Get Faster Week 2: Tuesday Night Bike Workout 2x15

Tuesday night I jumped on the bike as the kids went to bed and Amanda was on the couch sick. This is my fourth workout in two days. My legs were quite sore from running so I was not sure how things were going to go.

My workout was the following

WU: 10-15', then 3 x 1' (1') @ Zone4/Hard, to open up your legs. 
MS: 2 x 15' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard.
CD: 5-10' @ 65-70%/Zone1/Easy

I popped in the movie, Perks of Being a Wallflower, and took off. The movie is great so far as well as the workout. The bike workout really loosened up my legs and took away any soreness that I had.

I had to hit my Zone 4 power of 210-221. I was able to do just that. My legs were tired, but in a good way. It felt good to get in another workout.

The hardest thing I have to deal right now is always being hungry. I forgot how during my training I always want to eat. After the bike workout I pigged out right before bed eating chips, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, grapefruit juice, water, crackers, and jelly beans. I then crashed hard and slept all night and missed out on Amanda puking her brains out all night.

Training Day 6&7: Get Faster Block, Rest, Food, and Cycling

Saturday I was to get in an interval run, but with the late night of attending Green Day the night before and preparations for Easter at our house I did not get the run in. To be honest I was okay with it because my body was sore from the first week back into training. I cannot get in the habit of skipping workouts, but at the same time talking with my coach I have to ease back into routine and training to get back on the bus.

Today, I attempted the bike and run workout. The bike workout called for the following over a two hour period. I was not able to ride for two hours, but I was not expecting to be able to hold the bike for 120 minutes the first week back. I also did not get the run in. It just did not work in the schedule. I typically workout early in the morning, but today being Easter I did not want to be out running or riding when the kids woke up for their Easter egg hunt.

Here is what I knocked out in the bike workout. I hit all my marks to day which felt good. My legs were twitching by the end.

WU: 10-15', then 3 x 1' (1') @ Zone4/Hard, to open up your legs.
MS1: 2 x 15' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard.
MS2: 8' of ""ON"" time This set is a Vo2Max set -- ride equal parts of ""ON"" and ""OFF"" time. ON is at 120%/Zone5/Hard. OFF is at 65%/Zone1/Easy.

 

So for my first week back after a six week block on grossness I feel pretty good. I missed two workouts which happened to both be running. I still hate running. I don't know why I hate it so bad, but I do. I have hated it for about 1.5 years now. The nice weather will hopefully bring me back. Overall, a good week. I completed all tests to see how much I lost and how much I need to work to get back on track. I hit up a few more good workouts this week with this 90 minute ride.

Below are my test results. Nothing amazing, but by sharing I am hoping it will keep me fueled to improve all my times. This week is a huge week of training. I am hoping to get everything in and not miss any workouts. I am out of town for two days this week so that will be a bit challenging, but I will hopefully make it all work.

I really dread stepping on the scale tomorrow. The numbers won't be as good as all the eating I have done, but this was a great weekend with family and friends and well worth it. Off to bed to get ready for a big swim workout, first day back after spring break to teaching and night run.

Training Day 2: Get Faster Block, Bike Test

Well, I knew going into this bike test that I was not going to be happy with my numbers. My lack of doing pretty much anything the last six weeks is showing up. However, it is an incentive to get back on track.

I was planning on riding this morning, but I was tired so I slept in a bit. I am on Spring Break so I knew I had time to get it done during the day.

After finally getting Ava down for a nap I jumped on the bike. It did not take long for my butt to get sore. I lost my tolerance for the little bike seat. Being a tad overweight is just adding more pressure to the good old boys.

Here is my data from the end of my out season back in February

Out Season Week 14 Bike Test 2/4/13 - http://coffeeforthebrain.blogspot.com/2013/02/out-season-week14-bike-test-go-boom.html

Here are my previous results

Week 1: 24.9 mph 40 minute test @ 149 HR

Week 5: I converted to Power and tested again
VO2: 245
FTP: 202

Week 8:
VO2: 270
FTP: 215

February 4th (end of out season block) Week 14
VO2: 288
FTP: 95% of 252 = 239


Today was a bit discouraging, but I have nobody to blame but myself

Get Faster Week 1
VO2: 274

This is not terrible. A bit of a drop from February, but higher than my week 8 results when in full training mode.

