Busy

Sorry for the lack of posting lately.  Life has been busy all around!  Hopefully things will slow down in the coming weeks and settle down a bit.  But a few highlights...

- The CEEPO Viper is built.  Pics to come after I change out the stem, the position is off right now, but we're working on it.

- L3 Endurance is growing and the buzz is increasing...exciting for sure!!

- It's 60+ degrees out today...so get outside and do something!

That's it for now.

Sessions Aren't Always Magical

Like anyone I like to see improvement, and like most people we always think we're going to improve more and more and more.  Well you get to a point where you work harder for smaller improvements, I think we all understand that.  And in my brain I understand the reasoning behind that, though what you have to keep in check is your ego.

One of the sessions that I completed today just wasn't what I was hoping for.  It wasn't bad...but there just wasn't much there.  I take responsibility though because I didn't fuel properly after my first training session, and I wasn't the smartest about the timing of my meals yesterday either.  It's interesting how you can feel the difference.  Walking into the session I knew I didn't "feel" right, but I also realized that I would be upset with myself if I didn't give the workout a go.  So hoping things would turn around I stuck with it, and ended up with a decent set, the effort was there, the times just weren't.  I guess it's something to learn from, and to try to avoid in the future. 

Remember it's not always about setting a PR in every workout, but it's about sticking to the plan and having faith that the work you're putting in will eventually pay dividends.

Little Goals & Small Victories

When you have big gaps in your race schedule (which let's be serious most of us do unless you live somewhere warm and can race more often)...it's important to create smaller/short term goals for yourself.  Maybe it's something as simple as getting 7+ hours of sleep all week, or swimming xx yardage, riding xx amount of time, keeping a food log.  There are countless different ways that you can create these goals, but I do think it's important to have them.  Some people need to write them down to see them daily, others just know what they are.  I like to set monthly goals for myself, it's fun to have something to work towards and then to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you're going to accomoplish that goal.  We're about half way through January already (crazy isn't it?!?!) so if you haven't made any goals yet, get after it.  You want them to be attainable, which doesn't mean easy, but within your reach while still putting forth the effort.

GU Energy in 2013!!

I'm pumped to share that I will once again be working with GU for 2013.  I've been working with GU since 2008 and am thrilled to continue with the best nutrition company in triathlon!  What's even more exciting is that L3 Endurance is also officially working with GU Energy Labs for our nutrition needs this season as well. 

If you have questions about nutrition whether it's day to day, training, racing please let us know and I'd be happy to fill you in on all products GU.  They are constantly improving their already amazing products and creating fun, new, tasty flavors of all things GU, Chomps, Roctane, and Brew. 

Stay tuned for upcoming nutrition clinics, coupon codes for L3 Endurance athletes, and free samples as well!

This morning was our (well I should say my) "Flashback Friday" swim set, and once again it was a solid set.  I've really enjoyed swimming the past 2.5 months (trust me I never thought I'd say that), and this morning was no exception.  The consistency in the pool has been great, and I really believe it's the key to success within the sport.  Not those crazy huge training days (though they are needed every once in a while) but that steady work, day after day, week after week, month after month. 

Trainer Time

Though the winter here in Chicago has been without snow (no those couple days of flurries don't count as snow to me), and the temperatures haven't been horrible, but I do think there is a lot to be said for putting in specific workouts indoors on a trainer.  I'm pretty fortunate to be able to complete my workouts based off of power.  If you don't have a power meter you still get a great workout, so get on your trainer and you'll be glad once you head  back outdoors to ride.  The crazy thing is that in 3 months we should be able to be riding outside once again...and we'll surely have days to get outdoors before that as well.

This morning was solid as I had some L3 Endurance athletes get their cycling workouts done along with me.  The cool thing is that there were 4 different workouts going on at the same time, and everyone was putting in a solid effort...so here are some samples of the workouts:

Power Based #1

15' warm up to 70%

• 7’ @ 70%

• 3’ @ AT
• 8’ @ 80%
• 2’ @ AT
• 5’ @ 75%
• 2’ @ AT
• 3’ @ 90%
• 5’ @ 85%
• 1’ @ AT
• 1’ @ 75%
• 3’ @ 80%

Cool Down

Power Based #2

15' warm up t0 70%

• 2 times through the following with 3’ rest between sets:
o 5’ @ 70%
o 1’ @ AT
o 4’ @ 80%
o 2’ @ AT
o 4’ @ 80%
o 1’ @ AT
o 5’ @ 70%

Cool Down
Trainer Set (if you don't have a power meter, but still want a great workout)   15' warm up   4' @ Big Chain Ring in the front, biggest (easiest) cog on your cassette 1' @ Big Chain Ring in the front, smallest (hardest) cog on your cassette 4' @ Big Chain Ring in the front, 2nd biggest (2nd easiest) cog on your cassette 1' @ Big Chain Ring in the front, smallest (hardest) cog on your cassette
4' @ Big Chain Ring in the front, 3rd biggest (3rd easiest) cog on your cassette
1' @ Big Chain Ring in the front, smallest (hardest) cog on your cassette

