So I finished up my last test of my first ever testing week. This morning I did a 900yd pool swim TT. My local pool is only 45yd per lap, strange I know. I just figured I'd work with what I got and I can play with the numbers just the same. The testing sessions were fun to break the monotony, but I'm ready to take the volume to the next level as I move into the Base 1 phase.
Now the swim summary...I woke up later than I had hoped, so I didn't get to the pool until 6AM and felt a little rushed. To make up for being a little late, I only did 90yd of warmup swimming plus some quick stretching. I definately had time for more, and could have used it too. The first 3-4 laps of the TT I was still pretty tight, especially in the upper body and had to loosen up.
I have been reading Total immersion and working on their drills as one of my goals this season to improve my swim efficiency. I have heard arguments for and against this method, but more seem to be positive and the idea of swimming efficiently instead of worrying about working so hard appeals to the triathlete in me. I think if I can swim just slightly faster or the same speed I do now, but keep my HR lower and muscles fresher, my times will improve more significantly than if I learn to kill the swim at the expense of my precious energy.
Since I have been focusing mostly on drilling in the past couple weeks, I haven't been doing all that much straight swimming. In fact, my longest straight swim since I got back in the pool was 450yd easy. Needless to say, I was expecting to fade down the stretch on this 900yd trial.
My main goal for the first test was just to get in a rhythm and get comfortable while trying to stay as consistent as possible. In this regard, I succeeded. I was able to complete the 900yd with no noticeable energy dropoff until the last 180 or so, where I broke form a little too. I noticed that the TI drills have improved my position in the water as I felt more balanced. However, I still lie mostly flat and don't have good body rotation yet, so my power output is low. Overall I was pleased b/c I was able to complete the test and get a time to improve on. Mostly I was excited that my breathing was so easy and I didn't really get out of breath. I've had issues in the past with getting headaches on longer swims and I could tell I wasn't going to be getting one, even if I continued.
My stats: 900yd time-20:22
90yd split-2:02.2
My goal split for my A race is 1:55/90yd in open water, so I definately have work to do. However, with basically no endurance swimming completed to this point I feel like I have a pretty good shot.
Overall, my training tests were successful I'd say. I definately have work to do, but I feel pretty good at this point. Monday marks the beginning of Base1 week.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
First Bike Test, it could have been worse
So, I had my bike time trial today. It didn't go as swimmingly as the run did yesterday, but I think I still got a good workout and learned from it. That's all I can ask for.
I should have taken it as an omen when I dropped my bike loading it into the car, knocking the chain loose. I got to the trail parking lot and had to get my chain back on and get dressed to ride. Needless to say, I was already dirty and a little frustrated from the get go. Add to that the fact that I had never ridden on this trail before and I was setting myself up for disaster.
So I started from a dead stop just past an intersection, that made it easy to start at a specific location while also starting my watch at the correct time. I wasn't able to get into a rhythm immediately because I ran into successive intersections and had to at least slow to check traffic. After the first 2 miles, I was passed most of the intersections and got into a good flow for the next 2 miles, rolling comfortably at 22mph, it was the highlight of the ride. Around the 4 mile mark, my momentum came to an immediate end and the next 3.35 miles were frustrating to say the least.
For background, I live in Cincinnati where 20 inches of snow fell over the weekend. The weather took a springlike turn immediately after the blizzard and it began melting quickly. I figured the paths would be clean since roads and most concrete lots had not only melted, but dried. I was wrong, the last 3+ miles of the route still had substantial coverage in patches, so I had to slow and maneuver through. Finally, I cut my TT short ending at 7.35 miles because I hit the downtown of a small city outside Cincy and there was heavy traffic. I decided it would be better to end before I had to deal with the variable of traffic.
So, here are the numbers:
Distance: 7.35miles
Time: 24:00
Pace: 18.38mph
Avg HR:154
I thought my HR was high for the percieved effort, but if I took into account accelerations after slowdowns and frustration, it makes sense. My speed was slower than I hoped, but it leaves room for improvement. I am hoping to complete the path in between 20.5 to 21mph by my last TT before my A race after looking at the nature of the route.
Some positive takeaways: I felt great on my aerobars, my cooldown was comfortable and my spinning felt very smooth. Oh yeah, and I got outdoors again.
My swim test is tommorrow morning, report to follow.
I should have taken it as an omen when I dropped my bike loading it into the car, knocking the chain loose. I got to the trail parking lot and had to get my chain back on and get dressed to ride. Needless to say, I was already dirty and a little frustrated from the get go. Add to that the fact that I had never ridden on this trail before and I was setting myself up for disaster.
