Bike Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 270-280 Watts

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Dad

Trying to fit in my bike test this week was a bit of a challenge…particularly since I also wanted to get in a running test, and be back at normal training volume for the weekend.

…and I also will be increasing the calories/carbs quite a bit this week so that the tanks will be full for the maximal testing…hopefully not _too_ fat by Friday

Rain, heat and high humidity forecast for the beginning of the week…Monday a total rain washout, would have been the best day for the bike test, so did my test on Tuesday…between lines of storms…hot…humid…not ‘ideal’…and did ride back in the pouring rain, but dry for the test

…I don’t like riding in the rain, not because you get wet…blind drivers, behind streaky windshields just add to the open road hazards…oh and then cleaning the bike after…more time overhead…

…Wednesday was forecast to be cool and dry, but if I wanted to do my run test on Thursday, I needed to get the bike test out of the way, leave an easy day on Wednesday…2 days between the 2 tests would have been better…and then a day on Friday before ramping back up the big bike on Saturday, with a planned 2nd ride on Sunday…always conscious of the impact on workouts on downstream training…and oh…I need to fit in a 3,000 yard swim session…most likely on Friday…hopefully my legs won’t be too cooked from the run test on Thursday…

So I just got it done…results about the same as my last test…maybe a bit higher factoring in the heat and humidity…in either event, the demons in my head worried about shriveled muscles, quieted for the moment 🙂

My last bike test was on May 3, 2011…cooler, 72F, and not quite as humid 61%, and windy 15-30MPH…the results from that post:

  • first half southbound: 270 Watts (146HR avg, 152HR max)
  • second half northbound: 271 Watts (149HR avg, 152HR max)

I called it 270W for training calculations. (Endurance Nation Test protocol: 267 Watts normalized power for 42 minutes: 20 min HARD/2 min easy/20 min HARD)

So on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011…same course, same test, hot by the time I was able to get out just after the last morning downpour, and before the next one: 82-85F, humid 74% (at least), and windy 15-20MPH

  • first half southbound: 269 Watts (144HR avg, 149HR max)
  • second half northbound: 267 Watts (147HR avg, 152HR max)
  • (Endurance Nation Test protocol: 265 Watts normalized power for 42 minutes: 20 min HARD/2 min easy/20 min HARD)

Interesting result…within a couple of watts of power from my earlier result on a day that was 10F+ hotter and more humid…my power did fade a bit in the last 10 minutes of the test, even though my Heart Rate was pegged at 152HR, so probably an indicator of the heat and humidity getting to my body regulator trying to get serious about some more cooling

…and I was probably a bit conservative in the first leg…so didn’t get ‘all of it’

…although, it was a lovely, tough workout 🙂

The impact of heat on power on the bike is not as well documented as the run…nor is there a general agreement on the impact…too many variables on the bike…of the reading that I’ve done, I think that a 5% decline in power between a ‘cool’ and ‘hot’ day is a reasonable ‘median’ number to use…although what constitutes either is also a matter of debate.

So on a cooler day, this tells me that I would probably be in the 270-280 Watt range on the same course…the hills and the wind also reduce test scores, so an argument could be made that with the same effort, on the flatter Ironman Florida course, on a cooler day with less wind, that I could turn in a 285 Watt test…maybe.

Where all this is important, is to help me gauge my training power goals as accurately as possible over the next 4 weeks, as I shift to more specific bike training for Ironman…so less on high end power, and more race specific power.

And race specific power is calculated as a percentage of my FTP … Ironman race power for age group triathlete’s ideally between 68-78% of FTP according to Allen & Coggan…and quite a few others quote roughly the same range… depending on how much you want to bite off on the bike, and how much you want to leave for the run…more on that race balance as we get closer

…but the same applies to training…on my race simulation days coming up, I want to be as close as possible, so 68-78% of FTP, which is a high Zone 2 Intensity:

  • 270 FTP: = 184 – 210 Watts > 70% = 189 Watts
  • 280 FTP: = 190 – 218 Watts > 70% = 196 Watts
  • 285 FTP: = 194 – 222 Watts > 70% = 200 Watts

Cross checking this against a recent workout, my 3 hour ride last Saturday, I did 3 sets of intervals on the same route as the test, each interval ending up in a high Zone 2 Heart Rate:

  • 202 Watts: 127 Heart Rate max
  • 209 Watts: 130 Heart Rate max
  • 206 Watts: 133 Heart Rate max

So this tells me, that on that route, using a 280 Watt FTP, and 70-75%, 196-210 Watts for race simulation is about right…may be a _hair_ high, so I’ll need to watch it…and cut it back a bit on hot/humid days…as I did last Saturday, a shade over 200 Watts sounds like a nice even target for Z2 race simulation riding.

…and my Z4-5 Hard Intervals, 95-100% of FTP, really need to be up in the 270-280 Watt range, so need to do those either early when it’s cool, or inside on the trainer before I go out to be able to get the full power in without a heat/humidity fade

…my ‘official’ bike training zones, based on a 270 FTP

Bike Zones
Zone HR Power
Z1 / < 70%:
< 123
< 188
Z2 / 70-75%:
124-131
188-203
Z3 / 80-85%:
132-138
216-230
Z4 / 95-100%:
139-144
257-270
Z5 / > 110%:
> 145
> 297

As the training shifts to more time closer to race specific power, there can also be a tendency to lose some of that high end maximal FTP power…since I won’t be training specifically for it…although I should be stronger and longer in the race specific zones, and what is steady riding now at 70% of FTP, _should_ become the same effort at 75% of FTP …so it sort of washes out

For Ironman Florida, I’ll most likely target 70% of my FTP, to leave more legs on the run…the run will be my key focus…and therefore, I may even shift my race goal power down towards 68% based on my final numbers in October, particularly if my run is looking strong.

