the sidelines for the Gloucester Triathlon. Given the fact that I'm the co-founder and that I designed the course, I feel that it is my responsibility to MAKE SURE that everything is in place for the 800+ athletes who'll be pouring into my beloved hometown this Sunday. I don't think that I could live with myself if something small was overlooked and led to an injury out on the course. I'll be that guy with the head lamp on cruising the course @ 5 a.m. on Sunday morning making sure that everything is good to go. I'm very excited about the big day. In a way, it'll be awesome to watch the event unfold from the sidelines; although I'll be missing out in some ways, it'll be a blast to see so many of my friends, athletes and comrades tearing through the streets of Gloucester. Good times ahead.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
DANG IT (Happy now FZ?) :P
Okay, so I pulled out of RI 70.3 a couple of weeks ago in order to take care of an aching knee (same one that ended my season prematurely last year) to ensure that I can stay on track for IMWI. In place of RI, I hit up a local race on Saturday, rode home, and then ran long today.
Well... looks like the WTC gave my timing chip, bib number and NAME to someone else! WTF?!?! I wasn't even in the state of RI today!!!
To make matters worse, the guy DNF'd after a bike ride that would be a good 18+ min. slower than what I'd turn in on that course.
I suppose I shouldn't care, but I won't lie: I do. I hope they fix that BS ASAP because I'm kind of pissed about it.
Anyway, my long run wasn't a lot of fun today. Off to the Dr. tomorrow to try to get this knee taken care of. I need to get back to hitting my PFMS exercises religiously and to keep up with my stretching.
Nice job to Amanda Russell for her 70.3 PR today. I had a few other athletes throw down too: Quinn Borchard out in CA was 2nd AGer in a big sprint event (would have been 4th elite) and Dave Smith of VA was 4th overall in a pretty competitive Olympic. Those guys are hitting up Vineman and Steelhead, respectively, in the next couple of weeks, so things are looking good.
Okay, back to work tomorrow.
Well... looks like the WTC gave my timing chip, bib number and NAME to someone else! WTF?!?! I wasn't even in the state of RI today!!!
To make matters worse, the guy DNF'd after a bike ride that would be a good 18+ min. slower than what I'd turn in on that course.
I suppose I shouldn't care, but I won't lie: I do. I hope they fix that BS ASAP because I'm kind of pissed about it.
Anyway, my long run wasn't a lot of fun today. Off to the Dr. tomorrow to try to get this knee taken care of. I need to get back to hitting my PFMS exercises religiously and to keep up with my stretching.
Nice job to Amanda Russell for her 70.3 PR today. I had a few other athletes throw down too: Quinn Borchard out in CA was 2nd AGer in a big sprint event (would have been 4th elite) and Dave Smith of VA was 4th overall in a pretty competitive Olympic. Those guys are hitting up Vineman and Steelhead, respectively, in the next couple of weeks, so things are looking good.
Okay, back to work tomorrow.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Pow Wow
Well, at least I had a good Swim
Big thanks to Craig Lewin and the North Shore Swim Club for helping to bring my swim around. It's getting there.
Not much more to report besides that. I was GROSSLY underpowered on the bike today: Nearly 40 watts lower avg/Norm power than Cohasset (same distance: 12.5 mile bike leg). That's just stupid weak. I felt AWFUL out there on the bike today.
But... I gave it all that I had so no excuses. The legs just wouldn't go despite my best efforts. I suppose today shouldn't come as a big surprise given all the IM work I've been laying down, but it's still tough to accept the fact that you were only able to put out the same wattage you held, easily, for a 100k pace ride just 6 days prior... a pace ride you executed in the midst of a 90 mile cycling/17 mile running brick session.
Oh well, just one of those days. They sure do suck when they decide to rear their ugly heads though.
Congrats to my friend Dean Phillips on his victory and to pro cyclist turned triathlete Lynn Bessette for her awesome showing too (she'll be making big waves in the sport very shortly).
Big thanks to Craig Lewin and the North Shore Swim Club for helping to bring my swim around. It's getting there.
Not much more to report besides that. I was GROSSLY underpowered on the bike today: Nearly 40 watts lower avg/Norm power than Cohasset (same distance: 12.5 mile bike leg). That's just stupid weak. I felt AWFUL out there on the bike today.
