Week 5 -6 (Half training)

Well I recovered from my cold in time for Halloween. I had to skip my scheduled speed work out at the track and picked up my training on the following Thursday.

Week 5
4-mile tempo run: 4 miles, 0:32 mins (8 mi/mile)
I followed that with a long run on Saturday. I woke up around 8am and had a bowl of oatmeal. It was a flavored instant packet and it tasted pretty bad. I think there was too much sugar in it. I waited about an hour and then headed up to San Vicente to start my run. When I got there I realized I had left my Nike+ thing at home and wouldnt' be able to determine my pace, not a huge deal but a little discouraging. About a mile into i'm not feeling good at all. 2 miles in I'm seriously thinking about calling it a wash and turning around. I take it mile-by-mile and just focus on getting through to the next. I eventually start to come around a little and end up finishing in a little slower than I would have liked, but it was good to push through a tough situation. I think it was a combination of being sick the previous week and my breakfast not sitting well.
Saturday Long Run: 10 miles - 1:32 (9:11 mi/mile)

Week 6
Speed workout: Pretty tough. After having a difficult preceding week I really hoped to feel better and home run the track workout. I ended up going out to fast and had to dig deep to finish on time. I'm not positive I made all my splits coz I was just so out of it after the first couple 800's that I wasn't paying close attention to my time. I know this is not good and I probably should wear a watch with a lap splits for the track. I plan on buying myself a heart rate monitor that will double as a watch. Maybe next week.
Stats: 4x800 @ 3:42 each w/ 2 mins rest in between.

Tempo: 8 miles
Another really challenging workout. I enjoyed my route quite a bit, but it's tough to get motivated when you get home and it's already dark and you have to resist the temptation of just plopping down on the couch and eat the dinner that's already cooked and ready when you get home.
But I managed to drag myself out. I got a good music playlist together and headed out. This was tough! 8 miles at 8:00 min/mile pace is no joke! This was the fastest i've gone at this distance. I really had to push the last couple miles. And at about 7.5 miles I got a serious stomach cramp that stopped me in my tracks. Not a regular cramp where you can run through it, it felt like I got kicked in the stomach. I managed to walk it off and then started up again and still made my pace + a few seconds/mile. I felt a little weird when I got home, like I probably pushed it a little harder than I should have, but after a lot of water and a warm meal I felt better.

Sunday Long Run: 8 miles
My legs were still feeling a little sore from Thursday! But I headed out very slow and enjoyed being out in the crisp cool air. I ran in a few neighborhoods i've never been to before so it kept it interesting. I ended up doing a very hilly route which was great. I had to really pace myself to get my heart rate back. The LA Half is a little bit hilly. The biggest hill is at 7 miles and there are a few rollers towards the end.

Half Marathon Training Week 4 (Long and Cold)

I completed my long run yesterday. Although I wouldn't call it a long run as it was the same distance (6 miles) as my tempo run this week. It felt great.

I have come down with a cold. I felt very sluggish after my run last night and I woke up this morning with what I figured was bad allergies. But it persisted through the day so I left work early and came home to take it easy and get some sleep. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. I'm supposed to do a speed workout tomorrow.

Half Marathon Training Week 4 (Griffith Park tempo)

Ran into a couple of these guys last night. I did my 6 mile tempo run around Griffith Park right after work. It started to get dark about half way through. I went down what I thguoht would be a safer path that runs parallel to the main road (where the cars travel) and saw a black blur run across the path. I went towards it a few feet then saw this beautiful dark colored big coyote stick his head out. I stopped and stood still for a few seconds and he started to emerge from the bush. He looked at me and I slowly started to walk backwards. I know they are generally not too dangerous but I didn't really feel like finding out for myself. I started to job in the opposite direction and he was slowly following me. When I stopped he would stop and it went on like that for a few hundred meters. IT was really cool but a little scary. So I ducked through this ravine and back onto the main road. I ended up at my turn around point in the Zoo parking lot. At this point it was completely dark and i was thankful for the street lights that lined the lot. As i was turning around I saw another smaller coyote run across the lot. It darted back and forth and started to look at me and I just kept running and picked up the pace a little. Overall the run was very exciting and a little harrowing at times. The wildlife and cars made for some close calls. I finished the run back at my car in 48 minutes.

Thursday: Tempo Run
6 miles 48 minutes (8 mi/miles avg.)

Half Marathon Training Week 4

Unfortunately a large portion of SoCal was and/or is on fire this week. This led to some very bad air quality and thus I decided to skip the speedwork last night. The air seems a little better tonight so I will see if I can get to the track.

Tonight (hopefully): Speedwork
6x400's

Tomorrow: Tempo Run
6 miles
I feel like I have a lot of nervous energy not working out at all since Saturday. I'm looking forward to tonight.
these are some pictures I received from a friend who works at Pepperdine University. These are all taken on campus, I believe.

