Wednesday, May 2, 2012
UGH
The good news is I had a great trip in Europe, but the bad news is I picked up a nasty sore throat and virus. I was able to get in two workouts (Sunday run & Monday swim), but had to skip my hour long bike ride yesterday. I might try to swim today depending how I feel after work. Last thing I want to do is be taking more days off after 11 glutenous eating and drinking days in Europe! Oh well, I'm still in good shape and a few more days off won't kill me.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Anniversaries, Trips and Training
It's been a whirlwind the last 11 days. Colleen and I celebrated our ten year anniversary in Europe and just arrived home yesterday, 4/28. We had some unbelievably fun times in Munich, Salzburg, and Prague. I would rank this vacation up there with the best of the best. Here are some snapshots of the memories...
It's been a great ten years of marriage and was a great anniversary trip, but today is a little bittersweet because the date (4/29) marks the 13th anniversary of my dad's passing. I still think about him a lot and really wished he was around to see some of my successes in life including my marriage, first house, and graduation from graduate school. I know he would have been proud of me. He was a great man who loved sports and was very athletic himself. I know he would have enjoyed watching me pursue my Ironman goal and would have certainly supported me greatly and this is why my 2012 Ironman journey is dedicated to his memory.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
The 20 week training plan
My how time continues to fly. My 10 year wedding anniversary is in 3 days and tomorrow we leave for an 11 day trip to Europe. We spend time in Munich, Prague, and Salzburg. We will surely do a ton of walking and also plan on doing city bike tours of both Munich and Prague. Ironically, as I've mentioned before, week 1 of my training plan starts next week while we are in Europe. I am wrapping up 4 solid weeks of training with a 7 mile run this morning and a 25 mile bike ride on the trainer tomorrow before we depart to O'Hare around noonish. I feel really good about where I am fitness-wise and although I won't be swimming or biking in 11 days, I do hope to get in some running in the Old Towns. I believe I will come back refreshed and ready to begin week 2 rested and well. In the meantime.....PROST!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Working Hard
Finally getting to the time of year where it isn’t pitch black through my entire morning runs. I love this time of year! Wake up call for me today was 5:30 followed by a little light stretching and out the door for a 7 mile run by 5:45. Unfortunately it is still pretty cold this time of year and today it was right at 30 degrees. Full winter gear still in effect which means hat & gloves. I was only in the dark for the first 20 minutes because sunrise is creeping up to 6:10 this morning. Ran through the hills and when I reached the top of one of the biggest hills the sun was just coming up on the horizon. A great sight for tired eyes.
Anyway, the legs are a bit tired at this point after 4 solid build weeks which included what I have coined a double doubler (two days in a row with double workouts). I’ve gotten through Thursday, but still have a couple more workouts to finish out the week. Here’s what things look like…...
Monday – 2500 yard swim in the morning, 14 mile bike ride in the evening.
Tuesday – Tough 4.6 mile tempo run in the morning & a 16 mile bike ride in the evening.
Wednesday – 2000 yard swim with intervals.
Thursday – 7 mile run in morning.
Friday – 1500 yard swim
Saturday – First (and probably only) big golf outing of the year. 36 holes at Grand Geneva!
Sunday – 40+ mile bike ride
Anyway, the legs are a bit tired at this point after 4 solid build weeks which included what I have coined a double doubler (two days in a row with double workouts). I’ve gotten through Thursday, but still have a couple more workouts to finish out the week. Here’s what things look like…...
Monday – 2500 yard swim in the morning, 14 mile bike ride in the evening.
Tuesday – Tough 4.6 mile tempo run in the morning & a 16 mile bike ride in the evening.
Wednesday – 2000 yard swim with intervals.
Thursday – 7 mile run in morning.
Friday – 1500 yard swim
Saturday – First (and probably only) big golf outing of the year. 36 holes at Grand Geneva!
Sunday – 40+ mile bike ride
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Course Changes and Misc Updates
Got an email on Friday from Ironman that the course is changing a bit this year. Some fairly minor changes on the bike course, but a big change in the swim course. Now instead of doing two loops of a rectangle in Lake Monona, we will be doing one large 2.4 mile rectangle instead. The consensus is this is a good course change becuase it limits the number of turns and it will allow swimmers to get into a groove and find open water sooner. WTC listens to the athlete's and makes changes based on our opinion. They do things the right way. Here is how the 2012 version of the swim is going to look for me......
As far as my training the last 6 weeks have been awesome. My body has responded well to the increases in training and I am ready right now to start my 20 week plan. I have built up the adequate endurance at this point where I have been spending 7-8 hours a week doing endurance work. In addition, I have been hitting the weights 2x a week for additional strength training. Things are going well and I am right where I wanted to be and then some. I've listed my totals for March below.