…of course, if your eyes glaze over when you read this, it means that you don’t have a Power Meter, and live a simpler life 🙂

…suffice to say, that Ironman race pace on the bike is about 70% of the maximum effort…Zone 2’ish Intensity…check out the chart as a reminder on Zones…that you could put out in 1 hour…so sort of the same with Heart Rate, as a percentage of your average Heart Rate for the same maximal test…more variables in Heart Rate than Power, but the same idea

…don’t cook your legs on the bike

…coming off the bike fueled, hydrated, happy, with a good steady ride sets up the best run times

…and a steady, but easy first 6 miles on the run, at 30 seconds per mile slower than your target time, helps a lot in not losing a pile of time in the last 6+ miles when a lot of ‘runner’s turn into ‘zombies’, losing 5 minutes+ a mile on dead legs

…been there…no fun

…note to self…don’t do it again 🙂

Posted in Achieving Goals, Biking, Cycling, Dad's Blog Posts, Ironman, Ironman Florida, Planning, Racing, Running, Testing, Training | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

1 day off from exercise…too funny that it’s noteworthy

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Dad

We took a little trip out-of-town this past Labor Day weekend, so in the spirit of ‘recovery’ and ‘vacation’, I actually took 1 day off from exercise

…only noteworthy, since it was my first day off from exercise in 6 weeks 🙂

…typically 12 workouts a week…4 in each sport…7 days a week

On my Sunday ‘off’, my wife and I took our own version of a ‘Tour of Italy’ in the funky little town of Asheville NC, visiting a series of excellent Italian restaurants and wine bars, sampling a number of wood fired pizza’s, Italian wines, local craft beers, fine Italian cuisine, and decadent desserts from early afternoon through the late evening

…how many calories you say?

…rats, I forgot to count…I would estimate…let’s see…I’ve become pretty good at this since I track it every day…based on experience…ummm…_lots_ 🙂

…although since the debauchery spread over 8 hours, I didn’t really feel ‘painfully stuffed’ rolling back into the hotel…definately at least ‘full’ though…okay…maybe ‘uncomfortably full’…oh yeah…and another 4 weeks to my next ‘official’ weigh-in, so time to recover…fun weekend

…so back to my more ‘disciplined’ daily lifestyle…in our picture on the right, you can see my training volume in hours per week since 1 week after my Vancouver Half Iron race on July 3rd…the first 4 were ‘recovery/transitional’ weeks in the 10:15 – 11:28 range, and then the last 4 weeks the beginning of a 12 week ramp-up to Ironman Florida, with a lot more Intensity as well as Volume

The Sunday off…and actually a light Monday with a 45 minute swim and 30 minutes of yoga, was partial ‘recovery’…my exercise volume last week was ‘only’ 12:23:20, and lighter than normal Intensity…my right knee had been acting up, so cut back some of the running, and then to be a bit rested to see if I can get in a maximum Functional Threshold Power (FTP) test on the bike, and a maximum vDOT run test this week

In this picture, my 2010 training for the same 8 weeks…travel last year resulted in a very light week in week ‘8’…clearly I’m taking it up a notch this year 🙂

In the past, I’ve taken recovery ‘weeks’…so 2 higher volume weeks 12-15 hours each, followed by a week at 7-8 hours, and then repeat…this year to tighten things up a bit, I’ve only taken recovery ‘days’ and seems to be working out well…so far

…fitting in maximal testing is a bit of a challenge therefore, although doable…as I plan to do this week coming up after a few days of ‘extra’ rest and recovery.

Since I’ve dropped 15 pounds over the past 2 months and planning to drop a few more, I’ve had this nagging thing in my head about whether it’s affected my power on the bike in particular, so decided to run my heart up the max and see where it’s at…may as well check out the run while I’m at it, if I can get them in…my workouts have been going well…I ‘think’ that my power and speed are at least the same if not better…although I haven’t been hitting the high-end power numbers in the bike, although the race level power has been very solid…

…sadly, the heat and humidity won’t really allow me a comparative test with my earlier-in-the-season results in cooler weather…so whatever the results are, will logically be understated…that is to say…my ‘actual’ cool air fitness ‘numbers’ will actually be higher than the test results this week, since on a hot/humid day, a certain amount of energy/blood-flow will be pulled from my leg muscles and allocated to ‘skin blood flow’ in trying to keep my body cool…particularly with a maximum test

However, it will at least give me an idea of where I’m at…and hopefully quiet the demons in my head…the only reason not to do the testing, would be to skip the associated pain involved in maximal testing…in the case of the bike, 42 minutes of lung heaving riding…the run 24 minutes of nowhere-to-escape-burning pain

…or dealing with final ‘numbers’ that may be below what I’d like to see…in part for the conditions…hopefully not because my leg muscles have shriveled…in either event, the tests themselves are killer workouts, and I’ve been feeling the ‘need for speed’ again recently

My primary final testing before Ironman is on the schedule for the week of October 7 or 14th, depending on how things are going, and seeing if I can find testing conditions closer to Ironman Florida conditions…of course, who knows what those will be, so testing in different conditions isn’t a bad overall idea…I’ll use those early October results to largely determine my fitness levels, and my Ironman race goals.