4' @ Big Chain Ring in the front, 4th biggest (4th easiest) cog on your cassette
1' @ Big Chain Ring in the front, smallest (hardest) cog on your cassette

4' @ Big Chain Ring in the front, 5th biggest (5th easiest) cog on your cassette
1' @ Big Chain Ring in the front, smallest (hardest) cog on your cassette

4' @ Big Chain Ring in the front, 6th biggest (6th easiest) cog on your cassette
1' @ Big Chain Ring in the front, smallest (hardest) cog on your cassette

4' @ Big Chain Ring in the front, 7th biggest (7th easiest) cog on your cassette
1' @ Big Chain Ring in the front, smallest (hardest) cog on your cassette


Cool Down

It's great to be able to put in the time when there are motivated athletes also working along side of you.  If you're interested in joining us for some of these morning rides just let me know, we do have some more roon to add a couple of more people.  L3 Endurance is also hosting some free group training sessions for people who are looking to get involved with a fantastic group of athletes.  For more information check out their website or email Rick @ L3Endurance . com

And no matter what make sure you're taking care of  your body from the training you're putting in, stretching (which I know I don't do enough of), rolling (ok I should do that more too), nutrition (I'm pretty good with this), and compression gear too.  I wore my Zoot compression tights to bed last night and my legs felt fresh and ready to roll this morning.

The Little Improvements...

Since most of us think along the same lines we always want to see improvments...and lets be serious we get amped when we see big improvements.  Well there comes a time when you have to realize that seeing "big" improvements just isn't going to happen all of the time.  That's when you have to celebrate those little things.  I was thinking about this today after a conversation I had yesterday with a good friend and an adviser of sorts in one particular sport.  Nothing we spoke about was something either of us didn't know, but reassuring that I'm on the right track.  So on my bike commute in to work today I was thinking about those "little improvements" that I could celebrate and realized that I did have some today while swimming.  Yes I would love to leave on a faster interval...but typically with swimming the "send offs" are based on 5 second increments...1:40, 1:35, 1:30, 1:25 ect...you get the idea.  Well that 5 seconds (crazy I know) can be a huge difference.  So what do you do when you are consistently making one interval, but the other is just slightly out of reach?  No masters group is going to do a workout based off of a 1:27 base.  It would be sweet don't get me wrong, but that's some math that I just don't want to have to do at 5:00 a.m. in the cold water.

Back to my thought process this morning...I know I'm in between two intervals, and today I realized (thanks to Keating writing another great swim set) that my send off was just a bit faster than usual, and I was maintaining.  So I'm not quite at that faster interval yet...but maybe by the end of January.  That will be my goal.  Things are slowly getting dialed back up on the training front and I'm excited about it, I like where I am right now and feel pretty good about 2 of the 3 sports.  I'm hoping with some work that the 3rd will come around pretty quickly.  Pain loves company...so I'm getting ready for some.

An Indoor Winter Workout

So many people get all whacky with workouts in the winter time, thinking everything has to revolve around watts, and paces, and pace clocks.  I really think that sometimes that deters people from getting all of their sessions in.  You are less likely to complete a session as written if you don't have the confidence that day to complete it as you're supposed to.  So for those days where you're motivated enough to train, but not motivated enough to stare at a power read out here is one for you which you can modify how ever you see fit.

This can be done on the rollers or on a trainer (I prefer rollers most of the time).

10' easy spin in your easiest gear *yes the small chain ring, your EASIEST gear
4' in your big ring and smallest gear (make sure you're not cross chaining though)
1' in your biggest gear
4' one gear harder than the previous 4 minutes
1' in your biggest gear

You see the pattern here.  Depending on time you can go all the way down your cassette and back up, or vary this how you see fit.  The bottom line is that you're doing some honest work without having to stare at a power meter...and the time flies by too.

2013 has arrived...

It's crazy to think that we're a week into the new year already.  Sorry about the lack of posts, I have been busy trying to get some other projects finished, while others up and running.  More news on that stuff to come.

The holidays were nice, though super busy.  It's crazy to think that I had 2 weeks off because as of right now I feel like I never left work.  There were some nice training sessions over the past couple of weeks, which included a couple of BIG swim sets at masters which was great.  The frequency of training among all three sports has increased as well and I'm excited to see where it will lead me this year.  I'm putting on the finishing touches to my race schedule and am super excited about the year ahead.

This will be a super  busy year with Brit and I getting married in June, remodeling the house prior to that, taking what will be an epic honeymoon where we'll hopefully get to catch a tour stage, and to finish up the year back in Kona (well in October that is).  L3 Endurance has been consistently growing which is also exciting and there will be more and more opportunities to get involved if you're interested...but unlike a used car salesman there is NO pressure.  We just want to help promote a healthy lifestyle, and that looks different for everyone.

And my new Ceepo Viper is getting shipped this week, who doesn't love a new bike right?  I'm super excited to be working with Ceepo for 2013 and can't wait to get this new ride built up with some sweet SRAM components. 

Hopefully your 2013 is off to a great start as well!