Half Marathon Training Week 3 (tempo and long run)

Thursday was a tough day. I felt run down the whole day. Riding to work wasn't bad in the morning but I felt sluggish. Riding home was very tough. I had no power in my legs and I struggled to maintain 15-17 mph on straights. Oh well. Time to go home and do a 5 mile tempo run.
Since it was dark when I got home I decided to run the short distance to the track and do the rest of run on the track. I'd never run that long a distance on a track before. It was very boring. I had my ipod fortunately, but it really dragged on. I completed the run in 40 minutes.
Thursday: Tempo Run
5 miles - 40 minutes

Saturday morning I set out for a 10 mile long run. It went very smoothly and I felt solid. Mile 7 and 8 was a rough mentally just because I got a bit bored and my running partner was struggling a bit and our conversation started to lull. So I decided to really pick up the pace for the last 2 miles. I brought it home almost exactly on time at a 8:59 min/mile pace.

Saturday: Long Run
10 miles - 1h 30 minutes

Half Marathon Training Week 3

Tuesday: Speed work
1600x3. I did these at around 7:30 mi/mile pace. It felt great. I held back until the last repeat and felt strong enough to push it to about 7:00-7:15. I know it's not that fast but I feel stronger and can feel my turnover improving. Last night at the track there were 3 women running repeats super fast. I was watching their cadence and sure enough they were all around 90rpm. I tried to emulate it, but I couldn't keep it up when I would start to get tired. I'm going to focus on my turnover during my tempo run tonight.

---
In other news, I got a new messenger bag. it's a Timbuk2 medium classic bag. It's so awesome, I can't get over how much more comfortable riding to work was this morning.
This is a wonderful website:
http://www.followyourfolly.com

Half Marathon Training Week 2

My recent training runs have been great. I've tried to be very consistent. So far I haven't missed any workouts. I switched my long run from Saturday to Sunday but that's the only deviation. Here's the breakdown

Tuesday: Speed work at the SMC track.
4x800's. These was pretty tough. I tend to go out too fast and did just that. I was able to complete the 800's but that last one was pretty rough. Overall, I felt good.

Thursday: I ran first thing in the morning since I was going to Disneyland after. I think I should have eaten something because a few miles into the run I felt lightheaded and close to throwing up. I stopped at a light for a minute and then felt better. I slowed down a little bit during the 3rd mile but I was able to make my time by a little surge at the end.
4 miles: 33 minutes.

Sunday: Long Run
From 7th and San Vicente through Brentwood up to Sunset and then back around. I forgot part of my ipod connector thing so I couldn't keep track of pace and distance. I knew roughly where I wanted to go, but I ended up doing 7.6 miles instead of the full 8. I finished in 1:13 which is slower than I expected. I should have pushed it more at the beginning. Since I didn't have my ipod Nike+ in effect I was more conservative.
7.6 miles: 1:13
I feel pretty good this morning. Overall, it was a good week of running.

half marathon training Week 1

So I started my first week of run-focused training for the LA Half on December 2.
I am doing three runs a week. So far I feel pretty good. Here's what I've done so far.

Last week:
Speed work @ the SMC track
4x400 meter @ 1:50. I pretty much stuck to that. It was tough to keep a consistent pace since I'm not used to running that fast. That pace is equivalent to a 7:20/mile pace. I usually run 8 min/miles when I'm really feeling fast, so this is definitely pushing it. I pushed through it and felt good throughout the runs. I did a lap at that pace then jogged slowly for 2 minutes, then did another lap at the 1:50 pace. I repeated this 4 times, then jogged home.

Tempo Run
3 mile tempo run @ 8:15 pace. Well that's what it was supposed to be. I went out a little faster for 24:40 for the 3 miles. Pretty close.

Long Run
I ran on San Vicente from Ocean to Bundy. I paced it pretty well and started off slow. I'm supposed to run a 9 minute pace. I did it a little faster mainly because I felt really good at the end so I practiced some surges. It felt really good. I did 6.2 miles in 55 minutes that's 8:52/mile pace.

I'm looking into getting a indoor bike trainer. I've been trying to find one on craig's list for cheap, but haven't had much luck yet.
I've also been looking into building up my Cannondale frame. Right now, i'm leaning towards the SRAM Force groupo. It just seems like a good value. My main concern is I have heard the finish on the carbon parts wears down quickly and starts to look crappy. But if the parts work, i won't sweat it.

Half Marathon

I signed up for this: http://www.cityofangelshalf.com/

Speed
400's @ 1:50
800's @ 3:42
1600 @ 7:45

2 min jog in between

Malibu 2007 Race Report

Sunday Morning: Up around 4am. I was able to stay with Luke Bost at the Pepperdine campus (right next to two girls’ dorms). I thought I got up early, but turns out Luke was already awake because of a work-related call he got at 3am! Luke bid me good luck and I drove to Zuma beach. It was still dark, calm and peaceful.
This year traffic wasn't bad and the race organizers did a great job of herding everyone through the gigantic parking lot.


