Monday, May 31, 2010

day 143

BIKE- 3:49:24, 61.87 miles, 17.1 avg/mph, 117 bpm, 4795cals

day 142

Skipped swim, due to Nav-e-Sink swim race on Sunday.

RUN- 1:00:07, 6.70 miles (8:55/mile), 141bpm, 1157 cals

day 141

Swim- easy 2000
BIKE- 56:43, 16.48 miles, 17.7 mph, 121 bpm, 1285 cals

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

day 140

SWIM- 500 wu, 12x75 @20secs, 12x50 @15secs, 12x25 @10 secs, 200 cd
RUN- 49:05, 5.05 miles (9:33/mile), 137 bpm

Cut it short, had to pee really bad in the middle, so I stopped for a nature break. Tried to make it to the porta potty, but someone tipped it over. Peed in the woods instead.

day 139, week 21

MONDAY- REST
TUESDAY- SWIM, RUN 1:00 z2 (at 10:00, insert 3x6min z4 @ 2min jog)
WEDNESDAY- BIKE 45:00 (z2) transition to RUN 15:00 (z2)
THURSDAY- SWIM, BIKE 1:00 (at 15:00 insert 4x7min z4 @ 4 mins spin)
FRIDAY- SWIM, RUN 1:00 z2 (at 45min, insert 10min z4)
SATURDAY- BIKE 4:00 (z2)
SUNDAY- RUN 1:45 (z1 to z2)

This plan will most likely change somewhat, since I've registered to do a 2.4 open water swim in Rumson, NJ on Sunday morning. I will probably not swim Friday, and I'm not sure about running on Sunday after the swim. I might just swap it out and run Monday instead.

day 138

Sorry this is late. Sunday, a group of us went over to Philly to ride some hills...Manayunk to Valley Forge. Definitely what I need to do more of. My training is going well, but now, I really need to start working on the climbing aspect. First, for my legs. Second, for my bike. I have a 23 cog on the back, and I really need to look into swapping that out to give myself some gears for these climbs. I mean, I'm getting it done, somehow, this way...but I think to save my legs a little bit after climbing, I will need to add some granny gears to the mix.

BIKE- 60 miles, Manayunk to Valley Forge and back.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

day 137

RUN- 11.22 miles, 1:56:39, 10:23/mile, 125bpm, 1931cals

day 136

SWIM- 500wu, 8x50 @ 1:00, 300, 400, 500, 600 @ 1:00 rest, 300 cd
RUN- 6.45 miles, 58:29, 9:04/mile, 149bpm, 1093cals

Thursday, May 20, 2010

day 135

Swim workout skipped.

Tried to redeem myself by having a nice ride. (1:00 scheduled). Rode for 30 mins and quit. Not feeling it. No one to blame but myself.

Will try again tomorrow.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

day 134

BIKE 45:00, RUN 15:00

Pretty uneventful. Indoor workout. forgot to stop HR monitor, so my numbers are jacked. No biggie.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

day 133

SWIM, straight 3000... 51:15
RUN- 1:00 z2, with 4x4.5min z4 @ 1 min rest starting at 10:00. (135bpm, 836cals)

Monday, May 17, 2010

day 132, week 20

Weighed in at 209 this morning. :)


MONDAY- REST DAY
TUESDAY- SWIM, RUN 1:00 Z2 (at 10:00, insert 4x4.5 min z4 @ 1 min jog)
WEDNESDAY- BIKE 45:00 (z2) transition to RUN 15:00 (z2)
THURSDAY- SWIM, BIKE 1:00 (z2) (at 10:00, insert 8x4min Z4 @ 2min spin)
FRIDAY- SWIM, RUN 1:00 Z2 (at 45:00, insert 10:00 z4)
SATURDAY- BIKE 4:00 z2 (at 4:45, insert 5 min Z4)
SUNDAY- RUN 2:00 z1 to z2

days 128-131

Ok, I'm getting lazy..I know. Totally slacking on the info here. But, I promise I'll be better from here on out. Really, I get all pissed off when I don't take pictures and stuff. Because, my rides always have good roadkill, and theres this Turkish-American Association building that is in the middle of hick land that always intrigues me. It happens to be not far from the place where you can get your deer meat carved up. I don't know. Just always makes me smile when I ride past there.

