Power Trail Run (Base)

T2 and I are planning to do it "right" by building base before entering the training plan. This means slow and easy miles, especially for running. We both have heart rate monitors and will be keeping runs in the aerobic zone.

For me, that works out to be about 155 beats per minute or less. I went out to the power trail and did my out-and-back, with the goal of staying aerobic. Since there are a few good hills, I told myself I would slow down when I had to, and walk when my heart rate climbed over 160.

Overall I think I did pretty well staying in the right zone. Obviously, the flatter the course, the easier it is. I plan to run all my usual routes over the next few weeks, staying entirely within the aerobic zone for all of them. This will establish my baseline and it will be interesting to compare against later, to see if I get faster while staying aerobic.

Anyway, today's aerobic run on the power trail was 3.9 miles in 0:45:54. That works out to an 11:46 min/mile. Sounds slow, doesn't it? :)

IMC Lottery

I just got word I didn't make it into Ironman Canada:

Thank you for your interest in the 2005 Ironman Canada lottery, however your application was not randomly selected for one of the 150 spots.

This is actually a relief as I'm committed to IMCdA. If I got into IMC, I likely couldn't do it anyway. I'll be busy recovering from IMCdA, not thinking about doing another Ironman!

Softrides (Another Crazy Bike Idea)

I saw a pic of the new Softride models for 2005:

Softride


Now, this is a fancy setup. But, what caught my eye was the fact the seat position looks adjustable. See how the seat is attached to the top tube (the beam)? It looks like that clamp can move forwards or backwards along the beam! If that is true, then that is one more degree of freedom for getting the perfect bike fit - for the aero position, you can adjust the stem length, adjust the aerobars... AND also move the seat forward, something not normally possible.

I looked on the Softride website, and it says this:

Cockpit length is a combination of top tube length and stem length. This length determines the rider's reach, position and overall comfort more than any other single variable. One of the advantages the Softride beam offers is that it does not restrict the rider with a fixed tob tube length or seat tube angle the way a rigid frame does.

Not exactly what I had in mind, but still, it is more adjustable than a regular bike frame.

Anyway, I will get a fitting on my current race bike and see what that does for me. When I ride in the aero position, I feel a little stretched out. I can move the aerobars back a bit, which will change how much I have to stretch my arms. But, if I want my shoulders to be a bit more forward, so my shoulders-to-elbow are more vertical, I really need the seat to move forward just a bit.

Some bikes are designed for women, and account for slight differences in leg and torso proportions between men and women. For example, Trek makes a line of WSD bikes (Women Specific Design). I suspect I might benefit from something similar, as my torso might be just slightly shorter than normal for a typical male of my height.

Well, I'll get a bike fitting done on my Cervelo P2K before considering anything else. It's just a crazy bike idea that entered my mind. :)

Time Efficiency

One thing I need to consider when planning out the base and training phases, is time efficiency. Specifically, it is really hard for me to do more than one workout a day, something I've come to realize over the past three years.

This is part of the reason I fell off the TNO half-iron training plan earlier this summer. It is a well-designed plan, but it also stacks workouts at least three to four days a week. Granted, not all the workouts are long, but once you add in travel time, the overall time spent really adds up.

For instance, this morning, I got up at 6:45 to be at Idylwood at 7:30. Add another 15 minutes to suit up, 30 to 40 minutes of swimming and treading water, 15 minutes to change out of the gear, a little chat afterwards, time to drive home (and I live 5 minutes from work so the difference between home/work is immaterial), take a shower, eat breakfast, and it was 9:30 before I was at work. I could have shaved a few minutes, but I hardly wanted to disappear as soon as I could have and appear unfriendly. After all, somedays I might really need to and apologize for zipping away, but many other days the after workout chat reveals future training plans, equipment tips, and so forth. So the 10 or 15 minutes is worth it to unwind and be social. Besides, my tri friends are cool and interesting to talk to!

So, it basically took say 2.5 hours for one workout, and the workout wasn't that long. Granted, the before/after time is relatively fixed, so the longer the workout the more time efficient, but the point is every workout requires a certain amount of extra time for getting ready and finishing up.

Anyway, the GB Plan is pretty good about a single workout per day. I will also use information from another article which covers training in a single workout per day (with a double brick on the weekend). My training will look something like this:

• quality bike ride
  
• long run
  
• long bike
  
• strength training and swim
  

The reason strength training and swim are together is that I'll need to go to a gym for the strength training, so while I'm there I might as well get in some swim drills.

So this is the framework: four days a week of key workouts. Take one day as a rest day, and the other two days will just fill in with whatever I can fit. Starting out they will probably be mostly bike workouts, and then shift to include swims and/or runs.

Open Water Swim

The open water swim season is winding down rapidly, so when T2 IM'ed me last night and said T2 and JHS were planning to swim at Idlywood, I was very interested and showed up.

It was cold and I wore my sleeve inserts with my wetsuit, which really made a difference as far as warmth. I swam four lengths, which we estimate to be 1000 yards, plus the out-and-back from shore to the first buoy, and a lap to the second buoy while waiting for people to collect.

It was a good workout, and afterwards we chatted with another person who showed up, Jeanette.

I brought the subject of long bike rides up with JHS and JHS said that Sunday morning bike rides were in the works. This is excellent, and T2 and I can ride, and sometimes also join JHS and whoever else shows up. We will keep to our goals and pace, and if we are dropped, so be it.

Training Bike Upgrades

I talked to my bike mechanic about some improvements for my training bike. It is a Trek 2000, and has served me well as my race bike for two seasons.

It currently has PowerCranks, which provide a challenging workout. More on that when I actually start riding on them again! For now let's just say it is difficult for me to maintain speed on the PC's. Riding with them is something I do on my own, as it provides a quality workout, but makes me slow.

