Week 6

636TSS on 8:40hr

Started swimming and strength training (plyometrics and 100 pushups program) this week ... hello DOMS. Tested on bike, FTP is up to 237, I'm feeling stronger on the bike, hopefully swimming will come back sooner rather than later.

Week 5

425TSS on 7hr

Started strength training this week. just very simple plyometrics (jump squats, jump lunges, pushups, burpees, etc). A) 12 minutes seems like forever, and B) after 9 months of just run training, I have the upper body strength of a toddler.

The spin class at Dearborn is working out well, I'm up to two hours now, that seems to be a good spot, followed by a 20 min easy run. Swimming starts next week. Fear.

Week 4 (re-renumbering)

303TSS on 4:30

Still sick, getting better on Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully I can get back on track next week.

2014 Season: Week 1

AKA dreaming season ...

Since R2H, I've been sick -- chest cold proceeded to sinus infection, now a rough general cold. This means my training has been cursory at best.

The A race next year is going to be Syracuse 70.3; goal time is 4:50, stretch goal is to qualify for the 70.3 WC at Tremblant. If that stretch goal doesn't happen, I'm going to repeat the Fall of 2013 and run a lot, aiming for a BQ (~3:10) at a late fall marathon (Toronto Waterfront, County, other).

To support the triathlon goals, I'll need to achieve the following: hold 1:40 min/100m over 2k, FTP up to 280, and run a sub 1:30 half.

Like I said, dreaming season.

Week 58 / Road2Hope Hamilton Marathon / Season Summary

359 TSS on 5hrs.

I ended up going just over 3:27, which is an 18 minute PB on my first marathon, so no complaints, but the chest cold didn't help ... the hacking cough didn't inspire confidence.

Oh, you know what else didn't inspire confidence? Forgetting my gels at home. Also realizing this as I was on the bus to the start line, pulling away from the expo where I could have bought some. Luckily, I ran into Val on the start line, she offered me one of hers (who brings spare gels to a race?), so that got me to the aid station with gels.

The race is more or less broken up into three sections: the first 10miles is a loop up on the mountain, and I managed to keep my pace between 4:30-4:45 (4:45 average being a 3:20 marathon). Chatted with other runners, enjoyed the sunshine, started taking in calories on my modified schedule. I had thought that this run was not going to get started until the run along the lake, because the next 10 miles is a flat 5k, leading to the long downhill that takes you down to the lake.

However, there was a very cold and strong wind coming off the lake, blowing up the downhill we were running. My downhill run wasn't really any faster than my pace on the preceding flat. Oh, did I mention it was freezing? My fingers were so numb it took me about three minutes to tear open a gel.

Once on the lakeshore, it warmed up, and while I didn't hit the wall right away, it was there in the distance, waiting. I hit it about 36km, the first signal was my hamstrings cramping when I stepped up onto a curb as the race route when from the road to a sidewalk. Things slowed down significantly from thereon, going from ~5 min/km to 5:40 min/km steadily over the next 7k. I would get a series of cramps in one leg, adjust my stride to try and alleviate them, and then the other side would start.

Very happy to finish under 3:30, there's still a lot of time on the table for next year, given proper nutrition, another year of base and no stupid arctic winds.

2013:

Season Goals:			Result
1	Sub 5 Century		N/A
2	Sub 2:20 at ATB		2:23
3	3:20 R2H		3:27
Training Objectives:
1	Swim 3.8k 70min		N/A
2	Run 1:30 half		1:30:16
3	Raise FTP to 280		N/A (260 mid-season)
4	Run refridgee-8-er at Chilly pace		0:53:49	yes
5	Finish EndurRun Sport		yes
6	Finish Run for the Toad		yes
Training to support objectives
1	Hit HM pace targets at end of long runs
2	Don't get injured on run. Follow BarryP implementation of Desert Dude's plan.
3	Maintain until March, then focus on raising FTP/CP5 %, ride early season with WCC

I adjusted my goals mid-season when I decided that bike racing wasn't in the cards for the rest of the year, mainly because of the time commitment that long rides demanded. The result was a change of focus to running, and two marathons and a 50k trail ultra later, I would say it's been a success.