FTP: 95% of 233 = 221.35

My conditioning is terrible and I just could not hold on. I gradually got faster when you check the chart, but you can see to many ups and downs throughout. This can only get better.

I am in a alright place. I have my work cut out for myself if I want to hit my goals of new PR's this year. This has been another wake up call!

Out Season: Week14 Bike Test go BOOM!

Last week was technically week 14  and the last week of my out season training. However a lull in motivation, busy work, and a CrossFit workout that left me sore for days pushed my test days to this week. A week in which I am to be resetting my brain and mind for the next phase of training.

Monday I had to stay home with two of my kids who were sick. This is never a fun day, but it is what it is. Ava finally went down for a bit of a nap and I decided to get on the bike and get this bike test done once and for all. I won't lie I am not feeling the greatest either. I have a major sinus infection and just feel worn out. I have felt worn out for a couple weeks so I hope I don't have something worse than just a head cold!

The bike test is simply on paper, but a monster in real life.

Bike Test, for Power Athletes ONLY!

WU: 10' easy, then 8' building from 50% FTP to 100% FTP in 2' increments, 2' easy. Fine to use estimated FTP if this is your first test. The intent here is to get in a good warmup, so use your best judgement. 

Test 1 -- Vo2 Max Test: ride 5' at the best (hardest) effort you can sustain for the full 5'. A good target is 120% of your estimated FTP.

 Recover 1: 10' easy spin, stretch, recovery. 

Test 2 -- Functional Threshold Power (FTP) Test: time trial for 20' at the best (hardest) effort you can sustain for the full 20'. 

Recover 2: Minimum 5' easy spinning

Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/199304

I will be honest in that these tests make me nervous because I have worked so hard over the last 14 weeks and my fear is not seeing improvements. I have struggled the last few weeks with getting all workouts done and eating healthy. However, the results show that WORK, WORKS! I know that doing these bike workouts I have rode harder than ever before

So here is my progress over the 14 week Out Season on the bike. I am quite happy with the results!

Week 1: 24.9 mph 40 minute test @ 149 HR

Week 5: I converted to Power and tested again
VO2: 245
FTP: 202

Week 8:
VO2: 270
FTP: 215

Week 14
VO2: 288
FTP: 95% of 252 = 239

As soon as I finished the 20 minute FTP ride I had to stop and get Ava. She only slept about 30 minutes. Later in the day when she slept again I jumped back on to finish the workout. I ended up riding an extra ten minutes so I got 70 minuted done.

Tuesday morning(today) I was going to swim, but I am not feeling good at all after going to bed at 8 pm. I think I have been hit with the bug after being with my kids all day. I hope to run test tomorrow if all goes according to plan!

Out Season: Week 14 - Mixing Things Up During Test Week

Alright, another crazy, tired, nonstop week of action. I have not updated my training every day like I normally do as I simply don't have the time. So here is a brief catch up of all things training which as you will see is SO not what the plans call for on the last week of November Out Season.

I will say that I have hit a wall with motivation which is why I have chosen to mix things up. Why did I not just wait one more week you ask when OS is done? I feared that waiting one more week would lead to complete disconnect. That cannot happen. So I made the change this week.

Monday - Swimming!

Since I did not race Sunday due to ice and snow I wanted to swim. I jumped in the pool and knocked about 1500 yards. I can tell it was my 2nd swim in 5 months. I need to get back to the basics and build the endurance up slowly.
Warm Up - 200 free, 200 kick, 200 pull
Main Set - 10 x 50 every 60 seconds
Cool Down - 100 kick, 100 swim with paddles, 100 pull, 100 free
Total 1500 yards

Tuesday - no training due to very poor sleep.

Wednesday CrossFit - I decided to give this a try. I needed something different and a new challenge. This was a great group of people and look forward to finding a way to make this happen more in my training.