DAY 128

Thursday, I got word of an open water swim being held nearby. I want to get as much open water swimming in as I can, since I had a small issue with "sighting" during the race last week. (those problems would continue, probably even worse, since I was swimming this time in a clockwise rotation, and I breathe to the left). The lake is called Wenonah Lake, and from what I heard, its pretty nasty. Figuring it couldn't be much nastier than the Cedarville Lake swim of the Devilman race, I decided to check it out with Bry and Karen. It was pretty well organized, and everyone was a little hesitant to get into the water at first. The water temp was in the low 60's, and the lake was murky, as expected, since nobody has been swimming in it since last summer. I hopped in, and as soon as I put my face in I wanted to get out. It was SOOO COLD! Like, crippling cold. AND...there were dudes without full sleeve wetsuits in there. Those guys are just a bit more manly than I am. Anyway, I swam 4 laps in there, totalling about a mile, and I was out and OK with being done. I was able to play around in my wetsuit a little bit (swimming intervals and stuff), to see the difference it makes. At times, I felt like I was speeding along. Amazing difference that wetsuit makes. I still sight for shit, so I need to work on that.

SWIM- 4 laps at Wenonah Lake (OPEN WATER), cold, with mucho grande shrinkage.

DAY 129
I decided I was going to run in the AM and swim in the PM. Got a late start on the run, so I only did 45:00. Then, during work, I found out that Rowan Rec Center was closed friday night, to prep for Graduation on Saturday. So Friday kinda sucked in Joe Training world.

RUN- 44:56, 4.57 miles, 9:38/mile, 139 bpm, 792 cals

DAY 130
Ran Saturday, instead of SUnday, since I had to work. Swapped bike/run this weekend.
RUN- 1:10:15, 7.31 miles, 9:32/mile, 137 bpm, 1273 cals

DAY 131
Got a call from Ben on Saturday asking if I was riding SUnday. I told him my plan of 4 hours, zone 2. Made sure that Sid Vicious wasn't gonna come along, as he would surely blow it up. Ben is a great guy to ride with, since he understands the importance of staying in heart rate zones while working out. We had a good ride, shooting the shit for nearly 4 hours, while struggling at times in a slight wind. Nice comfortable pace.
BIKE- 3:53:48, 64.90 miles (17.2mph), 122bpm, 7534 cals

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

day 127

Easy effort.

BIKE: 45:00/ RUN: 15:00

114bpm, 610 cals

day 126

RUN (am) 59:14, 5.86 miles
SWIM (pm)- 500 wu, 7x125, 7x75, 175 cd

Monday, May 10, 2010

day 125/week 19

Back to it.

MONDAY- REST
TUESDAY- SWIM, RUN 1:00 (z1 to z2)
WEDNESDAY- BIKE 45:00 transition to RUN 15:00 (z2)
THURSDAY- SWIM, BIKE 1:00 (z2)
FRIDAY- SWIM, RUN 1:00 (z2)
SATURDAY- BIKE 4:00 (z2)
SUNDAY- RUN 1:30 (z1 to z2)

*Will most likely flip flop Saturday and Sunday, since I have to work this Saturday.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

NJ Devilman "half-lite" Race Report

Well, yesterday was my first training race leading up to IRONMAN- Lake Placid. The race was called the NJ Devilman "half lite" triathlon, held in Cedarville, NJ. The distances were .8 mile swim, 40 mile bike, 8.8 mile run.

I was asked on Friday about my expectations for this race. I kinda knew what I was capable of, but I wanted to be realistic, since this was my longest race ever, and my first tri in a couple of years. I've been doing all of the things I need to do, but you still have to go out there on race day and put it all together. So, when asked, I thought about it some, and came up with what I felt was a reasonable goal. 23-30:00 swim, 2:00-2:15 bike, and a 1:20-1:30 run. With transitions in there, I expected to be somewhere in the 4 hour to 4:30 range for the race. I actually set the OVER/UNDER at 4:15, based on what I felt was a good guess.