I've put a lot of volume in since the start of July (~1050km) and done so without significant injury (needed a few sessions of ART in the 300+km months). The highlight was my 39:00 10k, something I've been trying to do for a couple years now. Things that I'd like to improve are my mental focus when things get tough at the end of the race, and holding my pace over longer distances.

So now looking forward, I'd like focus on triathlon over the winter, with Syracuse 70.3 as my A race, going 4:50:00 and stretch goal getting a spot for the WC in Tremblant in September. If that last part doesn't work out, I'm going to replicate July-November of this year, stretch goal of BQ (maybe at Scotia Waterfront Marathon).

Week 57 summary

241TSS on 3hrs

Heading into race week, resisting the urge to start bike training. Also starting to get a chest cold. Good times.

Week 55/56 and Oktoberfest 10k summary

Week 55: 5032TSS on 7.04hr
Week 56: 220TSS on 2:57hr

Post toad week was the last of my 20-milers, then dived right into a mini-taper for my 10k, where I hoping to go sub-40.

Before: Me (back left), Ian (1754) and Sean (front)

The race went well, I dodged a ton of little kids at the front for the first 500m, then got into a good stride. I ran with Ian for most of the race, I got ahead of him going down the hill on Westmount, and along University, but just as I thought I had dropped him, I hear these footsteps. Anyways, he surges by and I couldn't stay with him up the hill on Seagram as we turned onto Albert. I keopt it strong down Albert, down Caroline, then up the small hill on Erb - which felt like a big hill- only to have four guys, none of whom were in my age group luckily, zoom by me in the last 200m.

During: Ian and I ran like this for most of the race

Anyways, total finishing time was 38:57, so mission accomplished. Sean says I should be thinking about running sub-37 now.

Last 200m. Ow.

 Also been thinking about what's to come in 2014.

• TripleT
• Syracuse 70.3 with a goal of qualifying for the 70.3WC (at Trembant this year)
• Peterborough (maybe)
• EndurRun (if no WC)

Week 54 and Run for the Toad (50k) Summary

653TSS on 8.4hrs

This was a regular week, which would have been a step-back week, except for this:

33  97 Graham Dunn 4:40:24 LM40-49 7/25 27 5:37 4:40:12 

Lap 1 -- 1:10:03

Lap 2 -- 1:11:00

Lap 3 -- 1:08:08

Lap 4 -- 1:11:16

So that's a fair amount of running today. I think the thing I'm pleased about the most was how even my splits were. 

It was great weather, overcast and a little wind, no rain.

- Concentrating on form and taking in long, deep breaths pays off in the latter parts of the race when things are getting tough
- The soles of my feet were getting sore trying to grip the soles of my shoes, there was a lot of off-camber descents

Week 53 (yeah, I know) summary

532TSS on 6.6hr

Faster running, more intensity. Next week is the run for the Toad, so lots of volume, going to start off at 5:30 for the first two laps, then bump it up as possible over the next two.

Need lots of recovery, I can feel the start of what might be plantar fasciitis, so I need to start working on the roller and tennis ball tonight. No running tomorrow.

I'm concerned that I won't be able to hold my 4:45 pace for the marathon. I think a 5:00 average is more realistic. I think I should start out at 5:00 and then see how things are at half way, maybe knock it down some, though the downhill nature of the course could throw that off.

Week 52 Summary

529TSS on 7.4hr

Nothing really to write home about ... long run was a little more than I bargained for, I ended up running 32km with Sean and Greg, well, running behind them for 2 x 7km intervals. Chop wood, carry water.

Week 51 and Mudpuppy trail race summary

448TSS on 6.7hours.

Building volume towards the toad ... this week's long run (32k) felt faster, but was actually slower than last week's 30k. Odd.

The Mudpuppy trail run was pretty good, puked a little at the end, full effort. Had a good start, got out front as the path narrowed, and then pretty much spent the race in no-man's land, save getting passed by the eventual 1st place woman. In the last 4k, I was caught by some guy who then sat on my heels for another k. I let him go in front of me for the next k, then sprinted up the finishing hill (then threw up in the bushes beside the finish line - a popular location).