Part 1)
Dynamic Effort Bench Press
On 45sec interval 3 Reps for 9 sets
50% of 1RM (3 sets at close grip) (3 at med grip) 3 at wide grip)
learn something with this speed!

Part 2)
5 Rounds
On the 2 minute Interval
5 Deadlifts (335/225) (255/175) (185/125)
15 Medball Cleans (30/20) (20/14)
scores are the time it takes to complete each round. score your fastest and slowest.
rest 5 min
50 ball slams for time
Part 3)
Banded Good Mornings
3X25 FAST

Thursday - I could barely get out of bed from Crossfit. Holy smokes I have not been this sore in a LONG time. I can barely walk. Instead of testing my bike today, I decided to hit up the Tuesday workout I missed just to loosen my legs and back up. I am glad I did not test as my legs and mind were not ready.

Tuesday workout done today

MS: 3 x 8' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

There you have it. 3 workouts. 2 not part of the plan, but 2 that I really enjoyed. I plan to do my run test tomorrow. It will have to be on the TM as it will be sub zero here in Iowa. My goal is to break 20 minutes despite not running in two weeks! We shall see what happens. My bike test will happen Sunday to wrap NOS! Here is to Getting It Done! and doing what you need to do to stay the course.

Out Season: Week 13 - End is Near and All I Do Is Bike?

So things have.......what shall I say, "fallen off the bandwagon".

I have been focused on diet and training after being spotty in early January.

Last Saturday I had my Lego Robotics State Competition with my students. That day and some other family matters sent my focus in a whirlwind. Making excuses, yep! But it is called life and life is something we all deal with.

Saturday I fell off track eating and ate like a pig, like 12 cookies, chips, 8 sanwiches of Jimmy John's platter, and various other debris of unhealthiness.

It tasted so good! This pretty much ended my eating clean process of the AdvoCare 24 day challenge. I was doing so good up until this point. I was good with cravings out the window and a system in place. From that point on I could not get back on track. I ate good from that point on, but each night I fell apart eating chocolate, drinks, or Cinnamon Toast Crunch before bed.

Added to that my treadmill quit working and I hit a wall of fatigue.

Monday I did the weekend bike workout that I missed out on from being out of town.

MS: 2 x 18' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard, 1 x 10' @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

On Tuesday I was back on track

MS: 12' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard, 18' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard, 12' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard.

Due to feeling extremely tired and worn out, a busted treadmill, and super busy schedule of life I did not get anything done Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. Saturday I got the bike workout out done, but did not have time to run

MS: 2 x 18' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard, 1 x 12' @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

Sunday I was to do an Indoor Triathlon, but snow, ice, and sleet kept me from traveling. Not the best of training this week. Life deals you cards and you have to deal and adapt. The good thing is that my races are not until the summer and fall. The bad news is that I test next week and I have not ran in 12 days. I will see where I am!

Out Season: Week 12 Thursday Bike VO2 Ride

I had to really muster up some energy this morning. After doing my AdvoCare weigh in I had to get on the bike and ride. My legs were tired from the run last night. My knee was tender from the stupid treadmill.

I had to do the following workout

MS: 2 x (5 x 1/1) @ Vo2/258/Very Hard. Take 2' easy between each set of 4 x 1/1's. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/172 - 182/Mod-Hard.

Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/163001

I got off to a late start and therefore the rest of the morning was a mad scramble to get out of the door in time. Thank goodness my kids are awesome and helped make ends meet. I hit all intervals except the first which I missed by one power.

Tomorrow I have to decide whether to hit the pool and swim at least one more time before my race next weekend or do the Sunday run workout as I won't have time to get both weekend workouts done. What shall I do?

Out Season: Week 12 - Tuesday Bike Workout

Woke up early this morning knowing that I had at least a 75 minute bike workout. I did not look ahead at the workout as my new system is just to figure out that morning of so I don't back out. Today called for only 70 minutes, but it was tough. My legs were tired from the Sunday run and getting after it in practice yesterday. I get so fired up coaching. If I could bring that passion and fire into running I would be winning races!