One of my goals is to ride with T2 every week. This would be really hard on the PC's, so I was in a bit of a dilemma with what to do. Switching them involves changing out the bottom bracket, which is a little bit out of my mechanical skills. If I could do it only changing the cranks themselves - that would be much easier. I'd rather not buy another whole bike for this! My race bike wouldn't be the best choice for winter rides, as I can't add fenders to it. Plus, I want a bike I can use on a trainer, use on rainy days, etc. My training bike would be perfect, with a few improvements - for example, the components are currently a mix of Tiagra and 105, and I have been meaning to upgrade everything except the headset to Ultegra.

So I ran an idea by my mechanic. If I were to upgrade to Ultegra, including an Ultegra triple chainring, and bought an extra Ultegra triple chainring for the PC's, would that make it so I just could switch by just changing cranks? That just involves an 8mm hex wrench, and with the extra triple chainring I wouldn't even need to spend the time moving them (that is easy but time consuming). I might even spring for extra pedals so I could just move the chainrings, cranks, and pedals as a unit (left and right) and thus switch around easily. I want the triple chainring because climbing hills on the PC's is really really hard and I want to have the small ring to fall back on.

I hope that works. I don't see why it wouldn't actually. If possible I'd want spacers inserted so the PC's and regular cranks are the same width (more specifically, the space between the chainrings the same) so the gears wouldn't need adjustment every time I did this. Or just need minimal adjustment.

Then, I could ride to work a few times a week, and take a hilly route home, all on PC's. For the weekend ride with T2, regular cranks. For sessions on the trainer, I would have the option of using PC's or regular cranks.

Wetsuit Upgrade?

Another purchase I am considering is a wetsuit.

My current wetsuit is a ProMotion shortie, and it has served me well through three seasons. But, I think it is time to get a full suit as well, and possibly consider updating my sleeveless.

I've been happy with the ProMotion wetsuit, and would consider their newer models: the fullsuit and the sleeveless.

Another wetsuit in contention is the Ironman Instinct fullsuit. Sure, a Stealth suit would be even nicer, but at my swimming ability, it is overkill.

Full-sleeve wetsuits provide more flotation and warmth, but can also feel claustrophobic. I've never worn a fullsuit, I just know I sometimes get cold during the swim. As a stopgap, I have sleeves for my wetsuit, but I wouldn't wear those in an event. They move around a bit and since they are separate from the rest of the suit, they are a bit tricky to remove.

Fortunately, I can delay this purchase for quite some time. The open water swimming season is just about over, so I don't really need to buy a new wetsuit until April or May of next year.

Computrainer

One of the training tools I am seriously thinking of getting is the CompuTrainer.

I already have a nice trainer, made by 1up USA. So why would I get a CompuTrainer? It boils down to boredom and the simulation functions.

The resistance unit of a CompuTrainer can be controlled by computer, which in turn lets the computer simulate a course for you. Lots of data is gathered as well, including power output, pedal efficiency, and so forth. I definitely want to ride the actual course of IMCdA at least once before the event, which means a drive out and a hotel stay for one or two nights. With the simulation function, I could ride it more that just once beforehand, and even try out different courses like IMAZ (when the route is published) or IMC, that are too far to get to, practically speaking. There is even an optional package that lets you create your own courses using GPS data - I'm not sure I need this as there are plenty of premade courses to download.

As for boredom, many triathletes on various on-line forums mention the CompuTrainer helps alleviate this. Right now when I use my 1up trainer I often will turn on the TV or pop a DVD in, but I'm not doing much of a workout besides spinning along. However, I might buy a Spinervals DVD to see how that works before investing in the CompuTrainer.

I know that I'll need to do plenty of trainer sessions this winter, so I need to find a way to make them enjoyable. As much as T2 and I want to get outside, even for a little bit every week, it could be tough as we'll be facing cold rain and short days. Since biking is my limiter, and Going Long repeatedly says to work on your limiters, I need to emphasize bike training.

EDIT: Okay, I bought two Spinervals DVDs: Fitness 2.0 Sweating Buckets and Competition 1.0 No Slackers Allowed!!.

Winding Down the Current Season...

My training for IMCdA will break down into several phases: 1) prep/base, 2) training, 3) maintenance.

The first stage, prep/base, will occur "any time now" until mid November, when I will go on vacation to New Zealand. I will probably bring some running gear to NZ with me and see if I can sneak in a few runs - not anything too long, just 30 mins to 45 mins when I can fit it in. The plan during this stage is to start working on the bike, as it is key to success for me at the ironman. I'm planning on a ride every week with T2, a run every week with T2, possibly another shorter ride and run on my own, and strength training. If I can fit it in, I'll do a swim a week. During this period, the long bike, long run, and strength training will be my focus.

Then, in early December, stage 2 begins: T2 and I begin the 16 week Gale Bernhardt plan (hereafter referred to as the GB plan). We'll train together right to IMAZ.

After this, I'll still have 10 weeks until my event! The weeks after IMAZ and before IMCdA will be stage 3: maintenance. I will use this time to fine tune, which again probably will boil down to working on bike volume and a long run. Basically, I just want to maintain my fitness and work on anything that is weak. It will be tempting to do speedwork, to feel like I have to try to get faster, but I know better. Speed is not the concern, just endurance.

I have more specifics, but I'm a little distracted by the rest of the current season! I have a sprint tri tomorrow (Kirkland), an olympic tri the week after that (Black Diamond), and then a half-marathon the week after that (Sacramento). After the oly I'll take my bike in for a tune-up, do some minimal running for the half-marathon, and then take some days off and prepare for the months ahead.

So, as much as I enjoy this, I am looking forward to winding down the current season...