So I started from a dead stop just past an intersection, that made it easy to start at a specific location while also starting my watch at the correct time. I wasn't able to get into a rhythm immediately because I ran into successive intersections and had to at least slow to check traffic. After the first 2 miles, I was passed most of the intersections and got into a good flow for the next 2 miles, rolling comfortably at 22mph, it was the highlight of the ride. Around the 4 mile mark, my momentum came to an immediate end and the next 3.35 miles were frustrating to say the least.
For background, I live in Cincinnati where 20 inches of snow fell over the weekend. The weather took a springlike turn immediately after the blizzard and it began melting quickly. I figured the paths would be clean since roads and most concrete lots had not only melted, but dried. I was wrong, the last 3+ miles of the route still had substantial coverage in patches, so I had to slow and maneuver through. Finally, I cut my TT short ending at 7.35 miles because I hit the downtown of a small city outside Cincy and there was heavy traffic. I decided it would be better to end before I had to deal with the variable of traffic.
So, here are the numbers:
Distance: 7.35miles
Time: 24:00
Pace: 18.38mph
Avg HR:154
I thought my HR was high for the percieved effort, but if I took into account accelerations after slowdowns and frustration, it makes sense. My speed was slower than I hoped, but it leaves room for improvement. I am hoping to complete the path in between 20.5 to 21mph by my last TT before my A race after looking at the nature of the route.
Some positive takeaways: I felt great on my aerobars, my cooldown was comfortable and my spinning felt very smooth. Oh yeah, and I got outdoors again.
My swim test is tommorrow morning, report to follow.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
First Run Test of season
Alright, I just completed my first running time trial this evening. It was on a paved bike/hike trail around a local lake/park. I had never run the route before, nor had I even been to the park other than driving by. Probably poor planning on my part, but it worked out.
The route I took was 2.6miles. I originally thought the route was around 4.2 miles when I was looking at it online, but it turns out I was looking at a park with the same name in a different part of the state. However, 2.6 miles is plenty for a repeatable test and I enjoyed the route.
My fiancee planned to meet me at the park so she could run at the same time, so we met up parked our cars across the street from the park. I was going to carry my car key and she was going to lock her keys in my car. Unfortunately, I grabbed the wrong key and ended up locking both our keys in my car...oops!
After waiting an hour to get AAA to unlock it for us (Actually it was the Rescue Rangers than unlocked it, lol) she no longer had time to run and headed for home. I was on my own from there. So now onto the run itself.
I felt rushed after wasting so much time, so I didn't warm up as much as I was planning, still I think it was sufficient. I took off a little fast and could tell I was pushing too hard in the first 4 minutes. My HR was already in the 180s! I was able to slow myself down some and calm my HR and got into my rhythm. My pace wasn't terribly consistent since the path around the lake had more rolling hills than I expected. There was also some melting snow on the path I had to navigate through. As I headed to the finish, I was definately feeling fatigue, moreso in my cardio system than my muscles, which is good since my body just isn't used to that intensity while running because I've only been doing long and low work in the prep phase.
Overall I finished the 2.6 miles in 18:35, which comes out to 7:07/mile pace. I was pretty pleased as a whole because I haven't run at high intensity at all yet, and because it leaves plenty of room for improvement. At this point I'm shooting for being able to run the route at 6:20/mile pace by the last test before my A race in October. If all goes well, I'll have no problem getting there.
Tommorrow is my bike 10mi TT, so I will follow up with a recap afterward.
The route I took was 2.6miles. I originally thought the route was around 4.2 miles when I was looking at it online, but it turns out I was looking at a park with the same name in a different part of the state. However, 2.6 miles is plenty for a repeatable test and I enjoyed the route.
My fiancee planned to meet me at the park so she could run at the same time, so we met up parked our cars across the street from the park. I was going to carry my car key and she was going to lock her keys in my car. Unfortunately, I grabbed the wrong key and ended up locking both our keys in my car...oops!
After waiting an hour to get AAA to unlock it for us (Actually it was the Rescue Rangers than unlocked it, lol) she no longer had time to run and headed for home. I was on my own from there. So now onto the run itself.
I felt rushed after wasting so much time, so I didn't warm up as much as I was planning, still I think it was sufficient. I took off a little fast and could tell I was pushing too hard in the first 4 minutes. My HR was already in the 180s! I was able to slow myself down some and calm my HR and got into my rhythm. My pace wasn't terribly consistent since the path around the lake had more rolling hills than I expected. There was also some melting snow on the path I had to navigate through. As I headed to the finish, I was definately feeling fatigue, moreso in my cardio system than my muscles, which is good since my body just isn't used to that intensity while running because I've only been doing long and low work in the prep phase.
