February 16

It has been a crazy and trying two weeks since the last update. I have somehow managed to keep the training despite the fact that my 1999 Tahoe finally died on me after 220,000 miles. Our family has turned into a one car family for a few weeks here as we work to a solution. New engine or Used Car? Neither is a good option, but we probably will keep the old Hoe’ as it has been around as long as our family. Then this past weekend my wife came down with a strep/flu combo, so I was tasked with taking care of a 2 and 6 year old for the weekend as soon as my regular job ended on Friday evening. I did still manage to get my Sunday run in somehow!
I can really tell a difference in my running already by incorporating Intervals and some other drills in my mid-week runs. I have mentioned before that I have always been a plodder at 10min/mile, but my last two runs over four miles have had sub 10/min averages over the entire run including a 37:50 four miler this past Thursday. That one really surprised me as I felt like I was taking it pretty easy the entire run. As I have started running more regularly than I have even with my past triathlon training I have noticed that even if I struggle, once I get to about the four mile mark I am starting to feel good and can keep up a strong pace and stay in a lower HR zone. This is exactly what I was hoping for in this half-marathon plan. If I can get the run base there then all of my other swim and bike training should be a bit easier
I have also managed to hit the pool at least once each week, but I have skipped on a few spin classes the past two weeks. I plan on picking those back up this week.
I logged a short week the first week of Feb with only two runs at a total of 8 miles. Last week I hit all my goals with a 4.7 mile interval run on Tuesday, a 1000 yard swim that evening, a 4 mile run with intervals then another mile of GP’s on Thursday, and finally a 6 miler on Sunday. The 6 miler on Sunday was pretty tough as I incorporated some significant hills, but I felt like I could have gone farther when I was finished. I am slated for 20-24 miles this coming week with a 8 miler on Sunday, so let’s see how that goes.

February 2

Another week down and the actual half marathon plan has started. The basic outline will be Tuesday, Thursday drill runs, Saturday intermediate run, and a Sunday long run until the end of March. I want to make at least one spin class and one day of long swimming each week as well as leave open space for one additional spin or swim each week. I also picked up my new toy, the Polar RS800 watch, so I now have a new heart rate monitor. It also has GPS for plotting distances and some sweet software that plots your pace, heart rate, and distance over your workout. You can graph these results over time so it will be interesting to see how my efficiency improves over time this year.
To last week’s efforts. Last Tuesday I covered 4 miles on the treadmill with 5 one minute intervals after the 20 minute point. I felt good during the entire workout. I followed that with a 45 minute spin class on Wednesday, then another run Thursday. That was a GP run (gentle pickups). I did 4 miles at easy pace then you run 5GP’s where you first get your heart rate to recovery (139 or below for me) and then run 100 yards while increasing your pace then holding the max pace for another 20 yards. Five of those brought my total run distance to 5 miles even. I was struggling a bit on the regular part of the run, but really enjoyed the GP stage. I did nothing Friday or Saturday, as I had kid duty with my wife out of town all weekend, but when she returned Sunday I got out and did a 7 mile endurance run. I covered the 7 miles right at 1h10min, so kept a steady pace and felt like I could go farther. That is the longest run distance I have done in quite some time so I was pleased.
I am very curious to see how much my running improves following a training plan that has interval work in addition to just logging miles. I think I have always been a slow runner because all I have ever done is log miles, no speed work before. If I can get down closer to a 9 mile/min pace by the half marathon that will be a great sign of improvement and my worst triathlon discipline, running, will be set for the year. That is the hope right now.

