Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Recovery week almost over
Amazingly, my recovery week coincided with my spring break from school and I took full advantage of resting up enjoying the family. I did almost the same number of workouts as I usually do, except for a swim (because the pool didn't have the normal schedule), but my distances were decreased. I feel pretty good right now and am afraid to look too far forward into my schedule because I know the last few weeks of June are killers. Next week I'm entering into the "speed phase" of training but I have been doing speedwork once a week for each discipline since January, so I'm not too worried about increasing the intensity of my workouts.
Speedwork might seem like a foolish endeavor in Ironman training but, as I believe I've written before, challenging the body at lactate threshold levels is a great way to increase your fitness- it's also a good way to bring on an injury, so it must be done carefully. I try not to do too much reading about training because there are so many contradictory opinions that my heads can spin quickly, but I recently read, from a trusted source, that only about 20 minutes per week in each event should be spent near or above the lactate threshold level; this helped me to realize that I don't have to "sprint" for 12 miles but instead to a nice long warm up, do the speedwork, then do a nice long cool down. The speedwork should be distinct, intense, and short-lasting. Another way to increase fitness is simply by doing long, slow distances but the time it takes to increase fitness this way takes forever- carefully done speedwork is the way to go. Hopefully all of the speed work will allow me to average around 20mph on the bike and a 9 minute pace on the run during the Ironman.
In fundraising notes, I wrote a little about this last week but will elaborate: News 10 NBC came out to school last week and filmed me teaching, followed a few of my students around the lunchroom as they sold bracelets and then interview them, interviewed me and then Aunt Ginny, and finally followed me outside to film me cycling and running. It was a fun experience and I look forward to seeing what makes it on the news compared to how much they filmed. They will also re-air the story (with updates) during the Jerry Lewis Telethon on Labor Day. Hopefully it will get the word out to help with donations (which are coming along nicely- thank you, all!).
People always ask me how I have time to do all of the training and I answer that I get up early on many mornings to get the workouts in but this is obviously not the whole story. Jen really is shouldering a lot of the family load (as she always does) to allow me the luxury of going on three-hour bike rides followed by 4-mile runs (next week- eventually I'll do a few 6-hour rides followed by 45-minute runs). Thanks to my lovely wife!
Next Friday is the ALS Gala at the Fingerlakes Racetrack (for horses). I'm looking forward to getting all dressed up and hanging out at a posh event.
Speedwork might seem like a foolish endeavor in Ironman training but, as I believe I've written before, challenging the body at lactate threshold levels is a great way to increase your fitness- it's also a good way to bring on an injury, so it must be done carefully. I try not to do too much reading about training because there are so many contradictory opinions that my heads can spin quickly, but I recently read, from a trusted source, that only about 20 minutes per week in each event should be spent near or above the lactate threshold level; this helped me to realize that I don't have to "sprint" for 12 miles but instead to a nice long warm up, do the speedwork, then do a nice long cool down. The speedwork should be distinct, intense, and short-lasting. Another way to increase fitness is simply by doing long, slow distances but the time it takes to increase fitness this way takes forever- carefully done speedwork is the way to go. Hopefully all of the speed work will allow me to average around 20mph on the bike and a 9 minute pace on the run during the Ironman.
In fundraising notes, I wrote a little about this last week but will elaborate: News 10 NBC came out to school last week and filmed me teaching, followed a few of my students around the lunchroom as they sold bracelets and then interview them, interviewed me and then Aunt Ginny, and finally followed me outside to film me cycling and running. It was a fun experience and I look forward to seeing what makes it on the news compared to how much they filmed. They will also re-air the story (with updates) during the Jerry Lewis Telethon on Labor Day. Hopefully it will get the word out to help with donations (which are coming along nicely- thank you, all!).
People always ask me how I have time to do all of the training and I answer that I get up early on many mornings to get the workouts in but this is obviously not the whole story. Jen really is shouldering a lot of the family load (as she always does) to allow me the luxury of going on three-hour bike rides followed by 4-mile runs (next week- eventually I'll do a few 6-hour rides followed by 45-minute runs). Thanks to my lovely wife!
Next Friday is the ALS Gala at the Fingerlakes Racetrack (for horses). I'm looking forward to getting all dressed up and hanging out at a posh event.
Friday, April 16, 2010
$5 for an unlimited duration massage
I'm holding my own with keeping the back of my legs happy- they are still tight but definitely manageable. Besides adding a few yoga poses to my post-workout stretching routine, I added a daily massage. How can I afford my own masseur? Easy, I do it myself.