I was really nervous driving down. I was able to calm down some by the time I got to the race site, but then the excitement of the packet pickup, and transition set up got me going again. This resulted in a couple of pre-race trips to the port-o-potty (as expected). I finally settled down, and the clock seemed to be ticking fast. Before I knew it, it was 7:45, and it was time for the "pre-race meeting". I listened, (well, half listened) to the instructions of the race director, all the while fiddling around with my wetsuit. (This would be my first time in the water in it). After the National Anthem, the racers and spectators headed over to the lake for the start of the sprint tri that was going off before ours. I still had about another 25 mins before my race would start. I talked to a couple from Maine, the guy was doing IM Austria in July. They seemed cool, and he told me his brother lives ON the IMLP bike course, so they go up every year to cheer the IM hopefuls. I told them to remember me, since I'll need all the help I can get.

So, finally it was time for my race to start. It came up quick, and as I jumped into the water, I realized how cold it was. I could really only feel it on my feet, so I guess the wetsuit did its job. The countdown wasn't long, and before I knew it, I was swimming. I started out comfortably, and after the typical cluster-f that is the first buoy turn, I started to get in my groove. On the back stretch, I was swimming along nicely, untouched, for a little bit. I decided to sight out the buoy, and I had a hard time finding it. It was supposed to be on my left, but I guess I got a little off course, and it was over to the right. I adjusted my course, and swam over to it. I probably lost a little time there, but I was more laughing at myself than frustrated. I swam around it, and continued on. From that point on, though, I made sure to sight more often, and the second loop went much better for me. As I was on the back stretch of the second loop, I started to get mixed in with the wave that started ahead of me, so that gave me a little confidence, since they started 5 mins before me. I finished strong, and before I knew it, I was out of the water and in transition.

I felt like I was taking forever in transition, but I didn't really sweat it, since I knew I had a long way to go, and seconds (even minutes) wouldn't kill me. (my transition ended up being around 3 mins or so, so it really wasn't "forever") I hopped on the bike and set out. I started my bike at around the same time as my buddy John, from work. We rode together for a little bit, reminding each other to "stay within" ourselves. It was super windy, but we started out with the wind at our backs a little bit. The course was a 20 mile "out and back", and we would do two loops. It was nice having that first 10 miles of tailwind, just to get going and get loose on the bike before the turnaround and battling that wind. They said the gusts were up to 40mph at times, and it felt like it was AT LEAST 41 mph. Jeez. I'm not exaggerating when I say that there were times it was hard to ride straight in the crosswinds. I ended up averaging around 19 mph, which I considered a win for me, given the conditions.

During the transition to the run, I made my biggest mistake of the day. I decided NOT to wear my sun sleeves, because, well, I don't know. I guess I was hot, and I guess I wanted to get out of there fast, but it ended up being a dumb decision, and I ended up paying the price with some nasty sunburn. I felt ok heading out on the run, I switched my Garmin over to RUN mode, and was off. I started out at a 9:30 pace, and ended up doing the first mile at around 9:15 or so. I felt pretty good up to about 3 miles, then the road turned right into that BRUTAL wind, which beat me down for the next two miles. At the turnaround (4.4 miles), I was telling myself that I was almost there, and it was a great feeling to run a few miles with that wind at my back. I started to crack a little at around 6-6.5 miles, and had to stop to pee on the side of the road. That seemed to work, because after that I found it in me to finish strong, with about a 9:30 for the last mile. I ended up running about a 10:00/mile pace, which included me "walking the water stops", advice given to me by several people. My run time was right at 1:30 for the 8.8 miles.

I finished the race in 4:17:03, a time that I was very happy with. Everything went according to plan...and while I know I still have a long way to go to get to IMLP, at least I know that the plan I'm following is getting me there.

After laying around, and eating and drinking the post race grub, I decided to stick around to see the awards given out. I heard the name of a friend of mine from tri class (Pete), for coming in 3rd place/men's 50-55. I decided to head over one last time to check to see if they posted my results yet. They had, and that's when I saw my 4:17:03. Just for the heck of it, I wanted to compare myself with the other Clydesdale's (my division). I noticed the first place Clydesdale had a really fast time of around 3:25, but then there was a big drop off. The next Clydesdale finished just a few places ahead of me. I was shocked when I realized that I was 3rd place in Clydesdale division. Just as I was quadruple checking the list, the announcer called my name for "THIRD PLACE/CLYDESDALE". I went up, and I got a nice shiny bronze medal. What a bonus. I was pretty stoked, and very proud of myself. After all, it wasn't that long ago that I was on the podium for the DONUT DERBY, and now here I was...winning a 3rd place medal for a "real" race.