January 24

Do you know how in your mind you picture a good workout or result and when it comes time to deliver you just don’t have it? For some reason that has been the sum of my week. Earlier in the week I had some sessions where I just didn’t feel like I had the gas to get thru a very easy workout. Same thing yesterday with my swim. I had 1,000 yards scheduled (which should be easy) and did complete it in 23 minutes, but it was a difficult finish. That could also be contributed to the fact that my company bought us Chinese Food for lunch and of course I indulged about 90 minutes prior to hitting the water. So after promising to eat a good dinner in preparation for my Saturday run what do we do? We go out with a few other families and have some beers and Mexican! It was good, but once again not the best of willpower.
My intentions this morning were to do at least 6 miles easy, but when the alarm went off, the first thing I did was hit snooze, and second thing was I debated my sanity as to why I want to get up at 6am on one of the few days I can sleep in. However the overall goal got me out of the bed within 15 minutes. Once I was up and caffeinated I realized it was raining so I changed my plan of action. The run today was only 3 miles but I did it at 29min, which for me is good. Any sub 10 minute mile time is a good pace, but for three miles I will take it every day. I qualify for the plodder club, not the gazelle club but I hope that plays into my cards for the longer distance race later this year.
So the goal for the last month and a half has been to get out, load up on some easy pace workouts in all three disciplines, and get on a semi schedule to prep for the year. Any improvements in fitness or form were an afterthought. Now the fun begins. Next Tuesday I start the “official” plan for the year with a 9 week half-marathon workup for the ING Atlanta in March. After a week off from that it’s off to the full 70.3 plan. I am looking forward to it all, but I think I am coming closer to grips as to the challenge that is ahead. I am not a gifted high speed runner or cyclist, and it is going to take a lot of patience to get where I need to be. However I am fully confident that I will get there and work thru the challenges of time, training, family, and reality.

January 21

It has been a little more than a week since the last update and a lot has happened. Not all that much on the training end, but small things like a new President for our country among other things. Hopefully the refreshed leadership will roll over to refresh my diet. Who knows!
Since the last update I have been able to do a few varieties of spin/swim and spin/run. I am going to try and run for a few minutes after all my rides even if it is not a formal brick. I had a real hard time at Tugaloo last year coming off the bike and into the run and it kept me from hitting any kind of stride during the entire run. We shall see. I would like to have had more workouts over the past 11 days, but I had a sales conference that took up 2 ½ days last week, combined with a trip out of town last weekend. I still feel good about my workload since this is really more about waking up the body at this point in time, not about serious planned work.
So, since my last update on 1/6 I have had 6 workouts. The 7th was a 45min spin class and 250m in the pool. (I wanted to hit 500 but did not feel good in the pool that day). The 8th was 3.1 miles on the treadmill with some intervals at 6.6, 7.0, 7.6, and 8.0 mph; total run time was 31 minutes. On the 10th I was able to get out on the road for a 5 miler. The 12th had my second spin class of the year (45 min) and did 10 minutes running after. The 16th I was able to run a mile and then swim my first mile of the year (30:19). The swim felt great, but I was coasting most of the time, not pushing the pace at all. This Monday I also got another 45 min spin class with a 10 min run after and felt good as well.
I will drop back in later this week and update.

2009 is here

Just to log the rest of last week, had a nice 3 mile run on the 30th with some pool time on the 31st then packed it in until this week. Start of the new year with new position at work and getting some meetings out of the way kept me off the train until today. I did 35 minutes on the treadmill with most of the time at 5.6mph, but did about four total minutes at 6.6mph and a two minute segment at 7.6 mph. My first official interval work of the year.
I entered the ING half marathon officially so the run base time has started. The real training plan does not start until the last week of January so I will keep the 3, 3, long pattern up until then. I will combine in a weekly spin and once or twice in the pool to keep it all fresh on top of the running. I am very hopeful that having this base under me before the actual half-iron plan starts will make a big difference. Running has been my least favorite discipline so getting it out of the way should make everything somewhat smoother.
Now the hard part, I need to put my beginning stats as far as weight to see what exactly this does for me over the year. I hit the digital scale at the gym and came in at a nice even 215. If I can be close to 190-195 for the race I will be very happy. 200 has always been a barrier I can’t seem to break so that would be a nice bonus. We will see how it goes with a monthly weight update at the beginning of the month.