I just hope that the ‘numbers’ this week aren’t too ugly by doing the tests in relatively hot/humid conditions…okay…I’ll stop trying to wimp out and get it done

…from experience, the demons will be at full volume during those tests, overheating my skin…telling me that I’m fried…that my legs are cooked…to pull back on the power and speed…and all the reasons why…you can hear them in this post today as I read back through it…

…to offset the bad guys, I’ll be using my 2 demon-killing testing mantra’s…running them through my head at even louder volume 🙂

Posted in Achieving Goals, Biking, Cycling, Dad's Blog Posts, Ironman, Ironman Florida, Planning, Racing, Recovery, Running, Testing, Training | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

staying the course 205 to 185…losing 20 pounds

Posted on September 4, 2011 by Dad

With my weigh-in on Friday at 189, I again pondered what my weight goal should be.

When I started on July 9, 8 weeks ago, I was at 205 pounds, and set an initial goal to be at 195 in 4 months…

…and was at 194 in 4 weeks …called it 195…well ahead of my 4 month goal

So I reset the goal to be at 185’ish prior to Ironman, with adjusted new intermediate goals.

With a 189 weigh-in…I’m going to call it 190, which is more likely my ‘real’ weight, since I’ve seen a trend where a single low value is followed by a little bounce back up, before descending again.

So in looking at my chart, even though I ‘exceeded’ the 191’ish goal, a 189-190 still is in the 191’ish range…that is to say, I didn’t blow the doors off the goal…since I lost 10 pounds the first 4 weeks, 5 pounds the next 4 weeks…so will be interesting to see what the next 4 weeks looks like.

When I say that I have a weight goal, my ‘real’ fundamental weight goal is a daily one…simply put:

A 1,500 calorie ‘budget’ leftover by the time that I sit down for dinner every night…and then eat dinner until ‘satisfied’, not full or uncomfortably full

My daily, mid-week total calorie budget is typically in the 3,000 calorie range: 2,000 Base Metabolic Rate + 1,000 exercise calories burned daily…more on Saturday with BIG workouts

so in simple terms, mid-week this typically means eating 1,500 calories during the day, and 750-1,000 calories at dinner…leaving a 500-750 daily calorie deficit

So that’s the daily plan…and looking at the numbers, I’ve been pretty consistent in getting there…losing 1 pound a week = 3,500 calories, so over 7 days, a deficit of 500 calories a day.

…without that minimum 1,000 calorie exercise burn, following the same formula, I would have to cut my calorie intake to 500 calories total for breakfast, lunch and snacks before dinner…uh…like, I don’t think so…or eat 1,000 calories during the day, and adjust to a 1,000 calorie budget sitting down to dinner, and then left with a spartan 500’ish calorie dinner…not my idea of a good time

…so I’ll just stay the course, and see when 185 shows up.

My other option is to just stand on the 190 level, be happy with the 15 pounds gone, and let my body stabilize at this new weight level…although the only real reason to do that would be if I’m getting sick, or my workouts are suffering…which up to now hasn’t happened.

I do have a bit of a concern about my high-end bike power…I haven’t seen much comfort at the 270 Watt level, although some solid rides at my Ironman goal 200 Watt range…as recently as yesterday…and I feel faster on the run, which is where I would expect to see more speed without the weight to carry.

…with the high summer temperatures, it’s hard to compare test results in the heat vs. my most recent tests in cooler weather a few months ago, so will see if I can get a bike and run test in the next month to see what’s going on.

So, I’ll check in again in 4 weeks…maybe an interim report if something meaningful is happening

…expecting to be 187’ish or less on September 30

…’2 Gatorade bottles’ of weight to shed to get to 185 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Dad's Blog Posts, Planning, Testing, Weight loss | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

2 month official weigh-in: 189…down from 205

Posted on September 3, 2011 by Dad

So here it is…weigh-in yesterday a solid 189.0

…for the first time, I’m beginning to believe that it’s actually 15 pounds gone

…gone from somewhere…not sure from ‘where’ really

…but gone…so good 🙂

As you can see on the graph to the right, it wasn’t a straight line down over 8 weeks…but did steadily drop off

…clicking on the weight loss Categories link down the right side column will give you the posts that I’ve written over the last 2 months tracking my weight loss goal if you missed some

In the graph on the left, you’ll notice a small gap in the weigh-in data from last week, as we had a 1 week vacation away from the scale and my Food Diary…and the subsequent weigh-in where the line starts again…1 pound up from the last one…so the net effect is that I lost a week in there, may have added a pound or so…certainly didn’t lose any

…didn’t really eat obnoxiously…a few more beers…all restaurant dinners, eating everything on my plate…oh yea, and a few desserts…and a bit less exercise…obviously it all adds up, and my body appears to have been more than happy to use the opportunity to pack back on a pound or 2

…this whole ‘maintaining, if not losing, weight’, therefore still feels very frail to me and needs _constant_ attention…like every hour, all day long, day after day…that’s a lot of focus, I have to tell you.

Okay…here’s the ‘before’ picture on the right…well, actually the ‘current’ me with the 15+ pounds…represented by the 7 (32 oz.) Gatorade bottles…strapped to my body…the weight that I lost in the last 8 weeks

…try it…it’s _heavy_…I can’t imagine running with that load strapped onto me

…yet I did…for years…geez

And the ‘current’ 189 pound, 57-year-old me on the left…you can still see that some of the ‘love handle’ remains, and the ab definition isn’t that of a body builder, but better than it was

…more deep analysis to come, but I do have to say that I’m happier here, working to keep at 190 or under, than trying to stay under 205

…like what was I thinking?