As mentioned in an earlier post, I bought (and still use) The Stick, but that doesn't seem to go deep enough to hit my sore muscles (I am abounding with muscles). Then I found a sports therapist's site about how to do your own deep muscle massages using a large pool noodle. It looked like it would work, so I headed to Target and first went down the "yoga" aisle to find a $25 foam roller- too expensive for me. Fortunately, Target seems to think that summer comes to Rochester in the middle of March and they already had pool noodles on sale for only $5. I bought one that was about 6-inches in diameter and 6-feet long and brought it home. I cut it into a shorter lenghth of about 2-1/2 feet wide which is much more manageable. Now I try to roll the back of my legs once a day and it really seems to help by getting the deep knots out of my hamstrings and calves. I recommend the investment to all.
Now for a fundraising update: Last Friday I went on the Hilton High School anouncements (which are televised- so cool!) to say that I was selling bracelets with all money collected going to fight Lou Gehrig's disease. I also sent an email to staff members telling them about the Ironman and asking them to donate to the cause. I was nervous that the 200 bracelets I bought would end up collecting dust, but boy was I wrong. In one week, the students and staff donated $721.92 and the donations are still coming in! Go Hilton!
100 days to go!
As mentioned in an earlier post, I bought (and still use) The Stick, but that doesn't seem to go deep enough to hit my sore muscles (I am abounding with muscles). Then I found a sports therapist's site about how to do your own deep muscle massages using a large pool noodle. It looked like it would work, so I headed to Target and first went down the "yoga" aisle to find a $25 foam roller- too expensive for me. Fortunately, Target seems to think that summer comes to Rochester in the middle of March and they already had pool noodles on sale for only $5. I bought one that was about 6-inches in diameter and 6-feet long and brought it home. I cut it into a shorter lenghth of about 2-1/2 feet wide which is much more manageable. Now I try to roll the back of my legs once a day and it really seems to help by getting the deep knots out of my hamstrings and calves. I recommend the investment to all.
Now for a fundraising update: Last Friday I went on the Hilton High School anouncements (which are televised- so cool!) to say that I was selling bracelets with all money collected going to fight Lou Gehrig's disease. I also sent an email to staff members telling them about the Ironman and asking them to donate to the cause. I was nervous that the 200 bracelets I bought would end up collecting dust, but boy was I wrong. In one week, the students and staff donated $721.92 and the donations are still coming in! Go Hilton!
100 days to go!
Holding on to a few extra pounds?
- Here is a question from a friend (who is faster than I am in marathons):
I have to check in with my technical trainer, lol. This happens EVERY year late in my marathon training, I hold on to a few pounds. It drives me crazy. I always drop it before the race but it makes me mad that I'm running 40 miles a week and have gained a few! Do you know what is going on?
- Here is my feeble response:
I don't have any facts for you but here is my hunch because I think I do this too. First off, I try to stay away from the scale because I really think my body (or anyone's body) finds the correct weight if I'm exercising a lot and eating well- the body will do what it needs to do. I have been stepping on the scale lately much more often to make sure I know how much I'm losing during a workout so that I can guess on my nutritional needs that I'm not meeting through during-workout eating.
From watching bits and pieces of "The Biggest Loser", I'm guessing that your body is reacting to an increasing exercise load but hanging on to some additional fuel in case the going really gets tough and it needs some additional resources to draw energy from. When you begin to ease up on the workouts in your taper, your body can get rid of the extra weight because it isn't under and increasing workload anymore. Of course, this is all speculation and isn't really mor than just a guess.
What would be interesting would be to see if your body got rid of the extra pounds if you maintained 40 mile weeks for a month or two because you would have reached a mileage plateau and aren't calling for increasing duration. Want to test this idea for me?
Good luck and let me know how it goes.
Technical Trainer Brian signing off (really I'm just talking out of my behind)
From watching bits and pieces of "The Biggest Loser", I'm guessing that your body is reacting to an increasing exercise load but hanging on to some additional fuel in case the going really gets tough and it needs some additional resources to draw energy from. When you begin to ease up on the workouts in your taper, your body can get rid of the extra weight because it isn't under and increasing workload anymore. Of course, this is all speculation and isn't really mor than just a guess.
What would be interesting would be to see if your body got rid of the extra pounds if you maintained 40 mile weeks for a month or two because you would have reached a mileage plateau and aren't calling for increasing duration. Want to test this idea for me?
Good luck and let me know how it goes.
