I got a bit of late start this morning- it was my turn to take the kids to school. So instead of getting up at 4:30, I slept in to 6. Then I did my dad duties- getting the girls dressed, fed, and ready for school. After doing that it was time to crank out Spinervals 17- another aero base building day. The goal of today's workout was again to stay in the blue zone to build aerobic endurance and focus on burning fat- I certainly did that. And today was a recovery day from yesterday's hard effort.
This was my first time using Spinervals 17 and I am glad I now have this DVD- long intervals but with a twist. After each minute you get a 15 second break- just enough to have the HR come down 5-8 beats, but not enough to change your effort level. This was a definitely a good workout although I had to cut it about 10 minutes short- sometimes work really has a way of getting in the way of things!
I am looking forward to an easy spin and strength training tomorrow. I am planning on an easy run as well.
Stats for the day:
Time- 1:01:19
Distance- 20.75 miles
AVG HR- 139
Calories 650
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Day 6 of the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge
Today was a hard day. After a couple of days of aero base building sets, today was big gear, low cadence work. With some off the bike lunges. My quads feel like they should after this workout- crushed. The good news is I felt great during workout- better than yesterday for sure! Today's program was Spinervals 11. It has a mix of hard effort standing intervals along with 1 minute on (very hard) 1 minute off (easy) intervals. And then during the middle, you get to hop off your bike and do a series of 3X15 lunges- with or without dumbbells. Yeah I went without. But I really like this workout for a couple of reasons; you get to redline your HR a lot- most of the hard intervals I was above LT, you get to practice getting off your bike- sorta like a brick (more on this), and it is a hard day- you know you crushed it (you being the it) when you finish. And of course Coach Troy had a strength training exercise waiting for us when we finished- OUCH.
So more on the brick concept. I did two separate sets of knee lunges- 1 3X15 and 1 2x15. During each, I pulled my feet out of my cycling shoes while at speed, kept pedaling for a few seconds then hopped off the bike. I had a pair of running shoes with Yankz in them to quickly slip on- this was brickish part one. Pulling on running shoes while the HR was high & my legs were rubbery is very much like coming into T2. Then after the crushing sets (yeah no dumbbell for me) (brickish part 2), I removed my sneaks and hopped back on the bike- pedaling with my feet out of the cycling shoes until up to speed. Then I slid each fit into the shoe- very much like mounting the bike leaving T1. So it was good practice- rubber legs, focusing on multiple tasks (speed & shoes) and it really worked the quads. I liked it so much the first time, I decided to do it again- yeah that hurt!
Once I finished the ride, I started part 2 of the workout- strength training. And since I am really concentrating on core work, I did a series of crunch, plank, flutter kicks, leg lifts and twist for 30 minutes of joy.
Details:
Bike
Time -1:16:19
Distance- 21.81 Miles
AVG HR 138 MAX 179 ( I did about 15 minutes of Cool Down- which definitely pulled my AVG HR down a bit)
Calories 761
Core WU
Time 30:02
Sets
4X Crunches
4X Flutter Kicks
4X V Situps
4X Leg Extensions
4X Side Leg Lifts
4X 10 Push Ups (just to get a little in)
4X Plank X 30
3 X Standing Crunch (lift Left Leg to Right arm and reverse)
3 X Twists
3 X Side to side
3 X Squats
Calories- about 250
Today was a good workout. And I am wearing compression socks to aid in recovery. Tomorrow is another aero base builder day and I can't wait for 4:45 AM to roll around!
So more on the brick concept. I did two separate sets of knee lunges- 1 3X15 and 1 2x15. During each, I pulled my feet out of my cycling shoes while at speed, kept pedaling for a few seconds then hopped off the bike. I had a pair of running shoes with Yankz in them to quickly slip on- this was brickish part one. Pulling on running shoes while the HR was high & my legs were rubbery is very much like coming into T2. Then after the crushing sets (yeah no dumbbell for me) (brickish part 2), I removed my sneaks and hopped back on the bike- pedaling with my feet out of the cycling shoes until up to speed. Then I slid each fit into the shoe- very much like mounting the bike leaving T1. So it was good practice- rubber legs, focusing on multiple tasks (speed & shoes) and it really worked the quads. I liked it so much the first time, I decided to do it again- yeah that hurt!
Once I finished the ride, I started part 2 of the workout- strength training. And since I am really concentrating on core work, I did a series of crunch, plank, flutter kicks, leg lifts and twist for 30 minutes of joy.
