Todde's Tri Blog

This morning was an awesome day for a run! The temp this morning was 68 with a slight breeze. I did an endurance run on some rolling hills. I used my gps to monitor my pace and HR every 10 mins. I was curious to see if pace/HR varied at different points in the run. I ran 8.7 miles in 70 min and avg a HR of 136 with a run pace of 8min miles. The run felt great, I never seemed to hit any slow spots, and my pace remained pretty constant thru out the run.

Tonight I went to see Dr Z. It appears some of my issues may reside in the hip that was hit by the car last year. We did some work in that area to help increase the blood flow. I feel better and look forward to this weekend's workouts.

This morning I got in a bike workout on the trainer. The ride started with 10x 30sec single leg drills. The main set was a tempo workout of 3x 10min (sub threshold - HR range = 130s) with 5min easy spin between intervals. I followed the main set with another set of 10x 30sec single leg drills. The total ride was 70min.

At lunch I got in 30min of leg weights and followed that up with 30min of core work when I got home tonight. Tomorrow is a run day with another visit to Dr Z.

Yesterday was a rest day. I went to see Dr Z at advanced rehab lastnight about me hammy. Dr Z does active release treatment (ART) and has been very successful in relieving sports injury for a wide variety of athletes. The goal of the treatment is to breakup old scar tissue that has formed over time to protect an injury. In the case where I injured my knee about 10yrs ago, scar tissue has develop around that area as a defense mechanism. Dr Z definitely found some troubled areas and did his best to get the ball rolling towards easing my pain. I have a followup thursday and will try to go 2-3 times more in the next few weeks.

This morning was a swim workout. I focused on my stroke with some longer sets which resulted in some slower swimming. The swim lasted about 50min and covered 2500m.

I planned to do some weights in the gym at lunch today but a long meeting thru lunch derailed that idea. No workout tonight.

I was a little bummed tonight. I setup a yahoo fantasy football draft online over a month ago and tonight was the draft. For one reason or another, yahoo switched the draft from a live online draft to an autopick draft done by the computer. I hate when the computer drafts my players!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was a little of everything. I started the morning early at barton springs. I met Jamie at the pool arounf 6:30am for a wetsuit swim. I swim went well with the workout consisting of 6x400m laps with the avg lap time at 6:25.

After the 50min swim we headed over to the town lake trails for a run. We ran 8miles at an enjoyable pace. I just wanted to get an easy run in without any speed or tempo work. The run totaled about 65min.

Tonight I decided to get a 45min spin in on the bike. I did an easy technique/recovery workout on the trainer.

I had a good ride this morning. My ride with Keith to Kyle and back didnt happen so I rode the the veloway for a workout on my own. My workout consisted on riding in the small chainring the whole time to make for a high candence ride. This type of workout helps build your fast twitch muscle fibers which are responsible for your explosiveness when you bike. The ride was 90min and covered about 25 miles. I enjoyed this workout but it was very taxing on the legs. The ride was followed by a 45min core workout.

I have had better days. Today got off to a bad start with a late wakeup. I then ate a little something and slammed a cup of coffee to get going. I then proceeded to run 20 minutes later.

This morning's run was a 10min warmup followed by a 5k time trial. My goal was to hit the low 19min range. It started out that way with the 1st mile clocking 6:15. Then came the 2nd mile at 6:45. then the 3rd at 7:15. Should have done a better job with the nutrition b/c that coffee was letting its presence be known during mile 2 and 3. I finished with a time of 20:37 (about a 6:45 mile pace). I will revisit this TT in 2 weeks with better preparation.

Tonight's swim didnt go much better. After 30min and 1500m I called it quits. I felt so sluggish and tired I couldnt hold a decent pace. The worst part about it was the fact that the swim workout wasnt that difficult. Somedays you just dont feel it and you have to throw in the towel. Hopefully this weekend will treat me better.