Technical Trainer Brian signing off (really I'm just talking out of my behind)
- Anyone have anything to say to confirm or deny my ideas?
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Sleep?
In the book Ultramarathon Man, the author uses the quote, "sleep is for wimps". I laughed when I read it a few years ago and I keep trying to remind myself of it being a dangerous way of thinking: the body needs rest. That said, I usually go to sleep between 10 and 10:30 but my wake up times seem to be creeping earlier and earlier into the wee hours of the morning.
This week we had some good weather at the start so I slept in on Monday until 6, which is my normal time to get up for the school day, and rode for two hours (40 miles) in the afternoon. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are double workout days when I like to be rested for my evening swims, therefore I try to run or ride before school. This week I got up at 4:45 on Tuesday to do a steady ten-mile run and 5:00 on Wednesday to do a one-hour speed workout on my bike trainer in the basement. On some Thursdays I run in the afternoon but we had a play to attend that Gracie starred in this week; so, Thursday turned into a 4:30 wake up for a 10 mile run with a speed workout in the second half.
I try to listen to how my body is feeling but hearing what it is telling me is sometimes difficult to discern. On some days we will have beautiful weather and I will feel like running or riding longer than planned for; on other days I feel like wimping out and cutting workouts short. This is where a training plan comes in and, fortunately, mine is custom tailored and I'm trying to follow it the best I can.
Sleep can be difficult to judge too. I'm usually tired in the afternoon after school but seem to get a "second wind" around bedtime; I try to avoid naps because then I'm definitely not ready for bed at a reasonable time. However, on Thursday I snuck an nap because I volunteer on the overnight shift at Greece Volunteer Ambulance and sleep is never a guarantee. We only had one call on the shift so I felt pretty rested on Friday, which also happens to be a rest day so everything worked out well this week.
Saturday is a long-ish ride (3 hours) and I think I'm going to wimp out and ride in the basement due to the cold temps. Sunday is a 12 mile run and then Monday starts the whole thing over again. Hopefully my sleep duration and rest days will work for the rest of the training plan (knock on wood).
On another note, I started the push for fundraising at school today and am truly humbled by the generosity of both staff and students- what great people. Next week the fundraising continues and News 10 NBC visits to do a story on how my students are helping me out.
One more week until spring break, but who's counting?
This week we had some good weather at the start so I slept in on Monday until 6, which is my normal time to get up for the school day, and rode for two hours (40 miles) in the afternoon. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are double workout days when I like to be rested for my evening swims, therefore I try to run or ride before school. This week I got up at 4:45 on Tuesday to do a steady ten-mile run and 5:00 on Wednesday to do a one-hour speed workout on my bike trainer in the basement. On some Thursdays I run in the afternoon but we had a play to attend that Gracie starred in this week; so, Thursday turned into a 4:30 wake up for a 10 mile run with a speed workout in the second half.
I try to listen to how my body is feeling but hearing what it is telling me is sometimes difficult to discern. On some days we will have beautiful weather and I will feel like running or riding longer than planned for; on other days I feel like wimping out and cutting workouts short. This is where a training plan comes in and, fortunately, mine is custom tailored and I'm trying to follow it the best I can.
Sleep can be difficult to judge too. I'm usually tired in the afternoon after school but seem to get a "second wind" around bedtime; I try to avoid naps because then I'm definitely not ready for bed at a reasonable time. However, on Thursday I snuck an nap because I volunteer on the overnight shift at Greece Volunteer Ambulance and sleep is never a guarantee. We only had one call on the shift so I felt pretty rested on Friday, which also happens to be a rest day so everything worked out well this week.
Saturday is a long-ish ride (3 hours) and I think I'm going to wimp out and ride in the basement due to the cold temps. Sunday is a 12 mile run and then Monday starts the whole thing over again. Hopefully my sleep duration and rest days will work for the rest of the training plan (knock on wood).
On another note, I started the push for fundraising at school today and am truly humbled by the generosity of both staff and students- what great people. Next week the fundraising continues and News 10 NBC visits to do a story on how my students are helping me out.
One more week until spring break, but who's counting?
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Holy Heat, Batman
Summer arrived on April 1st! We have had a beautiful spring by anyone's standards but it has been exquisite by Rochester's standards. This warm up took us into the mid-80s and we broke at least two high temperature records. Anyway, it was great to get out on the roads with my bike and not be all bundled up.