Details:
Bike
Time -1:16:19
Distance- 21.81 Miles
AVG HR 138 MAX 179 ( I did about 15 minutes of Cool Down- which definitely pulled my AVG HR down a bit)
Calories 761
Core WU
Time 30:02
Sets
4X Crunches
4X Flutter Kicks
4X V Situps
4X Leg Extensions
4X Side Leg Lifts
4X 10 Push Ups (just to get a little in)
4X Plank X 30
3 X Standing Crunch (lift Left Leg to Right arm and reverse)
3 X Twists
3 X Side to side
3 X Squats
Calories- about 250
Today was a good workout. And I am wearing compression socks to aid in recovery. Tomorrow is another aero base builder day and I can't wait for 4:45 AM to roll around!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Day 5 of the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge
Today was another recovery day planned. And if you read yesterday's post you will know that I did Spinervals 18- which was on the schedule for today. So at 4:45 this morning I rolled (more like drug myself) out of bed and made my way down to the pain cave. My plan was to do the planned workout and then help my wife get the kids ready for school. Then once they were off, I would drive to the gym to get a short swim in before heading to work.
When I got on the trainer, I was definitely feeling the increased effort of the last few days. During the first 30 minutes or so, I really felt like bailing on the swim plan, but as my body got into a solid routine, I started to feel good. Spinervals 18 is a solid recovery workout and the long intervals are great for working on solid form. One thing that I did wrong this morning was getting my garmin turned on correctly. Yesterday I ran after the ride and switched from bike to run. Today I started in Run, and switched on the fly to Bike- for some reason the garmin did not record mileage, although it was recording speed and cadence. Electronics can be fickle sometimes! So my mileage is an estimate based on my speed and time.
Once I finished the ride, I decided that yes I would swim. I really wanted to get some pool time since my last session was a week ago and I just got a new toy- the Finis SwimSense watch. The watch auto counts laps, distance and stroke type- can you say cool! And it worked pretty darn nicely- although I did not use any advanced features- just turned it on and hit the water. I did a series of different sets- some with paddles (which I really like using- great resistance) and some without. Total distance was 1225 yards- which I think is pretty accurate (it might of missed/ added a lap but I did not count- just focused on following the black line.
My legs & arms are definitely tired, but I am looking forward to tomorrow's set- big gear training. Tonight I am planning on getting a good night sleep- 4:45 will come early tomorrow!
Workout details
Bike:
Time- 1:20:04
Distance-24 miles
Calories- 650
AVG HR 134
Swim
Time- 24:18
Distance- 1225 yards
Calories- 239
For more details on the swimsense check out this link:
http://swimsense.finisinc.com
When I got on the trainer, I was definitely feeling the increased effort of the last few days. During the first 30 minutes or so, I really felt like bailing on the swim plan, but as my body got into a solid routine, I started to feel good. Spinervals 18 is a solid recovery workout and the long intervals are great for working on solid form. One thing that I did wrong this morning was getting my garmin turned on correctly. Yesterday I ran after the ride and switched from bike to run. Today I started in Run, and switched on the fly to Bike- for some reason the garmin did not record mileage, although it was recording speed and cadence. Electronics can be fickle sometimes! So my mileage is an estimate based on my speed and time.
Once I finished the ride, I decided that yes I would swim. I really wanted to get some pool time since my last session was a week ago and I just got a new toy- the Finis SwimSense watch. The watch auto counts laps, distance and stroke type- can you say cool! And it worked pretty darn nicely- although I did not use any advanced features- just turned it on and hit the water. I did a series of different sets- some with paddles (which I really like using- great resistance) and some without. Total distance was 1225 yards- which I think is pretty accurate (it might of missed/ added a lap but I did not count- just focused on following the black line.
My legs & arms are definitely tired, but I am looking forward to tomorrow's set- big gear training. Tonight I am planning on getting a good night sleep- 4:45 will come early tomorrow!
Workout details
Bike:
Time- 1:20:04
Distance-24 miles
Calories- 650
AVG HR 134
Swim
Time- 24:18
Distance- 1225 yards
Calories- 239
For more details on the swimsense check out this link:
http://swimsense.finisinc.com
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Day 4 of the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge
Today was a planned recovery day. Not a day off, but just an easier day doing some solid blue zone aerobic work. The specific schedule called for 1 hour using Spinervals 28- which I don't yet have. So I decided to use Spinervals 18 (which I just got) for the first time- I really liked this session. Long intervals with some shifting, but perfect for staying aero, working on pedaling technique, mental focus and maintaining specific cadence. I have to say this is now one of my favorites and I get to do it again tomorrow since that is the specific workout on the plan (guess I should have read ahead- oh well). I felt really good on today's ride. And was able to keep my HR right in the sweet spot: 138-142 for pretty much the entire session.
