Training Gets Serious

On Saturday I rode with Jerry's group after an invite from Rita. The ride started from the the Orinda BART station and basically followed the Grizzly Peak Ride route. It basically left off where I had opted to end the actual Grizzly Peak Ride 4 weeks ago. So we rode up to and crossed the Carquinez Bridge and had lunch at Crockett. So I did the dreaded McEwen climb and I must say it was a lot shorter than I remembered. It still was tough as hell. Then it was off to climb the back side of Pig Farm Hill and then finally ending the ride with the 3 bears. So we finished about 50 miles and did nearly 4,000 feet of climbing. Climbing-wise I think i'll be okay for Tahoe. Distance-wise, it's going to be very interesting. Can't believe Tahoe is next Sunday!

Today I did a swim-run workout. Unfortunately I spent much of Saturday night drinking becuase I was celebrating a friend's birthday in the City. I was definitely in no shape to do any training yet I had to get it in. I swam 2000 yards and ran 5 miles. It was the toughest workout to date. But i'm glad I did it because it really reminded me that I needed to take the triathlon training seriously. So I vowed not to touch alcohol again until the triathlon is over.

Looking Fwd to Open Water

I swam again Wednesday Night. Me and chlorine are not getting along. I've been getting sneeze attacks post swims, but lately my nose has been congested. I'm definitely not sick, because I feel fine. The chlorine is doing something to my nose and its severely bugging. Can't believe i'm saying this, but I can't wait to swim open water again. The workout:

Warm Up:
300 LVL2, 200 Kick, 100 LVL2, 200 Kick

Main Set:
2 x 250 (100 LVL4, 50 LVL8, 100 LVL4), 30” RI
4 x 150 (50 LVL4, 50 LVL8, 50 LVL4), 20” RI
4 x 100 (25 LVL4, 25 LVL8, 25 LVL4), 15” RI

Cool Down:
100 LVL2

Total distance = 2,400 yards

Can't Tell Time

On Sunday, I rode with my buddy Art from San Ramon to Walnut Creek and back. He's done five centuries, but probably has not been on the bike consistently for 3 years. So we ended up doing only 30 miles. A good start for him. I'm sure he'll pick up the mileage soon enough. I on the other hand am majorly screwed. My century is 2 weeks away and the furthest i've gone is 60 miles. My dreams of doing a 70 and an 80 miler never really panned out. This weekend I hope to do at least 50 miles. I'm just going to enjoy Tahoe. It's suppose to be the most beautiful bike ride, so i'll just try to take it easy and soak it all in.

Tonight I ran the lake. The only thing I know for sure is that I ran 3+ miles because I had no idea what time I finished. My Polar watch has been sending out warnings that my battery is dying. I called Sports Basement and found out that they don't change the batteries and they suggested I send it back to an authorized Polar service center for replacement. Not wanting to take chances (like I mistakenly did with my Fossil watch), I sent with Polar for battery replacement. So I figure i'll be without a watch for a good 2 weeks. It's a pain, but i'll be alright.

Double Workout is Tough

After today, I finally realized what great shape I was in last summer while training for my first half ironman. Today, I forced myself to do a double workout. The plan was to do the swim workout followed by a run. I started the swim workout at 11:00 am. Midway through the workout, my piece of paper giving me the swim workout directions disappeared. I did whatever I could from memory. After about an hour in the pool, I figured that was enough since I was still going to run. When I got out the pool, it was pretty warm. The first few steps were bad. My legs were tired. I pushed through it and did a 55 minute run. I'm not sure how far I went, but I think it's at least 5 miles. It was a tough run and the whole time I was questioning why I was doing this on my own. Suffice to say, I need to do a hell lot more double workout and should also be doing brick workouts.