I pulled into my parking spot at 5:15am. I loaded up my stuff into a backpack and rode my bike to the transition area. It’s about a mile away and luckily my friend who lent me the bike had a light attached to it. I arrived at the main staging area and start preparing.

(click on the pictures for larger viewing)

6AM: I set up my transition area. This is the spot where you rack your bike, and change in and out of the gear between each leg of the triathlon. I decided to try a slightly different technique for the transitions for this race.
1.) No socks. This cuts down on the time you need to put them on with cold wet hands after the swim. I think this saved me a good 15-30 seconds. It may not seem like much but when you think about running 15-30 faster over 4 miles, it actually makes a big difference.
2.) I wore my shirt under my wetsuit. Same philosophy here: Putting on a shirt with cold hands and while soaking wet can take up valuable time. Probably saved another 30 seconds.

So I was all set. There was a pre-race meeting and then Debbie Gibson sang the national anthem with a beautiful sunrise in the background. It was awesome.

The swim start is south of the main area, so everyone walks down the beach to the start. On the way, I jumped into the water to get used to it. It was very cold (60 f according to the race announcer) but because the air temperature was also cold, it wasn’t that shocking.
On the way towards the swim-start I caught a glimpse of David Duchovny. He’s been participating in this race for a few years. Last year, he had a better time than me. So the small competitive fire in me really wanted to beat his time this year. More on that later…

7:15AM: I was in the first wave of swimmers to start, so we lined up and waited anxiously for the canon. It’s a strange situation-- standing on the shore with 100 other guys in bright orange swim caps waiting to willingly jump into some pretty cold and choppy water in order to swim half a mile all the while pummeling one another for position. But once the canon goes off I didn’t think about anything but breathing and staying calm. I guess it worked because before I knew it, I was rounding the first of 3 buoys that help guide the swimmers in the right direction. I got elbowed a few times in the face by faster swimmers passing me in crowded sections. I didn’t let it bother me though. Especially since I unintentionally kicked a few guys who got a little too close. HAHA.

I felt pretty strong during the swim, but I was also getting passed by a lot of people. I wasn’t concerned since I know swimming is not my strong discipline.
I swam until I could touch the sand with my hands then stood up and jump/ran towards the shore.



Swim time: 800 meters in….17 minutes! (slower than last year, but I feel like the cold water and some sighting errors on my part are to blame more than bad form or lack of strength. Oh well) I will be working on the swim in during the fall/winter.

T1: Transition #1 is the transition from swim to bike. It involves running up the shore to your individual transition area and stripping off your wetsuit, swim cap and goggles. For me, I had to put on a bike helmet, gloves, sunglasses, and bike shoes. I did all this in 2:27. Last year my T1 time was 5 minutes, so I was able to cut it in half this year. Very nice.


(I think this is me heading out on the bike)

Bike: 18 miles. The bike portion is the longest both in distance and time. I immediately started feeling the effort in my legs when we departed from the Zuma Beach parking lot and got on to PCH . When we hit the first hill I knew it was going to be a rough ride. I soon realized I put the front wheel on backwards. This isn’t a big deal but my speedometer didn’t work because of that. So I had no idea how fast I was going. This is a problem because in a race, with the adrenaline pumping, you can tend to go out too fast. Pacing is very important even in a short race like a sprint tri.



I intentionally held back for the first 9 miles. On the downhill sections I tucked in and got as aero as possible and saved the legs for the many rolling hills.
Other than some really clumsy and inconsiderate bikers on the course, the bike ride was great. I finished in 56 minutes with average speed of 19.1 mi/hour.
Not a bad time, but to give you an idea of how good the pros are, I think the top guys average about 25 mi/hour. Insane!

Here are a few more bike pictures:
trying to hammer a bit :)

Cruising:


T2: No socks rocks. That’s my motto. I ran my bike to my transition area, racked the bike, took off my helmet, put on my running shoes and I was out. Simple. Fast. It was great. 1:50. Could have been a little faster…next year.

Let's do this thing:

Run: 4 Miles
I immediately noticed the guy in front of me. He was tall lanky and according to the mark on his calf, he was 16! Awesome. I decided to follow him and see how his pace was. It seemed pretty good, so I just put on the cruise and followed this kid. The run course is set up so that it’s an out and back. You run 2 miles then turn around and head back. This allows you to see people who are in front of you as they pass you going back towards the finish. I saw a lot of amazingly fast guys run past me. It was really inspiring. I also saw some smoking fast women (who start like 30 minutes after the guys!) run past me from behind.
My plan for the run was to get a little faster each mile. So I would try to start off at a gentle pace and then pick it up each mile. The guy in front of me seemed to have the same plan so I was able to turn off my brain and go on auto pilot until about mile three.

