June Training Log

Total Days of Working Out = 20 days (9 days with double workouts)

Miles Running: 61.6 miles (up from 54 in May)
Miles on Road Bike: 188.3 miles (down from 279 in May)
Swimming: 9676 yards (up from 7200 yards in May)


Starting Weight: 187 lbs
Ending Weight: 182.5 lbs

Spent most of the month nursing a nagging lower back and IT Band pain.  I was actually able to put in more total miles running and swimming (not as much as I had hoped), but cycling really suffered.  I wasn't able to put together my planned long runs and rides, and was only able to put together a couple small bricks.  Maintained a positive attitude most of the month and continually readjusted my workout plan to account for my back issues.  Started getting discouraged and frustrated the last couple days of the month. This was probably the realization that July was just around the corner and very disappointed that I haven't been able to do the intensity of training I had hoped for in June. I am still in the process of realigning my race plan, when I will begin my taper, and how to best use my last week of training.  At least I lost another 4.5 pounds.
 
Saturday (6/5) - Run 3.5 Miles (43 minutes)

3.5 miles, easy pace to stretch hip and lower back. 43 minutes.

20 minute run, 6 minute walk, 12 minute run, 5 minute walk. Sunny and
80 degrees. Need to move training runs to the afternoon and evenings to start to acclimate my body to running in the heat in July.

Sunday (6/6) -TBF Olympic Distance Triathlon - (3:02:26)

(.9 Mile Swim, 24.8 Mile Bike, and 6.2 Mile Run)

What a great day.  Enjoyed a wonderful morning with my wife and good friend Jamie who completed his first Olympic Distance Tri today.  Swim was very frustrating as many people could not swim in a straight line and I expended a lot of energy trying to avoid the zig zaggers that kept cutting me off and kicking me in the face.  At least I shaved 4 minutes off of my swim time from last August.  Bike went well, but I need to learn to hold back and not race.  My original plan was to lay back, but as soon as a couple people passed me I couldn't handle it anymore and had to step it up.   The Run was disastrous.  The transition and first mile were great.  This is the first time I have come off the bike and felt good about running.  However, by mile 1 my lower back started cramping again.  I had to slow down significantly to deal wth it.   I still finished a couple minutes faster than my August 2009 time even with a bad run.

Nutrition: Was able to consume two bottles of water on the bike and take in 4 ounces of Hammer Gel.  However, I had stomach cramps on the bike and run.  Need to work on this.

Changes:  Ran with my cycling socks. No good - too thin and my feet started to hurt.   Ran without carrying water.  No good - need to carry a water botte for psychological reasons.  Tri Jersy - No good - it is fine for shorter distance, but it is a mesh fabric that starts to rub you wrong after several hours.  Need a softer fabric.

.9 Mile Swim - 26 minutes

Bike 24.8 Mile - 1 Hour 22 Minutes

Average Speed 17.5

Run - 6.2 Miles - Too Long

Comparison Times - Folsom Olympic Distance Tri (August 2009)
Swim -30:08
T1 - 5:45
Bike - 1:21:42
T2 - 5:13
Run - 1:02:43
Total - 3:05:33

Monday (6/7)- Run 3 miles (no timer)
Taking it easy to heal my back.
 
Tuesday (6/8) - Run 3 miles and Swim
Ran an easy 3 miles (29:10) in the morning.
Swim 15 minutes in the evening to try out the smaller size on the Xterra westuit.  Fits much better.

Folsom Lake Sunset following Swim

Wednesday (6/9) - Run 4.5 Miles (39:08)

Thursday (6/10) - Bike 13.2 miles (55:22)  / Run 4 Miles (39:45)
6:00am ride, average speed of 14.3 MPH.  Felt sluggish, starting to leave the iPod at home to get used to training without music.  Rode at higher cadence in small sprocket to keep from stressing my back.

8:00 PM run 4 miles.  Legs still feel fatigued.  Could be nutrition oriented because I have had an easy week.

