Ironman Training Diary

 

Day 222 – still feeling beat up, so limited my workout to 1,500 yard steady swim, which felt great. Focus on enjoying the feeling of swimming. I’ll be lucky to finish Mont-Tremblant, with these running issues, but I’ll give it the good old college try.

Day 221 – 2 x 1-mile run, plus 2 x 500 yards pickups on rollers, and best running yet. It will probably irritate my plantar fasciitis a little (which is did), but I’m working on that.

Days 218-220 – training interrupted by a visit to the Appalachian trail, in the Shenandoah National Park, with little phone service, let alone Internet, so I focused on fixing that heel pain, which is nearly gone, using our 5-step approach.

Camping on the Appalachian Trail.

On the Appalachian Trail.

Day 217 – Roller work, and exercises prescribed by Rebecca, my movement expert, are paying off, but not ready to run yet. So today: 1000-yard steady swim, focusing on the joy of swimming, 15-minute water run, 30-min easy bike trainer ride, all followed by rolling and stretching, targeting that left leg and pelvis to some degree.

Day 216 – Fascinating. Those arch supports sure helped my right calf, and in spite of going easy at first they triggered plantar fasciitis in my left heel (never had it in the left foot before), so I better fix that using our own ideas (see limberfeet.com). Had a session with Rebecca, and we tracked it down to a small region of my left gluts, yanking on my pelvis and throwing off my stride – let’s see if we can fix it, as I’m running out of time for Mont-Tremblant. There is always something in the Ironman game.

Day 215 – 1000 yard steady swim, 2 x 2-mile run, 10 min spin to loosen out my legs, followed by gentle rolling.

Day 214 – 2 x 2-mile run, easing back in, nicely, plus rolling and stretching.

Day 213 Easy does it. Lots of short workouts, getting ready for Mont-Tremblant. Shoe inserts helping. Conclusion today, which I knew already, is that plodding beats you up more than truly running. Easy swim, focusing on whole body swimming, which felt great, only 500 yards, then 2 x 2 miles walk/run (#1) and run/walk (#2). Picking up the pace, and rolling plenty. All followed by a massage from Tara (Ouch!).

Tarantula

Females are scary and dangerous, and as a spider you would know that, though human males seem blithely unaware. Photo by FitOldDog.

Day 212 – 85-mile steady cruise on the bike, some pretty hilly and very hot. Was going to run, after, but too tired to work with my new shoe situation. Will work on that tomorrow after my swim. Certainly much stronger on the bike, which is encouraging.

Day 211 – lots of rolling, about to run, when Deb said, “You have all these problems with your tight calf, but when you had arch supports in your shoes, you never complained of a calf issue?” I reluctantly put the ‘crutches’ back in my shoes, which felt weird, ran some, and no effect on my calf. They’re not even very agressive arch supports. Now I’ve got 5 weeks to get used to them. Thanks, Deb!!

Day 210 – short pre-run trainer bike ride, 5 min x 80 watts (warmup), 26 min x 110 watts (90 cadence), 4 min x 140 watts (55 cadence), 5 min x 50 watts easy cool down. Then a walk/run -> run/walk for 4.5 miles, in the heat with Willbe: here he is now,

Willbe collapsed from the heat.

No he’s not dead, he’s just a little tired, poor chap, but well hydrated, I assure you.

 

Day 209 – Easy 1,000 yard swim, focus on lengthening my ‘boat,’ and holding the water, but using my whole body, followed by 2.5-mile trail run/walk, increasing run and decreasing walk based on calf tightness, which was minimal.

Day 208 – took a second rest day, and it felt wise.

Day 207 – body and mind feel beat up, so took a rest day, just gentle stretching and rolling.

Day 206 – rest, stretch, roll, massage, sleep well, in preparation for hitting the run tomorrow, after a swim (4,000 yards? – we’ll see!). Takes longer to recover right now, which is interesting.

Day 205 – planned a 4,000 yard swim, but bailed at 2,500 as my body said, “No way!” Tired from the bike ride. Needed more recovery time.