I saw a lot of Lionsgate people on the course either behind or in front of me. It was really encouraging. Near mile 3 I saw my friend Charlie who knew I had it out for David Duchovny (of X-Files fame). I guess he saw him on the course and yelled out that I was beating him. But because of the different wave starts I couldn’t be sure. This was enough to put a little fire in my step. I decided I needed to pass this 16 year old kid in front of me. My first attempt was pretty weak and I just gently picked up the speed and passed him. It didn’t take long for him to do the same to me. I decided if I was to pass him I better do it forcefully and give him no inclination that he could easily catch back up to me. My friend Thom who ran cross country in HS and college told me about this technique. So that’s just what I did. I had about .5 mile left and I pretty much sprinted that distance.



It was a great way to end a very fun race. Of course my run has a long way to go but it’s also come a long way. My run time was 33:51 (avg min/mi 8:27). I’ll take it!

Total time: 01:51:48

3 minutes faster than Duchonvy. :)

Bike Accident, Bike Purchase

I have been commuting to work on my bike (as I said in my last post). Last week, I was about 1.5 miles from work on my way there, when a SUV driver rolled through a stop sign right in front of me. Before I knew it I was on the ground sliding across the asphalt. I saw it coming and reacted but I didn't have enough to time to do anything but slow down a little bit and slide a few feet away from the car. I do believe that those 2 things helped reduce the impact of the crash. If I would have continued going straight I probably would have ran right into the side of the front of her vehicle and gone over the hood or something worse...like under her wheel.
My main injury is on my left arm. See picture. Other than that my side is a bit scraped and bruised, but that's it.

My bike did not fare quite as well. The handlebars were bent and my left shifter/brake lever is damaged. My wheels are no good too. At this point I'm not sure if the woman who hit me wants to go through her insurance company or just pay me for the repairs, medical bills, etc. So I'm in a holding pattern with the bike right now.
However, the day before the accident I inquired about a Cannondale Six 13 frame that a guy advertised on Craigslist. I ended up buying it. It's a beautiful Carbon/Aluminum frame. He included a seat post, steam, handlebars and a Campy Record front derailleur (which I'll probably sell on ebay) all for $500. You could tell he kept the bike in immaculate condition. He had full Record on it before he went to a TI Seven frame with Dura Ace. Oh to have such options...
I am not sure which groupset I'll go with at this point.

This coming Sunday is Malibu Tri. I've been raising a lot of money for the LA Children's Hospital. I'm really looking forward to the race. Although I'm not sure what to do about my bike situation. I have some friend with bikes and I can always rent something if it comes down to it.

Here's a picture of a built-up version of my new frame Except mine is the Helen's Cycles team framset in forest green and yellow lettering. I'm not crazy about the color, but it's still really beautiful.

Biking to work + Van Nuys pool

Started biking to work today. Well part of the way at least. i'm parking near Sepulveda and 101. However, on my way I noticed the Van Nuys pool (knew of it, didn't realize it was so close to where I ride) . I called them after I got to work to find out their hours and turns out they are open from 6am-9pm. I'm stoked.Long course on M-W-F. And free with a library card. sweet.

Just doing light training recently for Malibu tri. Hope to crush my time from last year. word.

Update

Been riding a bit lately, but that's pretty much it! Ha ha, I'm such a slacker.

Wildflower

Wildflower was insane! I finished with a time of 3 hours and 11 minutes. Probably the longest three hours of my life!  
With WF, starting a new job and being out of town last weekend, things have been crazy. I have not had a chance to sit down and really document what happened, but I have talked a lot about it so I hope to be able to recount the details pretty well.
A few descriptions for now: Hot, Hilly, Long and very very Hot.

mental toughness

http://www.d3multisport.com/articles/tough.htm

"Another thing that is often over looked, but remains a key to our mental toughness is simply... how do we approach each day. Do we see the the sun behind the clouds; do we accept rain during a 100 mile ride as just being part of the ride to the point of not recognizing it; and do we make the choice to find something positive in every situation. When I was coaching high school track I would have the girls write down something they did well and something they wanted to improve on after each meet. It is to easy to be critical and then miss the positives in what we have accomplished in training and racing. "

I'm really trying work on this part of my training. This week has been tough already. I avoided getting up on Tuesday morning for masters because I felt like I needed to sleep in, that I was somehow rewarding myself because I was having personal problems. Unfortunatley, the whole day I didn't feel more rested or like I gained something from the extra hours of sleep, I felt like I just made a dumb excuse and cheated myself out of a workout I really need. Oh well, this is how we learn. Tomorrow I will do my best to get up at 6 and happily go to the pool and swim the crap out of that workout.