I had to finish up a couple loose ends on my Netflix watching. I finished up Coach Carter. That movie is great. It was even better not knowing it was based on a true story until the end. I thought it was just a good feeling type movie and not based on a real world team. Very cool! I finished the final episode of The League and am sad to not have more to watch. I started watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia or something like that. It is okay, but not worth the hype that some have made it out to be.

Enough of movie watching and onto the workout. Here was the plan

MS: 10' (4') @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard, 18' (4') @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard, 10' (4') @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard. 70 minutes

Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/159605

I had to work to keep in the zones today. My legs were tired and you can I had times where I very quickly dipped and had to regather. I had issues with my bike seat. It became loose on the ride and kept moving up and down which was a real pain. I did not have time to stop and fix it as I have a very short window to train in the morning before all three kids wake up and need breakfast, lunches, milk, etc. Thank goodness for a great wife.

I felt great when I was done as I always do. If only I could bottle that feeling of greatness after a workout and sell it I would be a millionaire.

My eating has continue to be healthy. Still struggling with snacking but Thursday I weigh in after the 10 day cleanse phase of the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge. I hope that I see some results.

Now to mentally prepare for the run workout tomorrow which I am sure is going to be a joy!

Out Season: Week 11 - Saturday Run and Bike Workouts

Today around 12:30 I was able to get on the bike. My legs were sore still from the workouts this week and they were tired. I think the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge is working me a bit more than usual. Without all my snacking and junk food I am seeing a difference in recovery. I am not saying my junk eating helps me recover, but my prior eating kept my glycogen stores up for sure. I need to eat healthy and I am only 6 days into the cleanse so my body is adapting. I know the end result will be good as I slim down and continue to fill my body with healthy foods. This week has been a tough one.

The workout today called for

MS: 2 x 15' (4') @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard, 1 x 8' @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/172 - 182/Mod-Hard. 90 minutes on the bike.

I was able to hit the zones once again but it was tough. I moved my bike to the main basement so I could watch college basketball. I love college basketball! I watched the Hoosiers hang on to win and also Duke lose. Lots of great things to take away for my own coaching.

Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/156258

After the kids went to bed I had to pry myself out of bed and head to the basement to run. I started watching Coach Carter and started up the treadmill. This bad boy was struggling tonight. It was real choppy at first and I about blew my knee out a few times. Finally, it was able to get going and I could start the workout.

Running at 8 mph on a treadmill at 2% incline is equivalent to 7:13 mile pace. When I run sub 6:39 for my interval workouts I run at 8.5. Tonight for some reason my watch was not converting and it was making me mad. I needed to run at a 7:32 pace.

MS: Steady run as MP/7:32/Steady out and back. If bricking, do 20' only.

You can see that as I picked up the speed on the treadmill the time was going slower for my mile pace. I know I ran at least 4 miles. I know I should not let something like this bother me as I know I put the work in, but this kind of thing drives me insane. I NEED to see the data. It is just the way I am.

I toughed it out mentally and got both workouts done. It feels good to stay committed. Tomorrow I head out for a 75 minute run to end another great work of training. I need to hit up the pool next week on the rest days to make sure I am ready for my race in two weeks. Woo-Ha!

Out Season: Week 11 - Thursday Bike VO2 Workout

Woo-Ha, gotcha all in check! Today was a tough one. What a week of workouts. Period. This week has been no joke.

Today the workout called for:

MS: 10' (4') @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard, 15' (4') @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard, 10' (4') @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard.

Remaining of ride should be Zone 3/173-182

Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/153044

I hit all intervals except for #2 where it read 258. I missed it by one. My legs were burning today. They were tired from the previous workouts. I had to dig deep to hit my goals. Flat out tough ride. Love it! When I preach to my players about going hard I had to do the same! I have to live by my words.

I am so excited for a rest day tomorrow.

Out Season: Week 11: Tuesday FTP Ride

Woke up this morning ready to take care of business again. Got in my AdvoCare Rehydrate, Spark, and Arginine to get ready for the workout. Today the workout was 10 minutes longer than previous Tuesday workouts. I really did not think it would be a big deal. Actually to be honest I have enjoyed these workouts as they seem to be the easiest of the week.