But... I gave it all that I had so no excuses. The legs just wouldn't go despite my best efforts. I suppose today shouldn't come as a big surprise given all the IM work I've been laying down, but it's still tough to accept the fact that you were only able to put out the same wattage you held, easily, for a 100k pace ride just 6 days prior... a pace ride you executed in the midst of a 90 mile cycling/17 mile running brick session.
Oh well, just one of those days. They sure do suck when they decide to rear their ugly heads though.
Congrats to my friend Dean Phillips on his victory and to pro cyclist turned triathlete Lynn Bessette for her awesome showing too (she'll be making big waves in the sport very shortly).
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Crawling Into The Pain Cave
Today was the first of my BIG IM assessment sessions and man oh man did it go well. The short of it:
You can never disrespect this distance though, so as good as I felt today, I know that race day will feature nearly 4k of swimming, an entire 180k of hard riding and a full marathon and as such, I'll be sure to lay down the necessary training that will allow me to handle this absurd distance when the day comes.
Things are headed in the right direction though, that's for sure.
Here's the Garmin File from today's long T run if you'd like to check it out.
p.s. Big props to my Dad for helping me with today's run. Gatorade every other mile really gave me something to look forward to out there, especially when I had to run by the beach and think about all the fun everyone else was having while I suffered alone.
- 14 mile warm up (ride over to ECV TT course)
- 100k @ IM Goal Watts (Dean Phillips was kind enough to join me for 80k. I can't thank him enough for the company as it made the session FLY by). Avg. power of 271 watts/norm of 275 and I felt absolutely sensational throughout. Despite the wind and lack of aero kit, I covered the 100k in 2:33 and passed through 56 miles in 2:18. It felt very easy.
- Rode home 14 miles (total of 90 miles of riding on the day)
- Quick Transition and out the door for a hilly 17+ mile run. Avg. pace of 6:25 for the distance. Passed through 13.1 miles in 1:23:50 and despite a really painful blister on the ball of my left foot and the fatigue that goes hand in hand with being nearly 6 hours deep into a pace session, I held it together and capped the workout. The final 30 min. of the run were anything but easy though. I won't lie.
You can never disrespect this distance though, so as good as I felt today, I know that race day will feature nearly 4k of swimming, an entire 180k of hard riding and a full marathon and as such, I'll be sure to lay down the necessary training that will allow me to handle this absurd distance when the day comes.
Things are headed in the right direction though, that's for sure.
Here's the Garmin File from today's long T run if you'd like to check it out.
p.s. Big props to my Dad for helping me with today's run. Gatorade every other mile really gave me something to look forward to out there, especially when I had to run by the beach and think about all the fun everyone else was having while I suffered alone.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Not Bad
I'm feeling too lazy to post anything about Cohasset, so you can check out Michelle's blog if you're so inclined :)
Legs weren't as tired as I expected them to be after this initial block of IM training. It was a solid day, but nothing to write home about. A win is a win though, and I was happy to support race director Bill Burnett and stop # 1 on the Commonwealth Tri Race Series.
Best part of the day was seeing so many of the athletes I work with in action and catching up with them pre and post event.
Well, it's raining, excuse me, POURING again today. We've had about 3 or 4 sunny days this month. Not fun.
Back at it tomorrow with the next big round of IM training: 3 weeks of big volume. It's looking like I'm going to skip RI 70.3 in order to concentrate on my IMWI prep - I need the training time.
In the mean time... off to another Gloucester Tri related meeting this afternoon and swim practice tonight.
Legs weren't as tired as I expected them to be after this initial block of IM training. It was a solid day, but nothing to write home about. A win is a win though, and I was happy to support race director Bill Burnett and stop # 1 on the Commonwealth Tri Race Series.
Best part of the day was seeing so many of the athletes I work with in action and catching up with them pre and post event.
Well, it's raining, excuse me, POURING again today. We've had about 3 or 4 sunny days this month. Not fun.
Back at it tomorrow with the next big round of IM training: 3 weeks of big volume. It's looking like I'm going to skip RI 70.3 in order to concentrate on my IMWI prep - I need the training time.
In the mean time... off to another Gloucester Tri related meeting this afternoon and swim practice tonight.
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