Birthday and Training to Come

This week has been pretty good on the acquiring equipment front. My birthday is next week so I’ve been looking around for things I might ask for. I big thing that I’ve wanted for a while, especially as it gets colder, is an indoor bike trainer. I’ve been perusing the Internet and came across a great deal on a Cycleops Fluid 2 Trainer. Not only did it come with the trainer, but it also came with a riser block, and a training tire. I jumped at the opportunity and got it with the help if my parents and my girlfriend Raschelle. Here is a picture.

Also Raschelle and I agreed to buy each other GPS watches for our birthdays. I was looking around and found REI had Timex Run Trainer watches on sale for 50 dollars off. However, before I could get it they sold out, so Rascelle was kind enough to order the next watch on my list, The Ironman Global Trainer with heart rate monitor while she got the women’s Run Trainer with heart rate monitor. We went on their maiden voyages tonight and I have to say, even though I dont fully understand most aspects of heart rate training, its nice to have that exertion gauge. I’ll try to update my equipment list and eventually write a more thorough review. Until then, here’s a pic.

All and all, it’s been good and I don’t think I could ask for more. I have a plan for a premium membership to training peaks, a mat for the cycling trainer, and a speed/cadence sensor for my watch/bike. Then my triathlon budget is put on hold until after Christmas. Until next time guys!

Race Report

Make sure to check out my Run for the Ta-tas 5K Race Report!

I will be writing again soon!

Its been a slow couple months with lots of non exercise related things happening. I have a half marathon coming up in November and after that, Ill be getting back to my base phase training for triathlon. I’m thinking as of now I’m not going to train for a specific distance, but just work on building endurance and power. Raschelle has expressed interest in training for a half marathon so we will be doing that as well. Look for workouts in swimming, cycling, and running, but also spin classes, treadmill speed work, and track workouts. I’ve started a journal to make it a bit easier to keep track of interesting and important things, and thoughts through the day so hopefully that will make for a little more interesting posts. Between now and November look for a couple race reports and some product reviews.

Thanks everyone!

This weeks recap…

It’s been since Tuesday since you’ve heard from me. At that time I was coming off a terrible run and not feeling good about my training whatsoever. I decided to really get in some rest this week but did have some successful workouts. So let’s start from Wednesday.

Wednesday night was a great night. I didn’t do a major workout; instead, I met up with a friend and we played racquetball. Great way to shake out the legs and relax. I was planning on swimming before the game but the pool was closed due to weather. Thursday night I went to the gym and got my swim in. I swam the same endurance workout as always, and it felt great. This is one area that I really think I am making large strides, and I know I will be ready to swim the 1500 meters by the Wilmington triathlon. After I got out of the pool I hopped in the bike for a little swim. My legs were pretty tired so I didn’t spend much time here. I was sure to take rest over pushing myself to make this workout. One thing I really need to do is increase my time on the exercise bike. I feel like every time I get on I can only stay on for 30 minutes maximum.

Friday was my next run. I only had three miles, but after Monday’s run I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. I laced on my shoes anyways and walked out the door for 3 miles. As I stepped outside it started to rain. I took this as a sign to not go and spent the night off my feet knowing I had a pivotal run the next day. Saturday was a busy day because my parents were coming into town, so I woke up early for my 6 mile run. If you haven’t read my post on my run on Monday, which you can read here, you wouldn’t understand how much I was dreading this run. I laced my shoes and walked two laps around my apartment as a warm up. I’m trying to spend more time warming up and cooling down on my run. I would also like to learn some good stretches that I can do occasionally to loosen up a bit if you guys had any suggestions. Anyway, as I started my Garmin, and took off, I felt great. Ready to take on this run. I had a different route planned leaving from my apartment and I was really comfortable with this terrain and route. Ran up Lake Wheeler, down into Centennial campus, by the lake, through the heart of campus, and down Centennial. I was stopped twice by phone calls, but it all worked out and I finished the run with a respectable pace of 10:15 a mile. This was huge for me. All I needed was a good run after that bad one. You can see the run info here.

After this run I took a shower and left with the parents. When my parents left, I was right back out the door to help my girlfriend babysit. We were there LATE which was a bummer because I was planning on going on the 50 mile ride with Team CBC Sunday morning. Ended up going to sleep at 3:00 on Sunday morning. It worked out though, because when I woke up it was pouring outside, and I’m not that tough to go ride in the rain yet. S mid day I went to the gym, got my last swim in for the week and got on the spin bike for 30 mins. Not a long workout but effective.

So to sum up my training this week, the weather sucks, spin bikes sucks, swimming getting better, and I feel better about my running.

