Japanese Fireworks Training

I need digital displays to train. I am the farthest thing from a purist who can put on his sweat clothes and start exercising. Give me data. I need data before, during and after each workout to keep me going.

Data for me comes in two forms right now:

1) HR decoupling for run and bike
2) 50M interval times on the swim

I am not going to get into the swim right now. Despite significant progress the swim is still embarssing.

The HR is fascinating me. The training bible tells me I should be shooting for long (1hr+) steady state training in my Zone 2 HR (unfortunately I need to guess at this for I do not know my LT for bike and run. I am guessing right now that my LT is 175 on the run and 160 on the bike). That means that I should be in a steady 145-155 on the run and 130-145 on the bike.

Decoupling occurs when in steady state (consistent power/pace effort) the HR begins to drift past 105% of target HR. The wintertime is fantastic for data junkies. Over the past three weeks of active training, I am beginning to see some improvement in decoupling (the HR exceeds 105% later and later in the workout). Additionally, I have 3 more months to build my "base" period.

Ideally, there will be no drift and no decoupling during a 1.5 hour workout by the end of March. Right now I am dcoupling at about 40 mins on the run and 50 mins on the bike. Stay tuned.

Goal Setting 2009

I have been re-reading Joe Friel's training bible again. My goal this week is to officially lock down the 2009 training plan. I first need to pick my "A" races for the season. Joe suggests no more than 2. That's the tough part.

Currently I am thinking that 1 will be the Hammerfest for two reasons:

1. It is an official USAT sanctioned race
2. I completed this race last year, so I have a benchmark to work with

The second A race will be trickier. Sachem's Head has sentimental value, but I would like to see if I can complete an Olympic race in July...if I can find the right one!

What happened to my run?

Chris was kind enough to take me out on a morning run on Tuesday (see training log to the right). Yuck.

There are many things that I am proud of for 2008. For the first time I ran more than 3 miles, I can go more than 2 laps without stopping my swim (try 2 miles!), I did a number of formal and informal triathlons including my first USAT official Triathlon.

Yet what happened to my run? An 8:16 split over 5.4 miles?

Back in June I could run 6 miles with an average pace (non-race mode) of 7:37. Check it out here.

But an 8:16 just 6 months later?

In all fairness I have not exercised regulary in Nov/Dec. Furthermore I have been working a heck of a lot harder on my swim than on my run. But it does go to prove that no matter how much work you do over the course of a year, fitness wanes...quickly.

New Cyclops Trainer

For Christmas I got a ton of new training stuff. One of the highlights is the Cyclops trainer (with bike thong). Even though I am mechanically challenged, it took me 10 mins to get this thing setup and pop my Felt on it.

The first thing you read when you open the box though is the warning "This trainer generates a lot of heat and can wear through tires quickly). Never one to ignore a warning, I think I will see if Zane's has any spare wheels I could pop on so that I can save my Felt wheel for racing.

Quick (42:33) training ride today. Put in a DVD that came with the trainer. Got to listen to Robbie Ventura pontificate about the energy in a criterium. Actually, the DVD was a help.

Let's see if I can keep with if for a few months!

Heartrate Inflation

My normal 6 mile run around the green and fairgrounds was interesting. I was trying to keep my cadence higher, which ultimately meant that I would expect my heartrate to be higher. I was shooting for my "Zone 4" which would be between 160-168 bpm.

The interesting part is that even though my perceived exertion and HR exertion was higher, my time for this loop was only about 30 seconds faster. Maybe that's OK. I will have to talk to Coach Ruser about that, but I would have hoped for something more in the 2 minute range.

That said, with the lack of sleep and time change playing chaos with my body, I am not surprised that the HR was a bit inflated even without the intentional extra effort. Undoubtedly that dampened any performance gains made.

Intercontinental Running

I went out for a run at 9:00PM on Tuesday. Why so late? Because my body thought it was 4:00, I had had dinner already and the internet connection wasn't strong enough at the hotel to do work.

England is a great place to run. They have all of these "footpaths" that take you through fields, graveyards, seawalls and farms. While I had to ask for directions back to the hotel after half an hour, I had a great time and it really was nice to have a change in scenery.

The most interesting part of the whole run? I saw spots for about 5 minutes. Nice glowing objects in the middle of my eyes. I am not going to get too wrapped up in this. It was dusk out, and I was dealing with time zone issues. But still, weird. I wasn't working that hard, and felt very good.

I got back to the hotel just before 10:00PM and it was still somewhat light out! Wow.

2 for 2 - or - DQ'ed (again)

Fairfield Du-It

DQ'ed. Not my fault at all. Even the race director gives a "mea culpa" as one catholic described it to me. That means that I have DQ'ed from 2 out of 3 official races and 2 out of 4 total races. Yes, I have a complex about that.

The 2 for 2? I have now dropped a water bottle in 2 straight races. I am going to get arrested for littering at some point.

It wasn't a bad race though for me. My bike needs a lot of work, but the run cadence was great and the 1st run time wasn't far off of where I was hoping. Don't get me wrong, I was much more pleased with the Greenwich cup performance, but the stats on this race were fine with me (with the exception of T2 and R2 when I knew I was DQ'ed and was just for exercise at that point).

Results posted here. Note 13th place.

Many thanks to Peter Fitton for heading south with me for this race. He sounded pretty upbeat about the whole thing.