Day 204 – 100-mile bike ride, first 32 miles easy, rest a steady push. That took it out of me – still not back fully, that’s for sure.

Day 203 – 3,000 yard swim TI style, which is starting to feel normal. Plenty of stretching and rolling to get the tight spots out of my legs from the long run.

Day 202 – easy 40-mile bike ride on rollers. Felt good, with some pickups.

Day 201 – slightly tight left heel, easily fixed with rollers and stretching, then onto a solid training day of 3,000 yard continuous swim Total Immersion Swimming style, which cost me 1 sec/50 yards (my goal now is to minimize effort without too much loss of speed, as that will come back), followed by a steady push on the bike for 40 miles in the heat.

PS the circular motion of the elbow, in a forward direction takes the load off of my chronically tight/sore rotator cuffs, and that is worth 1 sec/50 yards, for sure.

 

Day 200 – easy 10-mile spin on the bike to-from the Honeysuckle Tea House, followed by 2 hours run-walk, slowly increasing the amount of running, as I titrated my calf, covering 8 miles, with no sign of the ITBS that occurred at Eagleman.

The Honeysuckle Tea House

The Honeysuckle Tea House.

Day 199 – TIME TO MANAGE EXPECTATIONS, AS RECOMMENDED BY GLENN: Ok, based on my performance at Eagleman, I’ll be lucky to finish Mont-Tremblant within the 17 hour cutoff. So, let’s train for a long steady race, starting with the swim, for which I’m moving back to TI Open Water Style – 1 hour steady, swimming from my hips, covered 3,000 yards exactly. Felt good, but slow. Followed by 3-mile hilly trail run in Hokas, using Chi Running technique – NO sore feet, and very little calf tightening. Promising, if I can do 140.6 miles that way.

Day 198 – 30 minute spin on the trainer bike at 110 watts, including 3 x 1 min at 160 watts, to warn my legs about what is on the way, followed by 2-mile hilly trail run with the dogs, in my Hoka One Ones. Felt weird, but less strain on my feet.

Day 197 – 4-mile hilly trail run in Nike Frees, but they cause my feet to ache something terrible, and still some calf tightening. Time to reconsider Hokas.

Day 196 – great birthday camping and fishing, and paddled 3 miles back to the coast, against the tide.

Day 195 – 3-mile kayak trip to Bear Island, against the tide, and set up camp.

Day 194 – toughened my feet, on a 4-mile hilly single-track trail run in Nike Frees, with Deb, who dropped behind then pulled ahead as my feet said, “Enough already.” Good training, back in my Brooks Glycerin. Off to kayak to Bear Island for my Birthday tomorrow. Oh! Yes! Lots of roller work and stretching.

Day 193 – mix and match (all runs on hilly neighborhood roads), 0.5-mile run, roll and stretch, swim 2,000 yards long and steady, 2 x 1-mile runs, with stretch and roll before and after each, bike 10 min easy spin at 80 watts to spin out my legs, 1.5 hour massage, by Tara, to find and work out tight areas.

FitOldDog with masseuse, Tara House.

FitOldDog with his great masseuse, Tara House.

Day 192 – easy trail run, preceded and followed by roll and stretch sessions.

Day 190 – REST day, no massage, no training, complete rest. Quads are tight from biking 100 miles this weekend, and it’s time to allow for repair.

Day 189 – morning run (2-miles), plus some pickups and roller work on my right calf, which is showing improvement.

Easy swim, based on TI approach, long steady stroke, high in the water, meditative, just 1,400 yards. Afternoon run -> here we go. It turned into a 4-mile walk with the dogs, and to my surprise, when I climbed steep slopes, which always tightened up my right calf, NOTHING. Self-applied myofascial massage is working.

Day 188 – 50-mile ride consisting of a mixture of easy social pace with hill spin ups and intermittent pickups, making 100 miles for the weekend. I needed that.

Day 187 – nice 50-mile ride with Rory. Need to do a lot more long rides before Mont-Tremblant!!!

FitOldDog with his friend and cyclist, Rory.

Great ride with Rory today, including Booth Hill, which wasn’t so bad, after all. Deb doesn’t like the long shorts, guess I don’t either!