December 29

Didn't make it to Spin class on time today so hit the pool for 1,000 yards and finished right at 20 minutes. Felt good but need some new goggles, mine are not sealing well on one eye.

December 27

Nice easy post Christmas workout today with a 25 minute run and 1,000 yards in the pool. Legs felt great and I could have gone much farther in the pool. Looking to get back to a spin class on Monday.

December 26

The plan is starting to come together for next year. Right now I am making sure to get in 2-3 runs a week, and also hit the pool at least once a week to keep from losing form. It will be a few more weeks before I start to do anything regular on the bike. I won’t be riding much other than spin classes until the end of March and my half-marathon race. I went out Christmas Eve and did a nice easy 5 miler at 47.58, so that felt good. Anytime I break 10 min miles I am happy. Hopefully I won’t be saying that in a few months, and I will be disappointed with a 10 min mile.
As for the plan, I will start my official 9 week plan for the half marathon the week of January 26th. It will comprise of Tuesday and Thursday low mileage interval type work and a short run Saturday with a long run every Sunday. Until the end of January I am going to continue to run 3, 3, and 5-7 miles on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays to get a base. During the race training I am going to do spin classes at lunch each Monday and Wednesday and get in the pool one other day each week. That should keep me where I need to be for the Half Iron plan.
The 70.3 plan will begin about a week after the ING race, the week of April 12. I am using a 20 week plan and stretching it out to 24 weeks by repeating the first four weeks of the base build. That should give me a time to reconnect with the longer rides needed. This plan will look like a 6 day per week plan with bike work on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and combo run and swim days on Wednesday, Friday, and Suday. Monday will be an off day, which will give me some flexibility each week to move days as needed as long as each workout is done, and I keep at least one full day for recovery.
The race schedule is filling out to look like Peachtree City International on May 16th, West Point Lake Triathlon on June 13th, Sandestin Triathlon (sprint) on August 22nd and the big dog Ironman Augusta 70.3 on September 27th. I will probably do one or two other sprints along the way with my wife who is taking up the sport this year as well, so we will add those as we come along.
The plan for next week is to get a couple of swims in, and at least two runs in. With the new year over the weekend it will be hard to get much structure until after then.

December 17

Allright, back in the pool for the first time in a few weeks today, just for 15 minutes or so but it actually felt good. I was starting to hit my stride by the time I needed to get out. I had one hour at lunch and fit in a two mile run and 15 minutes in the pool. I think if I needed to I could have hit a mile today without any problems in the water, which is nice to know. I don’t want that base to drop off too far while I am focusing on running this winter. We will see how the long run goes this weekend.

December 13

Today’s run was much better, a 5 miler at 49min pace in 27 degree weather. It was cold, but clear and no wind so a perfect sunrise run. Anytime I break 10 minutes/mile that means I had a constant pace and had no walk breaks. Funny how quickly you can feel decent running when you have some kind of base from previous years, no matter that you have had a few months off. I hope this is a good sign. So we will do some speed work and one short run next week and see if we can get to 7 miles next Saturday.
As I was out today I was thinking a lot about my dad who passed away last month. Growing up he was a consistent runner, but never really participated much in races other than the Peachtree Road Race and an occasional father’s day fun run. It was cold days like these that we would go up to the high school track and he would get his 3-4 miles in. Usually it was after work, so I would run a few laps then go onto the football field in the middle of the track and kick field goals or goof off.
I had a few laughs when thinking about him today as well. When you are out there running nowadays all you see is technical fabrics, fancy tights, and wicking materials. His running attire in the winter was typically a grey pair of sweatpants that were a little too short, a sweatshirt that he still had from Grady High in 1953, a nice puffy satin jacket over that and a really tall toboggan. If we saw someone out there running today in that I would crack a good laugh, more for nostalgia than making fun of awful running attire. I was thinking of hitting up his closet and pulling out some of the old threads for one of my runs this month. I would probably get some looks but it would be worth it.