Week In Review (4.9 - 4.15)

Build
Hours: 7
Swim: 5250 yards -2 masters sessions
Bike: 48 miles - 2 rides one long on Saturday in the valley
Run: 13.4 - 4 runs would have liked to go longer yesterday but didn't have the time.

Overall a good week, I did end up taking 2 days off. I was planning on leaving work early on Friday but that didn't happen.
This last weekend was a tough one, personally. I hope to be more consistent this week.

Cross-training

Bowling! My hand is so sore from bowling last night. I'm also slightly hung-over and dehydrated (same thing?). we had a company bowling party last night that included pizza and open-bar. Bad combo.
Oh well, I've been pretty good this week and I plan on going big this weekend.
another thing....WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE LAKERS???? I try to be a faithful fan, I really do. I sit down and watch the game because I think to myself "this is going to be the game - the one they actually play defense, they acutally get rebounds, they actually get a lead and pull away or at least keep that lead." Well they got the lead, 20 points in the 3rd quarter. I check the score around 8:30pm at the bowling alley. I figure they've got it, how can they not?
Lakers lose, 110 to 118. Kobe scores 50, they still lose. WOW

Music

Albums I've been running to and enjoying thoroughly:
Maximo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Fujiya Miyagi - Transparent Things
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?

Week In Review (Recovery)

Last week was for recovery. Here are the numbers:

Total Hours: 5
Swim: 6889 yards (3)
Bike: 22 miles (1)
Run: 7.8 (2)

Combined a swim and run on Saturday. Had a half day from work on Friday so I went on a nice ride. Saturday evening I slept from 6:30pm to about 7:30am the next day. It felt a little strange but I felt great the next day. I guess that's what recovery is about. Time to start it up again this week.

taking it easy this week

I've been taking it relatively easy this week. I am trying a 2 week build then 1 week recovery plan.
I did go to both my masters sessions this week. I gotta say that I've been feeling very slow in the water. I'm not sure if it's a psychological thing or what, but I seem to lose steam faster than I have in the past. I was very discouraged last Tuesday after practice. I went out hard and couldn't keep pace for the duration of the set and go passed by everyone in the lane. I need to pace myself in the water better.
I'll have a chance to pratice the pacing tomorrow. I'm going to swim with T and go for a run directly after. I think we are going to do 1600m then a 5k.
Today is a half day because of Good Friday. I'm looking forward to our church service tonight. I like the somber meditative quality of the service at my church. It makes Easter Sunday that much better.
Going for a long bike ride this afternoon. Happy Easter weekend.

Week In Review (March 3/26 - 4/1)

Time: 7:21
Swim: 4400 yards
Bike: 46.5 miles
Run: 19 miles

Some highlights of this week:
1. My brick on Saturday. Felt 10 times better than last week's brick. I actually felt pretty fast off the bike and had energy left over after the run. That was very encouraging, especially after a tough one last weekend.

2. Sunday longish run with hills. felt really good and held a relatively quick pace, especially considering the hills and a fair amount of warm weather.

This coming week will be a recovery week.

Week In Review (March 19-25)

Actual Time: 9:01
Swim: 6452 yd
Bike: 79 mi
Run: 8.44 mi

This last week, I focused more on the bike and swim. I did an extra 1 mile swim on Saturday and a 27 mile bike ride on Sunday. That ride was followed up by a 3 mile run for the first real brick workout I've done this year. It was pretty painful actually. My legs were pretty wrecked from the 2 rides in a row. Saturday was a pretty intense Mandeville climb and Sunday was very windy.
Despite the 2 hard rides, I still got through the run. The main problem was pretty intense tightness and pain in my calves. My ankles also felt very tender. So I slowed the pace down quite a bit and kept my HR very low.
I'd also like to note that this week marked a turning point in my nutrition. I wasn't perfect by any means but the majority of meals were homemade and I've been snacking a lot during work which helps me with craving fatty or large portions for dinner and lunch.
Speaking of food, it's time for lunch. Had a good 2200 meter swim this morning so I need some calories.

Overall, this week was great. I took the day off yesteray (Monday) of this week as a recovery day and I'm very glad I did. I felt rested and more energtic for the swim this morning. I think if I would have pushed it yesterday I would be regretting that all this week.

Goals

Reading a book on triathlon called "The Triathlete's Training Bible" and it says I should set goals for the year. Although the year is already underway, here are my goals.

2007 Goals

1. Complete Wildflower in under 3 hours, then improve on that time for LA Tri in September.

2. Improve my Malibu Tri time by 15% (1:48).

3. Complete Half Marathon in under 2 hours.

Training Objectives:
-swim 1600 m in 40 minutes or less
-run 10k @ 7:30 pace
-climb Mandeville in 22 minutes
-complete 40k bike+ 10k run in 2.5 hours.