So at the end of the ride, I threw on my running shoes and did a short 2 mile run. It was the first run since Thanksgiving and I really wanted to test out my left knee without wearing a knee sleeve. I had tweaked the knee during a porta potty stop at mile 100 during Beach2Battleship at the end of October. And since that race, I have been wearing a neoprene knee sleeve. I don't like wearing the knee sleeve at all- and during the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 5 K, my left calf hurt a bit during the run. So I took a week off from running to let the knee and calf heal (no pain on the bike). I am glad I took the break (I am learning!) as today I felt very relaxed and pretty much pain free on the run. I did not run too hard- pretty much a 7:58 pace, but was happy to get back on the road (it was cold but nice enough to run outside).
I likely won't be running all that much during the next month- probably 2 times per week and likely 3-5 miles at time, but running rocks! And after taking a relatively easy month following Beach2Battleship, it has been great to get back to some focused and higher intensity training.
Here are the details of today's work:
Ride
Time- 1:05:26
Distance- 21.77 miles
Calories-689
AVG HR- 134
Run
Time - 17:39
Distance- 2.21 miles
Calories- 205
AVG HR- 150
Tomorrow is a repeat of today- Spinervals 18. And I am planning on getting some pool time too.
So at the end of the ride, I threw on my running shoes and did a short 2 mile run. It was the first run since Thanksgiving and I really wanted to test out my left knee without wearing a knee sleeve. I had tweaked the knee during a porta potty stop at mile 100 during Beach2Battleship at the end of October. And since that race, I have been wearing a neoprene knee sleeve. I don't like wearing the knee sleeve at all- and during the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 5 K, my left calf hurt a bit during the run. So I took a week off from running to let the knee and calf heal (no pain on the bike). I am glad I took the break (I am learning!) as today I felt very relaxed and pretty much pain free on the run. I did not run too hard- pretty much a 7:58 pace, but was happy to get back on the road (it was cold but nice enough to run outside).
I likely won't be running all that much during the next month- probably 2 times per week and likely 3-5 miles at time, but running rocks! And after taking a relatively easy month following Beach2Battleship, it has been great to get back to some focused and higher intensity training.
Here are the details of today's work:
Ride
Time- 1:05:26
Distance- 21.77 miles
Calories-689
AVG HR- 134
Run
Time - 17:39
Distance- 2.21 miles
Calories- 205
AVG HR- 150
Tomorrow is a repeat of today- Spinervals 18. And I am planning on getting some pool time too.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Day 3 of the Spinervals 32 Day challenge
Today was the first big day on the schedule- 2:20 on the bike and 30 minutes of Strength training. Since I have been doing a pretty regular core workout 2-3 times a week, I decided to stick with the core drills (mostly crunches, flutter kicks and planks) instead of the strength workout.
Today's program on the trainer called for Spinervals 30.0 Muscular endurance. Unfortunately that is one of the titles I don't own (yet) so one of the alternates was Spinervals 13- Tough Love. And yeah it is tough! It is a 3 hour near LT sufferama with lots of long intervals. But the intervals aren't just shift into a gear and go for 30 minutes or so, instead there is lots of shifting, and standing. Yeah it is tough- I think I might have said that before. Standing when you are in a 53/23 sucks- there is no other way to say it!
At one point in the video Coach Troy said this hurts me (him) as much as its you (me)- I was ready to throw my laptop off of the ladder it sits on. If I had a remote I would have thrown it at my TV (fans of coach troy should get that one).
I decided before I started that I would ride 2:30- 2:20 doing the intervals and then a 10 minute cool down. However as I finished 2:20 I was about 4.5 miles short of 50. So I decided to stay another 15 minutes or so to cross that line. It was a good decision!
So my numbers for the day:
Bike
Time-2:36
Distance- 50.04 miles
Calories- 2761
AVG HR-130
Core 20 minutes
5X Crunch
5X L/R Oblique Crunch
5X Flutter Kick x 20 Seconds per set
3X Plank x 30 Seconds per plank
3X Pushups 10 per Set (i know easy)
3X Twists (20 Per Set)
3X Side Bends (20 Per Set)
On the ride I drank one bottle of Fluid Performance Mix (100 Calories + Electrolytes) and ate 2 Gels- 1 GU Roctane (100 Calories) and 1 Crank Sports e-gel (150 Calories). I have been using GU for 2 years and I like them, but got the Crank Sports Gel through an Active.com Schwaggle and since this is the off season I decided it was a good idea to experiment with different nutrition products. I did like the eGel although the flavor I had was Mountain Rush and it was a bit sweet for me (although with some water to dilute the flavor might work). More to come on the nutrition testing.