Today was a day of short workouts. This morning I had a 30min swim. After a 200m warmup I had a 1600m swim w/ the pull buoy. After every 150m I focused the next 50m on DPS (distance per stroke). For a short swim I really got a nice workout.

This evening a focus on some active recovery biking. I rode the trainer for 45min doing to technique and recovery spinning. The workout consisted of some one-legged drills followed by 10x 1min intervals on high candence/easy gear work. I closed with another set of one-legged drills and another high cadence set.

I am definitely suffering from allergies. My throat has been bothering me all day and I still feel tired. However, 3 days away from the bike and running shoes is long enough. I was able to hit the gym today for 30min weight session. It felt good to burn the leg muscles with some long sets on the machines.

Tonight was a good workout. I dropped 55min on the trainer for a high intensity bike workout. The main sets consisted on hard intervals followed by 5min tempo rides where you switch from sitting to standing every 15 secs. I did a total of 3 interval sets with 2 tempo sets squeezed in between. After the bike I did a 2 mile transition run that took about 15min.

This morning was a really strong endurance swim. I did several sets of 150m at various paces to total 3000m. The first set started easy, followed by a moderate pace set and then finishing at a fast pace set. In between the sets a put in the kick work.

I had planned a bike workout tonight but I am feeling under the weather so I decided to relax. No need to push myself when I fell like crap. I hope to get back at it tomorrow morning if I get a good night's sleep.

Other than a short core workout session on Sunday, I took the last 2 days off to relax. Its always nice to break to cycle of training for a few days to enjoy being lazy. This past week was a tough one, so I plan to use this one as a recovery week. I have 3 weeks of training left before I take week long vacation to the beach in North Carolina. One I return from NC I will have 4 weeks of heavy training and then a light week leading up to the race that Sunday. I have put a good deal of thought into my training for this half ironman and I hope it pays off with a sub 5 hr finish!

I have 2 words for today's brick workout, "Holy Chit!". I am 2 months out from the Ironstar half ironman in Houston so I needed to schedule in some bike/run bricks before the race. I had one on the calendar for today and one on Oct 1. the Oct 1 brick is a straight forward bike 3hrs and run 90mins immediately after biking. Today's brick was a little different and one I have not tried before. The workout consisted of a run/bike/run combo. I have to say it was the toughest workout I have done to date. Let me explain.

I woke up late this morning so I didnt have time to let the bagel/peanut butter/banana/honey breakfast digest very long. It didnt help that I chased it with a cup of coffee. I was off for my run withn an 1hr eating this morning. The first run went well. I ran for 50min and maintained a steady 8min mile pace/average heart rate of 142 for a little over 6 miles.

After a quick transition at the house I was off on the bike. The bike portion was a 3hr ride which covered about 60miles. I averaged about 19 MPH in speed and a heart rate of 124. The bike felt good but you tend to get bored by yourself, so it took alot at times to remain focused. During the bike I managed to eat 1 gel and 2 powerbars. I later found out that I needed more.

By the time I transitioned back to the run it was already 11:30am and the temps were beginning to scorch. I started off strong and felt no issues going from the bike to running. At about 20mins into the run I felt my legs getting heavy fast and I could tell I wasn't going to finish the 2nd run in this condition. I made it 5 more minutes before I bonked and physically couldn't run anymore. For those not familiar with the term "bonk" its when you completely run out of energy and there is nothing in your body to burn for fuel to keep you going. Thank goodness I brought a gel. I slammed that baby and chased it with some water and I was off. By then I was definitely slower so I ax'd a mile of the 2nd run and finished at 5.5 miles and 45mins. My goal on the second run was to maintain the same 8min mile pace as in the morning. Before the bonk I was looking good but after the mishap the pace was over 9min. My second run averaged 8:45min miles and a 148 heart rate.

