Thursday, April 30, 2009

Day 4 of Week 1 Base Phase

There are few things better than riding in the sunshine!!! Tonight I did a 10-mile time trial (TT) at Vancouver Lake. Every Thursday night the Vancouver Bike Club puts it on -- it starts at the Port of Vancouver and goes out to Frenchman's Bar and back. Free to members and only $1 for non-members. They even time you and post results! Be there around 6pm to sign in and get your number; racers start getting sent off at 6:30pm. Fortunately for me, it's about 5 miles from the house. So I can ride there and back and get a decent workout in overall.

On the schedule for today was an hour swim and 30min high rpm (100+) bike. I opted for the TT instead of a trainer ride because (1) it was sunny outside!!!, (2) I needed to get my max HR for the bike anyway, and (3) I'm not a big fan of the high rpm workout. It hurts my knees.

Swim: 6am, 00:52:16, 2200 meters
300m WU
8 x 50m drills
3 x 125m @ 20sec rest
2 x 175m @ 30sec rest
3 x 125m @ 20sec rest
4 x 50m drills (supposed to be 8x, but I ran out of time before work)
200m CD
Total = 2200m

Bike 1: 5:30pm, 00:49:06, 10.73 miles
To and from the TT. The way back sucked, but it was a good active recovery for my muscles.

Bike 2: 6:40pm, 00:30:16, 10 miles
First TT of the season. 19.82 mph average. Not too terrible for early in my training. I felt pretty good.
Average HR = 181
Max HR = 185

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A Long Way to Go

Day 3 of Week 1 Base Phase

A long way to go...not the race. But the journey to get to the starting line. I have a lot of work to do. When I tell someone that I'm doing an Ironman I usually get a quizzical look and then they say "the whole thing?" Yeah, the whole damn thing. "You mean, by yourself?" Yep, me and my two arms and my two legs and my two feet. I don't get offended, because I don't look like an Ironman. Not YET anyway.

Bike: 5:30pm, 00:30:06, 7.10 miles
Trainer ride b/c the roads were wet and the weather was completely unpredictable.

Transition to run: 00:02:00

Run: 6:02pm, 00:16:03, 1.22 miles
You know, a typical brick run. Sucky. But thankful to be running.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Off to a Good Start

Day 2 of Week 1 Base Phase
The first actual training day is done. Woohoo! I almost didn't get it done, but kept thinking "do I really want to start off the plan by missing a workout?" Um, most definitely not. But I woke up late, then the swim took longer than expected, and I didn't have enough time to get my run in before work. I proceeded to eat too much food during the day and by quitting time I was exhausted and sleepy and bloaty. But I took another peek at my "before" photos and strapped on the running shoes instead of crawling on the couch. I should probably tape those up around the house.

Anyway, day 2 is done! And I'm so excited for IMAZ. Go Team Prick! (aka Team Cacti for the under-age crowd.)

Swim: 6am, 00:57:24, 2500 meters
300m WU
8 x 50m drills
12 x 100m @ 20sec rest
8 x 50m drills
200m CD
Total = 2500m
This was hard. I'm slower than I remember and the drills kicked my butt. Lots of room for improvement. The biggest annoyance was that my swim cap keeps sliding off. Any ideas out there?

Run: 6pm, 00:32:19, 2.4 miles
This was supposed to be 30 minutes in Zone 2. I reach Z2 just by brushing my teeth. So I kept having to walk to bring my HR down and I kept getting more and more annoyed which would bring my HR up. I need to research this a bit more and see what all the theories are on training the run in Z2.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Week 1 Plan

Week 1, Build Phase

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: Swim 2500m, Run 0:30 Z2

Wednesday: Bike 0:30 Z2, quick transition, Run 0:15 Z2

Thursday: Swim 2500m, Bike 0:30 Z1 100+rpm

Friday: Run 0:30 Z2

Saturday: Bike 1:00...but I'm doing the 65mile Ride Around Clark County

Sunday: Run 0:45 Z2

TOTAL: 6 hours

Week 1

Week 1 of plan, Week 1 of Base Phase, Day 1

It's started! With a rest day. Who loves a training plan that starts with a rest day? THIS girl (points thumbs at myself). :-)

But I did do training related activities. Like make a few spreadsheets (okay, about 5), take "before" photos, weigh myself, and take measurements. Ken said "see ya in November". Such a dramaqueen. But back to the photos. I've been debating all day on whether to post the "before" photos prior to actually having an "after" photo. It's scary to have all my flaws up for the cyber-world to gawk and point at.

So I decided that 1 photo won't be too embarassing...and if I post one every week, then hopefully it will keep me honest. I'll keep the side view and rear shot for later on. Just be thankful that I'm not subjecting you to a sports bra/tri shorts photo of me at 215 pounds! I will not, however, post any of my measurements -- that's just too much for a girl to handle.

Week 1: 172 pounds

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Maximum HR Test

The training plan that I'm using for IMAZ is from the book "Be Iron Fit" by Don Fink. The main things that I like about his methodology are that it is 1) time-based instead of mileage-based and 2) he uses heart rate zones as a way to effectively maximize that time. So in prep for training (starts tomorrow!), I did a maximum heart rate (HR for those reading my blog who don't have the lingo down) test this morning. Since I don't have the bucks for a lab-based test measuring VO2 max, lactate levels, etc., I used a strategy from Joe Friel's book "Total Heart Rate Training." He's also the author of "The Triathlete's Training Bible." Lot's of good stuff in all three of the books I've mentioned.

Anyway, here's the deal for the HR test (done on a treadmill or at a track):
-Warm up for 10 minutes.
-Start a 30 minute time trial. After 10 minutes, hit the "lap" button on the HR monitor.
-The average of the last 20 minutes is your max HR.
-Cool down for 10 minutes.


I did the 10 minute warm up. Then I did the 10 minute start of the time trial and I hit the "lap" button. And then I made it 17 more minutes before I was either going to puke or pass out. Only 17 minutes! Wow, I suck. Then I cooled down for 10 minutes.
The results: average - 187, max - 194

I find that a bit odd since I know I've pushed myself into the 200's without puking OR passing out. The downside of not performing the test under lab conditions is that other factors like fatigue, heat, humidity, etc. can skew the results. But this is a good starting point to set my HR zones. In a couple of months I will re-do the test. Oh...so much fun.

My Zones: