Todde's Tri Blog

this past weekend was lackluster workout wise. i took saturday off from exercise and picked up my bike. the softride is looking tight!!! i am really itching to ride it.

sunday i went to the 3m half marathon and froze to death. it was cool to watch the tope runners come flying in and then i waited for keith but i somehow missed him finishing. i didnt miss the guy with a double baby stoller and i 12 pack of coors light. he cracked open a beer as if crossed the finish line. afterwards i went for run at town lake. i ran 50min (about 6.25 miles - 8min pace). a few mins in my left knee was really bothering me. i turned back towards the car to cut the run short but the pain went away (probably went numb) and i pressed on. needless to say my knee was very sensitive later sunday. i think it is a bone bruise that hasnt healed but it could also have a strained MCL. either way it sucks. i will get an opinion this week and hold on running for 2 weeks. i will get back to biking this weekend.

yesterday was a 60min/3100m swim. i worked on force with a main set of 2x250m pull buoy followed by 4x50m fast w buoy. i did that set twice followed by another 2x250m w/ buoy and then 10x50m w/ paddles.

this morning was a core workout and i will get another swim tonight. my goal is 12k meters in the pool this week and then back to biking this weekend.

Today was a long swim day. I tried to swim this morning but the pool was packed and i was running late so i opt'd to swim after lunch. I wanted to complete my first 4ooom swim but i came up 50m short b/c the pool was closing. I work on form today and had a great swim overall. the main set consisted of 3x (500m N/S with pull buoy on :35 RI, 3x100m desc on :15 RI), 500m free working on DPS (distance per stroke). my 500m times were between 7:25 and 7:30 and my 3x100 times were consistent (1:28, 1:26, 1:23 the first 2 times and the last set was 1:27, 1:25, 1:22). total swim was 65min.

Tomorrow morning i pick up my bike. I hope to ride on sunday depending on how my knee feels. Who knows, the excitement might be too great and i go for a spin tomorrow!!!!! Still no running since last friday.

yesterday was a 26min/1600m swim at work. after warmup with the buoy and drill work i did a 1000m swim with a time of 14:50 (1:29 100m pace). lastnight was a 1:45 ride on the trainer. the main set was 3x20min intervals with 8min RI. my goal was to get the HR in the upper 120s and hold it. my avg HR for the 3 intervals were 118, 117, and 120. i pushed the last interval pretty hard compared to the first 2.

tonight was a 45min core session with to uper and loby exercises mixed in. afterwards i got in a 45min recovery ride on the trainer with some 1leg drills and high cadence reps.

this morning was a visit to the pool for 3200m/60min swim. i focused on form with 3 sets of drills followed by a 300m n/s each time. i think the drills are helping b/c my form feels good during the 300m swims that follow the drills. my avg pace during the 300s was 1:28.

i got in a leg weights session today at lunch. i missed out on leg weights last week due to the ice so this was a much needed session.

yesterday was a 60min core and weights workout. i also dropped the tri bike off at j&a. i would have had it back today but they needed to special order a brake bolt for my new fork so i wont get it back until the end of the week. i hope we have nice weather next weekend b/c i want to get some miles in on it.

today was a 3:45 bike ride. i started with 90mins on the trainer with an HR of 118. I then moved to the road for 100min ride and a HR of 128. i really pushed it on the road and i liked the results. I then road another 35mins on the trainer with an HR of 116. My legs felt like shit by the time i got back on the trainer. I learned my legs arent ready to push it hard for a long time. i do do that i cant expect to have much of a run afterwards. my guess is the total ride was about 75miles or so.

this week will be bike and swim heavy due to me holding out on running for a few weeks.

yesterday was a long run in the morning followed by a recovery swim at lunch. the run was 12 miles in 1:40. first lap was 34:25, second lap 33:15, third 32:45. my goal was to run at IM pace and pick up the pace each loop. i managed to do that but i felt like shit in the process and now my left knee is killing me. my knee is the worst its been in awhile so i plan to take about 2 weeks off of running to let it rest. i may mix in a transition run and some elipitcal work in the meantime. overall i wasnt feeling the run yesterday. the recovery swim was nice. i did 28min/1550m. started with some drills and then 4x100m with paddles and ended with a 500m free with pull buoy (7:35).

i dropped my tri bike off at j&a's this morning and hope to get it back today. if i do i will but in some road time tomorrow morning. i may do some weights are core work today.

yesterday was a semi off day. i got in a 60min core workout with some leg and upper body strength training mixed in.