Week 50 Summary

373 TSS on 5 hrs

Another "chop wood, carry water" week. Had a reasonable result in my 5k tempo run, especially learning that focussing on breathing during the latter stages of the run can be helpful. My long run on Sunday was okay, but still slower than I should be (5:15 min/km vs 5:05 min/km) if I want to hit that 3:20 target.

Need to spend the next 8 weeks with an eye on body comp. I'm feeling the extra pounds going up the hills.

Week 49 Summary

346TSS on 4.75h

Wow, getting back on the trainer is painful.

I think an honest 3:20 marathon is what I should go for.

Week 48 Summary

308TSS on 4.5hrs

Opted for some recovery, post marathon, but swam for the first time in forever. Also convinced myself that cycling is cross-training.

EndurRun stage 7, Marathon, plus week 47 summary

548TSS on 9.1 hours

A big week, 90+km.

The marathon today was going to be slow, intentionally and deliberately slow. Mission accomplished! I finished in 3:57:21, my slowest marathon ever. However, considering that my longest two training runs were 28 and 25km and done two weeks and one week ago, this was a good volume bump.

Started out very slow at the back of the small group, for the first 4km, I ran at their pace, skipped my first walk break, then took the second, and fell to the rear a little. They were running about 5:45, which was too slow for my walk/run strategy of 5:30 for 10min, walk 1 min. When my run resumed, I passed up through them and was off the front (of that group, the field had already stretched out quite a bit). They almost caught up on the next walk, but after that, I never saw them again.

The race was two laps of a 21.1km course, the first lap was very relaxed, the sun wasn't up fully, and there was lots of shade, I was feeling fresh. I thought "don't screw up what's already working", so I didn't increase my pace at all. After 25km or so, I was having problems keeping my HR in zone 2 where it had been in the first part of the race, often climbing to high 3 or low 4. There were a lot of rolling hills, so that was part of it, it was also getting hot, and cardiac drift. I switched from pace to just keeping my HR in zone 3 until the last 5km, when I just started to run based on feel.

Sean cheered me on at the end, convincing me to sprint the last 200m. Hope I don't look too goofy in the pics.

I think Monday is going to be a rest day.

EndurRun Stage 6 - 10k TT

This went pretty well. I think I left a fait amount in the tank, was aiming for at 45 even, ended up 43.something. Drilled the last couple kms. Minimal pain from the climbing before. Didn't take any water or gatorade, did a mouth rinse with Gatorade at the last aid station though. Seemed to help, or at least didn't hurt.

Stage 5 Summary, EndurRun

Just a mini-update for this morning's race: 25.something km, 720m of vertical -> ran 3:04:27 (7:07 min/km)

Started the race thinking, "hmm, well, I did 2:25 for 30km at Around the Bay, and this is pretty hilly, but shorter, so maybe 2:45-ish is reasonable?" Had I been predicting my lap 4 (of 5) split, that would have been accurate.

Lap 1: 31:51 (13:13 + 18:38)
Lap 2: 33:27 (13:31 + 19:56)
Lap 3: 36:48 (14:42 + 22:06)
Lap 4: 39:03 (15:57 + 23:06)
Lap 5: 43:15 (17:17 + 25:58)

Running some numbers, it looks like I was 5-10% slower each lap than the previous, the last being the worst. I heard more than one person say "man, I thought I had paced this properly." Last lap was 35% slower than the first.


Better thought would be "your slow is not slow enough". I will need to remember this at the start on Sunday.


Post-recovery food was awesome. Every race needs a dedicated smoothie table.

Week 46 Summary

420TSS on 6.25 hours. An hour of extra time, but higher intensity in general.

So EndurRun is next week, 25k + 10k + 42.2k as I run stages 5, 6, 7.

Plans:

The goal/mantra this weekend is "Finish Strong", so the plans should fall out of that. 

Stage 5 is very hilly (a-ski-slope hilly), so I expect to do a significant amount of walking up the hills in the first loop, run down as fast a caution will allow, then see if I can figure out a plan for running a little more aggressively on the second lap.