Today was not the case.

I had the following workout to knock out:

MS: 10' (4') @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard, 15' (4') @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard, 10' (4') @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard.

This was a tough workout. I stand corrected in my thought process of Tuesday workouts. I had to work to keep up above 203 - 215 power range during the intervals.

Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/150181

It felt good to get another quality workout in. I am planning on actually getting in the short run tonight. I have not done the Tuesday run in about 8 weeks so it is time to stay on task for once.

Out Season: Week 10: Weekend Training - Illness, pain, and getting it done

Friday morning I did my first swim in over 4.5 months. I have not swam since August. I hit the pool as I have a race coming up in three weeks and needed to get used to swimming again. I did standard warm up up of

200 free
200 kick
200 pull

I then swam 800 yards thinking this was the distance for the race. I wanted to see my time and test where I was from a year ago as this race was my debut tri race last year. I swam the 800 yards in 12:56. This is a pretty good time. I got home to realize that the race was actually 900 yards. I figured that puts me at around 14 minutes or so. This would be faster than last year.

I finished with 100 yard cool down and called it. I was tired and could tell I had not swam in quite some time. I was sore the next day as well. It felt great swimming and I forget how much I love swimming. I will swim a few more times to get ready even though I know the OS states no swimming.

This weekend proved to be a challenging one. I have been battling some fatigue and not feeling the greatest the last few weeks with every few days feeling really sick to my stomach and head. Saturday I felt horrible and just did not get anything done. I missed out on the brick workout and just rested my body as it felt terrible.

The training called for the following on Saturday:

MS: 2 x 15' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard, 1 x 8' @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

MS: Steady run as MP/Z2/Steady out, HMP/Z3/Mod-Hard back. If bricking, do 20' only.

Sunday I felt a bit better and decided to do the Saturday workout. I finished the bike, but did not run. I just felt terrible and knew that the bike workout itself was probably too much too soon. I did knock out the following though

Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/148258

The best part about this whole workout is that my 6 year old daughter walked 2 miles on the treadmill. She begged to walk on it so I said yes while riding. She used my iPhone and jammed to One Direction and just walked and walked and walked. I loved it! I thought she would only last for about 10 minutes but she walked a long time.

Out Season: Week 10 Thursday VO2 Bike Workout

This morning my alarm was turned back on to get me up at 4:13 as I am back to teaching today. I got up, had a small cup of coffee, AdvoCare Spark and Rehydrate, and got some work done before riding at 5. It was awesome to have the workouts already created in TR. That was like a great late Christmas present.

I loaded up my computer and TR, turned on The League and took care of the following workout.

MS: 2 x (5 x 1/1) @ Vo2/258/Very Hard. Take 2' easy between each set of 4 x 1/1's. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/172 - 182/Mod-Hard.

Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/144396

I hit all intervals and it was a good challenge. What I found to be the hardest was the ride afterwards. I typically have done the 25 minute warm up so after the intervals I don't typically have much left to ride. Today I only did a 10 minute warm up which was plenty and that left me with about a 30 minute ride afterwards. Despite being harder for me I know that this is much better for me. I will continue to do this from now on.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day, but I need to swim. I have not swam since the Pigman Long Triathlon in August. I have missed the pool. I need to get back in the pool as I have a race on January 27th which is three weeks away. I need to get back to remembering how to swim and get my fitness back on cue. I don't know if my swim gear will fit as I have packed on about 20 lbs.

Time to get back to work and school. Having routine will be nice. I am motivated to eating good again and slimming this body down by the 27th so I don't look gross without a shirt.

Out Season: Week 10 - Wednesday Double Workout Day

Yesterday I had to combine the bike workout from Tuesday with the run workout for Wednesday into one day due to giving my body time to rest and recover from New Years. We had 5 couples over and their children and it was a late night trying to get the kids to sleep and then them all waking up early.

Wednesday morning I jumped on the bike to get the Tuesday ride done.My legs were not feeling it, but I was able to get it done. I will be honest in that I have not been motivated to workout the last few weeks. I know the holidays don't help, but I also think that not having a routine of teaching and coaching hurts me. I need that routine knowing that I only have certain times to train. When I have all day sitting in front of me I keep putting it off until it is too late.