…oh, and I did decide that the full-view Speedo pictures where a bit much for good taste on a family website

…however, private viewings are available by appointment, and ‘live’ in the transition area of Ironman Florida this year…unless you can cut a deal with Coach Dinah to sneak a camera into the pool 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Dad's Blog Posts, Ironman, Weight loss | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Ironman long runs in training…max 2.5 hours

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Dad

So how long should your long run be during training for Ironman?

…afterall, you are training to run a marathon at the end of a long day…this 26.2 mile ‘run’ will take most age group athlete’s 4-6 hours to complete…and in training ‘just’ for a marathon, tradition has those long runs up in the 20 mile + range, usually at a slow aerobic pace…at least 4-6 times before the marathon…so 3.5-4’ish hour long runs…or longer…for age group marathoners.

For Ironman training there’s a growing sentiment to go faster…and shorter on those long runs…like 2.5 hours…only a few times…that’s it…even for us slower guys

…here are 3 sources of that opinion for your consideration

First are the Endurance Nation (EN) folks…they’ve been beating this drum for a few years now…to the point of ‘shouting’ 🙂

…here’s a particularly good post by one of the EN coaches Rich Strauss…there are 2 coaches, the other is Patrick McCrann, that summarizes the philosophy very well…in part:

I’d like to stir things up again by encouraging you to stop running longer than 2.5hrs in your weekly long run.

Ironman athletes will often receive advice from old skool training partners or coaches pretending to know the Ironman game that they should schedule a weekly 3hr long run. This one piece of advice is probably the single most high risk, low return, ruin-your-training-week thing you can do to yourself.

Very Low Marginal Benefit
We schedule our Ironman athletes for 2-3 x 2.25-2.5hr runs during their training for their goal race.

The Endurance Nation premise is largely that adding Intensity rather than Distance into your long run gives you a better Return on Time Investment, and keeps your legs fresher than flogging them down the pavement for extra time at a slower pace

…a little ‘intense’ in how it’s expressed perhaps…even though I like a lot of the EN thinking, I find myself saying ‘ouch’ as I read some of it, since there are in fact many ‘old skool’ methods followed by world class athletes…having said that, the EN folks might say that they would be even better with another approach

So much training ‘stuff’ is just simply copied from one coach to another, without any thought process, and I _love_ folks that are passionate about what they do and think…and take the ‘lazies’ to task for copying and pasting without any idea on the basis for an approach.

…definitely worth reading the whole thing here…including the Comments at the bottom: http://www.endurancenation.us/blog/training/ironman-athletes-stop-running-longer-than-2-5-hours/

…and another article with a softer tone by Coach Rich, dealing specifically with separating the long run from the long ride…my long run is Tuesday to get it as far away as possible from my long bike on Saturday…of course, some…like Iron Daughter…would have a challenge doing that with a ‘real’ job…but maybe worth consideration if you can fit it in:
http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/Stop-Running-Long-on-Sundays.htm

Our second source today is Matt Fitzgerald…he’s now hanging out mainly at www.competitor.com …if you search for Matt Fitzgerald on their site you’ll get 4,960 results…Matt’s a pretty prolific guy…I’ve quoted him a number of times before on various subjects, so must like his ideas and philosophy 🙂 …11 results on our site where we’ve referenced his ideas…in part:

When I trained for my first Ironman in 2002, my run training was severely compromised due to injury.  My race took place in mid-September.  Through July I averaged just 15 miles of running per week.  Not until five weeks before the race was I able to do my first “long” run: a 12-miler. I squeezed in a 16-miler and a lone 20-miler before race day.

Despite these limitations, I was able to run a 3:23 marathon at Ironman Wisconsin—not as fast as I could have run with better training, but faster than all but 42 other participants in the race nevertheless.  The reason, I realized, was that my excellent cycling fitness carried me through the run.

You can count on the fitness crossover from cycling to running to trim back the amount of run training you do in preparing for an Ironman

Matt, of course is _fast_, so _maybe_ a bit beyond us mere mortals, but does make the point that core fitness from the bike crosses over onto the run in his opinion…and many others…the alternate view is ‘specificity of training…run fast/long to run fast/long’ …but if it makes sense to you that there is a cross-over in fitness….and that a marathoner, that’s just running, doesn’t have that, so may need to pound on more ‘fitness’ miles…it could be a factor…some other interesting points in his article:
http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/triathlon/minimalist-ironman-training.aspx

…and in another article where Matt again reinforces that the bike is the biggest focus for Ironman training…doesn’t like a lot of speed work in the run…and some other interesting thoughts on the run…oh, and also suggests that you:

Complete at least four runs of 18 miles or more, and feel free to go as long as 26.2 miles in training to cement a solid reserve of running endurance.
http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/triathlon/how-to-nail-the-ironman-marathon.aspx

…I don’t know about you, but 18 miles is going to take me about 3 hours on a long run, unless I want to collapse at the end…so yes, it probably depends on how fast those 2.5 to 3 hours are

…this last point is an important one, and often made by world class marathoners that complete 26.2 miles in just over 2 hours…their 2 hour, relaxed long run can be 20 miles…an age group marathoner may take 4 hours for that same 20 mile training run…that’s a lot more wear and tear for the same distance.

Our final source, and last because she’s been a great mentor to me for 6 years now, and the final voice of reason in a lot of conflicting ‘stuff’…and got me through my 1st, and now coming up to 5th Ironman…and always open to consider a new idea…won’t adopt it just because it’s the hot training tip of the week…but will consider, and research, and ‘keep them honest’…Coach Gale Bernhardt…Gale, are we growing old together 🙂

So I asked Coach Gale a few days ago, whether she thought if I could ‘get away’ with a maximum long run in the 2.5 hour range…this question was initiated by both my ongoing issues with my bum right knee…and therefore trying to reduce its trauma to the degree practical…and the reading that I’ve been doing.

