Run

Mother nature is throwing at us again in the form of 4-8 inches for tomorrow. Hopefully she'll back down soon because I'm on my last nerve. Hit the treadmill for an hour tonight. I'll probably be on the trainer tomorrow and then out in the snow for 1.5 hour run on Sunday.

Summary:

Run: 1:05

Avg HR: 143

Spin

Climbed on the bike tonight after a much needed rest day. I cherish those rest days and learned to love them with all the heavy training upcoming. Class was good tonight. The monitor malfunctioned at the end instead of all the way through. New HR should be coming in the mail soon. Gotta love Timex customer service.

Summary:

Time: 1:15

Avg HR: 148

Peak HR: 170

Long workout pain vs. speed workout pain

One thing I've noticed is the different levels of pain in endurance workouts and speed workouts. Last year and in previous years I never paid attention to my HR and just went all out in training. It was probably an ego thing. I would even race the people in the lanes next to me at the pool even if I was a lap ahead. I would ache like hell the next day and not be interested in the days workout.

This year I'm real in tune with my HR and keep it under 150 for most workouts. The difference is good pain and confidence. After my two hour runs I can do a recovery run the next day with little ache and pain. Most importantly I'm seeing an improvement in fitness and volume. It's amazing what you can do if you just put in the time. I had a lot of time to think about this in the pool tonight and will for the rest of the week as I start my recovery week. Tonight I ripped off 3,000 meters. Last year I wasn't hitting this mark until, well I don't think I even swam 3,000 at any point in time last year.

Swim Summary:

3,000 meters

Long Run

Swapped out the two hour bike again this Sunday for a two hour run. Still prepping for the marathon so I need some long runs. On last weekend's run I was a bit tight following my brick and after doing a brick yesterday I expected the same, but it didn't happen. The only f'ing problem was my HR monitor, it stayed pinned at 240 the entire run. Someone needs to make a call to Timex. It's really starting to piss me off since it's not the first time.

Anyway, picked up the pace more today for a more moderate run and was met with no pain or tiredness. Killed a bottle of Gatorade endurance again over the course of the run. Feels good to put in two hour runs now and feel fresh during and after. Hit the pool a few hours afterward.

Run Summary:

Time: 2:02

Distance: 14.5 miles

Avg HR: (going by feel here because of the faulty Timex) 146

Swim:

2500 meters

Indoor Brick

Winter sucks!!! With 8 inches of new powder and needing to be in to work at 8 am on a Saturday F&*^$#@, I was forced to do an indoor brick. Hit the trainer at 5 am for 1.5 hours and then transitioned to the treadmill for a 35 min run. Nice to get the workout done early, but sucks being indoors. Sweat my ass off and basically stared at my basement wall for two hours, really f's up the brain.

Summary:

Ride: 1.5 hours

Avg HR: 138

Run: 35 mins

Avg HR: 145

Spin, Run, missed workout

It's happened. After nearly two months of training I missed my first workout. It happened today and I'm all off kilter. I was supposed to swim before my spin but work took me away from getting it done. I'm fing pissed but I'll make it up. Got in a 1:15 minute run last night on the trainer after getting out of work late. Tonight I hit the spin class. Missed the pool, but again I'll make it up somehow.

Summary:

Spin: 1:15

Avg HR: 146

Run: 1:15

Avg HR: 148

Pool Session

The pool is dirty. Now that it's February vacation, parents are bringing their kids to the pool to swim all day. What you get is soup of hair and other floaty crap. All that shit aside, I made sure not to take in any water and dodge all floaty matter. Put in a good workout of 100s on 10 seconds, 400s, etc.

Summary:

Swim: 3200 meters

Second workout - strength progression on bike

Long Run

Decided to swap out my two hour ride today with a two hour run. With the marathon about 5 weeks out I need all the running I can get. Following my brick yesterday, I wasn't sure how well the legs would feel, but they weren't bad at all.

I started out tight and felt my achilles for the first hour, but then everything went numb, in a good way - or maybe my form improved. Tried to keep the heart rate pegged around 140 and averaged between 8:30 and 9:14 miles. Hills in the first hour, rollers in the second. Mostly focused on keeping the heart rate under 150. Took one gel and one full bottle of Gatorade Endurance for the entire run.


Run Summary:

Time: 2:01

Avg HR: 146

Distance 13.46 miles

Brickin' it when it's 25 degrees

Tackled my first brick today. Got out on the bike first at 8:30 am when it was just 25 degrees for two hours. First time I've had a water bottle freeze on me and I actually went down once pretty hard on a black ice patch. Ride was good, took on some bigger hills and finished up around 2:10. Quickly transitioned in my garage, thank god it wasn't a race, I had to shed my booties, ninja mask and squeeze my frozen feet in to my running shoes. Took about five minutes.

Running on frozen toes is an experience. It feels like your toes are bursting in your shoes. Once the blood flowed back in the feeling went away. My legs took about five minutes to transition from the bike, which was quicker than I expected. I put in an hour run on Friday and thought I might be tight. Ended up running 37 minutes.