Day 186 – short run workouts, attempting to find a style that doesn’t tighten my calf. It’s elusive, but I’m sure it’s there!

Day 185 – short strength workout on the bike trainer. 5 min x 80 watts, 5 min x 110 watts (warmup), 2 x 130 watts {10 min 90 cadence, 5 min 55 cadence}, 5 min x 80 watts, cool down. Short run to find non-calf tightening style – not there yet!!!

Day 184 – rest day, just a gentle 4-mile walk across town in the heat. Long run tomorrow.

Day 183 – 1-mile run/walk, moving at a decent pace, focus on soft feet and relaxed calves, whilst running with my whole body (felt like I used to run); rolled and stretched thoroughly before and after.

Day 182 – multiple short runs, interspersed with lots of rolling and stretching the the goal of getting my right calf to release – now that it would not appear to be blood flow-related, based on tests a the Cleveland Clinic, I can approach the problem as biomechanical, and fix it. Let’s see how I do.

Day 181 – gentle 2-mile trail run with Deb and Willbe, preceded and followed by much rolling of calves, and hamstring stretching.

Willbe in pond.

Willbe loves trail running with us – what a lovely dog. Photo by FitOldDog

Bike – short strength ride, 5 min x 80 watts (warmup), 5 min x 120 watts, 5 min x 160 watts, 3 min x 180 watts, 2 min x 80 watts (cool down), followed by short run. Day 180 – training resumes, in the form of stretching, single calf raises, gentle running around parking lots, and whatever else I can think of as we undertake the long drive back to Chapel Hill, NC – home again.

Day 179 – spend much of the day at the Cleveland Clinic, where I find out that all is well with my stent graft and it’s extension:

CT scan of FitOldDog's aneurysm, showing shrinkage, which is good.

FitOldDog’s abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft repair has resulted in initial shrinkage of his aneurysm, meaning all is well thanks to Tara’s team at the Cleveland Clinic.

and we spend a wonderful evening with Alan (4.2 ascending aortic aneurysm), his wife Deb, who treat us to dinner, and their delightful daughter Rachael, who also enjoys dinner with us. Thanks Deb and Alan, it’s very much appreciated.

Deb and Alan, in Cranberry.

Deb and Alan were great hosts, and we certainly enjoyed out evening, talking of many things, not just aortic disease! This was early morning the next day, which is why Alan is falling asleep again. Photo by FitOldDog.

Day 178 – drive to Cleveland, pick up Deb at the airport, check into the Hotel Alcazar, and enjoy a great meal at Night Town, just down the road.

Night Town restaurant, Cleveland, OH

Night Town is a wonderful place to eat, inside or out. Photo by FitOldDog.

Day 177 – drive to Eric’s house (an old friend, and another veterinary pathologist), and we enjoy a meal and conversation. Thanks, Eric!

Eric, friend of FitOldDog.

Eric, a long time friend of FitOldDog.

Day 176 – long brick, the Eagleman Half Ironman, with OK swim (first out of the water, second over the mat – interesting thing happened!), OK bike, run messed up by tight calf and ITBS, but I should be able to fix that in time for Mont-Tremblant, in August. I’d better. Interesting day.

FitOldDog's results at the 2014 Eagleman Half Ironman

As you can see, a slow swim (though first out of the water, second over the mat – that’s another story), OK bike considering state of training, and slow run due to continued calf problems, which I’m fixing right now.

Day 175 – racked my bike, checked out the course details, chilled out, and cooked good food (carboload food).

Bike racked at Eagleman.

FitOldDog’s bike, racked a the Eagleman Half Ironman 2014 transition area.

Day 174 – enjoy camping, cooking, and all the animals in the campground, plus a visit to the Expo to buy some tubes and presents.

Animals at the Taylors island Family Campground.

The Taylors Island Family Campground has loads of tame rabbits, birds, and toads.

Day 173 – rest day, driving to Cambridge Maryland for the Eagleman Half Ironman on Sunday. Set up camp, at Taylor’s Island Family Campground. Collect registration package, and generally chill out.