By the way, this book is amazing. It totally breaks it down very scientifically and practically so it's easy to understand and to understand why. It's a lenghty read and the latter part of the book is to help you create your own training program (which I've been doing in a haphazard sort of way) and to schedule out your year for periodization and to schedule each workout for a specific purpose. THAT IS KEY. Purposeful training is where it's at. I'm really striving for that. I'm still reading and digesting the book but so far it's been very helpful.

Quinoa Tabouli

Found this recipe from Triscoop.com ,a great messageboard forum for triathlon.

QUINOA TABOULI SALAD (serves 8-10)

2 c. quinoa, rinsed

¾ c. chopped, fresh parsley

1 can diced tomatoes, drained

1 cucumber, diced

1 bunch green onions, chopped

5 sprigs fresh mint, chopped (or 1 tbsp dried)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp ume plum vinegar

2 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed

Cook quinoa according to package directions. Cool. Combine quinoa, parsley, tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, green onions, and mint. Mix well. Combine olive oil, ume plum vinegar and garlic and mix into salad.

My girlfriend and I gave it a try last week. It was delicious. We used regular red wine vinegar instead of plum vinegar. And we changed the portions to about 2/3 of what the original recipe called for.
Quinoa has an interesting history. Check it out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa


Here's a picture: can't really see the quinoa but that's the best pic I have.

Weekly Recap

I've seen other athlete bloggers do once-a-week recaps of their training and since my training log at trainingpeaks.com provides the information I am going to post it here. It'll also be helpful to be able to look back on and see where I was at.

Hours: 7:40
Swim: 6365 yd
Bike: 39 mi (didn't get out on Wednesday as I planned, too exhausted)
Run: 11.8 mi (long run was a little short)

Highlights: Swim workout on Thursday felt like a break-through. I really pushed myself. Also my bike ride on Saturday morning up Mandeville felt really good. I felt like I could have gone much faster but made a conscious effort to wait for my riding partners to encourage them and not alienate them. Part of the fun of the Saturday rides is the social aspect. But it made me realize that the cross-training is paying off.
Taking the day off and shopping for food and cooking with my girlfriend. We made a Quinoa Tabouli salad and turkey burgers. It was delicious and now I have good healthy food for a week or two. Less expensive than eating out. ( i have pictures of the salad I'll post when I get them from my gf)

Low Points: pain in my knees after the saturday ride. Pretty sure it's because my bike is too small for me. I'm saving up the money for a new bike but it's not coming anytime soon. It makes me less comfortable going really hard and long on my bike. It's a limiter and it sucks.

swim benchmarks

Tuesday masters swim was great. My legs were a little sore from the spin class the night before but overall I felt rested and ready for a swim. Getting to the practice was hard because of the time change and the resulting darkness that greeted me as I awoke and looked out the window. This darkness continued through until half way through the class. Once I was in the water it was fine.

I was the only one in my lane (the slowest one) that morning so the coach was able to give me more attention I think. We went through a warm-up set then on to the main course.
She called it a pyramid set.

100m (fast..for me at least) 1:50
150m (slow) 3:20
200m (fast) 4:15

Then you repeat but start from the 200m then work your way down. after that, I did a few drill mix with regular stroke sets and a cool down of drill work. At the end it was a 2000 meter session. I was pretty happy with it.
Later that day I went out for a 3 mile run and completed it in 21:30.

Week In Review

This past week was quite good for training. Here are the stats:
Total Hours: 9:45
Swim: 4800 yd
Bike: 59 miles
Run: 13.74 miles
Strength : 1 upperbody and core session

I think that's a good volume to shoot for until Wildflower. This day light savings thing is kind of killer. It's nice to get out of work and still have a 1-1.5 of daylight tho.

Running Progress

I have to admit that after my half marathon at the end of last year, I was very put-off from running. I got sick to my stomach and had a horrible experience just finishing the race.

In the time after the half, I shifted my focus to strength training and worked on my cycling and swimming quite a bit. I did hit the treadmill for 2-5 miles a couple times a week to keep up my running fitness, but I never pushed myself during those runs. I'd keep it at 9-10 min/miles and use it as an aerobic warmup before lifting weights.

This week I finally felt ready to get back on the horse. Maybe it was the LA Marathon this Sunday that inspired me or just the fear of blowing up on the 10k leg of Wildflower. Probably both. So I went for a couple of runs on the road and I am very pleased with my speed and level of perceived effort.
I went out on Tuesday not paying especially close attention to my pace. I just ran as I felt comfortable. I did a 4 mile route, a there-and-back with a mostly up hill return. I ended up doing it in 33 minutes. That equates to a 8.5 min/mile. However, I didn't pay cloes attention to the clock when I left so I wasn't completely sure I had the time right. It didn't seem like I was going that fast.
So last night, I set up to do the same thing. This time I brough my ipod and used the timer function on there to set up some splits and get an accurate total time.
Sure enough this time making sure I wasn't going out to fast I started out nice and easy and hit 15 minutes at the half way point. the return was hilly so I ended up doing the whole thing in 32 mins. Not bad.