Coach Gale’s immediate response was ‘sure’…and cited examples of athlete’s that she’s worked with, that for some reason or another, did/had-to-do less run training and still had great Ironman run results…even though her ‘stock’ Intermediate Ironman training program suggests 2 long runs in the 3 hour range…her Beginner Ironman plan has 1…so probably overall a ‘moderate’ in the ‘cap-at-2.5 hours-no-matter-what’ conversation.

…so it appears that a 2.5 hour maximum for an Ironman training long run is not only doable, but maybe preferred…I could carry on about how we’re all a science experiment of one, what’s best for you and all that…enough to say that’s the approach that I’m going to take…I tend to ’round up’ in time on a workout, so may end up adding on a few minutes, but will essentially keep it to 2.5 hours

…having said that, this is not a wimpy 2.5 hour long run…I think that a slow, plodding 2.5 hour maximum long run isn’t the idea, and won’t be enough to get near your run potential…I’ll add some details in a blog the next few days about the Intensity that goes into making the shorter long run time ‘work’

…I’d keep going, but I do have to step on the scale this morning for my ‘official’ 2 month weigh-in…’lost’ a vacation week since my last post 2 weeks ago…added a few pounds…maybe back…details tomorrow

…where is my camera 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Cycling, Dad's Blog Posts, Ironman, Planning, Racing, Running, Training | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Ironman swim simulation

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Dad

Iron Anne sends us this recent video of her swim training venue for the Ironman swim…as I’ve been focused on the rough water conditions and current, she’s decided to focus on dealing with the thrashing of 1,000’s of bodies in the water at the same time in very close quarters.

…sort of difficult to simulate unless you can gather a pile of your friends together for every swim…or join her in her unique solution…also builds mental toughness

…if you’re interested, apparently on the west side of Goose Creek Reservoir just behind Trident Technical College in N. Charleston SC

…fun! 🙂

Posted in Dad's Blog Posts, Ironman, Racing, Swimming, Training | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

A shout-out to one of the latest Ironmen to join the ‘family’ – Patrick Okens!

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Daughter

A huge congratulations to my friend Patrick Okens, who just completed his first Ironman at the grueling Ironman Canada in an extraordinary 11:08:14 – with – a NEGATIVE SPLIT on his marathon! Totally inspiring! 

Patrick had a fun idea of ‘dedicating’ each mile of his marathon to a friend or family member… I chose Mile 23 for the following reason:

“..because that’s where I almost quit in IM florida.. sat down in a spectator’s chair.. and had some volunteers tell me to get my *ss in gear because I wasn’t going to quit on their watch”

Patrick’s post IMC race report on  Mile 23:

“Turns out you picked the mile (23) which was pretty much one of my greatest athletic experiences ever. I was very conservative to half-way, then started on the Pepsi from mile 14 and began passing people. By mile 19 it looked like an unheard-of negative split might be possible, and from mile 21 I committed to make it happen. Into Penticton’s Main street by 23 I was running ‘for real’, concerned about puking, but smiling from the rush. Did the second half 2 minutes faster than the first. Just an awesome feeling.”

Mile 23 thanks you Patty-O for bringing it’s dignity back 🙂

Congrats! Enjoy a well-deserved celebration!

PS. This is a picture stolen from facebook of Patrick’s ankle about a month before the race, after a running accident…quite the recovery I would say!

 

Posted in Daughter's Blog Posts, Ironman Canada, Racing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Biking in the wind…a few lessons learned

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Dad

Fun day on the bike yesterday, off the back end of Hurricane Irene…no rain left, but still windy…18MPH (29KPH) gusting to 26MPH (42KPH)…and hot…going out the door at 76F (24C), and finishing at 88F (31C)., with dripping humidity.

So with a planned 4 hour ride in front of me, I was interested to see what the impact of the wind would be on speed at my various power settings…particularly in my race goal range of 190-200Watts.

So I started the ride as I normally do with a strong Z4-5 interval, northbound on Shearer Road, which is predominantly uphill, and against the wind…so a challenge holding a stable power setting in gusty conditions, with the constant hills…it seemed that I was shifting every few seconds trying to stay on track….turned out to be only 238 Watts average…wanted to be closer to 250W…so sort of a washout for any comparison.

…over the course of the day, I found that I was better to focus on my cadence than on the power meter…and keep it in that 90RPM+ range where I’m most efficient…and sometimes just accept some lower power readings, rather than chase it, in the shifting wind conditions…if I tried to shift gears too often, to try to keep the power up, too often I found myself ‘lugging’ into a gust in the 75-80RPM range, which deadens my legs a lot faster…became better at it as the day went on

Southbound now, I was with the wind at my back, and onto a series of Z3 210W’ish+ intervals…this one @ 208W, 24MPH…last week 217W, gave me 22.3MPH

Northbound again, at Z3, my legs just didn’t seem to have any power…I was pushing hard to try to maintain 210-220W, and 15 minutes into the 25 minute interval, I pulled over at the only food mart on the route, to re-group…I was 1:44:00 into the workout at that point…and very surprised to realize that I had only drank about 20 ounces of water and 20 ounces of Perform…I _should_ have been at 104 ounces total…at least.