Taylors Island Family Campground store.

Taylors Island Family Campground store. I enjoyed staying in this place, which is designed for fishermen rather than triathletes.

Day 172 – typical pre-race workout: 500-yard swim, pushing gently, 30-min bike trainer ride (5 min x 80 watts warmup, then a gentle ramp, all at 90-95 cadence, (5 min x 110 watts, 5 min x 120 watts, 5 min x 130 watts, 5 min x 140 watts), 5 min x 80 watts cool down. 2-mile hilly road run off of the bike.

Day 171 – rest day, but plenty of stretching and rolling.

Day 170 – Easy swim (1000 yards, building all the way) and easy run (1-mile rolling, on roads, experiencing the toughest part of any run, the first mile) – taper continues.

Day 169 – Rest day – really need to rest and relax my legs. Age has it’s consequences, including the need for more recovery time.

Day 168 – Rest day (several needed, as I head into preparation for the Eagleman Half Ironman race, on June 8th).

Day 167 – just a Choptank River session, 2,200 yards (500 free, 500 pull, 500 free, 500 pull, 200 free, including sighting drill once per 25 yards, and head up drill for the last 50 yards of each set). I was going to do it 2x but decided against it before hitting the water, as I’m still tired from day 165. Slowly, slowly catchy monkey (Greg!).

Day 166 – rest day. With some rolling and stretching, and thoughts about the meaning of life. I got this comment on Facebook from Kenneth, which makes all this ‘athlete with stent’ stuff worth the candle – Thanks for sharing your experiences, after receiving my stentgraft four weeks ago I am finding your blogs and Facebook posts to be some of the best info available in my situation. Best of luck with all you do.” Thanks for the encouragement, Kenneth.

Day 165 – 2 brick day – mental training for Eagleman Half Ironman on June 8th.

Brick #1 morning: 3-mile steady run, followed by 30 min water run, followed by 2,200 yard swim as race simulation (500 free, 500 pull, 500 free, 500 pull, 200 free, including sighting drill once per 25 yards, and head up drill for the last 50 yards of each set). Brick #2 afternoon/evening: 3-hour bike trainer ride at 120 watts, 5 min x 80 watts warmup, 12 x (10 min 90-95 rpm, 5 min 50-55 rpm), 5 min x 80 watts cool down, followed directly by a 2-mile run. The first mile was tough, but then I started to cruise, which was encouraging. Nutrition/Hydration/Electrolytes = one Honey Stinger per hour, 1 x 16 oz bottle of Powerbar Perform, energy/electrolyte drink per 30 min; same stuff that they provide all the races now, so I might as well get used to it. Worked for Nigel in Houston.

Day 164 – 3.5-mile steady run, which is actually coming back. Need a few more short runs, then a longer one before Eagleman on June 8th. Time flies when you’re having fun. Oh Yes! Another 2-mile run, picking up the car.

Day 163 – easy 20-mile spin on the bike, followed by race practice for Eagleman in a couple of weeks. The plan was 2,200 yards straight, 500 free, 500 pull, 500 free, 500 pull, 200 free, including sighting drill once per 25 yards, and head up drill for the last 50 yards of each set. Was doing fine until the fire alarm went off 1,500 yards in:

Fire alarm at FitOldDog's pool.

Swimmers come out as firemen go in. Photo by Rick.

Day 162 – easy, 30-mile spin on the bike.

Day 161 – standard short workout, bike to run.

Bike – 1 hour, comprising (cadence in parentheses) 5 min by 80 watts, 5 min x 110 watts (90), 3 x [10 min x 140 watts (90), 5 min x 140 watts (55)], 5 min x 110 watts cool down. Run – 3.5 miles, mixing up hilly road with single track hilly trails.

FitOldDog's swim May 23 2014

Day 160 swim.

Day 160 – 2 x 1-mile run on hilly road loop, then 4,000 yard swim, followed by another 1-mile road loop.

Day 158 – 3 x 1-mile runs on hilly road loop, working on relaxed feet and loose calves.