All and all I was pleased but I definitely have some areas to work on. I need to continue to work on my nutrition to insure I am taking in enough fluids but not hampering my run with a sloshing stomach. I need to eat more to avoid the bonk on the long days. As for biking, I need to continue to improve my muscular endurance so I am stronger thru out the ride and can continue to mash the pedals hard at mile 60 and on. As for running, to me its a mental game. I will continue to work on my endurance (the marathon is lingering in april in AZ) but I need to stay strong in the head. Once you begin to doubt yourself the legs get heavier and the heart rate keeps climbing. Its so easy to stop by those are the times when you have to make be tough and erase those fears from your head.

Not to shabby of a day. A 5hr workout in which I lost 8 lbs. Thats right, I started the morning around 148lbs and after 5hrs I was at 140lbs. Its amazing how muh your weight can fluxuate (sp?) by sweating and burning calories. Well, my legs are beat and so am I. Out!

Today was one of my best swim days to date. I did a 3000m workout after work and I felt strong thru out. The main set consisted of 3 x (300m pull buoy w/ 30 sec rest and then 3x100m free). The main set concludes with a 300m free with the even 50s focusing on distance per stroke. My 300m times with the buoy were around 4:40 and my 100m times averaged 1:25. the total swim was about 52 min. I have to get my sleep tonight b/c I have a big run/bike/run brick planned for tomorrow morning. Good night!

Today was odd. My swim was strong but my bike felt weak. Yesterday I lifted weights and figured my arms to be sore but it was the legs that were instead.

My swim focused on muscular endurance with a good warm up of 1000m. I then swam 2 sets of 3x100 m (1:23 pace w/ 10 sec rest) followed by 4x50m (1:20 pace w/ 10sec rest) and then 50m easy. total swim was 2100m in about 38min.

I biked on the trainer tonight for 55min. After a warmup and some one-legged drills I did 3 sets of 8min (hr in 140s) followd by 4min easy spin. I closed the ride with some addl one-legged drills and a cooldown. Avg HR was 124.

Boy am I tired tonight. I have been getting to bed late and following that up with an early rise the next day. It always tends to catch up with me by the end of the week. Today I managed to hit the gym at lunch for 30min of weights. I start off working the legs and finish up with some upper body reps.

After work I hit the track by my house. I had a warmup run for about 10min and then got into my interval workout. I was running 800m at about 7min mile pace and would follow it up with a 400m easy lap at 8min mile pace. I did 4 intervals of these with each 800m rep pace getting about 5 sec faster each time (last set was 6:40 pace). I had hoped to due 1 or 2 more intervals but the heat and my left hammy got to me. I then took a 5min cool down jog back to the house. Total workout was about 35min/4.5 miles or so.

I just watch the movie Grilled with Ray Ramano and Kevin James. There is a reason this movie went straight to DVD. IT SUCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was a double dose of speed. I had a swim workout today at lunch that focused on speed. After a 700m warmup, did 8 x 50m sprints (39 sec avg w/ 10 sec rest) followed by 200m free w/ the pull buoy. I did that speed set twice and concluded w/ 100m cool. The total swim was 2000m in about 38min.

Tonight was the monthly time trial on south Mopac. My PR for this 8mile TT is 19:42. I vowed today I would come in under 19:30. I started the evening with a 25 min warmup and then hit the starting gate. As usual I was short on breath withn the first few minutes. I always go out too hard and end up sucking wind. I felt good and managed to hit the turnaround at about 9 min. At that time I was thinking 19 min total. On the way back in the wind was swirling and my legs were getting tired. Near the end I was thinking 19:30 again but it was not to be. I clocked in for a new PR at 19:34 and felt like I was going to puke. My average speed was 24.5 mph but the ride seemed quicker. That TT kicks my ass every month. I ended the night with a 15 min cool down for a total ride of 60 min. I am sad in that next month is the last TT of the year and I will be out of town that week. Oh well, at least I go out on top this year with a PR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was an off day. You gotta like those days! As usual my left leg was sore after running yesterday, but it perked up when I arrived home to see my joint medicine had come in. I hope the new meds can help ease the pain. I also plan to see a therapist abour some active release treatment on my leg. I will keep you informed.