Swim workout:

Warm Up:
200 LVL2, 200 Kick, 200 PULL
2 x (25 LVL2, 25 Side Body Balance Position) (10”RI)
2 x (25 LVL2, 25 Body Balance Roll) (10”RI)

Main Set:
6 x 100 LVL 5-6 (RACE PACE) 15”RI
6 x 100 LVL 6-7 (Slightly faster than Race Pace) 20”RI

Cool Down: 100 LVL1

Total distance = 1,900 yards
Time = 1 hour

Run Workout:

Total distance = 5 miles?
Time = 55 minutes

Tired Legs, But Still Pushing

On Tuesday, I was back at it - running in Alameda. The legs were still fatigued from Sunday's B2B run, but I pushed through the mad headwinds at Bay Farm Island.

Total Distance = 4 miles
Total Time = 36:06

Tonight, I was in the pool. It was a struggle. About 1000 yards in, I wanted to quit. It just felt so difficult. Then I thought about poor Nick Glasgow and what he was going through and pushed me to finish.

Warm Up:
300 LVL2
200 Kick
100 LVL2
12 x 25 LVL6 (15" RI)

Main Set:
200 LVL6-7 (20" RI)
2 x 75 LVL8 (15" RI)
45" Rest

Did the above main set 4X

400 (100 LVL2, 200 LVL6, 100 LVL2)

Cool down:
100 LVL1

Total Distance = 2800 yards (1.59 miles)
Total Time = 1 hour 14 minutes

Mounted Diablo and Couldn't Escape Naked Runners!

Friday

With AMBBR less than a month away, I decided I needed to get some serious climbing in. This past Friday, I made the trek up Mt. Diablo only for the second time ever. I started from my place and 10 miles later I was entering through the South Gate. The first 2,500 feet went really well. I instantly knew I was doing better than my previous Mt. Diablo experience. Unfortunately the remaning 1,300 feet was a toughy. It definitely felt like the grades are a lot steeper at the top. What made the climb worse was all these annoying bugs landing on me. I couldn't escape them as I was climbing at an average speed of 6 mph.

Then there was the final climb up to the summit. I made it about 60% of the way before my body ran out of gas. I was going at a very tough and slow 3 mph. I couldn't pedal anymore. I finally turned parallel to the hill and just prayed I had enough energy to clip out. If not, I would be rolling with my bike down the hill. Fortunately my tires got stuck between some rocks and I clipped out. I managed to balance and walked my bike the rest of the way up. The entire trek up Mt. Diablo took about 2 hours. The descent was much nicer. I was flying so fast, I killed a lot of bugs on the way down. I just had to remember to keep my mouth completely shut to prevent from swallowing them. I made it to the bottom in about 20 or so minutes, road home, and finished 40 miles.

Sunday

On Sunday, I ran my first official Bay to Breakers. I was corraled in Corral B where I still got smacked by several tortillas and beach balls. The race started at 8:00 am and it was already hot as hell in SF. It felt like a 100 degrees while running the first mile. It was probably because I was also going too fast. I finished my first mile in 9 minutes. I slowed it down, but I still felt like crap at mile 2. I hit the Hayes Hill a little after mile 2. That hill was a bitch. I ran probably about 80% of it and walked the rest. Unfortunately I was carrying an additional 5 lbs because I dausted a cup of water over my head. Yes it was freshing, but I felt so heavy.

At mile 3, I was still feeling like crap. I couldn't find my groove and the hill just beat the hell out of me. What made things worse was that the (ugly) naked runners were running at my pace. I couldn't run faster than them and they couldn't run faster than me. I couldn't escape them. In fact, I saw (fugly) naked runners at every mile. Finally by mile 4, I was feeling my groove. It helped that it was nice and shady in Golden Gate Park. By mile 6, I got my second wind. I felt so fresh. I saw the turn out of Golden Gate Park onto the Great Highway and I just sprinted like a mo-fo. The finish was still about 0.3 -0.4 miles away, but I gave all I had and flew by a lot of people. My finishing time was 1:12:05 (9:40/mile) - 3184th overall. That's a 12k PR! - previous best was 1:14:39 at Emerald 12K in 2008.