Day 157 – rest day number 2 (takes me two days after hard training, but it never did when I was younger!!!!!). Continuum session with Rebecca, and we also worked on our Plantar Fasciitis Product rebuild plan.

Day 156 – real easy rest day, just 2,000 yards steady in the pool – legs needed  real rest. AND based on Nigel’s advice, I transferred my Lake Placid spot to the new Maryland Ironman in September (thus the clock change to the Mont-Tremblant Ironman, above, for which I am already registered and there are 70 Kona slots). Reasons will be explained in a blog post later today or tomorrow. Very good decision, as I just cannot put out the wattage on the bike I need for the hills in the Lake Placid race, as I still come back from my surgery in December 2013. Thanks, Nigel.

Day 155 – long easy run for 2 hours on the roads, real real easy, working on loose calves and enjoying moving.

 

Day 154 – nice, solid brick today, one straight after the other.

Swim – steady 2,000 yards, with focus on high cadence, whilst not dumping too much water from the power stroke.

Run – 1 hour water running, which kicks butt. The transition from water running to the bike was tough for the first hour on the bike, as I’m not used to this pattern.

Bike – 3 hour trainer bike ride, working from endurance to hill climb, as follows (with cadence in parentheses):

5 min x 80 watts, warmup, 30 min, using a cycle of 10 min (90), 5 min (55), repeating for 5 x 30 min set at 110, 120, 110, 130, 110 (that’s 2:35 done), then a 30 min hill climb simulation (a hill is what you get at the end of the Lake Placid bike leg, but it’s not a simulation), with 5 min (50 – 55 rpm) at 140, 145, 150, 155, 160, 170, then a light spin down at 50 watts. That was a solid ride.

Oh Yes! Nutrition/hydration/electrolytes on the bike – 2 Honey Stingers per hour (about 250 cal), generous dose of water (16 oz bottle per 45 min), and electrolyte solution (Endurolytes Fizzy Tabs), about 2/3 bottle per hour.

Day 153  rest day, and watched Nigel get his roll down slot for Kona, which made it a great day, and travelled home from Houston to Asheville, via Charlotte – long day. Nigel certainly had a lot of supporters, so here is a small sample.

Some of NIgel's Ironman supporters.

Left to right, Luke, Stacey, Treasa, Deb, Rory, Jess, going clockwise – thanks, guys and girls, Nigel certainly appreciated it.

Day 152 – walked all over the place on hot concrete following Nigel around the Texas Ironman course, and got some nice footage, of which here is one example – the rest I’ll combine into a decent movie after the race.

Run – 1 hour on the running machine after the race, working on hill climb, and approaches that don’t tighten up my calf, plus some speed work.

Day 151  two sessions on the running machine in the hotel in Houston, 30 min (morning) and 45 min (evening). Nigel suggested hill running, which I did for 2 x 5 min (7 and 8 % grade), during the evening session. As he suggested, it certainly loosened up my calves – an alternative to single calf raises, and better training. Need to do more of that.

Day 150 – fly to Houston from Charlotte with Nigel, for his go at the 2014 Texas Ironman race. Did 30 min on the running machine before going to bed, easy, with some pickups.

Day 149 – pushing my limits a bit on the bike, as I continue to struggle back to full training – remember, I averaged 159 watts for just under 7 hours on the bike in the 2010 Lake Placid Ironman, the race that revealed by abdominal aortic aneurysm. So I have a way to go, but I was very happy with today’s workout.

Moonrise

Moonrise, taken with my iPhone, and I just liked it, so I put it here. Photo by FitOldDog.

Bike – goal to hold 140 watts for 1 hour, and I did. Interesting workout, with thoughts of stopping several times, but I ignored them. Here it is, with cadence in parentheses: 5 min x 80 watts (90) and 5 min x 110 watts (90), warmup, followed by 1 hour at 140 watts in the following sequence ->

4 x {10 min seated, (90), 1 min standing (55), 4 min seated (55)

5 min (whatever) cool down.

Kicked my butt, but I did it! Not bad this soon out of surgery (last December).

Day 148 – rest day!

Day 147  solid swim, plus run rehab, stretching, rolling, and calf raises.

