Alright another quick post. Yesterday Dan, Noah and I did the Chicago Tri as a relay once again. We had a mission...to win!
We're happy to report that we did in fact win, and by about 2 minutes at that. It was brutally hot, well mostly for Noah which sucked for him. Dan was a minute faster, I was two minutes faster and it's nice to see things coming along fitness wise on the bike. I have had some solid bike times this year and hopefully I can start getting those run times down as well. More on the race later. Thanks Mom for being a trooper and coming with me for an incredibly long day. I would have been bored out of my mind hadn't you been there!!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Pigman Half Ironman Race Report
Alright this is going to be short and sweet...well maybe not sweet, but short for sure. Sunday Chad and I raced the Pigman Half Ironman in Palo, Iowa. It was hot, the morning was foggy and did I mention it was hot!
Swim - Delayed for about an hour because of the fog, but once it lifted I ended up swimming better than my last race. I am not sure if I sighted the best, but whatever, I came out of the water in 34 minutes...not bad for me, not great, but not bad.
Bike - I hate railroad crossings, and we had to go over a couple of them. The first one my rear bottle of GU Brew fell out and I decided not to get it. I looked down a little later and realized that I lost my Garmin somewhere. Well time to just roll I guess. The bike was an out and back, and I had people in front of me the whole time to catch...and catch I did. I rolled into T2 as the first non-"elite". It was pretty cool to be the first bike racked. 2:15 bike split, happy with that.
Run - It was hot, and it was just survival mode. 1:41 nothing pretty but it got done.
All in all I was 9th overall and I won my age group. Happy with the race, really happy with the bike, looking forward to more training. Less than 3 months until Ironman Arizona.
Swim - Delayed for about an hour because of the fog, but once it lifted I ended up swimming better than my last race. I am not sure if I sighted the best, but whatever, I came out of the water in 34 minutes...not bad for me, not great, but not bad.
Bike - I hate railroad crossings, and we had to go over a couple of them. The first one my rear bottle of GU Brew fell out and I decided not to get it. I looked down a little later and realized that I lost my Garmin somewhere. Well time to just roll I guess. The bike was an out and back, and I had people in front of me the whole time to catch...and catch I did. I rolled into T2 as the first non-"elite". It was pretty cool to be the first bike racked. 2:15 bike split, happy with that.
Run - It was hot, and it was just survival mode. 1:41 nothing pretty but it got done.
All in all I was 9th overall and I won my age group. Happy with the race, really happy with the bike, looking forward to more training. Less than 3 months until Ironman Arizona.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Early Morning Long Run
It's been a good week of training. I was able to get everything in and am pretty happy with the results. Last night I decided to get my track workout in at 4:15 p.m. not the brightest idea. With a heat index of 97 degrees it made for an interesting workout. I nailed my times though:
Distance Planned Time Actual Time
1200 M 4:17 4:10
1000 M 3:30 3:22
800 M 2:43 2:43
600 M 2:00 1:56
400 M 1:16 1:13
I have a feeling I started out a little too fast, but was able to get things back in check after nearly puking on the 800.
I had to get my long run in this morning, since I knew I wouldn't be able to ride, and let's be serious it wasn't going to happen later. At least not without a ton of motivation, so I'll save the motivation for some other time. I didn't have high hopes for my long run this morning seeing as I was only about 12 hours off of the track, but I went anyway. I ended up getting in my 17 miles at a 7:04 pace, which was pretty easy. I ran with a former player for about 10 miles so that was good and helped keep me from blowing up.
Long ride tomorrow, something I'm definitely looking forward to!!
Distance Planned Time Actual Time
1200 M 4:17 4:10
1000 M 3:30 3:22
800 M 2:43 2:43
600 M 2:00 1:56
400 M 1:16 1:13
I have a feeling I started out a little too fast, but was able to get things back in check after nearly puking on the 800.
I had to get my long run in this morning, since I knew I wouldn't be able to ride, and let's be serious it wasn't going to happen later. At least not without a ton of motivation, so I'll save the motivation for some other time. I didn't have high hopes for my long run this morning seeing as I was only about 12 hours off of the track, but I went anyway. I ended up getting in my 17 miles at a 7:04 pace, which was pretty easy. I ran with a former player for about 10 miles so that was good and helped keep me from blowing up.
Long ride tomorrow, something I'm definitely looking forward to!!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Life is Good
So this morning as my swim set was almost done I heard something interesting, and I heard it because we were doing a kick set alright so I wasn't resting at the wall. Actually with this group there is no rest...well they get rest, but I sure as heck don't!! Back to my story, so Barber came into the pool and says, "I want your life!" He was just kidding obviously, but it got me to thinking. I do have it pretty sweet. I think part of the reason this put me in a good mood was because I was just about done with swimming for the day, which always helps, but in the next couple 100's I thought about what he had said.