The workout from Tuesday was

MS: 3 x 12' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/143563

I nailed all the splits and felt good. I recovered nicely.

My son was born on New Year's Eve so for his birthday he gets to pick a restaurant to eat at. He chose Olive Garden and man did I tear the place up. It was one of my final sloppy meals before getting serious and back to clean eating. After dinner and getting the kids to bed I had to head back downstairs to the pain cave to run on the dreadmill.

I had to knock out the following workout

MS: 3 x 200, 1 x 400, 3 x 200, all at @ IP/Z5/Very Hard with full recoveries between each.
Tip: Full recovery means as much as you need to be ready for the next. Some folks jog, others walk for 15 to 30 seconds before picking it back up...do what it takes to get the work done!

Zone pace is 6:39

Surprisingly I felt pretty good. The runs felt easy which caught me off guard as I have been slacking on getting all the run workouts in each week. I just don't enjoy running at all anymore. When I started the triathlons my run was my superior event. I hated biking and swimming. Now I am opposite. I love swimming and biking and dread running. Hopefully this will change because my run can put me over the top for my goals, but I just have to get back to enjoying it. So far, I hate it!

 

Afterwards I ate some Greek organic yogurt with granola, some AdvoCare Omega pills and Nighttime Recovery and hit the sack as I had to be up early for another bike workout.

OS Week 9: Saturday Morning Brick

This morning I woke up with super tired legs and  sore body from training and moving furniture all over the place. I knew I had to get this workout done early or it would never happen. After a few technical glitches I got things ready to rock and busted out a good brick session this morning.

Here is the workout

Bike - 90 minutes
MS: 2 x 12' (4') @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard.

MS2: 1 x 5' (5') @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard.

Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/172 - 182/Mod-Hard.

Run - 30 mintues or 15 if bricking

MS: Steady run as MP/7:32/Steady out, HMP/7:14/Mod-Hard back. If bricking, do 15' only.

My legs struggled this morning. It was not easy after going three straight days of training. I know I need to get these workouts done and I am glad that I have done so up to this point. After about an hour the last half hour of the ride felt good. The only painful part was that I grabbed the wrong shorts and did not have my cycling shorts so I was without padding. I was already a tad tender from the last two days of riding.

Here are my TR results - Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/139404

As soon as I finished the bike I checked to make sure Ava was asleep. Aiden and Addy were already up so I put on my shoes and started up the wonderful treadmill. As soon as I started Amanda was down with Ava. I quickly finished so Amanda could go back to bed. It felt good to have all the workouts done for the day.

I ran the following in 15 minutes

The run was not easy. I was tired and I had to focus to finish strong and keep pace. I hit my paces and felt good about it.

Afterwards I tore up a great big breakfast with the kids. Time to recover to get ready for my run tomorrow. Looking forward to heading outside for once!

OS Week 9: Double Workout Day

So Friday presented me with tackling two workouts in one day. It was tough to get the run in late at night when I was not motivated, but I knew it had to be done.

Friday morning I knocked out my bike workout which called for

MS: 2 x (5 x 1/1) @ Vo2/Zone5/Very Hard.

Take 2' easy between each set of 4 x 1/1's. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

These are Vo2 sets, as equal parts "ON" and "OFF" time, where ON is done at your Vo2 power, Z5 heart rate, or Very Hard effort, and OFF is at 65% power, Z1 heart rate, or Easy effort. For example, for the 1/1's, you will do 1' ON, then 1' OFF, repeating this for the specified set.

This was super hard for me. My legs were tired from getting back to training and all the garbage I stuffed in my piehole.

Here are my TR results - Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/138672

 I hit my goals for all 10 1 minute intervals of pushing beyond 259 on the powermeter. It was not easy and the added 15 seconds to each interval was brutal. I did not think it would be a big deal, but it was.

I spent the rest of day organizing our house and moving things all over the place as my wife decided it was time to clean house. It was much needed, but left little room for rest.