Saturday (6/12) - Mock Tri Training Day
Worked out with the El Dorado Hills Tri Club today.  Overall had a great time.  For anyone looking for coaching or help achieving their Triathlon goals I would highly recommend Kari Duane.  She  is a very positive and encouraging Tri coach.  Swim went great (5th out of the water) although sighting and tracking was difficult and drank quite a bit of water in the chop.  Bike went well, although  I don't know what Kari was thinking setting the bike course with two trips from rainbow bridge to Beals point.  The run course included a couple miles of trail running, and trip down the bike trail from Beal's point and back up the hill (Thanks alot Kari), and then the psychological killer 4 laps around the parking area of Beal's point (that was a miserable 15 minutes of running).

Swim 1.4 miles - 44:58
T1 - 5:09
Bike - 25 miles - 1:32:24
T2 - 5:05
Run 6.9 miles - 1:19:21
Total - 3:47











Monday (6/14) - Stationary Bike 8.4 miles (30 minutes)
Rode 30 minutes on the recumbent stationary bike.  My back and IT Band are killing me.  Thinking this may take some stress of my back.  Average speed of 17.2 MPH, program "Rolling Hills - Level 5"

Wednesday (6/16) - What to do?  What to do?
Lower back and IT Band still very painful.  Really not sure what to do.  No workouts yesterday or today other than stretching and situps in the morning and evening. Icing IT Band, heat on lower back.  Researching whether I should push through and risk further injury, and hope to recover and heal during my taper, or should I rest now and extend my training period and eliminate part of my recovery.  Creating a lot of mental stress.  This was not part of the plan.  This is supposed to be my peak training period through the July 4th weekend before beginning to taper and rest. I know it is not wise to push right now, but feeling concerned about time left to get in my workouts.   Leaning towards a middle of the road strategy to give my back more time to heal.  Move to stationary recumbent bike, eliptical trainer instead of running, and continue swimming.  This way I continue to get some workouts in, but take the stress off of my back.  Time will tell if this works.  I just don't feel comfortable sitting completely idle, and I don't think it wise to continue to push hard. 

Thursday (6/17) - Stationary Bike 14.6 miles (60 minutues)
Recumbent bike.  367 calories burned.  Lower back seems no worse for wear. 

Saturday (6/19) - Stationary Bike 10.1 miles (40 minutes) / Run 3 miles (30 minutes)
Rode 40 minutes (273 calories) on the recumbent bike at home while watching the world cup. Ran 3 miles on the eliptical at the gym (326 calories).  This is very boring and too much like work.  What I may be losing in intensity and "real world" workouts I am gaining in mental strength.  About two minutes into it I am ready to quit.

Friday night Amanda and I took class #1 of the Advanced bicycle maintenance class with Casey at Bicycles plus.  Turns out my chain was stretched out and needed replacing, which also led to the replacement of the rear cassette.   The good news is that while replacing the rear cassette I was able to move to the Ultegra 11-28 from the 12-25 that was currently on there.  This will give me two new climbing gears that I didn't have previously.  This will be particularly useful for the Gran Fondo in October, but certainly won't hurt to have for Chalk Hill which comes late in the race during the half ironman.  Looking forward to getting back on the bike and hitting Costco Hill, Beatty Drive, and Serrano Parkway with the new gears.  Although I still may have to wait a couple weeks.

Sunday (6/20) - Ride 20 Miles (1:21:43)
I just couldn't stay off the bike, it was calling me out into the sunshine.  I really wanted to go ride hills, but my back is still not any better and IT band is screaming.  I decided to exercise caution and not over do it.  I rode 20 miles and kept in on the small front sproket to keep from putting too much stress on the legs and back.  Average speed was 14.6 with very little exertion.  May want to consider a higher cadence strategy for the half ironman and do most of the ride in the small front gear to preserve my legs.  I got a chance to try out the new gear ratio and it definately made a difference.  I used it on the long uphill coming back over the new bridge and was able to maintain a similar speed as before (10 mph), but at a higher cadence (95) which definately caused less fatigue on my legs. 

Monday (6/21) - Run 4.3 Miles (40 minutes) on eliptical / Ride 25 miles (1:46:25)
Spent 40 minutes (386 calories) on the eliptical this morning at the gym.  Still boring, but doesn't seem to be negatively effecting my back.

9:00pm rode on my recumbent stationary bike in the garage for almost 2 hours while watching a training webinar.  Average speed 14.9 mph - burned 619 calories. 