More Mandeville

I got up early to ride Mandeville this morning. I found a nice description of this hill on the La Grange Velo Club website. I might try to go with them sometime.
http://www.lagrange.org/rides_wed.htm
The Skinny: This ride begins with a short warm-up around the Brentwood Country Club. After taking a right back onto San Vicente, the group then heads north on Burlingame, across Sunset Boulevard and down to Mandeville Canyon. The initial pitch of Mandeville is reasonable, maybe 2%, but the pace is usually fast (18-20 mph). After the first mile-1/2, the road rises slighty, to about 4%, to the "white fence" which signals the approximate half-way mark of the climb. The grade is fairly steady until about 1-mile to go, when it grades up to about 6% until finishing up a [painful] 10%, 200-meter wall to the top. Depending on your effort level up the climb, you may have to concentrate on holding down your breakfast as the ride regroups and recovers for several minutes. Slower riders can catch the ride on its return down the canyon. At that point, ride leaders may decide to either continue on to do an Amalfi loop in Pacific Palisades (see the Riviera ride) or head up Chalon Road to tackle the [tortuous 12-15%] Arbutus/Banyon/Cordelia adjoining climbs. Beverages at Peet's in Brentwood (San Vicente and Gorham) afterward.

owned

I went into work a bit early so I could take a longer lunch and do a spin class. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I've been to 4 spin classes at 24 Fitness so far. But this one was insane! I got so worked. It was awesome.

This weekend was hectic. I went down to San Diego for a friend's going away party. Then drove back that same night so I could get up for a bike ride on Saturday morning. We didn't ride that hard but we tried a new route that I really dig. There are some nice climbs and the weather was perfect.
We went to Groundworks coffee and their coffee is so good. I was feeling great that morning.

I took a real rest day yesterday. I didn't feel worn down or anything I just thought I should take a planned day off to see how it feels.

I'm going to work on my run and swim this week. Masters class tomorrow. Hope I can wake up.

Swimmin'

Well I couldn't wake up on Tuesday morning. Too cold and rainy. Bad excuse but I did make it today.

6:30AM, 45 degrees!
As this was my first time with Masters and I felt more of a servant. It was a humbling experience for sure. I just swam and got feedback from the coach on my stroke. There are many things for me to work on. Mainly I need to improve my pull and also rotating my hips from side to side. I've been swimming flat in the water.
Just doing the drills today I already felt faster and more natural. It's starting to make sense. Very encouraging.
I will try to run tonight.

Weekend Update

I signed up for a Masters swim program through SCAQ. I signed up online today. I'll go to my first workout on Tuesday morning.
I'm a bit apprehensive about it. Mainly because the only workouts at the SMC pool in the mornings are 5:30 and 6:30AM which is pretty dang early for me. I've been having trouble getting to sleep once I go to bed at night. I often just lay in bed for an hour or more and end up really tired the next day. This happens even if I'm physically exhausted which is very frustrating. Having said that, I think I can push myself through the first few early mornings and hopefully be able to get into a routine of going to bed and getting up early.

This past week was good. I don't feel I had enough training volume but I feel like it's moving in the right direction. I went to workout with my friend who coaches the Brentwood High School swim team on Saturday Morning. After that I went on my Saturday morning bike ride. We did a relatively easy 25mile bike ride along the Ballona Bike path pictured to the right. My legs were a little sore because I ran on Friday night for the first time in a while. My running really needs works. I need to stop avoiding my weaknesses.

Heating Up

That's KB24, 2007 All-Star game MVP. Amazing performance by Kobe. Although that's to be expected. I was most impressed (I'm very sad to say) but Amari Stoudamire, he's amazing. I haven't seen the Suns play much this year but after watching he and The Matrix on Sunday, I'm a little nervous. If it comes down to another Suns/Lakers playoff series, the Lakes are gonna be up against some serious odds. But you gotta have faith, and I do.

Anyways. This weekend was great. I finally started feeling better around Friday so I made it out to the gym for a swim. Just did a short 1000 yard swim and then did some strength. Felt great to get back in the pool. The weather was amazing. It was high 70's and probably low 70's at night when I got out of the pool. I rode my bike to and from the gym. It was a very nice night.

I got up early Saturday morning to have breakfast with my family who was visiting from Arizona. We went to Gladstone's on the beach and watched this woman swim out to some dolphins that had been swimming back and forth. It was pretty cool. Made me want to get back in the ocean for some open-water swimming. I'm getting tired of the pool. Give me the wide-open spaces baby.