Tonight was 50min/3000m swim. main set was 4x150m easy, 200 kick hard, 4x150 mod, 200 kick mod, 4 x150 hard, 200 kick easy. this workout was kicking my ass midway and by the last set of 150s i was gasping for air after each rep. it felt good to swim again since i have been out of the water since last friday.

tomorrow i will try to knock the rust off my run after a layoff since sunday.

i was stuck in the house again today due to the snow and ice. its been 2 days now and it looks to be the same for tomorrow. i havent been swimming since last friday and i am getting antsey. tonight was another trainer ride. i rode for 95min doing a dvd workout. the dvd is a compilation for workouts. after some high cadence work on the dvd i did a 10min tempo ride (hr 124) where your cadence stays the same as your gearing gets tougher every 2 mins. i then went into a 30min tempo ride (hr 125) with sub LT threshold effort and then back to another 10min tempo ride (hr 122) like the first. i then finish up with some 1 legged drills and some big gear strength work. overall hr for the ride was 117.

not much to report. worked from home due to the icey weather. i got in a 65min recovery ride on the trainer. usually these rides are 45-50min but i extended the 1 legged reps and the high cadence reps. good ride overall but damn it was cold in the garage. usually i warm up on cold days in the garage but not tonight!!!!

This weekend was tough due to the weather. Besides football and movies, i did manage to get some workouts in. I am still getting over some soreness in my kneecap area (mainly right knee).

Yesterday i rode the trainer for 3hrs with an avg hr of 117. My goal was to ride steady and increase my effort every hour. the first hr my hr avg was 107, the 2nd hr at 117, and the 3rd hr at 124 (spent some time in the low 130s). did a good job of getting gels, bar and a bananna for nutrition but i didnt do a good job on the fluids (48ozs). i could have taken in more fluids but i didnt want to keep stoppping for pee breaks. legs felt good afterwards but by the end of the night they were tired.

Today was a 57min run at town lake with an avg hr of 146. It was quite wet so i had to do some puddle dodging and watch my step in a few areas as not to wipe out in mud. I ran to first lap at a steady pace of 7:30 for a 30min split and an avg hr of 139. The second lap i wanted to push it hard to gauge my lactate threshold. this test was a bit longer than the normal one but i wanted to do an 8mile run so i needed to make it work. The 2nd lap was at 27min which was a 6:45 pace. my Hr avg for the second lap was 154 (got up in the 160s). The 2nd lap felt good but there were some times my stomach was upset due to my lunch not being completely settled. I was happy with the effort and in better conditions i could probably hold a faster pace for the same distance. After the run i worked in a core session.

Good swim this morning. 60m/3500m swim with some long sets. after 1k warmup main set was 400, 2x200, 400, 2x200, 400. used the paddles on the 200s. avg 100m pace was 1:30 steady.

I have been using an online tri log since dec and i looked back over the last 6weeks to determine how much time i have been putting in each week. ths last 2 weeks have been around 11 hrs and prior to that it was in the single digits. i need to continue to up my volume to make sure my body is getting use to the rigors of racing long. i dont usually miss workouts by i tend to be late to the pool which cuts my swim by 15 to 30min and i get on the trainer late which sometimes cuts my ride by 20 to 30mins. i also need to make sure i am getting 3 to 4 runs a week to ensure the legs are ready to run.

today was an easy 28min/1600m swim at lunch. i warmup up for 500m with one arm drills and then did a 1k free swim. the first 500m clocked in at 7:21 anf the second 500m at 7:24. i tried to maintain good form with long, smooth strokes. no other workouts today b/c i decided to sleep in this morning so i could catch up on sleep. my kneecap is still tender so i opt'd out of biking tonight. tomorrow morning with me a long swim and i will get back to biking and running this weekend.