I'm pretty lucky, I have an awesome family, two awesome loyal dogs, amazing friends...I could list things all day long, but the bottom line is I do have it pretty good.
The swim was solid this morning, 4800 meters in the books. Hammerfest ride tonight with the boys, should be fun...it is going to hurt, but it should be fun none the less. Let's hope it cools off soon. Something new might be on the horizon as well. Will know more tonight.
I'm pretty lucky, I have an awesome family, two awesome loyal dogs, amazing friends...I could list things all day long, but the bottom line is I do have it pretty good.
The swim was solid this morning, 4800 meters in the books. Hammerfest ride tonight with the boys, should be fun...it is going to hurt, but it should be fun none the less. Let's hope it cools off soon. Something new might be on the horizon as well. Will know more tonight.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
It's a Rollercoaster...
I feel like training is a rollercoaster, there are times where you feel high, and others where you feel low. For me I typically feel low when I'm swimming, and the high's can come on either the bike or the run.
I've had a couple of solid weeks of training, so I am feeling good. I had a great tempo run last night, I'm not sure why but it was awesome. The plan was to run the first mile at a 7:10, the next five miles at 6:35 and the final mile at 7:00. Well I went through mile 1 in 6:54 and then cracked off a 6:19, 6:19, 6:23, 6:21, 6:23 and finished up with a 6:40. The best part about it was the fact that I was holding myself back the whole time. I would glance down at my Garmin and realize that at times I was running at a sub 6 pace and really had to hold back. Just one of those good days I guess.
The awesome run from yesterday continued this morning on the computrainer. There were only a few of us, but as always we were in the hurt locker after the set.
15' warm up
2 times through the following:
10 x 1:30
- :30 @ 150% (450+ watts)
- 1:00 @ 70% (~215 watts)
Cool Down
For many of the 30 second intervals I was well over 460 watts, and for the last one I was over 500 watts the whole time. My legs feel good, I'm going to head out for another ride tonight to loosen things up, and maybe a short run as well.
I've had a couple of solid weeks of training, so I am feeling good. I had a great tempo run last night, I'm not sure why but it was awesome. The plan was to run the first mile at a 7:10, the next five miles at 6:35 and the final mile at 7:00. Well I went through mile 1 in 6:54 and then cracked off a 6:19, 6:19, 6:23, 6:21, 6:23 and finished up with a 6:40. The best part about it was the fact that I was holding myself back the whole time. I would glance down at my Garmin and realize that at times I was running at a sub 6 pace and really had to hold back. Just one of those good days I guess.
The awesome run from yesterday continued this morning on the computrainer. There were only a few of us, but as always we were in the hurt locker after the set.
15' warm up
2 times through the following:
10 x 1:30
- :30 @ 150% (450+ watts)
- 1:00 @ 70% (~215 watts)
Cool Down
For many of the 30 second intervals I was well over 460 watts, and for the last one I was over 500 watts the whole time. My legs feel good, I'm going to head out for another ride tonight to loosen things up, and maybe a short run as well.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Pluggin along...
I realize that I have been really slacking big time on this blog so I'll try to catch up here with the important things. That might be tough because isn't everything important? Well not really, but here goes.
Training has been going along well, I had a solid week last week. I guess a couple of highlights would have to come from training on the bike. This new ride I have is amazing!! I'm more comfortable than I have ever been, I feel as if I'm more efficient and I feel like I'm stronger each and every day. Last Wed. computrainer was solid, and went something like this (if I can remember that far ago)
15' warm up
2 x through the following:
5' @ 85-90% (255-270 watts)
1' RI
4' @ 90-95% (270-285 watts)
1' RI
3' @ AT (310 watts)
1' RI
2' (1' @ AT; 1' @ Max sustainable - 420+ watts)
1' RI
1' @ Max Sustainable (450 watts)
Cool Down
I pretty much nailed that workout and didn't put a whole lot of extra effort in, so that felt nice!!
Being a scatter brain I'm going to head back to a tempo run from last Tuesday, 7 miles, and I was faster than all of the paces that I had set for myself, so again happy with that. Swimming was over 15,000 yards so another positive, and I even hit some pretty fast times in the pool...well fast for me that is! And I have at least 4 more weeks outside so that's a bonus!!
Saturday I rode long with Chad and Saeger, and my legs were feeling good, as time went on they started to feel better! I think the best part about the ride was how fresh I felt when I was done. I'm feeling fresh after riding in the 70-80 mile range and so now it means I need to bump that up. I want to feel fresh after riding 112, not 76! And trust me when I say that is a huge difference.