After breakfast, I went on a little city ride to pick up some gear from two local bike shops then decided to do Mandeville, my favorite climb. I got an electrolyte powder you add to water. Filled up my water bottle with it then headed out. I went out pretty strong and started to really feel the heat. I ended up drinking 2/3s my bottle before I even got to the start of the climb. Oops.
Once I started the climb I saw a mountain biker a few hundred yards ahead me. He was going pretty fast but I ended up passing him in about 5 minutes. From there I was just flying, constantly trying to drink and just stay at about 13mph. I knew if I could push it up the first part of the climb I would be able to best my avg. speed of 10mph up the whole climb. But when I got about 4 miles into the climb I started to bonk and felt like i was going to throw up.
The last .5 mile is the toughest and my heart-rate was spiking and I was a split-second away from turning around and just calling it when this dude comes up behind me on a really nice road bike and says "come on man, let's do this!" so I get out of the saddle and just give it everything I have to make it to the top.
Once I got to the top the guy disappeared and the more I think about it, the less I'm convinced he was actually there. Maybe just a figment of my toasted imagination.

Still sick

I came down with a serious cold this week completely curbing my training. I'm very bummed, but starting to get really excited about picking it up again this weekend. The weather has been nice. A little rain but mostly very moderate. Can't beat the wather here baby.

Recovery Week

I guess my body is somewhat demanding a recovery week. I wasn't feeling well at all on Monday. I went home early from work and slept for almost 12 hours and woke up feelin great. However, today - Wednesday I woke up with a really weird pain in my ear and a sore throat. So I'm going to take it easy and hope I feel better by tomorrow night when I am playing a show.

I hope to get back on schedule with the training by this weekend. Wildflower baby.

Wildflower

Finally registered for Wildflower Olympic distance. No turning back now.

Running Through the Wall

Here's a quote from the book "Running Through The Wall"

"In the process of completely exhausting myself, I connect with an inner part of me ordinarily veiled by the everyday distractions of life. During that short time spent on a trail in the mountains, my life is reduced to its simplest terms. Most ultrarunners are people who find goodness and joy in difficult times, who see beyond the misery to the beauty of nature, and who truly realize the elemental and important aspects of life. Going for a run always clears my head, but running 100 miles distills my soul."

Sounds like a great book. Running 100 miles is incomprehensible to me. Pretty sweet.

Sunday Recap

Training this week felt natural. I didn't have to force myself to get to the gym or out on the bike. It was pretty smooth sailing and actually a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed my Saturday AM bike up Mandeville. It was apparent we are improving with a 1mph increase in average speed up the canyon. Maybe it was the spin class :)

I went swimming twice this week and felt the benefits. I was more comfortable in the water tonight and I had moments where I didn't have to think about my form which allowed me to really enjoy being in the water.

Just want to briefly write about a personal experience I had today. I had the pleasure of having lunch with an old family/church friend of ours who is back in the U.S. briefly visiting from China. I had an awesome time with their son Levi (4yrs old) who has one of the most amazing life stories I've heard. I've heard stories about people overcoming crazy stuff, but I rarely get to meet these people much less get to spend time with them.
Today, I had a unique experience of getting to know Levi and for some reason he really took a liking to me. He's a serious handful, very smart and very open. You can actually read about his life and what his parents went through to adopt him and what they're still going through to try to help with his physical needs.
His mom is an amazing woman. She was one of my first babysitters when I was probably a 1 or 2 yrs old.
Here's a link to her book on Amazon. I started to read our signed copy - by Levi and Lisa - this afternoon and it's a very easy and powerful read.
Saving Levi

Training Peaks

i've been using this website: www.trainingpeaks.com to track my workouts so this blog isn't much of a priority now. I'll try to update at least once a week for a recap.

You can check out my public profile here. www.trainingpeaks.com/djjacobs

One interesting experience I had this week was my first spin class. I thought I was improving on the bike but this class killed me. We were 20 minutes in and I felt so winded and my heart-rate was spiking like crazy. I somehow endured the remaining 40 minutes, but it seems like a horrible dream where sweat and bad dance music combine in some sort of cruel Ludovico experiement. Needless to say I'll be going back next week.

Olympic Distance

A bit of an update: I've been riding my bike a lot and going to the gym periodically. I did a great ride on Saturday up Sepulveda to Mulholland. It's great to realize you can actually bike to the Valley from West LA. I don't know if I'd necessarily want to, but it's a liberating feeling.
Overall, I've been taking it pretty easy. I haven't done a run over 5 miles since my half marathon and my swims are pretty low-key since I haven't gone back to SMC since the holidays.

So next week I will begin a training program designed to prepare for an Olympic distance Triathlon.

I got a free olympic distance training program but realized it cuts off after 3 weeks, then you're supposed to pay for it. I'm saving up for a new bike and for tri registeration fees. Can't really afford a training program. Blah.

Oh I interviewed at a different studio for a position that pays significantly more than my current job. So if I get the job I might be able to afford such luxuries. :)