I've also have some of my personal life ducks in a row by making few purchases to help make my summer easier while doing my training. Here is the latest additon ---->
As far as my training the last 6 weeks have been awesome. My body has responded well to the increases in training and I am ready right now to start my 20 week plan. I have built up the adequate endurance at this point where I have been spending 7-8 hours a week doing endurance work. In addition, I have been hitting the weights 2x a week for additional strength training. Things are going well and I am right where I wanted to be and then some. I've listed my totals for March below.| March's totals: | ||
| Bike: | 15h 37m 20s - 257.35 Mi | |
| Run: | 8h 34m 30s - 53.8 Mi | |
| Swim: | 4h 47m 18s - 13450 Yd | |
| Strength: | 1h 55m | |
I've also have some of my personal life ducks in a row by making few purchases to help make my summer easier while doing my training. Here is the latest additon ----> Last but not least, I leave on a funny note. This has gone around for a while amongst Ironman. I saw it first last year from one of my friends who did Ironman and I still look at it often for a good laugh. It sums things up pretty well for me......
Friday, March 2, 2012
Checking in....
March 2nd and it is snowing like crazy with possibly up to 8" of snow today. Kind of a disappointment, but we've been having a great winter so I really can't complain.
I well into my base building phase and will be for another 2 months. Things are going well and I expect March to be a very strong month where I continue to watch my long bike rides and long swims increase in time and distance. Here is what I accomplished in February....
That's about it for today....time for me to go and eat dinner soon!
I well into my base building phase and will be for another 2 months. Things are going well and I expect March to be a very strong month where I continue to watch my long bike rides and long swims increase in time and distance. Here is what I accomplished in February....
| February's totals: | ||
| Bike: | 8h 22m 44s - 134.86 Mi | |
| Run: | 7h 11m 51s - 46.13 Mi | |
| Swim: | 4h 12m 55s - 11900 Yd | |
| Strength: | 15m | |
That's about it for today....time for me to go and eat dinner soon!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
OMG, where did the time go & what happened?
How did I do at Tyranena? Unfortunately I had to drop out because of a death in the family which put the funeral on the same date and virtually the same time as the race (11:00am). The run was not meant to happen for me. I have to admit that I was sad to miss the race, but obviously family time in this situation came first. My only complaint was that I put in a lot of specific hill training and was really looking forward to having a great race. But ultimately, this multi-year journey has had many such setbacks and the only date and race that is important to me is IRONMAN WISCONSIN on 9/9/12.
So what have I been doing since dropping out of Tyranena? From November 5th until the New Year, I wanted to take a little time off to rest some nagging injuries and celebrated the holidays. I did lose some of my run fitness in that time, but I was still able to participate in the "Run into the New Year" on December 31st at State Fair Park. A fun little 5K race to kick the winter blues. I also found that this little race helped me jump-start my training again towards Ironman. Although not my best 5K, overall I was happy finishing in 23:43. Here's a race sponsored picture....
Now we are officially into 2012 and I start turning things up a notch. The first couple of weeks in January were primarily run-focused with just a touch of swim and bike work. In mid-January I put together my workout schedule for 16 weeks of endurance base building. This 16 week phase has little intensity or speed-work and will only focus on building endurance in all 3 sports. This work will allow me to actually begin the 20 week Ironman plan which will continue the endurance building as well as integrating both volume and intensity. Although my swim and run fitness are close to where they need to be to begin the 20 week plan, my cycling fitness is not. That is good because I miss my bike and am looking forward to reacquainting myself with my bike!
As a side note, I also keep a detailed training log in the online world of Beginner Triathlete (BT). It has been a tremendous tool for all things related to triathlon. I log every swim, bike and run I do in this log and it helps me keep tabs on my fitness & preparation for Ironman. Here is a glimpse into the world of my BLOG page in BT.....
How did I do at Tyranena? Unfortunately I had to drop out because of a death in the family which put the funeral on the same date and virtually the same time as the race (11:00am). The run was not meant to happen for me. I have to admit that I was sad to miss the race, but obviously family time in this situation came first. My only complaint was that I put in a lot of specific hill training and was really looking forward to having a great race. But ultimately, this multi-year journey has had many such setbacks and the only date and race that is important to me is IRONMAN WISCONSIN on 9/9/12.
So what have I been doing since dropping out of Tyranena? From November 5th until the New Year, I wanted to take a little time off to rest some nagging injuries and celebrated the holidays. I did lose some of my run fitness in that time, but I was still able to participate in the "Run into the New Year" on December 31st at State Fair Park. A fun little 5K race to kick the winter blues. I also found that this little race helped me jump-start my training again towards Ironman. Although not my best 5K, overall I was happy finishing in 23:43. Here's a race sponsored picture....
Now we are officially into 2012 and I start turning things up a notch. The first couple of weeks in January were primarily run-focused with just a touch of swim and bike work. In mid-January I put together my workout schedule for 16 weeks of endurance base building. This 16 week phase has little intensity or speed-work and will only focus on building endurance in all 3 sports. This work will allow me to actually begin the 20 week Ironman plan which will continue the endurance building as well as integrating both volume and intensity. Although my swim and run fitness are close to where they need to be to begin the 20 week plan, my cycling fitness is not. That is good because I miss my bike and am looking forward to reacquainting myself with my bike!
As a side note, I also keep a detailed training log in the online world of Beginner Triathlete (BT). It has been a tremendous tool for all things related to triathlon. I log every swim, bike and run I do in this log and it helps me keep tabs on my fitness & preparation for Ironman. Here is a glimpse into the world of my BLOG page in BT.....
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