Friday, May 7, 2010

day 122

Easy run, 20:00

Race day tomorrow!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

day 121

eh.

Swim- easy 30mins
Bike- easy 40 mins

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

day 120

Felt really good tonight. I was felt so rushed, getting home from work...getting changed really quick to get back out the door and get to my workout by 6. Pretty much just took the bike off the roof and hopped on it and took off. Had a nice ride of 45 mins, then switched into my running shoes for a 15 min run. I wore the tri suit outside of the house for the first time (lol), but I did wear something over it, so as to not look like a total tri geek out there wearing a race suit on a short training ride. I wanted to get the feel of it before I wear it "fer real" on Saturday. Seemed to work out.

BIKE- 43:31, 12.85 miles (18.3 mph...I was averaging over 19.5, but I did some easy spinning back to my car and rode the bike over to the track to run. *Not to make excuses...just sayin')
RUN- 15:00, 1.80 miles (8:12/mile)

day 119

Day 119 is one that I would like to forget. I just wasn't feelin' it. When I first got to the pool, I decided that I was going to do an easy straight swim instead of working out with the class. After swimming a 300 warm up, I decided to just stick with the class, and do the workout that Nick had for us. I just wasn't feeling so great...arms were heavy and it felt like every 25 was work! So, I decided to make up for it by having a good run. I start running and I felt like crap. My stomach was all acidic and I just couldn't get through it. So, I cut it short and bagged it.

So, anyway, I'll just move past that and focus on the rest of the week, and my race on Saturday.

Swim- crap
Run- crappier.

no worries.

day 118

This week's schedule:

MONDAY- REST
TUESDAY- SWIM, RUN - 1:00 (z2)
WEDNESDAY- BIKE 45:00 transition to RUN 15:00
THURSDAY- SWIM 30:00 easy, BIKE 1:00 z1
FRIDAY- BIKE 15:00 (z1, bike check), RUN- 20:00
SATURDAY- RACE (NJ Devilman Half Lite Triathlon)
SUNDAY- EASY 30 min Run

Sunday, May 2, 2010

day 116/117

Slacking on posts this weekend, I guess. Had to work yesterday, and today had some stuff going on as well. Yesterday, during my lunch break, I stopped at REI and bought some "sun sleeves". The sun, and the damage it causes, has been on my mind a lot recently...with the death of my cousin Joe last month (melanoma), and my dad has also had some run in with some pre-cancerous spots. So, to play it safe, I read about "sun sleeves" and May being Melanoma Awareness Month, and decided to give them a try. I was a little skeptical about whether they'd make me hot (not in the "thats hot" kinda way, but in the temperature way). Anyway, I wore them today for the first time on my bike ride, and they worked out. It was weird, because when I was riding, I was not hot at all...but then after, just sitting there, they did get a little hot. I will definitely be using them more.

One week til the NJ DEVILMAN HALF/LITE TRI. http://www.piranha-sports.com/Race72.aspx

I'm starting to get nervous..and starting to think about things like, 1) what will I wear. 2) what should I eat during. 3) what should I expect, since I've never done an open water swim with a wetsuit (therefore, never transitioned in a wetsuit)...etc. I guess thats what this race is all about. Working out the kinks. Hopefully the weather works for me. Physically, I feel like I'm ready. I've done everything that I'm supposed to do up til now. The distances are totally do-able, and I feel like I could have a really good race. I guess we'll see how it goes.

Here's the info from the last two days:

DAY 116
RUN- (started my run at 5:23 am, since I had to work)- 1:28:40, 9.17 miles (9:40/mile) 136bpm, 1606 cals

DAY 117
BIKE- 3:22:48, 59.04 miles, 17.6mph, 124bpm, 4591 cals