Stage 6 is the point-to-point TT, which I ran last year. It is very flat, I'm going to seed myself at a conservative 45 minutes, mainly to avoid what happened last year when I ran 16 seconds of my predicted time (40 minutes), but was in no-man's land the most of the race, and was passed by the guy behind me. At 4:30 min/km, I can keep a good number of competitors around me, and aim to work up through the field (I'm better at chasing than being chased).

Stage 7 is going to be a put-up or shut-up moment. I've thought for the last several years that if I pace myself properly, I can keep going as long as I keep dumping fuel into my body. This marathon will be the test of that belief. I'm aiming for ~4 hours, which means running at 5:30-5:45 min/km pace with 1min quick walk every 10 minutes. My 28km run went well using a gel every 45 minutes, and a sip of sports drink every walk break. I may have to carry a water bottle, not sure what the aid station situation is.

Week 43, 44, 45 Summary

Back from the UK! Largely very casual running where ever time/opportunity allowed. Got a fun speed session in with the Bellahouston Harriers. Good to know that 6 x 800 hurts just as much in Scotland as it does here.

Picked up the distance training more or less where I left off, getting back into a solid series of BP:E runs (now at 7.5k), and a 28k long run on Saturday. Only minor aches and pains from that, so I think the 10:1 walk/run and aiming for Z2 heart rate worked. Took three gels in a flask, plus a fairly strong sports drink bottle (maybe a bit too strong), drank a sip every 10 minutes, gels at 45/1:30/2:15, I think that'll work for the Endurrun marathon.

Week 42 Summary

387.2TSS on 5.5hr

This was a back-off week for me, sort of ill-timed for that, as the next two weeks are going to be slightly less-than-rigorous ... runCTL is still is climbing, so that's good. Should probably signup for the race soon though.

Week 40, 41

Week 40: Pure running starts ...

320TSS on 5 hrs, 57km

Easing into it

Week 41:

402TSS on 6hrs, 66km

Need to get more sleep. My legs are holding up well, the Barry P approach is working well, I'm not feeling particularly shattered after any individual workout, though I have moments of doubt as to whether or not I can do this, just in terms of the time commitments, not getting enough sleep, etc.

Week 39 and Tour de Waterloo

(week 38 was such a non-event, didn't post a summary)


778 TSS on 10.25 hours

Back to a regular schedule, everyone is more or less healthy (I still have no top end speed, but based on prior experience, that'll come back).

I think that's pretty much it for cycling this season, I'm looking at some longer running events (the EndurRun Sport, Run for The Toad 50k and the Hamilton Marathon) this fall. So I've cobbled together a rough schedule for the volume this fall. Hint, it's a lot.

So the ride today went well, I pulled a lot for some smaller groups, then ended up soloing as I cracked and couldn't keep up to the smaller group I was part of for the first half of the ride. The headwinds were brutal coming back into Waterloo from Conestogo lake. I'm sunburned.

Week 37 Summary

667TSS on 9.1 hours

Mostly riding , some running. Lungs are still not helping out. Had a good ride at the Tour de Grand, despite some cyclecross riding on the way down there.

Week 36 Summary

311TS on 4.48hr

Another week of sickness (cold has turned into a sinus infection) and crappy weather.

First week of running with H+P group though, that was nice, despite hacking up a lung after the last hill repeat. I'm looking forward to more of them, interesting to have the legs burning again.

Week 35 summary

Sweet TSS on FA hrs. Really, I ran once for 40 minutes and biked once for 30 minutes. Sick, and boy is sick, so no sleep Tues-Fri.

Written-off and hoping next week is better.

Week 34 and Victoria's Du report

700TSS on 9.13hr

Finished the 8 Days in California Challenge on TrainerRoad, though I had to quit one stage 30 minutes early because, you know, life.

The guy in the blue sprinted past me at the end. Didn't chase him.

I have also had the life thing getting the way of group workouts this week :/ It's been some of the best riding/running weather this year, and I've been in my basement or on the treadmill. Not so bad, I guess.

So this race was a bit of an experiment in how much taper I need coming up to a race. In the past, I've felt maybe I back off too much going into the week before the race... for the Du, I had a solid week of moderate/intense cycling workouts with a few moderate runs, and then one short with some intervals (15min WU, 5 x 30" @5k pace) the day before. I think it worked out really well.