This past week was a good one for training (2hr 30min swimming, 5hr 15min bike, 1hr 45om run, 1hr 30min weights/core = 11hrs total).

Another strong day of workouts. I started the morning with a wetsuit swim at barton springs. I have not worn the suit since CapTexTri and boy it felt tight. I managed 4x400 laps at a 6:20 to 6:25 pace. I need to ramp up my wetsuit swims so I will be ready for the Ironstar in a few months. I think a wetsuit swim every other weekend ought to do the trick.

After a 30 min swim I headed over to town lake for a long aerobic run. The run lasted about 75 min and covered about 9 miles. I felt pretty strong thru out the run but needed to pop a gel about mile 6 to keep the wheels turning at a steady pace. My pace for the run averaged about 7:40 per mile. The best feeling was knowing after the run I still had plenty in the tank and the knee was holding up well.

Amber and spent the day at her Aunt's house for a belated family birthday. They had BBQ from Poke Joes and lots of homemade desserts. I pounded plenty of food and it took 4 hours for the fullness to wear off. On the way home we stopped at the tri shop for Amber to pickup some tri shorts and a tri top. She is officially ready for her race on Labor Day!

I wrapped up tonight with a 40 min recovery spin on the bike to loosen up the legs. After that it was a 20 min core strengthening workout followed by some mopping. The mopping was Amber's idea and it has no bearing on my tri training.

Today was a good day. Keith joined my for a nice bike/swim birck workout. For those who dont know what a brick workout is, it when you complete 2 of the 3 disciplines of triathlon (ex: sim/bike or bike/run) back-to-back to simulate race conditions. This morning we did a regular pool swim for 30 min straight. I averaged a 1:35 100 meter pace. I focused on keeping a smooth stroke and minimizing my energy output. After the swim, Keith joined me for half of my bike ride. I biked about 55 miles in roughly 3 hrs. I started out easy and slowly increased my intensity every 8 miles. After getting off the bike my legs felt really fresh which was I positive sign. Now that the day is over I can feel that ride catching up to me. Tonight I will relax and watch the Cowboys work over the Seahawks in the preseason opener.

On a side note we borrowed a bike today for Amber. She plans to do a local sprint triathlon in a few weeks. I am really proud of her and I cant wait to see her in action in a few weeks. Now if only I can get her to feel comfortable swimming with he head down. Not to worry, she will be ready on race day!!!!!

I got half of my planned workout in today. I missed my swim this morning due to over sleeping. This time I will blame it on the ceiling fan in my bedroom. The motor burned out last night and it was the first time in 10 yrs that I had to sleep w/o it running. Needless to say it was not a comfortable sleep.

Today was a long day at work. I scarfed lunch at my desk and still did not manage to leave the office until 7pm. I almost flaked on my bike workout, but I sucked it up. I did a 55 min spin on the trainer. After warming up, I did 3 x 8min intervals of tempo/threshold work with 4 min easy spin in between. The first 6 min was at a race pace followed by 2 min at threshold (last 15 - 30 seconds standing up). Not too shabby for a last second bike workout.

Tomorrow is a swim/bike brick. Keith better be at my house tomorrow morning at 6:50am!!!!!

I need to lay off the ice cream before bedtime. I waxed out a half gallon over the last 5 nights and every morning I have had trouble waking up. This morning I slept thru my swim workout (2 days in a row). I had a decision to make after work today - swim or bike? My leg is still sore from my run tuesday night so I went the swim route. It was a tough swim at the neighborhood pool due to the water temp (has to be high 80s) and the sun working my back. I swam 2500 meters in about 45 mins and work on muscular endurance. After a warmup I did 4x100 free at fast pace followed by 300 with the pull buoy. Then 3x100 free, 300 w/ pull buoy, and 3x100 free. Tomorrow should be a swim/bike split. Off to watch a movie!