Mile 1: 9:08
Mile 2: 9:46
Mile 3: 10:39
Mile 4: 10:10
Mile 5: 10:23
Mile 6: 9:24
Mile 7: 9:09
Mile 7.45: 3:27

Total time: 1:12:05

Eh Swim

I swam Wednesday night and was struggling a bit. I was very fatigued. Don't know why.

Warm Up:
2 x 200 LVL2 (15" RI)
2 x 25 finger tip drill (15" RI)
2 x 25 distance per stroke (15" RI)

Main Set:
2 x 250 LVL5 (15" RI)
4 x 50 (25 distance per stroke, 25 build) 15" RI
2 x 200 LVL6 (15" RI)
4 x 50 (25 finger tip drill, 25 build) 15" RI
2 x150 LVL 6 (15" RI)

Cool Down:
Opted not to do

Total distance = 2100 yards
Total time = 1 hour

Last Run Before B2B

Tonight was the final tune-up run before Bay to Breakers this Sunday. The run went well. I went too fast and got fatigued during that last mile. I started keeping time from the animal farm area back to the gazebo, which is a little under 3 miles. My finish time was 24:18.

Total distance = 3 miles
Total time = 24 minutes

Run Smart, Not Hard

After my fall on Friday, I was feeling some bruising. I wasn't sure if it was muscle or bone. I just knew I could not put my weight on my left leg. I had wanted to run Saturday, but thought better of it. I held out until today when the leg felt a lot better. I headed to the Iron Horse in Danville. I knew I wanted to get in at least 5 miles and if the leg was feeling good, I would got a little further. I zoomed through the first 2.5 miles - in fact my new personal best at the trail. I clocked in 22:02 (8:48/mile). Still feeling good, I went a little further even though I needed a walking break. I decided to turnaround at Livorna, which was about 3.67 out from where I started. So for the first half I did 9:02/mile. The second half was definitely slower and I knew it. I finished the second half at a 9:33/mile pace. Total time was 1:08:15 for 7.3 miles (9:20/mile).

Total distance = 7.3 miles
Total time = 1 hour 8 minutes

Revenge of the Philineator aka Philerazzi!

I'm really fortunate to be able to have 3-day weekends. It allows me extra training time, which I desperately need. This weekend is packed and if you're familiar with cycling...it takes an entire day to get in a long ride. I really wanted to ride this weekend especially with the debacle that was last Sunday. Being Friday is my day off and no else has the day off, I had to ride on my own. After the ride on Sunday, I had my mind set on doing Mines Road - 60 miles of 4,000+ feet of climbing.

I got out to Livermore and began cycling at 9:15 am. The initial climbs were brutal, but I told myself to take it easy. I finished the first 30 miles by 11:38 am. I grubbed on a burger and fries at The Junction. My legs were a bit tired and right my quad was cramping a bit. The lower back was good. By 1:06 pm, I began the journey back. The climbs during the second half were not as difficult as the first half, but it had already taken a toll. During this one climb, I couldn't make it all the way through, so I wanted to stop midway. Bad choice. I clipped out on one side, but was leaning towards the other side. I couldn't clip the other one in time and all I could think was "oh shit". I braced myself and I fell over. First thought was "please no cars". I was laying in the middle road. I instantly felt the pain in my knee and elbow. Elbow was red, but no blood. The knee was scrapped...skin out and blood just waiting to ooze out. A half minute later, blood slowly dripped. Fortunately I had a paper towel and just used that wipe it off. Eventually the flow stopped.

It still was no picnic pedaling. I could feel it bothering me, but I knew I had to get back. Somehow I got my second wind or maybe it was a tailwind and I was going pretty fast. Still both quads decided to cramp up with about 10 miles to go. I'm thinking the hot 80 degrees may had something to do with it. I perhaps needed more salt? Still I finished the 60 miles and was happy with it. I finished at 2:38 pm. I needed that ride. Now I feel like i'm back on track!