Post ride I drank a mix of Fluid Recovery (chocolate wave) and coffee, toast with Almond butter, a banana and an orange. Body and mind both feel great. Long workouts are hard, but feel awesome afterwards.
A note about FLUID- I have been using their recovery drink since last year and it works great for me. Fluid performance is a brand new product of theirs designed to be consumed during racing/ training and so far I really like it as it does not create any GI issues, especially during longer training days. Plus the founder is a real scientist who both knows his stuff and is happy to help with questions.
Lastly Active Schwaggle- think of groupon for triathletes.
Links to check out:
Spinervals- www.spinverals.com
Fluid Nutrition- www.livefluid.com
Crank Sports- www.cranksports.com
GU- www.guenergy.com
Active- www.active.com & schwaggle.active.com
Today's program on the trainer called for Spinervals 30.0 Muscular endurance. Unfortunately that is one of the titles I don't own (yet) so one of the alternates was Spinervals 13- Tough Love. And yeah it is tough! It is a 3 hour near LT sufferama with lots of long intervals. But the intervals aren't just shift into a gear and go for 30 minutes or so, instead there is lots of shifting, and standing. Yeah it is tough- I think I might have said that before. Standing when you are in a 53/23 sucks- there is no other way to say it!
At one point in the video Coach Troy said this hurts me (him) as much as its you (me)- I was ready to throw my laptop off of the ladder it sits on. If I had a remote I would have thrown it at my TV (fans of coach troy should get that one).
I decided before I started that I would ride 2:30- 2:20 doing the intervals and then a 10 minute cool down. However as I finished 2:20 I was about 4.5 miles short of 50. So I decided to stay another 15 minutes or so to cross that line. It was a good decision!
So my numbers for the day:
Bike
Time-2:36
Distance- 50.04 miles
Calories- 2761
AVG HR-130
Core 20 minutes
5X Crunch
5X L/R Oblique Crunch
5X Flutter Kick x 20 Seconds per set
3X Plank x 30 Seconds per plank
3X Pushups 10 per Set (i know easy)
3X Twists (20 Per Set)
3X Side Bends (20 Per Set)
On the ride I drank one bottle of Fluid Performance Mix (100 Calories + Electrolytes) and ate 2 Gels- 1 GU Roctane (100 Calories) and 1 Crank Sports e-gel (150 Calories). I have been using GU for 2 years and I like them, but got the Crank Sports Gel through an Active.com Schwaggle and since this is the off season I decided it was a good idea to experiment with different nutrition products. I did like the eGel although the flavor I had was Mountain Rush and it was a bit sweet for me (although with some water to dilute the flavor might work). More to come on the nutrition testing.
Post ride I drank a mix of Fluid Recovery (chocolate wave) and coffee, toast with Almond butter, a banana and an orange. Body and mind both feel great. Long workouts are hard, but feel awesome afterwards.
A note about FLUID- I have been using their recovery drink since last year and it works great for me. Fluid performance is a brand new product of theirs designed to be consumed during racing/ training and so far I really like it as it does not create any GI issues, especially during longer training days. Plus the founder is a real scientist who both knows his stuff and is happy to help with questions.
Lastly Active Schwaggle- think of groupon for triathletes.
Links to check out:
Spinervals- www.spinverals.com
Fluid Nutrition- www.livefluid.com
Crank Sports- www.cranksports.com
GU- www.guenergy.com
Active- www.active.com & schwaggle.active.com
Friday, December 2, 2011
Day 2 of the Spinervals 32 Day challenge
This morning the alarm was set for 5am, but I was up at 4:40. So I decided to answer the call and get moving downstairs to my pain cave. I was looking forward to Day 2 since the workout is one I know well- Spinervals 16.0 Aero Base Builder. It is just under 90 minutes and is a straight forward set with a lot of repetition. And following yesterday's threshold test using Spinverals 27.0- a welcome relief.
But it is not an easy set by any means. You really need to stay focused on the intervals since you need to make sure you stay aerobic and not creep up to AT. It is a good day to spend in the aero bars working on maintaining good form and consistent cadence.