Swim Workout May 12 2014

Day 147 swim workout. Made the intervals, pretty well, though the last set of 100s were tough.

Day 146 – easy, 32-mile recovery spin on the bike. 

Essential long ride training gear.Day 145 – endurance trainer ride, 5 min x 80 watts (warmup), 4 hours at 110 watts, 90 rpm. The last 15 minutes were a killer, which is purely psychological – an interesting phenomenon that I wrote about previously.

Here is the essential equipment that kept me going, without which I would have ground to a halt a lot sooner.

View from urinal at Bass Nights Lone Cedar Restaurant at the Outer Banks NC USA Day 144  solid workouts, combined with a trip to the Outer Banks with my son, Nick, where he likes to kite board, and I run around an asphalt track. We ate at Bass Nights Lone Cedar Cafe on the way back, and had a great meal, with very good service and an enjoyable ambience, the image shows the view from one of the urinals, which I thought was a nice touch.   Bike – short strength workout (cadence in parentheses), 5 min x 80 watts (90), 5 min x 110 watts (90), 5 min x 140 watts (90), 5 min x 160 watts (90), 5 min x 180 watts (55), with 1 min sitting, 1 min standing, alternating, 5 min x 110 watts (90). Happy to get back to 180 watts, at last. Run – 9 miles on asphalt track, using ASICS gel shoes, and yes, they are much better for my feet. 

FitOldDog's new ASICS gel running shoes, with Smart Wool socks (only if it's not raining).

FitOldDog’s new ASICS gel shoes, with Smart Wool socks (only if it’s not raining), which he will have to use, as he’s not strong enough in the feet to handle Nike Frees – Bummer!!!! Photo by FitOldDog.

Day 143  a day of dealing with shoes and feet. Continuum session with Rebecca, once again warning me against using Nike Frees for Ironman races, as not enough support (Rebecca and Glenn agree on this!). So, had a session of lower leg massage, and did a very short (0.5 mile run in my new ASICS gel, which feel heavy and weird, but, yes, surprise, surprise, more supportive). Time is running out on this one. Day 142 – swim, followed by short technique workout at the track. Got this out late because I was side-tracked by an enjoyable liquid lunch with my artist friend, Andy.

FitOldDog with his old artist friend, Andy Fleishman.

Great lunch in Durham, with my old friend Andy Fleishman, at The Republic.

400 Warm-up 6 * 50 1:00 400 :30 rest 4 * 100 1:50 400 :30 rest 4 * 100 1:45 400 :30 rest 4 * 100 1:40 800 pull [had to drop this, as I ran out of time – bummer] 200 Warm-down

Andy Fleishman's bridge, true art.

Andy makes some really beautiful things, and he has taught me a lot. Click image for link to his site.

Day 141  rest day, much needed.

Picture of FitOldDog with Jess and Nick

Rest day with Jess and Nick – I even had an ice-cream. Selfie for Deb (at work, but loves to see her kids are happy). Photo by FitOldDog.

Day 140  nice steady, swim, good ol’ Rick special, with brokens.

400 Warm-up

6 * 75 even: swim-drill-swim, odd-reverse it 1:30

6 * 300 5:30

                1/4 – straight

                2/5 – broken @ 150 :10

                3/6 – broken @ 100 :10

9 * 100 pull 3 on 1:50, 1:45, 1:40

200 Warm-down

Plus, 2-mile walk/run with dogs – fascinating study of biomechanics – my calf tightens if I walk one way, but not another. How odd! Day 139  64-mile bike ride, comprising 2 x 32 miles, first easy spin, second pushing  most of the time (average pace about 15.5 – 16 mph). Felt strong, but tired at the end. Day 138 – mental training day: Bike – 2 hours easy cruise with Sue, spinning up the inclines, but otherwise just steady riding. Beautiful day to be out there. Run (walk/run) – straight off the bike, 3 hours walk/run on the roads, first 2 hours at 10 min walk, 10 min run, last hour 5 min walk, 10 min run, attempting to pick up my run pace as I went. It was tough, painful, slow, and encouraging. Day 137 – easy day, especially for my legs in preparation for the weekend.