…I have a Garmin Edge computer on my bike that I have set to beep every 10 minutes to remind me to drink…usually 15 sips each time until I know that I’m hydrated…like peeing regularly…like once an hour optimally for me…and then back off to 10 sips.  Recently the Garmin’s been turning off when hitting bumps, so needs to go in for service…and yesterday, kept turning off, so I just left it off…and reverted to looking at my Polar watch to drink every 10 minutes…although obviously _not_, as I was focused on my other ‘stuff’…the wind…my power…my cadence…my aero position.

...so there I was, 1:44:00 into the workout, and pretty dehydrated…to the point where my legs were dead…rats…

…so how did I get there, other than the distractions and my lack of 10 minute beeps?…I’m _normally_ very tight on hydration and nutrition

…the wind was the additional factor…subtly sucking the moisture out of my body without the sweat-pouring-off-me thing that is a constant reminder to drink drink drink.

…even though it was over 80F at that point, I didn’t feel hot, nor did I feel that I was really sweating much at all for the entire ride…although obviously was…

The good news / bad news was that I had over 2 hours left in the ride, so enough time to recover and get some legs back…so hit the hydration…hard…and backed off the intensity to allow my stomach to get to work without being split too heavily with my leg muscles…so running 185-190Watts

It just over an hour before I was back to ‘normal’ power…my 3rd southbound interval was at a smooth 194 Watts, 129 (Heart Rate) HR max, so nicely in line…and then north again for the last interval uphill, and into the wind 197 Watts, 132HR max…easy, on strong legs.

…oh yeah, about the speed thing…those last 2 intervals

South: 194W, 7.16 miles, 18:45, 22.9MPH, 129 (Heart Rate) HR max
North: 197W, 7.261 miles, 27:17, 15.9MPH, 132HR max

…so combining the two, was 46:02, 14.4 miles, 18.82MPH, at 196W average

…compared to a day with softer winds last Saturday…so the wind cost me about 1MPH:

#3: Z2: Average: 200W, 19.7MPH (31.7 KPH)
#3: N: 204W, 7.254 miles, 23:29, 18.5MPH, 132HR max
#3: S: 195W, 7.162 miles, 20:24, 21.0MPH, 139HR max

With my Ironman goal power probably going to end up in the 190-200W range…to be decided before race day…this tells me that even in very windy conditions…and Ironman Florida can be windy…that should still give me 19+MPH on the flatter course…so good…although my race goal will be a power setting not a speed, we do always seem to be drawn to the clock…19MPH = 5:53:41…with no stops

And although I won’t change my goal power based on wind or rain…power is power…speed determined by the conditions…I _will_ …and I _know_ this …adjust/stay on my hydration and nutritional goals…and if it’s really hot, I’ll need to pull back some of that power to allow my stomach to process, as it competes with muscles and sweat glands…to make sure that I give my legs a chance to hit my potential on the ride…at least that’s the plan 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Biking, Cycling, Dad's Blog Posts, Ironman Florida, Planning, Racing, Testing, Training | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Hurricane Irene…reminds me about Ironman racing

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Dad

I have a post about my running program that I was going to finish up, but find myself spending my extra time allocation watching the developments of Hurricane Irene.

I flew my own plane for many years…and so weather was a constant thought process…I watched the forecasts daily/hourly…the radar…all before the Internet was in vogue, so a ponderous process…sometimes, in shaky conditions, having to land at the nearest airport that had radar available, to take a look to see what’s going on where I wanted to go.

Today, it’s all instant, and transparent…and available live on our smartphones.

The one thing that I did learn, is that natures forces don’t care about us at all…there is no measure given…no adjustment…the weather patterns just flow and do their thing…whether we’re there or not, makes no difference…we’re just specks on the planet.

…as we all watch Hurricane Irene, with the endless analysis of the storm track…it doesn’t change every few minutes…but we check it every few minutes…I’m left thinking, it’s real easy…just get out of the way, and let Irene ebb and flow and do it’s thing…and come back on the other side.

The force of nature is well beyond anything that man is likely to ever create…we feel it swimming in a modest current…fly through/near a thunderstorm and feel just how small we really are in the scheme of nature.

Fighting the forces of nature is a losing battle…it can be done in the short-term of course, as we build and re-build properties on those precious waterfront locations…even though many of them are battered and leveled time and time again…or trying to protect oceanfront properties from imminent erosion by spending hundreds of millions of dollars dumping sand along the beaches…and building great barriers to protect the properties that we put down there

…for a triathlete, we’re in the environment every day…whether it’s sun, or wind, or ocean currents…the more that we can ‘go with it’ rather than fight what’s happening…even if it’s just the battle in our heads…the more joy we’ll get from our training and races when the conditions are less than ‘ideal’…of course, only ‘ideal’ to hit some ‘number’ that we have…a speed that we want to maintain…a time on the clock that we want to post

…if the ocean is rough on race day, and we’re irritated, or freaked out, or want to push to a certain speed no matter what, it’s going to be a much longer swim, and use up a lot more energy, than if we enjoy the challenge, and feel the great joy of being able to swim for miles, in waves, and current, and tough stuff, and feel the water, and become part of it, not thrashing against it…and if we have a stroke rate goal, just stay there, and work on keeping the best form that we can…and come out and across the mat, laughing out loud that we had a great swim…even if it was a few minutes longer than we had on our spreadsheet

…and if there’s a headwind on the bike, and our speed isn’t where we want it to be, and we resist the fatal error to push harder…and stay on plan, and stay aero, and follow our ‘power’ or ‘heart rate’ or ‘rate of perceived exertion’ metric in our race plan…our bike legs don’t know that there’s wind, and therefore our speed across the road is slower…perfect race power is perfect race power, no matter what the speedometer says…and if it’s raining, your legs don’t know that it’s raining…power is power…just stay with the plan…whatever your race ‘metric’ is, just stay there…and laugh out loud as we cross the mat knowing that we contained ourselves, stayed on the plan, and squeezed as much as we could out of the ride…the speed will be what it will be based on the conditions