When the family was in bed sleeping at night I headed down to the treadmill to get my intervals done.

MS: 4 x 200, 1 x 400, all at @ IP/Z5/Very Hard with full recoveries between each.
 
Tip: Welcome to the VO2 phase of your run training cycle. Do your best to run at the right pace. If the repeats are "too easy" consider cutting the rest down a bit between repeats. If your target is 6:00/miles, please don't run 5:05s!!!

My Zone 5 time split for running is 6:31 after the latest run test.

I started off with a 1.25 warmup gradually picking up the pace to get the legs ready to go at a faster pace. I have not ran in 8 days so this was a challenge mentally. Add to the fact that I was on a treadmill which I hate. However, I was able to get some wireless headphones connected to my computer to watch The League which gets me through!

My 200 splits were all under, but it was hard to judge with the watch and TM as they jump around so much. During my rest periods I would crank up the TM at .2 so that by .25 of the rest interval I was up to speed and would hit the lap button and run for at least .15 to ensure I made the distance. I hit paces of 5:53, 5:58, 6:08, and 6:05. For my 400 I hit 6:02 so I was way ahead of the prescribed time. However, it felt easy and I did not feel like I was overdoing it.

The worse part of running at night is that it takes me forever to cool off and relax. I could not fall asleep until after 11 which was a problem considering I knew I had to get up early for my long ride and run. I took some healthy natural plant protein mix that tastes like green peppers despite being advertised to taste like chocolate. I was very happy with myself for getting this done and not skipping.

OS Week 9: After Christmas Workout Begins! Bike FTP Ride

I took 4 days off. I did not do any training from the 23rd to the 26th. I had plans to train, but while in Indiana the time never really presented itself to slip away for a bit. On the 26th I had total intentions of getting back on track with my training, but I was hit with the flu or something as I felt terrible.

Finally on the 27th I started from the beginning of the week to get all the workouts done. I refused to miss out on anymore workouts. Being on holiday break there is no excuses.

Here is my TR data = Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/137552

I made two new goals on both my 30 minute and 60 minute power zones

The plan called for

MS: 2 x 18' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard.

Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

I could tell that I was not feeling 100% yet because this was a struggle of a workout. My legs did not have it in them. Also, the binge eating of the three prior days did not help. It will be amazing when I get back to healthy eating and the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge. This was a good start to getting back on track.

Info on the 24 DC

http://www.advocare.com/canyou24/

Check it out! We have a team ready to change lives starting on January 7th.

Go to this website and contact me if you have any questions about getting started. Simply Google Advocare 24 Day Challenge to see results from all over the world.

DM if you have questions and to get you started.

We have over 10 people on our GETTING IT DONE! team and would love to have more join us as we all work towards our personal goals.

Here is our team page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/304516902982290/

Getting Caught Up: Week 8 OS Saturday Long Ride 12.22.12

I have stepped away from blogging and online over the last week except for a few tweets and FB posts here and there. It is time to get things all caught up and ready to go so I can make my list of goals for 2013.

On December 22 I had the following workout to get done. I had to get this done before leaving for Indiana for Christmas.

MS: 2 x 12' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard.

MS2: 1 x 5' (5') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard.

Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

Here is what I knocked out

Here is the TrainerRoad

Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/133962

I was able to hit all my goals with my new power zones from the bike test during week 8. My Zone 4 power is 205-215 and I was within range. The remainder of the ride was in Zone 3 which is now 173-183 and I was slightly above which is good as it felt easy.

Out Season: Week 8 VO2 Bike Workout with new numbers

Yesterday morning I just could not get out of bed. I was not mentally or physically ready to tackle a VO2 max workout with the new numbers from the bike test. So, I planned to just use Thursday as the rest day and do the workout Friday. Well, due to the snowstorm that arrived school was cancelled and I realized that I really had no excuse to not train.

Later in the morning when Ava fell asleep I jumped on the bike and took off. I had to use my new numbers from the recent bike test which you can see off to the side. I was nervous!