Total distance = 60 miles
Total riding time = 3 hours 55 minutes

1 Hour +

I only needed to look at my pruning fingers to know I had been in the pool for a long time. So begins the long swim workouts that go over an hour. I think a lot had to do with the annoying drills, but hey you gotta do what you gotta do. It's just interesting that when I arrived I could barely find a lane and by the end, I was pretty much 1 of 3 people left in the pool. That's what I also get for being a slow swimmer. Anyways I felt pretty strong tonight, which is a surprise since I just swam on Monday and had only been doing swims once a week. Tonight's workout:

Warm Up:
2 x (150 LVL2, 100 kick, 50 side balance body position) 15”RI

Main Set:
2 x 25 Balance Body Roll (10”RI)
2 x 25 Distance Per Stroke (10”RI)
4 x 25 Build (10”RI)

Did Above Portion of Main Set 4X

2 x 500 (Negative Splits) LVL 3-6 (30”RI)

Cool Down:
100 LVL1

Total distance = 2,500 yards (1.42 miles)
Time = 1 hour 4 minutes

Kick'n Ass and Feeling Good.

Back at the lake with Rock tonight. The new trail was finally open for use, which means we got to run the inner portion. The pro is that the trail is a lot wider. The con is that the surface is slightly stronger. Regardless, we killed it tonight. 34 minutes round trip and that includes stretching time, which I think was about 5 minutes.

Uppping the Swim Workouts

Only two months away till Vineman Ironman 70.3 and up to this point, I have been taking it easy with training. Starting today, i'm upping the swim workouts from once a week to two. I probably should have done it sooner. Oh wells, I feel stronger with each swim. I'm not so worried about the bike since i'm simultaneously training for AMBBR. I'm anticipating to be well overtrained on the bike by the time the triathlon comes along. I'm also not worried about the run since i'm training for Chicago. The only thing that frightens me is the lack of BRICK workouts. Logistically, it's hard to plan. It's not impossible, but I have to make an extra effort. The other big thing is working on the core. I need to do more of that. So add those things on top of the swim for things I need to work on.

Anyways, tonight was day 1 of 2 for the swim workouts this week:

Warm Up:
300 LVL2, 200 kick, 4 x 50(25 stroke count, 25 side body balance position) 15”RI

Main Set:
6 x 150 LVL 3-6 (Descending) 20”RI

1’ REST

6 x 75 LVL 3-6 (Descending) 15”RI

1’ REST

4 x 50 LVL 3-6 (Descending) 10”RI

Cool Down:

100 LVL1

Total distance: 2350 yards

I Hate the Rain!

On Saturday, I ran 4 very easy miles in Danville. Sunday was the big Grizzly Peak ride. The same one that kicked my ass last year. Only this year, the weather gods decided to rain down on me. The ride was a wet one. After 10 miles I abandoned my bright orange shades because it was fogging up like crazy. Then my shoes were collecting so much water, I think a pond was forming in each shoe. My ride gear was all drenched and it felt like I was carrying an additional 10 pounds. The worse part of the ride was the downhill. It was slick, windy, and foggy. The rain and wind felt like thumbtacks poking on my face. The downhill was so slick, I started getting hand cramps from the constant braking. It felt unsafe to ride. So I made the hard decision to not continue. I completed 31 of the 73 miles. I'm so pissed. I guess I live to ride another day; however, I know i'm in trouble. I really need to get my mileage and climbing up since America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride is about a month away.

The Training Continues

On Tuesday, I met up with Rocky and we ran the Lake. Like last time, lots of headwinds. I didn't keep time, but I think Rocky mentioned we did it in about 30 minutes.

On Wednesday, I headed back to the pool. This time I felt a lot more stronger than I did the last time I was there. Swim workout:

Warm Up:
300 LVL2, 100 Kick
2 x (25 stroke count, 25 finger tip drill) 20" RI

Main Set:
4 x 200 (150 LVL3, 50 kick) 30" RI
400 LVL3, 1 minute rest
100 LVL3 (form), 30 second rest
4 x (25 stroke count, 25 distance per stroke) 20" RI

Cool Down:
100 LVL1

Total distance = 2200 yards