today was long run day. i repeated my 15mile run at town lake again this week. it was quite cold so the ground felt like concrete. my knees are really sore tonight. this week i wore the HR monitor to get a reading on my long runs. total time was 1:55 with an avg HR of 133. first lap was 38:45 w/ HR of 129, 2nd was 39:00 w/ HR of 133 and 3rd was 37:35 w/ HR 138. The legs felt good on the 3rd 5mile lap and i picked up the pace near the end (could be why my right knee cap is sore). I will either repeat this again next week or possibly add 1-2 miles.

this morning was a recovery ride on the trainer for 45min. one legged drills and high cadence reps were the focus. at lunch i got in a leg weights session. tomorrow morning will be another 15mile run. should be quite cold!!!!

this morning was a 25oom/45 swim. endurance swim without any buoy or paddle work. worked on some drills and focused on swimming pace of 1:30 for the sets of 250s, 200s, 150s. i had to upper body soreness today from the weights over the weekends.

planned to run tomorrow morning but my knee is still a bit sore so i will opt for the bike instead.

not much to report saturday. opt'd out of riding sat due to weather issues. went to a baby shower that day and did a some upper body weights and a core workout when i got home. capped of the night with a headache after watching the cowboys game.

today was a double brick. i did a 2hr brick in the morning (1.5hr bike, .5hr run). after lunch at the cheesecake factory and a nap i repeated the morning workout again. the bike was done on the training in mainly the big chain ring. goal was to get the HR around 120. as for the run i wanted to keep the HR in the 130s. first session results (bike HR 110, run HR 136). second session (bike HR 115, run HR 135). i did push it on the bike so i am happy with my effort. i was also pleased with my runs. both runs were about 4 miles each and my pace avg was around 7:25. the knee was a little tender for the 2nd run.

on a side note i received a new batch of joint supp pills and they dont seem to be making me sick. i hope the continue to help my knee cope with my run training.

this morning was a 50min/2700m swim. i worked on form and mixed in the paddles for strength. main set was 3 x (300 pull N/S on :30 RI, 3x100 desc on :15 RI). Between the pull buoy and the paddles on the 100s i was worn out. my 100 pace averaged around the 1:30 mark.

with carson sick we arent sleeping much these days. i got to bed last night at 11pm and carson was up from 3am to 5am. i decided to head out at 5am this morning for my run. total run was 15miles at 1:55 (avg pace around 7:40 a mile i think). i did 3x 5mile loops (38:38, 37:56, 38:25). town lake was full on puddles this morning and it was tough to dodge them when you cant see them. I really like running at TL in the mornings. Other than an obnoxious rooster, it is quite peaceful. The run felt good, however on the 2nd lap i got a sharp pain on the top on my right foot but it was gone a few minutes later. I also had some soreness in my left knee at times but it was minimal. I will repeat this run next week and then either add some miles or stay in the same area if i run the 3m half.

yesterday was a leg weights session at lunch and a 60min/3300m swim after work. the swim was an endurance workout with a focus on form. there were lots of drill laps with 3 300m n/s swims mixed in. on the 300s my 100m pace avg'd 1:31. this was my longest swim so far during base.

this morning was suppose to be a long run but carson is really sick so amber and i have be up taking care of her. tonight i was able to make up for the run with a 85min trainer ride. the ride started and ended with 1 leg drills and the main set was 2x20min steady intervals with 10min RI. I wanted my HR in the intervals to avg in the 120s and the 1st was 121 and the seoncd was 123. mission accomplished. my avg hr for the ride was 115. tomorrow morning i hope to get the long run in.

today was a 25min ride on the bike. this was an easy ride to loosen up the legs after yesterday's ride. i followed the bike with a 20min transition run. i ran to the track and did 2miles there at an avg of 7min miles. afterwards i did a core workout.