…and if the heat rises on the run, and your speed is slowing because your body is sucking energy from your legs to try and maintain a stable body temperature, pushing to try to maintain a 60F pace at 80F, will drain you to the point, where walking will be an effort…so knowing what your pacing will be as the temperature rises, means that you’ll still have the legs that you want by the end…and even though the time on the clock may not be what was on the spreadsheet, you’ll laugh out loud when  you cross the finish line, knowing that you swam/biked and ran your race right on the numbers…your race metrics…your best potential on the day

…Mother Nature is going to determine your final time on the clock

…of course, there are those halcyon days, when the water is calm, the wind shifts to always be on our back, and the temperature perfect all day long

…those will be our best clock times…maybe not as much joy though, as completing the task in conditions that challenged the mind as well as the body…

…okay…yeah…I’ll take the perfect day too 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Dad's Blog Posts, Ironman, Ironman Florida, Planning, Racing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Rip currents…can be nasty…or just another current

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Dad

I’ll preface todays post by saying, that I’m not talking about casual swimmers, or folks that are just wading out to splash in the water a bit and get knocked over, and caught in a rip current…they, my friends have a _severe_ problem

I am, as usual, taking things from _my_ perspective…standard disclaimers apply to any advise that follows

Almost too funny that one day after I added a post about rough water swimming:
https://irondaughterirondad.com/how-to-swim-in-rough-water/

…my new lifeguard friends closed the beaches to swimming because of the rip currents in advance of Hurricane Irene…and did apparently get wet in a great job pulling 6 swimmers out of the water that were being swept out to sea…which goes to the fact that there were rip currents even on a lifeguard controlled beach…so as conditions get rough, can develop at any time
http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/15333984/hcpd-closes-portion-of-beaches-to-swimmers

As it turns out, after my swim on Wednesday, I did have a chat with my new local lifeguard buddy…both to check in…wrote down my vitals…name, room number etc…call me…no no that’s a joke…well at least the ‘call me’ part 🙂 …my ‘vitals’ now part of the permanent record…my wife is known to read my blog from time to time…sometimes humourless about the tri-bunny-anything-associated-with-it thing…

…and then again when I got out of the water an hour later…where I did discuss that the southbound current parallel to the beach was _really_ strong, and could be a setup for rip currents…although I wasn’t affected by any…like southbound with the current took me 8 minutes past the last beach chair, northbound 22 minutes back against it…so pretty significant

As you can see by today’s diagram, a rip current (you’ll sometime hear ‘rip tides’…it’s not a tide…it’s a ‘current’ that isn’t associated with tides…tides can have current as well however…something else though) is fast-moving water that carries you out to sea

…as you can imagine it’s a bit of a jarring experience to swim into a rip current…as it turns out, I’ve only been in a rip current once…it was a couple of years ago, when I was a lot less of a swimmer than I am now…swimming by myself in the ocean off the east end of Isle of Palms…no lifeguard area…the swimming-by-myself-thing I’ll write about in a separate post 🙂

I will tell you this…it happens _really_ fast

…at the time it’s a bit jarring…the good news was that I ‘knew’ about rip currents, I also knew that they have a finite end…and that you should swim parallel to them…so you don’t actually get swept to France…usually a few 100 meters at the most…of course, a 1/4 mile…4-500 meters off shore can be a little disconcerting if you didn’t plan it

…so I did find my way back to the beach again…eventually…and walked back

…after I wrote this post, I looked it up in my training log…it was Friday, October 23, 2009…so a couple of weeks prior to my 3rd Ironman…here’s the exact entry…a bit long, but I left it in unedited…I’d _totally_ forgotten that I finished my swim in the pool…but decided to keep it in…goes to my mental state after ‘rip current adventure’:

well, I should now be ready for anything now…rough ocean today, as predicted, although I’m thinking probably marginally still swimmable in a race, so thought that I’d give it a try and see how it turns out

…largest ‘hazard’ in these BIG swells is typically a predisposition to rip currents, due to the large number of sandbars along the shoreline, and just off shore…figured that I was good for at least an hour of swimming, so I should be able to make my way back onto land within that time period somewhere, so waded out into the surf as far as I could…then diving through overhead breakers, to get to the other side of the main break…once out of foot contact, headed southbound, with the swells

– very rough and choppy, so focus on _every_ stroke turned to getting an over-rotation to a clean breath…actually turned out pretty well…breathing left, meant looking out to sea, and sighting was virtually impossible without coming to a stop, and bobbing up on the next big wave, so a bit eerie swimming in a rough ocean without view of land, but just stroking along, comfortable pace, focusing and breathing…trying to maintain alignment with the wave direction and sun, and stopping to sight from time to time…any lack of concentration for even one stroke was rewarded with a face full of water

– 17 minutes down the beach, and decide to turn around and see how it was going back…thought that if I couldn’t make progress, would just swim to the beach and walk back

– very different into the waves…largely crashing into waves with each few strokes, decided to just stay within myself, focus on breathing, and just swim…after a few minutes could see that I was making progress…breathing left, I could see the houses along the beach between swells, so although I couldn’t sight forward without stopping, I had some loose frame of reference…by 30 minutes into the swim, 13 minutes going back, I could see that progress was slow, but I was still going