The details:

4km run: 15:39 (3:55 min/km)
30km bike: 51:01 (35.3 km/hr)
4km run: 17:15 (4:19 min/km)

So the first run was probably a little overcooked, the bike I paced as 10k "easy", spinning up hills, etc, next 10k upping the pace (that part was all downhill) and getting water and a gel in, last 10k was putting as much out there as possible, keeping in mind the upcoming run.


0-10k: 234 NP, 1.07 VI
10-20k: 230 NP, 1.07 VI
20-30k: 237 NP, 1.12 VI

The last run was ok, I feel like I gave up a little on the final sprint into the finish though. I feel like this was a good test for Guelph Lake, though I think there will be a lot of much faster guys there, so I doubt I'm going to podium on that one.

Week 33

718TSS on 9.45hrs

Came down with a cold yesterday ... thanks, people who come in sick at work. Just in my head so far *crosses fingers*.

Today (Sunday) was the start of the 8 Days of California virtual tour on Trainerroad, which is supposed to mirror the Amgen Tour of California. It's also in the middle of the Giro d'Italia, which is what I'm watching while riding this tour. Interesting side note, Amgen was the biotech company that originally brought EPO to market...

You say, whaaaaat, indoor training? Yeah, well, it snowed today. So yeah. Indoor rides all next week (except for Tuesday, which will end up being a double -- 8DC morning, WCC ride in the evening).

I got my new wiring harnesses for the wired powertap, installed on the road bike, still waiting on the TT bike, though I should probably get on that, as I've got Victoria's Du a week Monday. If I'm not totally fried from 9 hours of cycling (+5 of swim/run), I think I should do okay, my run was good at the Mudpuppy last week, and last Tuesday I time-trialled back up to my group (20 minutes), so I feel positive. We'll see if reality is going to lay the smack down on me or not.

Week 32 Summary and MudPuppy Chase 10k Report

615TSS on 7.68hr

CTL slide has been reversed! Some solid training this week, moving into week 3 of the GetFast plan ... 8 days in California trainerroad challenge starts May 12, that'll be a nice bike focus, ending on Victoria's Du, which may require some tricky timezone justification to get that last ride in on the trainer.

I was hoping that this would be the magical 10k in which I would break 40 minutes, something which I've been trying fairly half-heartedly to do for a few years now... spoiler alert, it wasn't.

This course was two loops of a 5k circuit with a climb on each side of the loop, the first is long and slow, the second short and steep. Once you're over the steep part, it's downhill for about 1k to the finish. My "plan" was to keep the pace around 3:55 for the first lap. I quote plan because I didn't really know how I was going to feel on the second lap. As the saying goes, wishful thinking is not a plan.

The first lap went well: I was near the front, while breathing hard, not totally gasping yet and feeling like my legs might make it. Halfway through the second lap, things started to hurt. The long gradual climb into a headwind really took me to a zone I didn't want get to yet. I was in 5th for most of lap, and moved into 4th on the downhill after that climb, and was hoping to recover enough to handle the coming climb into the finish.

I could hear the runner I had passed coming up behind me on the flat, so I eased up slightly to let him catch me, hoping that I could get out of the red zone enough that I could still handle following him up the hill: on the previous lap, he had out-run me up the hill, but then I had caught him on the long downhill leading into the second lap. I hoped to repeat that. He caught up to me just at the base of the hill, and I managed to stay with him up the first half of the hill, then cracked. I fell rapidly off the pace and limped up to the top, then decided to salvage what I could of the race.

My pace slowly picked up through the last km, but the first I saw of the timer at the finish line was 35:56 ... 57 ... etc. I came in 18 seconds later, all grace and poise, as illustrated below.

Week 31 Summary

505TSS on 6.3hrs

A week of Life Happens, so ... yeah. Had a good Sat/Sun, gorgeous weather for the long run on Sun, Saturday's training was all indoors, but solid.

Still hoping for a sub 40 at the Mudpuppy, it's going to be painful though.

Week 30 Summary

463TSS on 6 hrs.

Not a great week, even as a gap week before starting 8 week block leading up to Guelph Lake Olympic. The Boy is sick (thought we could make it to spring before it happened again). On the plus side, my fund-raising efforts for the MudPuppy chase are going well. This is the last week to get some training in...