Overall I finished the 2.6 miles in 18:35, which comes out to 7:07/mile pace. I was pretty pleased as a whole because I haven't run at high intensity at all yet, and because it leaves plenty of room for improvement. At this point I'm shooting for being able to run the route at 6:20/mile pace by the last test before my A race in October. If all goes well, I'll have no problem getting there.
Tommorrow is my bike 10mi TT, so I will follow up with a recap afterward.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Upcoming Testing Week
Alright, my motivation had been waning of late. I would get fired up about training during peak work hours when I couldn't go out and do anything, then end up worn out or not motivated by the time I got home. I blame 3 things: adjusting to a work/train schedule since I was unemployed 6 weeks ago, PS3 particularly Call of Duty 4 which is just far too good of a game to be healthy, and the weather.
I thought I would have no difficulty adding in some 5am workouts considering just over 9 months ago I was waking up at 4:30am 5 days a week for rowing practice, now I was only planning on 2-3 days of morning workouts. I was wrong...turns out when the threat of someone banging your door down to get you to workout is gone, it's much easier to roll over and go back to bed when the alarm goes off. Who knew
However, this past weekends break in the cold and dreary, along with daylight savings on the horizon and the end of my prep period at the end of next week has rejuvenated me. I'm having a great week of training this week, and some of its even been outside.
Since next sunday is the last day of my prep phase before moving to Base1, I am going to be doing my first testing of the season (and ever for that matter) and I am excited. I asked some people for advice on this, and took what they had to say into account before deciding how it will go. So, here's what I came up with:
Swim TT: 900yd pool swim (45yd/lap at my local pool)--I will be looking purely at time and split/90yd (which I'll probably convert to 100yd or m) since my HR monitor doesn't read well while swimming
Bike TT: 10 mile out route (will use back 10mi for recovery)--looking at time and HR mainly to get pace, etc... I had originally wanted to do a longer test ride, but as long as I have a consistent benchmark to test against, that's fine with me.
Run TT: 4.2mile paved route thru local park--looking at HR and time
I know I should probably do the run on a track or treadmill and a shorter bike if I really want lactic threshold data, etc. However, I think I would like it to more simulate the environment of a race (real roads, closer to actual distances) so I can see my fitness improvements through time drops while also working on pacing, at least in the swim and run.
All tests will be done in the last week of every training phase (prep, base1, base2, build1, etc) and will be run on the same courses in hopefully as similar as conditions as I am able to replicate. They will all be done on separate days in the same week and will be the only high intensity work of the day. I will post results as they come.
YAY for a second wind of motivation to pull me through the remaining winter (hopefully)
I thought I would have no difficulty adding in some 5am workouts considering just over 9 months ago I was waking up at 4:30am 5 days a week for rowing practice, now I was only planning on 2-3 days of morning workouts. I was wrong...turns out when the threat of someone banging your door down to get you to workout is gone, it's much easier to roll over and go back to bed when the alarm goes off. Who knew
However, this past weekends break in the cold and dreary, along with daylight savings on the horizon and the end of my prep period at the end of next week has rejuvenated me. I'm having a great week of training this week, and some of its even been outside.
Since next sunday is the last day of my prep phase before moving to Base1, I am going to be doing my first testing of the season (and ever for that matter) and I am excited. I asked some people for advice on this, and took what they had to say into account before deciding how it will go. So, here's what I came up with:
Swim TT: 900yd pool swim (45yd/lap at my local pool)--I will be looking purely at time and split/90yd (which I'll probably convert to 100yd or m) since my HR monitor doesn't read well while swimming
Bike TT: 10 mile out route (will use back 10mi for recovery)--looking at time and HR mainly to get pace, etc... I had originally wanted to do a longer test ride, but as long as I have a consistent benchmark to test against, that's fine with me.
Run TT: 4.2mile paved route thru local park--looking at HR and time
I know I should probably do the run on a track or treadmill and a shorter bike if I really want lactic threshold data, etc. However, I think I would like it to more simulate the environment of a race (real roads, closer to actual distances) so I can see my fitness improvements through time drops while also working on pacing, at least in the swim and run.
All tests will be done in the last week of every training phase (prep, base1, base2, build1, etc) and will be run on the same courses in hopefully as similar as conditions as I am able to replicate. They will all be done on separate days in the same week and will be the only high intensity work of the day. I will post results as they come.
YAY for a second wind of motivation to pull me through the remaining winter (hopefully)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)