Some points of interest this week. Looking to buy my cycling shoes THIS WEEK! I am beyond excited about having another thing on the list marked off. This week is going t be a huge week for training, running in particular. I have a 6.5 run tomorrow, then on Wednesday, I have a track workout. Friday I will run 4 miles, followed by a 8 mile run on Saturday. This is a make or break week for running. Triathlon this weekend! Still haven’t signed up, and not sure if I am, but I want too. This isn’t a cheap sport, and I feel like I’m doing nothing but spending money. I really want the 5 event t shirt but I might decide not to do this one. I feel like this triathlon will be good because it will be another open water swim so it will be practice. Who knows, I will keep you posted. Online registration ends on Thursday, so I have to make up my mind by then. Planning on going tithe CBC 50 miler next Sunday, and meeting up with some people on labor day weekend to ride in Wilmington. Looks like I have a full couple weekend planned.

I’ll post more this week, I promise.

Thanks for reading!

Weeks training thus far, rest, and slacking…

Man have things gotten slack around here. I know I say it often, but I need to post more! Anyways, the training the last couple days hasn’t been good. I have been keeping a journal the last couple days, and it’s going well. However, I think I need to simplify my idea. I have it organized to well. I think it would be easier to keep it like a journal. Not everything has to be taken down, just the important stuff. It has gotten to the point where I will do a workout, but by the end, I can’t remember the specifics. As I hammer out the kinks I will keep you posted.

Last night I went swimming before my run. This was my swimming workout…

400 meters with 12 breaths recovery
200 meters with 10 breaths recovery
4 x 100 meters with 6 breaths recovery
4 x 50 meters with 4 breaths recovery

This swim felt awesome. It’s so nice to do a workout and feel like you improve. Again, this is just endurance building so no drills but I do try to fit in some paddle workouts to build arm strength. The end goal there is to get my arms strong enough where they can do 90% of the work during the swim. This part of training was excellent.

The run afterwards was HORRIFIC! I started at the Y and ran downtown. I ran to the capital building and then to the performing arts center. The entire way my legs just weren’t having it, they didn’t want to do this run, but I felt okay. I turned around and immediately started to bonk. I just couldn’t make it all the way back. It wasn’t the heat, it wasn’t humidity, it was me. I’m tired, and not getting enough of anything. My eating habits are terrible, and I need to get better at these things. I walked most of the way back with a couple run sets between but just didn’t feel it anymore. Got back to the Y mad realized I hadn’t even tarted my phone. First of all I hate when this happens. I use the garmin app, and in order to start it you choose your activity and preferences, and click continue. And before you actually start, you have to click start. I had failed to do that, admittedly not the first time. But, I look at it as a lesson. Sometimes you have to learn from your failures and ,et them go. A bad day is exactly that, a bad day. Take some time away and rest, relax, and then get back out there and own the pavement. Don’t let a bad run destroy your training, it happens to everyone. So I’ve decided to rest for today, I have racquetball and a swim scheduled tomorrow, and a bike ride on Thursday. Planning on taking it easy until my next run on Friday.

On Sunday I went out with Team CBC again. I was intending on riding with the 15 mph 50 mile group but got there late so I tried the fast 30 mile group. During the ride we split the group several times and i managed to stay with the faster group all morning and it felt great. My phone said we averaged just over 15 mph but I know it was more like 17 or 18. I love getting out of bed for a ride on Sunday morning. It’s something I look forward to every week. You can look forward to more stories of my rides with team CBC in other posts.

So good news! It’s looking like I might get some cycling shoes this week. I got the pedals last week so I’ll be able to take them in, get them installed, and have my bike adjusted for optimal position. I can not wait, only I can wait for the inevitable fall. I guess if I do get them I’ll have to use them in my next triathlon next weekend. I’ll need to get out and practice in them. That leads me to my next topic, the Lake Norman YMCA sprint triathlon next weekend. 750 meter open water swim, 17 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. I’ve never done that distance of an open water swim, and I’m pretty sure that’s the longest bike ride I’ve had to do in a race. A little nervous about the swim, but my swim training plan is helping out a lot with this. As far as the bike is concerned I absolutely know I can do it, I just want to be fast. I’ll try to get the race report out to you all as soon as I can after the race.

Guys, I think that’s all for tonight. I’ll see you guys around, more often I hope!

Posting

Sorry for the delay, will be posting tonight about a failed run and learning from it.

This Weeks Training – Holy Hills Batman

I have been having a pretty good week thus far. Granted, my food hasn’t been that great. I’m committed, next week to start a training journal. My plan now is to take down all training, nutrition, and aches. I need to start thinking about nutrition more before, during, and after exercise. I don’t do enough eating and drinking on the bike, and I meed to get used to drinking while running. This will be great to track my diet and how that food makes me feel while exercising. Maybe I can make some headway on eating and training smarter.