Week 29 Summary and Paris to Ancaster race report

418TSS on 5.2 hours

It was a light week, mainly short, intense sessions (20-45 minutes, IF ~0.9) on the bike getting ready for Paris2Ancaster on Sunday.

10 days of rain/freezing rain/snow preceded this race, creating conditions so poor that the organizers had to chop 10k of off-road sections out (reputedly they were mostly still underwater).

Online discussions regarding tire / pressure selection were mainly "it's not going to matter; the mud will make it irrelevant, just put enough pressure in so you don't pinch flat, and make it easier to get through the road/rail trail sections."

I left Waterloo at ~6, stopped to get a coffee en route, and arrived at the Ancaster Community Center (the finish line) to park and put my bike on the shuttle van to the start line. I had my race kit already thanks to a generous friend who was picking them up en masse for other riders, so the only standing around was waiting for the shuttle van guys to show up.

I lucked out with my clothing choice, it matched the weather well: cotton undershirt, jersey, wind vest (plus a foldable jacket to wear waiting at the start line), arm warmers, cap, cycling gloves, wind mitts, tri shorts underneath bibs and knee warmers (plus my new XC30s, which probably still don't know what hit them).

Race start in Wave 1 was smooth, and we were soon blasting down the rail trail beside the Grand River, dry and fast. I was glad to have glasses, I took a couple small stones off them.

Heading into some of the single track sections, there were actually a few rideable lines left, which shows that starting as close as possible to the front really paid off. I've seen some video from later riders and it quickly turned into a quagmire

Speaking of quagmire, I managed to ride down all the mud chutes, which left my arms burning from throwing the front wheel around as I bounced off all the rocks buried in the mud.

My poor bike

Hooked up with a few small groups on the roads and shared pulls, which was nice. In summary, the weather was ideal (I started on my jersey tan lines), the fast sections were dry, and I managed to make it up the last hill, though I ended up looking like this after the finish line.

I remember thinking I'm hearing a camera

Finished in 2:25:09 (23.6k/h avg) (40:52 behind the winner), 275 O'all, 105/447 in M40-49. 

Week 28 Summary

884TSS on 12 hours. Bit of a bump in volume, the majority of it was on the trainer. Next weekend is P2A, so erm, panic training, I guess. Yesterday's 3-hour session was sort of reassuring that I won't totally suck, but I'll need to take it easy.

Week 27 summary

467TSS on 7.2 hours. CTL isn't going down as fast... I guess it's the right direction. Easter weekend also put a hold on any further weight loss.

Week 26 Summary and Around The Bay

This week was best forgotten.

Strange reaction to acetaminophen on Monday, no sleep the two nights before the race and an explosion at 25k in the race (0-10k: 45:04, 10-20k: 45:25, 20-30k: 52:31). The Garmin didn't even save the run.

Seriously, just glad to work on speed now, I'm so glad to not have to think about running any longer than 90 minutes.

Week 25 Summary

482TSS on 6.3 hours

Light week, sort of unintentionally so. I'm thinking more about ATB next weekend, so I've been framing workouts in terms of that, which means taking days off, or lighter runs as I feel. Today, however, was St. Patrick's day collateral damage. Poor decision, awesome party.

Week 24 summary

562TSS 9.5 hours

Unremarkable week, but got the first outside ride with the weekly WCC XC ride, and then a lovely long run, lots of hills.

Week 23 Summary and Chilly Half race report

688 TSS on 8 hrs.

Threshold bumps on both the bike and run this week from respective testing... the good news is that I'm getting fitter, bad news is that things are going to hurt more now.

Chilly Half
For the third year running, I picked up a cold, just in time for the race on Sunday. Unlike previous years, this wasn't in my chest, just a head cold and some sore throat annoyances.

My goal for this race had been to go sub-1:30, but with my cold, I was wavering on that. Going into the corral, I had been flirting with trying to run 4:20min/km for the first half, then picking up the pace to the end. Then I found myself just behind the 1:30 pace bunny, and thought, "hey, let's just go for it and see when I break."

