Bike 3/12

I met JHS at Marymoor for an afternoon ride. The original route I suggested was to ride north on the SRT and climb Hollywood Hill, then come back to Marymoor and ride around Lake Sammamish. JHS was looking for an easier day, so we changed to do Hollywood Hill and then an out-and-back along the SRT/BG trail.

It was another windy day, and as we were passing 60 Acres Park I thought of taking the detour and climbing the 60 Acres Hill (a.k.a. 154th Pl NE). JHS reluctantly agreed, as she thought the hill was going to be far tougher - this particular hill is 2% or 3%. Anyway, we did that, got back on the SRT and climbed up Hollywood Hill.

After that we took it easy, chatted while riding, and ultimately went to Matthews Beach and turned around. Total ride time was 3:15, and we rode 43.5 miles.

I was able to try out six Gu flavors:

• Tri Berry - a bit sweet
  
• Espresso Love - tasty, not too sweet for me
  
• Orange Burst - a bit sweet
  
• Chocolate Outrage - a bit sweet/thick
  
• Vanilla Bean - tasty, not too sweet for me
  
• Banana Blitz - tasty, not too sweet for me
  

I liked all the flavors, but Espresso, Vanilla, and Banana will be the majority of what I eat, because they are the most palatable for me. The Banana Blitz was on the edge of tasting too much like pudding - that isn't bad, it it more that an athlete's stomach tends to get picky during long events - so my preference there might change.




The small blip around 5 miles is 60 Acres Hill. Hollywood Hill is the nice climb from miles 7 through 10.

Run 3/12

I met up with my running club at the Redmond Watershed, and did the short loop (~3.5 miles) as I had to help out with something in Issaquah. It took 36 minutes.

Bike 3/11

I planned on a longer ride, but wasn't able to leave early enough. I was hoping to try out some gels, but I ate a big lunch and felt stuffed as I started the ride, so I just drank water.

I rode from home to Hollywood Hill, then back to 520 and climbed Old Redmond Road. It was 21 miles in 1:31. For the first time in a long time on the bike, I took my heart rate, just to see if I slack. ;)



(The sudden dips in heart rate correspond to traffic stops.)

I think I do OK pushing myself while climbing a hill, but I do kinda ease off on the flats. This gets into training issues - pushing yourself in training to improve. Right now I'm primarily concerned with just getting the endurance to finish the event.

Here is the TOPO version of the route:




It appears my HRM's altitude sensor is quite accurate (except for the initial offset). I am getting a low battery warning, so I need to take it in for a replacement battery.

Strength Training

Interesting thread on strength training on TNO. Someone asks, how important is it really? Answers ranged all over, but the general consensus is: if you are time-limited, and most of us are, skip it. If you have a little time, do core strength work. If you have all kinds of time, sure, do a full strength training workout.

I haven't been into the gym in a few weeks and I think this makes sense. I'm trying to go from one swim a week to two (didn't make it this week), and creep up the bike and run volume... and yet I don't want to go insane. I think I'll try the core workout of JM that T2 posted a link to. I can do that at home while watching TV or something.

Bike 3/10

I rode 45 minutes on the trainer, in the 39x15. I tried to keep my cadence around 85 with a resistance of 100W, and the speed was about 16.5 mph.

I would have done more, but I'm planning on some decent rides tomorrow and Saturday. I'll be more prepared this time, as I picked up a bunch of Gu at REI - a few of every flavor. Soon I'll be able to review the various flavors just like T2 did. :)

Run 3/9

I took it easy and did 34 minutes along the SRT. It was dark, so I didn't want to deal with the Forerunner - it apparently doesn't have a backlight. EDIT: yes it does, it is the power button. I didn't try that one for fear of shutting it down! According to TOPO it was 3.4 miles. I didn't go far as I am still hesitant about my toe; however it felt fine and Saturday I will do a longer trail run. I'm also breaking in new shoes so that might contribute as well.

I didn't get out and run until about 7 pm, and by then it was dark. The trail was quiet and peaceful - just me and the sound of a million frogs. I was passed by a total of 4 bikes, each with blinkers and headlights. I'm not sure how far the riders were going, but it was way too dark for me, I wouldn't want to be out there at that time.

The run south was hard, because my eyes didn't adjust - there were a lot of lights in the distance to the west, where the businesses are. The way back there was much less background light, since the residential areas were ahead, and my eyes did adjust. This made it less spooky!

Swim 3/8

I swam 1500 yards in 37 minutes. I am going to try bumping up to swimming twice a week, around 1500 yards each time, and see how that goes. Scheduling my swim is tough as the convenient pool is only open during the week.

My sets were 7x200 and 1x100. It takes me a little over 4 minutes for 200 yards - between 4:05 and 4:20 - so what I do is start each 200 on the 5 minutes, and then rest afterwards, until the next 5 minutes. The great side effect of this is it makes it very easy to keep track of how many yards I swim.

Just as a check, if I kept the 1500 yards/37 minutes pace, I'd finish the IM swim in about 1:45. Great news, because that pace includes a fair amount of resting. :) So I'm on track, I just need to build up the yardage.

Week 9

Feb 28- Mar 6

	Time
Swim	0:40
Bike	6:59
Run	1:10
Strength	0:00
Weight	140.6 lb
Body Fat	16.6 %

Bike 3/6

I met T2 and RG at T2's, for a ride around Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish. I did 74.8 miles in 4:56, my longest ride yet.

It was tough - after our stop at Marymoor Park, I was never quite the same. I'd like to think I bonked, but it is probably more accurate to say that was just part of it. I had the PowerBar Endurance drink and two clif bars with me, and I need to experiment with gels as I need to take in more food on the bike. RG said something about burning 600 calories/hour on the bike, and only being able to take in about 300 calories/hour. You will run a deficit but not eating anything will leave you worse off. T2 threorized the clif bars weren't getting absorbed as fast, which led me to be a bit low on energy.

I couldn't keep up with RG and T2, and fell behind after each regroup. They were quite patient; I'm sure they could tell I was hard for me. I felt like a gimp, like I should have had a black leather mask on instead of a helmet. ;)

At 3:30 into the ride, we rode exactly 55 miles. That was just one mile shy of my goal race pace (halfway or 56 miles in 3:30), so that is a good sign. However, I was not at all feeling strong, so I need to work more on the bike. My pace dropped considerably: the first 55 miles was in 3:30 (average of 15.7 mph), but the last 20 miles was in 1:30 (average of 13.3 mph).

Still, I was happy. This was my longest ride, it was really tough, but I still had enough in me for volleyball. So while I was tired I wasn't completely wiped out. Yeah, not much but I need to find a positive in all of this. :)

T2

I tried to by all sly and take a pic of T2 while we were riding. Thus, I didn't want to pull up next to her, so I wound up with this "in the blind spot" angle.

RG

Taken at our break in Marymoor.