I am setting up this blog to post about my triathlon life. I recently signed up for my first Ironman so I need a place to document the goods and the bads leading up to it. The race is Ironman Arizona and the date is April 15, 2007.

I am on the tail end of my 2006 Triathlon season and I am already thinking about next year. This year definitely has had its ups and downs. I started the season in January with Buffalo Springs Half Ironman as my #1 race. Things got off to a good start, but I think I increased my volume to fast and by March I was already in trouble. I began to have problems with my right hip and left knee when running over 5 miles. I continued to push the envelope and some ITBS was kicking my ass.

My first race came in April at the Cactus Challenge. I had an okay race but I cut the swim course behind a group others (unknowingly) and was therefore DQ'd from the final results. I think my time was in the 2:22 range for an olympic distance. The highlight was having my parents in town to see the race. We chowed down the next day at Salt Lick in Driftwood ; )

Shortly after that race my knee was really killing me. I went to a knee doctor who immediately sent me for an MRI. His initial diagnosis was my knee seemed way to loose. Fearing the worst I went back a week later for the results. The doc was very blunt. he said my knee looked awful for my age and recommended ACL surgery. He said it appeared I had torn my ACL some time ago and I had some wear and tear damage to the articular cartilage on the end of my femar bone. He said if I continued to run I would probably need a knee replacement in 10 years. I honestly felt like shit for the rest of the day and went out that night drown my sorrows in beer. After listening to my friend Keith tell me several times that I dont even need an ACL, I decided to get a second opinion.

Before the 2nd opinion came a had already committed to the CapTexTri in Austin. Being a dedicated triathlete I went against better judgement and did the race. I did well (2:22ish) and had a great bike which lead to a weak run. I gave so much on the bike which left me with nothing for the 6mile run in some wicked heat/humidy. The knee did okay.

The second opinion went much better and the 2nd doc had alot better credentials. He agreed my ACL was damaged but said surgery wouldnt neccessarily improve my situation. He told me the ACL wouldnt affect my swimming or biking and as long as my running was straight ahead then my ACL should hold up fine. I went on to rehab the muscles around knee to help strengthen the leg and take pressure off the knee. Things are better but I still get sore for a few days in my left knee after running.

I recently did my 3rd race of the year and it was my best yet. I took 4th overall (1st in my age group) at the Aquarena Sprint in San Marcos. I really nailed the bike and followed it up was my best run in a race yet (6:30 mile pace). I was a wierd feeling racing in front. I past 2 guys early in the bike and then never saw another person until the turnaround. From then on it felt like I was being chased. Once on the run I really went for it and ended up being the 2nd person the cross the finish line (the 2 others that beat me started after me). It was a good feeling with all the issues I have had this year.

That brings us to now. I am currently training for the Ironstar Half Ironman in Conroe in Oct. My goal is the knock 1hr off my time from last year. That means I need to come in at 4:40 this year. My swim is the same as last year but my bike is way ahead. I should able to make up 25 minutes here. I hope to drop 4-5 mins on the swim and an additional 8 minutes on transitions. That leaves 22 - 23 mins on the run. That is the part I need to focus on over the next few months. In conjunction with training, I need to get to soreness in my left quad and hammy out of my life. I am working on that as we speak and I will talk about that more in the future. Alot more!!!!!

Now that everyone is up to date when can get on with business. Today was a gym day for me. I lifted weights for about 40 mins, mostly focused on the legs. I changed it up today. I went from doing 3 sets of 12 reps with heavier weight to 2 sets of 20 reps with lighter weights. I want to avoid that dead feeling in the arms and legs when I swim and bike after doing weights.

time to wrap us this post and finish my beer. Thats right, I am drinking a beer. I might even have some ice cream before bed. I have been killing the ice cream lately!!!!!!!!! Blue Bell's chocalate covered strawberries is the bomb!