Tuesday, March 6, 2012

131 Days - 100 Days Has Gone By - 100 Days of Training in the Books

Today marks my 100th day of training since I started the week of Nov.28th(the first week of December) 2011. I started going back and looking at how I have progressed over these 100 days and it is pretty amazing.

First, I will start with totals from last week.

I missed out on one bike workout of 40 miles, but all in all a great week of training with a very long run and some short intense bike rides with basketball mixed in late Sunday night.

61.06 miles on the bike (3 workouts)
30.5 miles on the road (3 runs with one 18 miler)
5.97 miles in the water (4 swims, one being swim clinic....I had no idea I was so close to 6 miles!!!)

Total miles 97.53

My swim load was the biggest to date beating out my previous record of 5.23.

My run was the 2nd largest falling short of the record of 30.95

My bike was not close to anything, but would have been the largest with the 40 mile ride

Now, looking back from where I started I am so proud of myself for how far I have come!(yes, tooting my own horn)

My first week started off with me sketching out my goals for the upcoming 32 weeks

In that post I shared my calendar(nice and empty) and my goals and ambitions.


I had aimed for the following races:

June 8-9: Ragnar Relay
-June 16th: QC Tri (my first tri)
-July 7th: 70.3 Ironman in Muncie, IN
-July 30th(date subject to change): Bix 7
-September 23rd: QC Marathon

The other races I considered are

May 26th: Iron Horse 50 Mile Bike @ Colorado
August 12th - Rev3 70.3 @ Wisconsin Dells
September 9th: Full 140.6 Ironman at Madison, WI or 140.6 Rev3 @ Cedar Point(this is all depending on how I feel with the July 7th race)

Things have changed a little bit since then. I have switched up some races and with many new opportunities that have presented themselves to me I have had to make some decisions. My new race schedule is on my 2012 Race Page

My first workout was a swim workout. It is strange to read that post and see I could barely swim 4 x 100's. I mention some things I was struggling with and some of that I still do struggle with, but I was cashed after that workout of 1150 yards. Just yesterday I knocked out 3300 yards with some serious swim intervals. This just goes to prove how if you really work hard for your goals you can attain the impossible. I never thought I would be swimming the volume I am swimming now so early. 100 days seems like a lot, but in the big pictures that is nothing. I am so happy with my progress in the pool.

I do mention that I need to lift in that post and that is one thing I have completely failed on. I don't think it hurts me, but it sure is not helping. I just don't have time. I put a lot of time in now and I cannot imagine squeezing more time out of my schedule without missing out on some amazing time with my family. Perhaps I should wake up earlier?

Tuesday of my first week we were meeting at BMS and I was solo during this cold run. My running has made some improvements, but I know I can get better. I know coming up with track workouts in a few weeks my times should drop even more. I have been in good running form since last fall and need to maintain. I have kept my base miles up and now need to slowly work on getting one workout in to increase my speed.

My Wednesday bike ride of the first week was at the Y because I did not yet own a trainer. I rode 45 minutes on a bike and legs were jelly. My bike is probably my weakest link right now. I know after Spring Break to really hammer my bike. I have to get better and stronger and faster on the bike. This is a huge portion of the 70.3. I need a good bike time so my swim and run efforts are not wasted. This will come. I know it will. I have hit walls on the bike with my stupid knee that wanted to be dumb and give me pain and pain. Now we have reached an agreement so we are back to speaking terms and working together to get me ready for my race.

Thursday of my first week I killed the run on the treadmill. 7:27 mile pace for 4 miles followed by weights. This is a reminder that I need to get my butt in gear for running.

My Friday swim cracks me up reading my comments after my first workout over 2000 yards. I was so slow!!!!! I still feel slow, but I know I am not this slow anymore.

My Saturday workout was on my new trainer at BMS with Chad doing a Spinerval workout.

My week one totals were 37.8 miles with 26 on the bike, 10 running, and 1.8 swimming. It blows my mind to see that I now I am hovering around 100+ miles without injury. I pushed way too fast on increasing my mileage about 5 weeks into the training which is why I believe I injured myself. This quick progression cost me weeks of good training. I learned and now have myself sitting in a good spot really working on getting my base built so I can transition to race specific work in a few weeks.

GETTING IT DONE! is my mantra. It has been my mantra. I feel like I am good example of accomplishing goals. I know that I have used the word "I" a lot in this post, but I want to make sure that I give credit to where it is due. None of this would be possible without my wife who is always willing to sacrifice time and effort to let me train and complain around the house. Without her none of this would happen. Also, all the great and amazing people that surround me daily in my training. It sure makes this training enjoyable and memorable. It is always crazy to see so many of us training for our own personal goals getting together to make us better. I love it! The group of CRAZIES has really expanded and this has turned out to be such a fantastic way to get some good miles in twice a week. The weekend Leadville group really helps with building up endurance on my feet and learning from some of the toughest minded people in any sport.

To close this post, thanks to everyone who reads my rants and raves about training. My blank calendar at the beginning is now filled with three months of notes.


Dec. 2011Jan. 2012Feb. 2012IMG_2357

GETTING IT DONE! is awesome! I have a long way to go and still have not met my goals yet, but I am well on my way. I look forward to seeing where I will be in another 131 days in Wisconsion!

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