The bunny was very quick after the first turn and the congestion cleared, I thought he was just trying to make up the time from the first slow part of the course, but no, he held a 4:50-4:10 pace through the first 15k, then slowed a little. This was good, I was starting to crack, and slowed to 4:20-4:25, though I had really stopped looking at my pace at that point, and was just trying to get to the finish without blowing up. The 1:30 bunny sped up again and dropped me in the last kilometre, I managed to hang on to go 1:30:16 (chip).

I had a lot of doubt during the race that I could hold on to the 1:30 pace and kept coercing myself to just go a little further (just make it to the turn around at 13.5k, just make it to 5k left, etc). I don't mind the pain, but I need to work on removing some doubt, I still feel like I'm going to blow up way earlier than it turns out I will...

Week 22 Summary

571 TSS on 8 hours of training ... seems like it was a slow week. Some of that was my watch dying on the Wed night group run -- which, incidentally was one of the better tempo runs I've had in a while: cool but not freezing, nicely packed snow on the trails, and pace was hard but not impossible.

It was reading week, so the pool closed early one day, not sure why (snowstorm?). I had hoped to get a good outside CX ride on Sunday, but the weather was not cooperating, so that ended up being 90 min on the trainer.

That 90 minute ride was another example of me feeling so much stronger when I'm not stumbling out of bed directly to the trainer. I think I started at about 8:30am, absolutely no problem with the VO2 work.

Chilly half is this weekend, I'm hoping to break 1:30. I think it's doable if the weather and my health hold out (no more beer this week).

Week 21 Summary and Refridgee-eight-er report

852 TSS on 9.8 hours

I'm edging towards the schedule I was thinking about last week, i.e., Victoria's Du, and Guelph Lake Oly, then a couple of fondos later in the summer.

There was nothing really exceptional this week in training. Show up, do the work, "log it", move on.

I went into the race today viewing it as a test for my hopes to run sub 1:30 at the upcoming Chilly Half: they're similar courses (flat), the weather is usually close (ie. cold). I had hoped to hold 4:16/km, that's what I'll need for the half.

It was a great day, cold but sunny. Started out really fast, throttled back within the first km from sub 4 (waaay too fast) to much closer to target pace, started to feel like crap around the 5km mark which started to make me wonder what the hell I was doing. I had run a lot of kms, and thought that I would be in good shape for this. I resolved to stop looking at my watch and just run by feel, focussing on turnover.

I could only see ahead to the next three or four runners, there was a larger group at the front, then it was pretty much strung out. I got passed at about 10k, it was just before we were heading onto a windy section, so I thought, ok, maybe I can just draft this guy, but I turned to look as he was going by -- he was maybe 5'1". No draft there :(.

Plodded onto the finish, and I was feeling better through the last three km, so I started pushing the last 1km, turned the corner onto the finish straight and saw I was going to go sub-54. I ended up 53:49 (4:14/km), which I feel very happy about. Primary lesson: don't forget that you are going to feel like crap at least once, and that this is normal.

Week 20 Summary

582TSS on 7'45"

Not a ticker-tape parade week of workouts ... I struggled with any intensity on the bike this week, the run was okay, but not great. The general theme was "log it" and move on. I feel like my legs are still fatigued from last week. I'm trying to balance not digging myself into a hole against the looming race dates on the calendar.

I'm following the 9-week plan Intermediate Build II plan leading up to Paris-Ancaster  on April 14. In the meantime, I have the Re-Fridgee-Eighter in one week. Hopefully I can hold my goal pace for the upcoming Chilly Half.

I've shifted my focus for the latter half of the season, away from long course, towards some shorter Tris,  and a couple long fondos (Tour De Waterloo, and Steve Bauer's). Spending long hours away during the summer seems like too much, plus we're going be away later in the summer.

Tour of Sufferlandria (day nine) and some stats

Local Hero (last day!)

Walking down the stairs to the BTC, I could feel the fatigue in my legs, a sign this was going to be hard. The middle intervals were particularly hard, and my mental resolve wasn't as sharp as yesterday.

Got through it though, was happy with my sprinting at the end.