Tuesday (6/22) - Run 3.6 miles (30 minutes) on eliptical  / Swim 1.8 Miles (57:50)
6:30 am ran on the eliptical at the gym again.  Lower Back and IT band still sore, but aren't getting any worse.  286 calories. 

6:00 pm did a 1.8 mile open water swim tonight at Folsom Lake.  Ended up running into a guy from EDH Tri Club (Dave) and ended up swiming together.  Very tired.  Need some sleep.
Keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to run by Saturday when we go back to preview the vineman course.

Wednesday (6/23) - Stationary Bike 7.5 miles (30 minutes)
Ran one time around the block very slowly to see how the lower back was doing. It seems to be healing.  Keeping my fingers crossed for Saturday.

Thursday (6/24) - Run 6.6 miles (60 minutes) on eliptical

Saturday (6/26) - Run 6 miles and Ride 19.25

Today the EDH Tri Club met in Windsor to ride and run the Vineman course.  Since we had the kids with us and my Mom is travelling we didn't feel right leaving the kids alone for half the day at grandmas house.  I already rode the course last month so I stayed with the kids while Amanda did a 72 mile ride.  I dropped her off at the Windsor High School at 8:00am to meet with the club.  As they rode away my muscles were twitching - I wanted to be on my bike so bad.  I went back to my Mom's house in Santa Rosa to wait to pick Amanda up.  While the kids were sleeping I decided to test out the lower back and IT Band.  So I went for a 2.5 mile run (23:16).  Things felt fine and no significant pain. 

I then decided I would go for a short ride while waiting for Amanda to finish.  So I parked at Windsor HS and decided to ride the Vineman bike course backwards until I ran into Amanda.  I came up the backside of Chalk Hill, and as I was decending I passed Amanda on her way up.  I went all the way to the bottom so that I could ride back up Chalk Hill for training purposes.  The new 11-28 cassette is a winner.  Made going up Chalk Hill much easier.  Met up with Amanda at the top and we finished out the ride together (19 miles / 1:18:47)

We then set out for a dreaded run in the heat.  I didn't carrry any water, so I decided to limit the run to about 40 minutes.  Ended up running about 3.5 miles (39:28).  Rethinking my ride strategy.  Even though I only rode 19 miles my legs still felt a little sluggish.  I may be better off pushing my bike exertion to reduce the time as much as possible since it looks like my run will stink no matter what I do. 

Sunday (6/27) - Ride 20 Miles (1 hour 17 minutes) / Swim 1 Mile (30 minutes)
Rode 20 miles this morning with Amanda.  Went around Lake Natoma, up hill towards Beals Point and then up hill again over the new Folsom Bridge.  Legs felt really fresh.

Went for a 1 mile open water swim at Folsom Lake this evening at sunset (8:00pm).

Monday (6/28) - Run 4 miles (40:39)
Went out for an easy run this morning.  It was great to be out in the sunshine again rather than the eleptical at the gym.  My back is starting to feel a little better, but I still have to run cautiously to keep from going backwards.

Stretching 45 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening.

Tuesday (6/29) - Run 3 miles (30:39)
95 degrees out.  Prepping for running in the mid-day heat. 
Stretching 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening. 

Wednesday (6/30) - Run 3 miles (30:34)
What a difference a day makes.  The day started out feeling very frustrated with the nagging lower back pain and IT Band issues.  Likely triggered by the fact that it is the last day of the month and I haven't been able to put in the volume and intensity that I had planned.  Went in for some neuromusculor therapy for the first time. Was very helpful in pinpointing some of my issues and relieving some of the pain.  Left with some specific stretches to include in my regimen to loosen up the hips, glutes, etc.  Went for an easy run afterwards and felt much better than the last couple weeks.
Stretching 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening.

36 Days and Counting - How did I get here?

Only 36 days until Vineman Ironman 70.3.  It is Friday night and I am sitting here trying to motivate myself to get up in the morning to do another Olympic Distance Tri in the morning.  I am reflecting on all of the early mornings, running in the cold rain this past winter and spring, working out many hours by myself, the fact that I haven't had any alcohol for the last couple months, and I wore through a pair of road bike tires.  The fear is starting to set in.  I am pretty comfortable with the swim and bike, my biggest concern is still the bike to run transition and being able to run 13 miles without cramping up.  I still wish I had a couple extra months to prepare.  But since I don't, I better get up early and put in another good training day.   How in the world did I end up here? 