My training plan called for

MS: 3 x (4 x 45/45) @ Vo2/Zone5/Very Hard. Take 2' easy between each set of 5 x 45/45's. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

You can see from the data below that I nailed it. I rode pretty well and stayed above the 259 for the 45 second intervals. I felt good about this.

I was going to run right after, but life got in the way with three children home for  a snow day and a to do list a mile long before leaving for holiday travels. The plan was to run outside later in the day when the wind died down.

I was supposed to get in the following run as well

MS: 40' @ EP/Z1/Easy + 5 x uphill 20 Strides

Well, the run never got done. Perhaps it is okay. I don't know. My body was tired from the tests this week and this workout so maybe the weather was an indication to not run. I refuse to run 40 minutes on a treadmill. I planned on going outside, but when I drove out in the storm to pick up a pizza I realized that this was not a smart choice.

After shoveling the driveway, have a snowball fight with my children, eating Christmas cookies, calling my daughter crazy for walking home barefoot in the snow, and cleaning up bath water that my youngest decided to poop in, I called it a day and laid in bed to watch Charlie Brown.

Today is a rest day. Tomorrow is another day back at it and I will hit the roads Sunday before driving to Indiana.

Out Season: Week 8 - Bike Test!!!

Wow! Did I ever sweat, drool, drip snot, and test my mental capacities this morning. For some reason I thought I had the run test today until last night when I realized it was the bike.

I got up this morning had a cup of coffee and my AdvoCare products - Spark, Arginine Extreme, and Rehydrate. Around 5 am I was ready to knock out this test.

I loaded up my TR and the old bike test program. I started up with the recommended warm up. As I was warming up I remembered that the custom workout I made did not separate the timed data. I quickly stopped, created a new workout and started back up.

Here is the test workout

Bike Test, for Power Athletes ONLY!

WU: 10' easy, then 8' building from 50% FTP to 100% FTP in 2' increments, 2' easy. Fine to use estimated FTP if this is your first test. The intent here is to get in a good warmup, so use your best judgement. 

Test 1 -- Vo2 Max Test: ride 5' at the best (hardest) effort you can sustain for the full 5'. A good target is 120% of your estimated FTP.

 Recover 1: 10' easy spin, stretch, recovery. 

Test 2 -- Functional Threshold Power (FTP) Test: time trial for 20' at the best (hardest) effort you can sustain for the full 20'. 

Recover 2: Minimum 5' easy spinning

Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/129203

The above TR link shows the test results but not the 18 minute warm up I did prior. The Garmin data above shows it all.

By the time it was up for the first VO2 test I was sweating and ready to go. My head was loaded with congestion and my legs were not feeling awesome, but not terrible either. I took off and tried to just hold on to see what I could do.

To give a bit of background during week 5 of the OS I did a bike test as this was when I converted to TR and the virtual power(read post here)

Here is a link to my Week 1 OS Bike Test when I used HR

During week 5 I was at VO2 max of 245
My VO2 max today during the 5 minute test was 270

How awesome is that? In a mere three weeks I jumped up 25 on my VO2 max. I wish I knew where I was during week one with power, but this right here shows that this OS plan works. PERIOD!

Next, moving to my FTP during the 20 minute test was 227. So, 95% of this is around 215.

During week 5 my FTP was 202 so this is also a great sign to see a 13 point increase. I don't know if this is a normal jump, a great, jump, or not so great jump. However, to see numbers go up is always a great confidence booster that the hard work is paying off. 

What is next?

Well, I will add the new volumes into the bike calculator and see how that changes my training. I know that the result will lead to pushing harder on the bike and that is great as long as the results continue to grow. I think about how hard I had to push on the bike to get to this point and I cannot imagine being the 300 power club. I would love to claim that I could be to that level, but I will be happy with continual improvement. 

As I stated before and is all over EN is that WORK, WORKS! This whole training is so much different from my first season, but I can see changes and a I can see my fitness improve. I cannot wait to get back to healthy eating and proper nutrition after the holidays to really see what my body can do.

This is a great start to my Monday and week. I look forward to rest tomorrow and then testing out my 5K run to see the changes there. I am tired today I won't lie, but I know it is worth it when I see these results. 

BOO-YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!