Training this week has been good! No swimming but I have been keeping up with my half-marathon training, and I got a couple rides on the trainer in. The running in Nor Raleigh is considerably hillier than south Raleigh. It is so much more difficult here. I think there is a higher hill in south Raleigh, but here it’s constant up and down, no flat. As I put more miles on my new shoes, they are working well. No problems with my knees or shins and my feet feel incredible. Still have to break the, in a little, but it’s going well. As far as the bike is concerned, I love the trainer. I wish I had a training DVD or a plan to go by but I don’t. Yesterday I did a little brick. Got on the bike and did intervals, 5 mins on, 5 mins off for 30 mins. Then I put on my shoes and did a three mile run. Not fast, just to stretch my legs. Tonight I got on the bike and just spun at a high RPM for 45 mins or so. It was good, and I enjoyed it. I have 5 miles tomorrow, and I am planning on a long bike ride on Sunday.

I’ll get back with you guys this weekend Thanks for reading!

Some New Goals for this blog….

As I sit on a porch listening to the rain, I wanted to talk a little about goals. I already talk a lot about goals because racing and triathlon are large goals of mine, and a large part of this blog. Goals are important because they make us better and that’s what I need for this blog, for it to be better. It’s funny because I do have a few readers, but I’m always sucked into the data the site gives you as far as your readers. I feel like if I don’t have a reader in a day it’s been a failure, when really it’s just because I hadn’t written in a while and this blog is still new and untested. I want this blog to get better, and I’m going to set goals now until the end of the year. That’s five months to accomplish these things.

One. I really want to write race reports for all of my upcoming races. Not only a report of race day, but pictures as well. I want to be able to share with you all the ups and downs of the race, what I did or didn’t do well, and things that I can fix. Not just for you as a reader, but for me as a competitor.

Two. I have three or four books about triathlon/endurance racing that I would love to read again and review. Reading is a great way to relax and let go of a lot of things, and it’s a great motivator. One of these books, about the Ironman, has some really inspiring stories. I would love to share that with you all.

Three. More ride recaps. I haven’t done many, but the one that I said I was going to write never got written. I have to get better at this. I plan on going on these rides weekly, and doing some longer charity rides. Eventually I want to record some on video, but that’s a ways off.

Four. Product reviews. There is a fair bit of equipment that I have in line to get, and reviews of those items would be great. There is nothing worse, from my experience, to get an item thinking it will do something, and it doesn’t. It will be my way of helping the community.

Five. Lastly, more posts. I know I set a three or four post minimum for my blog, but you see how I have been sticking to that? I really need to post more, and I will try. I would love to make this blog special, and I would love to have you guys along for the ride.

Hopefully with these five goals for my blog we can get cracking at making this a great blog. Between these five things, and my training posts, I think this would be fun for everyone. Stick around, comment, or follow to stay up to date on my training through this year.

 

Thanks for reading!

Training to end the week, another group ride, and Hilly Hillfest…

Training this week has been interesting. I’m trying to swim three times a week, running three, and cycling at least two. I did it, but it was tough. I have had a pretty busy week and the weekend hasn’t been different. Friday I got off of work a little early so I could go pick up my package, and get in a swim before the weekend really started.  It went well, and the workouts are working. I feel my endurance increasing with every swim. I swim the same workout three times a week and then every week I increase the yardage.  Hopefully by my 1500 meter swim in September I can actually swim it! I didn’t run or cycle, but I did buy new running shoes. Some Mizuno Wave Precision 12. They look pretty awesome, and hopefully they will perform well. Saturday I was supposed to run, but I just really didn’t have time. So I put it off for today, Sunday, the busiest day.

This morning I woke up early, got my bike ready, and headed out for another CBC ride. My plan was to ride with the quicker group, but as I arrived the slower group was leaving so I thought I would just catch up and ride the slow 30 mile group. I ate a Cliff bar, put on my helmet and jersey, and took my bike off the car and took off after them. I was keeping a pretty good pace, definitely above 15 mph, I just couldn’t catch them. There was definitely a headwind, and I was really worried it was going to rain. Luckily it didn’t, and those clouds cooled things down quite a bit. I caught up with the group that left with the 30 mile under 15 mph group but they were only doing 20 miles. After I finished and got back to the car, I realized that the route that I took was way different. It doesn’t really matter, I got a great workout in, and I made it back in one piece. I did bring two special K protein shake for afterwards, so that was a nice little reward. All in all I had a Cliff Bar, half a pack of Gu Chomps, one water bottle of Nuun, and one of water. I’m happy with that.

