Training Diary

Day 173 - rest day, driving to Cambridge Maryland for the Eagleman Half Ironman on Sunday.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Day 141 - rest day, much needed.

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.

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

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.

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.

Day 133: Hiked up to Linville Falls with Deb and Willbe, and had a great rest day.

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.Important Note: These posts do not provide medical advice. You should always consult your physician before undertaking or significantly modifying an exercise program.

Copyright © 2010 Kevin T. Morgan aka FitOldDog, Old Dogs in Training, LLC.