Brick Summary:

Bike

Time: 2:10

Avg HR: 133

Run

Time: 37 minutes

Avg HR: 148

Friday's workout:

Run

Time: 1:05

Avg HR: 145

Two Towel Day

Today was a two workout day. Needed to get in a swim and then hit spin class later in the day. Since the dog was at daycare I got in my swim at lunch. Weather still sucks so it looks like I'll be running on ice tomorrow.

Workout #1 Swim
Distance: 2400 yards

Workout #2 Spin
Time: 1:15
Avg HR: 148
Peak HR: 167

Run

Reduced to the treadmill because of freaking ice daggers falling from the sky all day and night. One big slushy pool of cold water. Spent 75 minutes on the treadmill sweating my face off. Achilles acted up some towards the end of the run. Legs felt good afterward and during.

Run Summary:

Avg HR: 146

Time: 1:15

Swim & Strength Session

Tuesday's sort of suck. Monday I'm always ready to get after it at work and then Tuesday is when things start coming down on you. So swimming on Tuesday always is tough going to start. I dragged my butt over to the pool for a 3,000 meter workout and then cruised home to jump on the trainer for an hour. It's a strength progression that is good but makes me way freakin hungry. All I could do was think about food.

Summary:

Swim: 3,000

Trainer: 1 hour

Sunday Pool Session

With the weather changing and the temps in teens, I got in my swim workout Sunday. Mixing intervals with drills and really feeling good in the water. Last year at this time I was lucky to put in 1800 yards a workout. This year I am topping out at close to 3,000 every swim.

Summary:

2700 meters

Time: 53 minutes

Recovery Week - Ending

My recovery week is coming to an end and then it's all out for the next two weeks. Pretty heavy weeks coming up and I'm pumped. The weeks ahead include two hour runs and six hours of riding on the weekend.

Last night I strung off 2500 yards in the pool and put in a 50 minute run in the snow this morning. Run feels good and all I can think about is the marathon. My achilles is aching some now, but hopefully a little ice will fix the pang.

Summary:

Swim - 2500

Run - 50 mins

Avg HR: 140

Peak HR: 160

Spinning

While some people are enjoying 70 degree temps in Spain on a killer training camp those less fortunate are stuck with spin classes and rain. It's been raining since Sunday night. Class was good tonight, full class and lots of climbing. We extended the class to 75 minutes.

Summary:

Avg HR: 132

Peak HR: 169

Marathon - Registered

Registered for the Wirefly Marathon in DC last night. The race is March 29 and will take me on a crazy tour around the entire city with a nice six mile finish through the hood ending up at RFK Stadium.

I'm a little nervous about it since it's my first marathon. Might need a little reassurance from Coach J that I'll be ready since it wasn't entirely planned. I need to up my run focus and long runs in the weeks ahead. Let's hope all the biking I've been doing has provided a nice base to work from. I'll be staying with Crosstrainwreck for the weekend and he's probably going to do the half. I'll be killing some serious burritos from Chipotle after this sucker.

Don't have a goal yet, just going to take it as it comes, yeah right — who am I kidding, I know where I want to finish. I'm aiming for a pace 30-40 seconds slower than my last half marathon.

Pool Session and Yoga

Got stretched out last night by the Yoga teacher. Amazing how many muscles you use even though it feels like you're doing nothing. This is my recovery week so my workouts are shorter with less volume. Hit the pool tonight for 50 minutes.

Swim Summary:

Time: 50 minutes

Distance: 2600 meters

Pool Session

Hit the pool in the am to get my workout in before the big game. It was slow going to start...legs were tight from yesterday's ride. Ended up getting in a good workout. Most surprised how I am holding up after these swim workouts. I used to crash an hour or two after a long workout but now it's becoming routine.

Swim summary:

Time: 1:04

Distance: 3,000 meters

Long Ride

The melt was on today. Rivers of water mixed with sand running down the sides of the roads. All makes for an interesting mixture that tends to end up in your mouth. Took the mountain bike out for my long ride today. Thought about bustin out the tri bike and thank god I didn't. I would have gunked up everything and chipped the hell out of my paint. Used my gps that came with my new HR monitor. Thing is pretty sick. I'm no techy but being able to tell your average speed and distance along with pace is pretty cool. Can't wait to bust this out on long runs. Almost pushed it to the three hour mark but decided to call it a day at 2.5. Three and four hour rides are coming soon.

Ride Summary

Time: 2.5 hours

Avg HR: 130

Peak HR: 165

Run

Sleet, rain, ice and whatever else was falling forced me on to the treadmill yesterday. Gym was empty so I had all the TVs to myself. Decided I am going to do that marathon in DC March 29. Coach has assured me I'll be ready so it's on.

Run Summary:

Time: 1 hour

Avg HR: 137

Peak HR: 162

Spinning

Spun it up last night with the Heat crew. Also met a fellow John Hirsch athlete, which was cool. Class was a good mix of climbing and sprinting. Legs felt good and I hardly redlined.

Summary:

Time: 1:15

Avg HR: 128

Peak HR: 174