After my bike, I headed back to my apartment, quick changed, and headed to the pool. Again, great swim. I used some paddles that I got to help with my upper body strength. I want to try to incorporate the paddles into my workout because I want most of the work to be done with the arms in the swim. I completed my work out and got dressed to pick Raschelle up to go over to her parent’s house for dinner. I saved my run for after. I wanted to wait for the rain to go away, and the heat to die down. I had 4 miles on the schedule and they were going to be in my new shoes. I highly underestimated the hills in this neighborhood. The hilliest I’ve ran in a while. Now I try not to complain, because it’s not like I live in the mountains or anything, but these hills are brutal. I liked my new kicks, but I will hold off judgment until I can run on normal terrain.

All in all, it was a great raining weekend, and hopefully many more to come. I got some great gear this weekend as well. Like I said before, I got some 105 pedals and the shoes, which can be seen here, but I also got some nutritional items. I got a single serving of both Hammer Heed and Perpetuum. I also got a big box of Cliff bars, and some Special K protein shakes. I picked up some Honey Stinger Waffles, Gu Chomps, and some Nuun. So pretty good weekend, and I’m ready to get this week started.

 

 

 

This weeks training, and some new equipment on the way…

A lot has happened since I wrote last. This week has been flying by with after work commitments, workouts, and the Olympics. Training has been inconsistent, but getting done. I told you I went on my first group ride last weekend on Sunday, which a post is coming, I promise. Then Monday I had an awesome run and a swim workout. So on Thursday I figured I really needed to get a bike ride in. So I put on my cycling outfit and headed out the door. As I said before, I’ve gotten into Strava recently, and I noticed that there was a segment on a portion that I ride often, so I decided to go for it. This route is pretty much a time trial down a street in the neighborhood behind my apartment. So my plan was to start my iPhone and do a warm-up to the street, and then do at least two loops of the street. I got to the street no problem, and started my first lap. I felt good, but I wasn’t really expecting anything great to happen, I was just riding for a workout. I wound up riding the loop three times and then headed home. I got home, stopped the clock, and loaded the GPS data to my computer, and then uploaded to Strava. Last time I did this, I found out I was second to last out of 25 or so people, and you can read about the experience in this post. Needless to say, I was interested in the results. I waited for the data to upload, and when it did I saw a big abbreviation… KOM. For those of you who aren’t familiar with cycling, this stands for King of the Mountain, the polka dots. I was so excited. Now let me bring myself back to Earth. The several people, three to be exact, rode a 25 miles or so before this so its not really fair to say I actually am the KOM. But still, that’s such a big change from last time.The rest of the week, admittedly has been slow. I haven’t been able to get another swim workout in, but planning for tomorrow. Today was an exceptional day for my training however, so good it needs its own paragraph.

There is always that one class at the gym that will get you out of bed in the morning. That one instructor that really motivates. For me its Arch, a cycling instructor for the Y that I attend. Usually I will do a 25 minute cycle with Arch and then head out in a run with Lisa, who was there today, and side note, said some awesome things about my blog. Thanks for your kind words. Anyway, usually its a nice little brick workout that’s easy to get out of bed for. Today was a little different however because I didn’t have a run planned for today, and its definitely time for some new running shoes, so I didn’t want to chance anything. So I stayed and spun in Arch’s class. There are several things I like about Arch and his class. First things first is his taste in music. I get so amped with the house tunes he is playing. Definitely makes it a little easier to grind out. Another reason I really like his class is because he is an excellent inspirational speaker. He always has some awesome analogy, or story to get you really pumped for a long climbing segment, or a sprint workout. For instance, today he was talking about imagining we were Kristen Armstrong. Gold medal winner in the London Olympics of the women time trial event. The way he talks about it, you can see the street lined with people shouting and waving the flag, it makes you want to push. I love it. And the last thing Ill talk about that make him one of my favorite instructors is his cycling experience. You can tell he is a cyclist, and not just a spin instructor. He leads the class like its a group ride, and he makes it awesome. I never have had a bad class with Arch, its always grueling, but enjoyable.

One last thing on the docket for tonight is my special order. I ordered some black Shimano 105 pedals, and some chain lube from Amazon, and then should be here by Saturday. Unfortunately, I don’t have the cash for the shoes that I want right now so those will be a few weeks out. Hopefully I will have them before my last triathlon. Hopefully it will be good.

Well guys, that’s it again, the end of another post. I will write about my group ride last weekend and there are a couple other ideas that I’ve had, I just have to think about it, and write it. I have ideas for book reviews and product reviews, so be on the lookout.

Goodnight guys!