Totals: 

9 days

12 hours

940 TSS

8200 kcal

Back to running ... Refridgee-eighter is up in two weeks: an 8 mile effort that will tell me if I have a shot at going sub 1:30 at the Chilly.

Tour of Sufferlandria (day eight)

There Is No Try + Revolver

Penultimate day. This is the start of the 100% efforts: TINT was ok, if painful in the first half, I had to go to 90% for Revolver, also did it in slope mode. I literally staggered off the bike after this one.

Tour of Sufferlandria (day seven)

The Downward Spiral

Another 95% ride, though I think I had to pop down to 90% for a couple of the middle intervals. I switched to slope mode for the last four sprint intervals, to see what sort of wattages I'm hitting at 10/10.

Tour of Sufferlandria (day six)

The Wretched + Long Scream

Haven't done either of these a lot, the former because it's relatively new, the latter because it's a nightmare. There really isn't any chance to rest in either of them. I targeted these at 95%.

Tour of Sufferlandria (day five)

Angels: The last of the 90% days, Angels is three 8-minute climbs. I've done this workout fairly frequently, so no surprises. It has the best music, btw.

Tour of Sufferlandria day four

A Very Dark Place ... Today was a nice reprieve from the longer efforts, only a 5 x 4 minute main set. I'm taking today as an off day for everything else, tomorrow will be full: Angels in the AM, swim at lunch, then group run at night.

Tour of Sufferlandria (day three)

A double workout this morning (Extra Shot + Fight Club), and given the intended purpose of Extra Shot as an addition to your workouts, i.e. done after another workout, there's basically nothing in the way of warmup. This means that the first 10 minutes of the video meant struggling to pedal squares at 230 watts while my legs gradually came alive. The last half of the video was comparatively easy, then into Fight Club.

This workout is 5 x 6 minute intervals more or less all done at FTP, with attacks sprinkled throughout the intervals (increasing in number as you progress through the set). Ouch.

Oh, and just for kicks I did a strength workout + 30 minute run at lunch. I'm trying to get three runs, two swims, and two strength sets in.

Tomorrow is A Very Dark Place (5 x 4 minute efforts), and is a rest day for everything else.

Week 18 summary + Day 1 and 2 of Tour of Sufferlandria

915 TSS on 9.83 hours of training

I took the running a little easier this week, partly because it was was really really cold outside in the mornings (close to -20C with wind chill) and partly because the Tour of Sufferlandria (ToS) was starting up (the most prestigious virtual tour of an imaginary country EVER!).

The first two stages of the tour have gone pretty well, I'm using my Computrainer in erg mode, which means that the trainer sets my resistance according to the whims of the video's author. They tend to be in the range of 50-140% of my FTP. I'm scaling the first few days to 90%, then the middle to 95%, and going the last two stages at 100%.

Swimming is coming along well, I'm pleased (which probably means I need to raise my standards). After this week of the bike volume bump, I need to start getting some more race pace sets into my long runs. There's two weeks until the Fridge, that'll be, er, "instructive", as to how things actually are.

Week 17 Summary

692.5 TSS on 9 hours ...

Felt like a "light" week, though I got the frequency of runs, if not the volume I was hoping. My knee started bugging me slightly on Tuesday evening, though minor, so I've been careful about it. An injury now would be bad...

I've started the strength program again, not so much for any triathlon benefit, but I was getting strains in my back, and was just feeling unbalanced, I guess.

Targeted the upcoming Refridgee-eighter 8mile, at < 55 minutes. Hopefully I can carry that into the Chilly Half to hit my sub 1:30 goal.

Did a CSS swim test, threshold speed is faster at 1:38min/100m.

The end of next week is the start of the Tour of Sufferlandria, so that'll be a nice bike volume bump.

Week 16 Summary

A whopping 963TSS on 11.5h training!

This was a big week, and the first that I've gotten all of my scheduled run training in. Yay me :) I had a good long swim on Friday, but have been tip toeing around my back this week (cramping feeling in lower right back when straightening up, it's been getting better the last day or two).

I was starting to feel concerned about my goal for the season, to run < 1:30 in the Chilly. It doesn't seem attainable right now. I should talk to Steve this week. I have 7 weeks, what do I need to hit in advance to have a chance?