Yesterday (Friday) I went out for a long ride in summer attire and it felt great. Alex, who made my training plan, said that, on the trainer, I should ride an hour for every 15 miles; so if I had to do a 30 mile ride, I would ride for two hours. Yesterday's plan called for a 40 mile ride which would mean I would ride for 2 hours 40 minutes on the trainer but since I was riding outside I decided to ride for the duration and not the distance- I rode out for an hour and twenty minutes (which took me to Albion) and then turned around and rode home. On the way out I kept it in the small chain ring and kept my heart rate at around 130, which is at the top of my zone 1 / bottom of zone 2, meaning it was an easy ride. I averaged around 18 mph into a headwind and felt pretty good. When I turned around and headed home, I shifted into my big chain ring but kept my heart rate and cadence the same as the first half. This was the fun part of the ride because I was easily holding 23 mph and still felt great. I ended up riding a bit over 54 miles and felt good.
I wasn't ready for the heat and only brought one water bottle, but didn't even end up finishing it, which I definitely should have done. I ate a Powerbar, a banana, a few salt tablets, and an Ensure Plus. Once home I could tell that I was a little dehydrated and it took a few hours to get enough fluids back in for me to feel back to normal; here is what I had: two glasses of Gatorade, one glass of protein shake mix, and 3 or 4 glasses of water. I think the ride took a little bit more out of me that it should have (even though I felt strong the whole way) because of the heat but also because I did a hard 8 mile run the day before that included 30 minutes of hill repeats at my threshold heart rate.
I can't remember if I've explained threshold training, so here is a little... Everyone has a lactate threshold (LT) heart rate at which above they will produce more lactic acid than the body can process. The lactic acid builds up and you feel the burn in your muscles which can't handle this for too long. Below the LT the muscles process the lactic acid efficiently enough and even make energy out of the acid. The trick is to continue to train so that you can do more work at your LT; this means you can go faster but use the same energy which means you are in better shape. Challenging the body near or above the LT is a great way to build fitness but it must be done sparingly because it is an easy way to over train, burnout, and/or get injured.
Today I did an easy 12 mile run on legs that didn't exactly feel fresh at the beginning but I felt strong throughout. My right hamstring is still tight but I'm hoping that I will be able to massage it out in the next few weeks.
Here is my training for the week. The left side is planned, the right side is actual.
Now for a rest day and major eating on Easter Sunday. Happy Easter.
Yesterday (Friday) I went out for a long ride in summer attire and it felt great. Alex, who made my training plan, said that, on the trainer, I should ride an hour for every 15 miles; so if I had to do a 30 mile ride, I would ride for two hours. Yesterday's plan called for a 40 mile ride which would mean I would ride for 2 hours 40 minutes on the trainer but since I was riding outside I decided to ride for the duration and not the distance- I rode out for an hour and twenty minutes (which took me to Albion) and then turned around and rode home. On the way out I kept it in the small chain ring and kept my heart rate at around 130, which is at the top of my zone 1 / bottom of zone 2, meaning it was an easy ride. I averaged around 18 mph into a headwind and felt pretty good. When I turned around and headed home, I shifted into my big chain ring but kept my heart rate and cadence the same as the first half. This was the fun part of the ride because I was easily holding 23 mph and still felt great. I ended up riding a bit over 54 miles and felt good.
I wasn't ready for the heat and only brought one water bottle, but didn't even end up finishing it, which I definitely should have done. I ate a Powerbar, a banana, a few salt tablets, and an Ensure Plus. Once home I could tell that I was a little dehydrated and it took a few hours to get enough fluids back in for me to feel back to normal; here is what I had: two glasses of Gatorade, one glass of protein shake mix, and 3 or 4 glasses of water. I think the ride took a little bit more out of me that it should have (even though I felt strong the whole way) because of the heat but also because I did a hard 8 mile run the day before that included 30 minutes of hill repeats at my threshold heart rate.
I can't remember if I've explained threshold training, so here is a little... Everyone has a lactate threshold (LT) heart rate at which above they will produce more lactic acid than the body can process. The lactic acid builds up and you feel the burn in your muscles which can't handle this for too long. Below the LT the muscles process the lactic acid efficiently enough and even make energy out of the acid. The trick is to continue to train so that you can do more work at your LT; this means you can go faster but use the same energy which means you are in better shape. Challenging the body near or above the LT is a great way to build fitness but it must be done sparingly because it is an easy way to over train, burnout, and/or get injured.
Today I did an easy 12 mile run on legs that didn't exactly feel fresh at the beginning but I felt strong throughout. My right hamstring is still tight but I'm hoping that I will be able to massage it out in the next few weeks.
Here is my training for the week. The left side is planned, the right side is actual.
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