It all started with a phone call I received sometime in Febraury 2009. A good friend of mine said they were getting married on Maui in May and wanted for us to attend.  Immediately after hanging up I thought to myself, I better start exercising or I am going to look ridiculous sitting around the pool at the Westin with a sweatshirt on.  Having managed to accumulate more than two pounds a year since college (I've been out for 20 years - you do the math), reality was beginning to set in that I did not actually look like I imagined myself in my head.  So I decided it was time to take immediate action (vanity does serve a purpose).   I had motivation to exercise and start losing weight, and I had 2.5 months to do it.  I figured if people could lose 5-10 lbs a week on The Biggest Loser, certainly I could shed a couple pounds a week.  What I hadn't counted on was the fact that I am now over 40 and my metabolism had changed since my 20's and 30's when a few extra pounds used to melt off pretty quickly with exercise.  I also didn't realize how out of shape I really was.

I started out with walking in the evenings after work.  I then moved to walking with 1 minute increments of running, followed by more walking.  Then I was able to run 1/2 mile without stopping, then it was a mile, then it was two miles.  Before I knew it I was running 3 miles, 3-4 times per week by the time our trip came around.  I didn't lose 40lbs, but I did shed a few pounds, but more importantly I started to develop a  new positive habit.  I continued running while on our vacation in Maui (for fun believe it or not).

When we returned from Maui,  I decided to do a 10K (6.2 miles) in May with my wife and brother and his girlfiend.  This was the longest I had run and I lived to tell about it.  The seed was planted.  If I could run 6 miles, I could do a triathlon again.  It had been 8 years since I had done an athletic endeavor such as this, and running had always been the most difficult leg, and now I even had a new road bike.

Event # 2 for 2009 was a sprint distance triathlon in July (.5 mile swim, 16 mile bike, 3 mile run).  This gave me a goal, and a reason to keep exercising.  Having successfully completed this and having been insired by watching the Tour de France, I decided I needed a new challenge. 

Event #3 for 2009 was something I hadn't done before - an Olympic Distance Triathlon (.9 mile swim, 25 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run).   I tackled this in August of 2009 and the bug was planted.  Mentally a half Ironman was achieveable. 

September & October was inconsistent effort for conditioning.  Finally, November rolls around and registration opens for the 2010 Vineman Ironman 70.3 (aka Half Ironman).   This has been a goal of mine for years, but now was the time to stop thinking and start acting.  So I registered, and for the first few days I was a bit dillusional.  I was happy and wanted to order stuff, like vineman shirts, Ironman hats, triathlon magazine, books on training, etc.  Then about a week later, reality began to set it and I started to panic. I only had 8 months to prepare, I needed to start doing something.  I decided it was important to develop a sustainable and reasonable goal and plan of attack.

 The first phase was to get through the holidays without gaining weight and without losing what little conditioning I had.  So I ran a little and biked a little, and tried to put a little more control over my eating.  I figured January would be a good time to really start hitting it consistently.

Event #1 for 2010 was a New Years Duathlon (run - bike - run).  I did this with Amanda, Zach, and Jordan.  It was a good way to kick off the year.  Then continued with a lot of base training of running and biking through the rest of winter and spring. 

Event #2 for 2010 was a half marathon in May.

Event #3 for 2010 was a 10K and 2 mile obstacle course in May.

Event #4 for 2010 was an Olympic Distance Tri (.9 mile swim, 24.8 mile ride, and 6.2 mile run) in June.

It is strange to reflect on these facts.  When I look backwards I realize how far I have come in the last year, and I draw strength and confidence from this. I went from not being able to run a mile without stopping, to being able to run a half marathon.  However, when I look forward to the upcoming Ironman 70.3 I begin to get concerned whether I really trained hard enough.  Time will only tell, but for now I should get up in the morning and do this Olympic Distance Tri for another training run.