Last night I did my long run, 15 miles in which I was able to hold a 6:51 pace without having to step on the gas too much. I want that to feel easier though...and I want it faster, the only way to get there though is to put in the work.
This morning I went to swim downtown with Wanner. Let me tell you he is determined to be ready for this Ironman next June. We went down to Ohio Street beach to get some open water swimming in. The water was very calm (for Lake Michigan standards) and it didn't feel too cold, so I made the game time decision to swim without a wetsuit. I have never done this in Lake Michigan and thought it would be a good challenge. Heading out to the first buoy was no problem and I was comfortable. But as you get closer to the break wall the water got colder...way colder. As I was waiting at the half mile buoy for Wanner I realized how cold I was, and some people walking by dropped a thermometer in the water and proceeded to announce to me that the water was 64 degrees...thanks a lot! At least now I knew I wasn't just being a wimp and as soon as Wanner got out there I said let's head back I'm frozen. It was wierd that as you got closer to shore you could really feel the change in temps. However, the damage was already done. I was only 3 minutes slower without a wetsuit and I really didn't hammer all that much so it was a good day.
This week includes a lot of riding, single speed tonight, mountain tomorrow, tri bike wednesday & e-ride wednesday, and the hammerfest Thursday night at Willowbrook's Endure It.
Last week I also met with the awesome crew at Lululemon Oakbrook and there are some exciting things on the horizon!! A new beginners run group is going to start out of the store on September 15th, at 6:30 p.m. come check it out! I'm really excited to be working with such awesome people and can't wait to see what else they have in store as well!!!
Training has been going along well, I had a solid week last week. I guess a couple of highlights would have to come from training on the bike. This new ride I have is amazing!! I'm more comfortable than I have ever been, I feel as if I'm more efficient and I feel like I'm stronger each and every day. Last Wed. computrainer was solid, and went something like this (if I can remember that far ago)
15' warm up
2 x through the following:
5' @ 85-90% (255-270 watts)
1' RI
4' @ 90-95% (270-285 watts)
1' RI
3' @ AT (310 watts)
1' RI
2' (1' @ AT; 1' @ Max sustainable - 420+ watts)
1' RI
1' @ Max Sustainable (450 watts)
Cool Down
I pretty much nailed that workout and didn't put a whole lot of extra effort in, so that felt nice!!
Being a scatter brain I'm going to head back to a tempo run from last Tuesday, 7 miles, and I was faster than all of the paces that I had set for myself, so again happy with that. Swimming was over 15,000 yards so another positive, and I even hit some pretty fast times in the pool...well fast for me that is! And I have at least 4 more weeks outside so that's a bonus!!
Saturday I rode long with Chad and Saeger, and my legs were feeling good, as time went on they started to feel better! I think the best part about the ride was how fresh I felt when I was done. I'm feeling fresh after riding in the 70-80 mile range and so now it means I need to bump that up. I want to feel fresh after riding 112, not 76! And trust me when I say that is a huge difference.
Last night I did my long run, 15 miles in which I was able to hold a 6:51 pace without having to step on the gas too much. I want that to feel easier though...and I want it faster, the only way to get there though is to put in the work.
This morning I went to swim downtown with Wanner. Let me tell you he is determined to be ready for this Ironman next June. We went down to Ohio Street beach to get some open water swimming in. The water was very calm (for Lake Michigan standards) and it didn't feel too cold, so I made the game time decision to swim without a wetsuit. I have never done this in Lake Michigan and thought it would be a good challenge. Heading out to the first buoy was no problem and I was comfortable. But as you get closer to the break wall the water got colder...way colder. As I was waiting at the half mile buoy for Wanner I realized how cold I was, and some people walking by dropped a thermometer in the water and proceeded to announce to me that the water was 64 degrees...thanks a lot! At least now I knew I wasn't just being a wimp and as soon as Wanner got out there I said let's head back I'm frozen. It was wierd that as you got closer to shore you could really feel the change in temps. However, the damage was already done. I was only 3 minutes slower without a wetsuit and I really didn't hammer all that much so it was a good day.
This week includes a lot of riding, single speed tonight, mountain tomorrow, tri bike wednesday & e-ride wednesday, and the hammerfest Thursday night at Willowbrook's Endure It.
Last week I also met with the awesome crew at Lululemon Oakbrook and there are some exciting things on the horizon!! A new beginners run group is going to start out of the store on September 15th, at 6:30 p.m. come check it out! I'm really excited to be working with such awesome people and can't wait to see what else they have in store as well!!!
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