Today was also the first day of using my new Kurt Kinetic Road Machine Fluid trainer. I switched from the Cycleops Fluid2 since the power curves were pretty high- It made staying in a 53-15 near a max effort which for me is not realistic based on my Iron/ Half Iron and Olympic Bike splits. I can easily maintain 20-21 MPH for Half and Full Iron distances and 23-24 for Olympic distances. But on the Cycleops Fluid2 I struggled to maintain 19-20 for more than 5 minutes. So I am keeping the Cycleops to use when I need to mash a big gear/ work on simulating hills, but the Kurt is much more realistic effort/ HR wise (plus I ordered the power meter so I can start monitoring power output).
My numbers this morning:
Time 1:30:03
Distance 27.81
Avg Speed 18.5 (Lots of low resistance, high cadence spinning today!)
Calories 1475
AVG HR 140 (my AT is 158 so I was right where I needed to be - about 10% under threshold)
Good Start to the day!
For more info on the Challenge go to www.spinervals.com. And for more info regarding Cyclops and Kurt Kinetic visit the following sites:
www.cycleops.com
www.kurtkinetic.com
But it is not an easy set by any means. You really need to stay focused on the intervals since you need to make sure you stay aerobic and not creep up to AT. It is a good day to spend in the aero bars working on maintaining good form and consistent cadence.
Today was also the first day of using my new Kurt Kinetic Road Machine Fluid trainer. I switched from the Cycleops Fluid2 since the power curves were pretty high- It made staying in a 53-15 near a max effort which for me is not realistic based on my Iron/ Half Iron and Olympic Bike splits. I can easily maintain 20-21 MPH for Half and Full Iron distances and 23-24 for Olympic distances. But on the Cycleops Fluid2 I struggled to maintain 19-20 for more than 5 minutes. So I am keeping the Cycleops to use when I need to mash a big gear/ work on simulating hills, but the Kurt is much more realistic effort/ HR wise (plus I ordered the power meter so I can start monitoring power output).
My numbers this morning:
Time 1:30:03
Distance 27.81
Avg Speed 18.5 (Lots of low resistance, high cadence spinning today!)
Calories 1475
AVG HR 140 (my AT is 158 so I was right where I needed to be - about 10% under threshold)
Good Start to the day!
For more info on the Challenge go to www.spinervals.com. And for more info regarding Cyclops and Kurt Kinetic visit the following sites:
www.cycleops.com
www.kurtkinetic.com
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Spinervals 32 Day Challenge & 2012 race schedule
Just a quick note on a couple of updates.
1) I am doing the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge. Day one was today with Spinervals 27.0 Threshold testing. My stats- Weight 181 (which is about 10 pounds over race weight), AVG HR 158, Max 166. So this lines up with previous testing, although using my fluid cyclops fluid 2, I feel like I am pushing more watts that I would on the road. I have a power meter coming- so more to come on that.
If you are interested in joining the challenge visit the spinervals page here- www.spinervals.com
I will try to post a bit everyday- I am really excited about participating in the challenge!
2) My 2012 race schedule is pretty much dialed in:
March- IM70.3 Puerto Rico
June- Rev3 Quassy Olympic
June-HITS Hunter MTN Half
July- IM 70.3 Rhode Island (Round 2)
August- IM US Championships NYC (mostly NJ!)
August- USAT AG Nat Championships - It is the week after IM NYC, but I have not done the race yet- so maybe since I already qualified for this year
Sept- Toughman Half (Round3)
Sept- IM Pocono Mtn 70.3 (Round 2 and hoping the swim happens!)
I may try to fill in something in April/ May but that is a crazy family time with a lot of kid obligations (which is a good thing).
1) I am doing the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge. Day one was today with Spinervals 27.0 Threshold testing. My stats- Weight 181 (which is about 10 pounds over race weight), AVG HR 158, Max 166. So this lines up with previous testing, although using my fluid cyclops fluid 2, I feel like I am pushing more watts that I would on the road. I have a power meter coming- so more to come on that.
If you are interested in joining the challenge visit the spinervals page here- www.spinervals.com
I will try to post a bit everyday- I am really excited about participating in the challenge!
2) My 2012 race schedule is pretty much dialed in:
March- IM70.3 Puerto Rico
June- Rev3 Quassy Olympic
June-HITS Hunter MTN Half
July- IM 70.3 Rhode Island (Round 2)
August- IM US Championships NYC (mostly NJ!)
August- USAT AG Nat Championships - It is the week after IM NYC, but I have not done the race yet- so maybe since I already qualified for this year
Sept- Toughman Half (Round3)
Sept- IM Pocono Mtn 70.3 (Round 2 and hoping the swim happens!)
I may try to fill in something in April/ May but that is a crazy family time with a lot of kid obligations (which is a good thing).
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