I planned to take Friday off. I didn't plan to take Saturday off, but it was raining and I didn't feel comfortable going for a long ride in it. Too many folks around here seem to lose all sense and good measure when the clouds open. So, we worked in the house on Saturday instead. I did move a bunch of stuff, including our (still in boxes) Smith machine, so I guess I did get a bit of exercise for my back. :-)
Sunday was planned for just some swimming, but I began to hope for a nice ride back from Clemson, only about 36 miles, to home. I was all ready to do it, but the wind was kickin' like karate and I wussed out. Good thing, since Mendy developed a ripping headache by the time we left Clemson.
I failed horribly to accurately time my swim, but it didn't matter much since we didn't know the exact distance. It was estimated at 400m for the loop, and we did it thrice, so 1200m via 400m x 3. I timed the middle one, and figured that was my average which gave me 1m 07s per 100m. Hmmm, either there really IS something to this wetsuit thing, or the distance was WAY off. Oh well, I'll take it.
After the swim, Mendy and I bent the ear of Chris Giordanelli (The G-Man) for a while about the sport, cycling, age, etc. He's a truly great guy, very patient, and full of knowledge. I do hope to take him up on his offer of the lake swims, and maybe even the bike travel case...some day. At any rate, I look forward to doing some more training and racing with him in the future. By the way, he had a crazy workout that day (which I termed a bizarro-athlon): 13 mile run, with the fastest at the end; 67 mile bike ride, again with the fastest in the last 9 miles; and the 1200m swim with the group. Yikes!
By the time we got home, I had it in my mind to do a scorching brick workout (well, relative to my ability) to round out the day and make up for Sat. I know I have to start tapering a bit by mid-week, so I sold Mendy on the idea. It was too early to eat anyway, so she gave me the blessing. As I mentioned, the wind was blowing pretty well, but I managed to crank out 43m 15s TT on the standard 14.7 mile route. That was a 20.41 average. Overall, down from last Wednesday by a bit over a minute and about 1/2 mph. 1m 04s transition and on to the run...
I did my standard 2.4 mile brick route, that has 1077 total feet climbed in the route. I started very conscious of my stride and cadence, based on this T3Coaching.com Brick article, making sure my stride was short and quick. This helps me immensely, and I highly recommend anyone doing bricks or multi sport to at least try it. About 1/2 mile into my run I was at full stride, but still trying to stay conscious of my stride and heel strike. I'm trying to run with a flatter foot/heel strike to be more efficient. Anyway, on the return I was feeling really good so I cranked it up. And up. And UP. SUCCESS!!! I finally broke into the 6's on a brick run: 2.4 miles, 16m 39s, 6m 56s/mile. w00t!
I was pretty jazzed by the time, but I could feel it. Time to celebrate with some blistering hot chicken "wings". I say it with quotes because we opt for a meal called Chicken Feathers at the Wild Wing Cafe. They are simply boneless and skinless breast tenders, grilled on a skewer, and basted with your favorite of the 30-ish sauces. Mine is the wicked-hot Braveheart sauce. Burns ya twice! Washed it down with a Thomas Creek Red, and went home to watch the rest of Happy Feet. Eh, not my choice, but Grace liked it a bit. A fun family night, so it's worth it.
Today I was feeling pretty decent, despite some dubious rumors and news at work, so I did my normal distance swim at lunch. Not any world-record pace, but decent. I managed to swim 1100yds in 21m 44s, for a 1m59s/100yd pace. Not bad, considering I had my big baggy shorts on (sorry Scott).
Tomorrow I may go for a nice little run, 6 miles or so. Have to fit it in at lunch, so I can't go crazy or do a long ride. Perhaps another brick on Wednesday, or just a casual ride, and lay off Thursday and Friday for the big race...
Clemson Triathlon on Saturday!!! The field will be pretty deep, so I need to do my best. I am currently sitting in 3rd place in points for my age group in the SC Tri Series, which I'm pretty happy about. I'd like to hold on to that, and improve if possible. We'll see...
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7 comments:
Your transition times are looking better and better. What a crazy fast pace. AWESOME job!! Even sounds like you might taper a litlle this week... VERY smart.
You are going to ROCK this weekend.
As always - I'm impressed with your pace. I can't even imaging running that fast! Plus it being on the end of a ride. You're doing fantastic!!! and looking forward to seeing your smiling face after the run saturday on your tri! Clemson, here we come.
Congrats bustin into the 6's! Wow awesome pace man! Yeah the G-Man won the half I ran a couple of weeks ago...5:55 pace then he went for a 40 mile bike after that race...he's nutty...your nutty!:) Glad you got to spend some time with him. You'll be blowin by him and many others soon if you keep this up!:)
Thanks for the shameless plug in your blog today, David. I just spent some time reading through your entries and you seem to have a very well-rounded athletic ability. Equally as important (according to me) is that you have 'balance'. Keeping your mental and emotional states healthy and in check is what allows a good athlete to excel. You gotta love what you're doing (OK, you can occasionally hate that last interval into the headwind - but you get the point).
I share some of the same opinions/training views as Chad in the Arizona Desert. I too take in a lot of training info, stick it in a blender and then decide what works best for me. I also am a big proponent of 'work hard, rest hard' which basically means go harder on your hard days...but take more time off. There's too many people working out 6 and 7 days a week - constantly. If I have the energy to do that, then my workouts aren't hard enough or satisfying enough.
My last bit of advice revolves around 'plans'. Having a 'plan' is a double-edged sword. You need to tread carefully. After 28 years of doing this stuff, I am at the extreme end of the spectrum. When asked about my plan, I typically tell people I train by 'the force'. I never write out my workouts more than a couple of days in advance. This works for me because after many years I am very in tune with my body and I have a lot of discipline. Creating a general plan for the year - and plans for each week/month are excellent tools, so long as you remember that they are guidelines. That piece of paper has no idea that you worked a double-shift yesterday or that the kids kept you up half the night. Conversely, it doesn't know that you recovered quicker than expected. My point here is that starting with a plan is good, but your goal should be to learn the philosophies surrounding training as well as how your body responds to it. Then a plan simply becomes second nature.
Well, my 2-cents has stretched to about a dollar now, so...it was good talking with you this past Sunday and keep up the good work!
We could all stand to learn from what Chris said. Right on target. He has my attention.
I can highly recommend learning to run "more flat footed"! It's worked for me these past 10 or so months. When I ref soccer, I quickly forget and go back to my heel striking ways and end up feeling it for days afterwards. Dude! You are seriously fast!! Good luck in your tri this weekend. Rock strong, rock proud! I've got my eye on the SC Half IM too. Probably not this year, but maybe next. Take care, and good luck again.
Great job with the brick workout! That's some wicked fast running. I would say you are all ready for the race.
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