Bridge on trail near FitOldDog's house.

The dogs love these single trails, because they can run around all over. Photo by FitOldDog

Swim – nice short swim (3,000 yards), with a not-boring series of sets. I held the times, and I had the feeling that water running helped me to hold the 1:45s on the 8*100, which I did as a single 800 set, pulling each 50 down by 1 second on the clock, to bring me in with 16 secs to spare for the 1:45 pace.

400 Warm-up 8 * 50 drill/swim 1:10 400 7:00 2 * 200 3:30 4 * 100 1:45 8 * 100 pull 1:45 200 Warm-down

Patterns of nature.

I love seeing the patterns created by Nature, as we take our walks. What a delight to be alive. Then Willbe pissed on it – needed the nitrogen, he woofed. Photo by FitOldDog.

Walk #1 – 2.5 miles on single trails with the dogs, who loved it (no leash). Focus on soft feet, rolling through different lines of my metatarsals, just for fun.

Walk #2 – Nice 4-mile walk with Willbe, our yellow lab, and nearly got creamed by a car wreck, but fortunately it missed us – real mess, but the drivers weren’t apparently injured when I checked them – classic speeding, tailgating, rear-ending thing, spinning one car in our direction – got us moving!

Life is fragile – enjoy it while you can!

Day 136 rest day, for that all important recovery and repair. Just had an easy 4-mile walk with Willbe, our yellow lab., and we both had a great time. Day 135:  Swim – standard entertaining Rick workout, 2,700 yards.Swim workout for FitOldDog April 27th 2014 Water Run – 30 minutes. This really is great run training. Bike – easy 32-mile spin, with Greg, out to see the cats. My going so slow seemed to be a mystery to Greg – well, I said easy spin. Beautiful day for a ride. Day 134: Morning Run – 4.5-mile easy run, on trails in ASICS gel, but they feel heavy and weird, but more protective of my feet. Evening Run – 4 miles across town, with Willbe, in Nike Frees (they feel so good), focus on soft feet, strong arch, silent footsteps. We were caught in a major rain storm – that was fun. Rainy run. Day 133: Hiked up to Linville Falls with Deb and Willbe, and had a great rest day.

FitOldDog with Willbe at the Linville Falls, North Carolina. Photo by Deb.

FitOldDog with Willbe at the Linville Falls, North Carolina. Photo by Deb.

Day 132: 3-mile solid run on the roads, in Nike Frees, before leaving for Asheville. Day 131: solid brick, 32-mile bike loop followed by 3-mile run loop on the roads. Legs felt spring after the run, which was encouraging. Day 130: Swim – 1,500 yard swim – driven out of the pool by thunder (they close it for 30 min for any thunder, even miles away). Bike – 1-hour ride at 110 watts, loosening up my legs. Day 129: Rest and roller work, loosening those kinks, then a Continuum session with Rebecca, to rework my inner lines (always lose them), and some fascial massage (ouch, but good ouch!). For earlier workouts just go to the blog under the category Training Diary.

Comments

  1. Pauline Watson says

    I’m getting the sense that any serious controlled work on the bike has to be done on a trainer. Most of the roads here do not allow a sustained and controlled effort. I also have come to the conclusion that there are so many variables in a swim workout that there are an infinite number of possible ones. Your training is impressive!

    • Hi Pauline, it doesn’t feel impressive, it feels not quite enough, but my body is setting the pace wisely. Thanks for the encouragement. Off for dinner with my son, Nigel, in Houston, here as a supporter for him, Ironman Texas. Cheers, Kevin

    • Nigel said he did all his training for the Texas Ironman on his trainer, and found it hard to remember how to ride on the road for the first 10 mins. Much safer indoors, and actually more controllable training.

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Disclaimer: As a veterinarian, I do not provide medical advice for human animals. If you undertake or modify an exercise program, consult your medical advisors before doing so. Undertaking activities pursued by the author does not mean that he endorses your undertaking such activities, which is clearly your decision and responsibility. Be careful and sensible, please.