…next sighting in a few minutes, around 33 minutes, I realized that I was a _long_ way out from shore, getting swept out to sea…well if not _swept_ out 🙂 but definitely a _much_ longer way from shore that I had been…so ‘that’s a rip current’…too funny…the spot is marked by a significant HR jump, as I have a little anxiety ‘moment’…I guess I’m just fundamentally a wimp

– anyway got that under control, by just thinking about ‘the plan’ and went to plan B, which was to head back southbound, swim perpendicular with the swells, and keep on swimming until I hit the beach…within a few minutes, I could see that I was indeed heading towards land…the swells were running at about a 45 degree angle to the beach, so I knew that I would eventually get there, barring anything kinky happening…once to the break line, a few minutes more, feet were back on the ground in waist deep water, but still too deep to walk against a strong current coming off the beach, so caught a couple more breakers going in, and was finally landed

– how fun was that 🙂

…walked back up the beach to my water bottles, and decided to call it a draw with the ocean today,and finish up a few minutes in the pool

– kept on the wetsuit, although air temperature was 82F, and pool about the same, a few lengths to get in a rhythm, then 500M in 11:27, 117HR max, 111HR avg, so about 2:20/100M, pretty easy effort

…getting hot though, so took off the wetsuit & HR monitor, swam a few 100’s in 2:20 – 2:30, mixed with drills to run out the clock, admiring the ‘stroke’ of a couple of young ladies in the lanes beside me

When it’s all said and done, swimming is swimming…the water that we’re moving through, if there is a current…and there certainly is in Ironman Florida…typically sideways across the course…stronger last year than I remember from years before…and especially on the 2nd lap…or even in a  lake with the wind…determines to a large degree which direction that we’re going…and we’re always adjusting when we’re in open water…my last Vancouver Half, I did a poor job in adjusting to the current…but another story

…but a rip current, is nothing more than a side current pushing you in a seabound direction…the jarring part is if you don’t expect it…non-swimmers getting pulled from the shoreline aside…thanks for the lifeguards…but it is just water moving…and ‘reasonably’ narrow typically…unless you have the bad luck to run into another one…in which case you’re really having a bad day, and in for a _really_ long swim

…having said all that, there’s an old saying in flying that applies to the decision to swim in rough conditions:

better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground

…oh yeah…worth mentioning…do not try to swim back to shore directly against a rip current…you’re not going to make it…the current is faster than you are…you’ll expire in the attempt…and like, why not just swim to the side, and come back in where there is no outbound current…unless of course, you want to just try it out for a while…when you’re ready, swim to the side, back to shore…done.

…it’s largely our response to the ‘stuff that happens’ that defines the outcome…panic is the killer…my initial response was a bit of a panic attack…well maybe a bit bigger than that…although right behind that…since swimming was so challenging for me…I was well practised on calming myself down just to get into open water…usually standing on the beach, so this was a bit different…I was bobbing up and down as land was rapidly leaving my field of vision…but enough to be able to start swimming again…and able to breathe…so all good.

Two days ago on Wednesday, I was swimming in some pretty rough conditions…even rougher than we would be swimming in, in Ironman Florida without closing the race…particularly since I was swimming for an hour at the surf break line to reduce the anxiety of my new lifeguard friends.

…here’s what I’ll tell you…last year, 2-300 meters into the swim in Ironman Florida, the zipper on the back of my wetsuit split wide open…I swam over a mile with that open wetsuit to the halfway turnaround on the beach…in pretty rough water…before I was able to get it re-zipped for the 2nd half of the swim

…in all seriousness, if you have ‘trouble’ in open water conditions…like you sometimes ‘freak out’…put on your wetsuit, don’t zip it up, and swim for a mile…it can be done…I know…I did it, and I’m not much of a swimmer…okay, try it out in a pool first…or beside the shoreline with a couple of your lifeguard buddies in kayaks, until you warm up to the idea…I dunno…I didn’t have a choice…it was suddenly thrust upon me…I think primarily because Fortuna, the goddess of fate, was tired of my snivelling about swimming

…if/when you survive…I bet you’ll _never_ be afraid of open/rough water again 🙂

…whenever I’m now faced with any type of challenging conditions in the water, I now have the luxury of thinking about that Ironman swim…and the rough conditions that I’ve been in…’is that all you’ve got’ I laugh, as I’m being turned sideways by the surf…which I did on Wednesday…a few times…since the wetsuit thing, I fundamentally ‘know’ that whatever the ocean is going to throw at me, I’m still there

…and then I run this scene from Forrest Gump through my head, until I’m back into my quiet, center, 1.20 stroke rate…following the beeps of my TempoTrainer 🙂

Posted in Achieving Goals, Dad's Blog Posts, Ironman Florida, Racing, Swimming, Training | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

How to swim in rough water

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Dad

After my first outing in the ocean on Monday, I realized that I needed to dust off, not so much my open water swimming technique, as my rough water swimming technique.

Here’s good video that I found that had some great refresher ideas by Coach Leslie Thomas at http://www.swim-art.com/ based out of San Francisco.

So a few points that she makes that I found that I _really_ needed to focus on:

  • Breathing quickly worked better for me…on Monday I was hanging on that breath too much, and throwing off my balance…on Wednesday, a quicker breath kept me in position better…and keeping in a bit of air helped a lot if I missed a breath
  • Sighting quickly…something mentioned in my last post on sighting, but so true…taking a quick look, meant that I sometimes didn’t see anything, or just a glimpse, so I just took a quick look again in a few strokes, and didn’t ‘hang’ on the sighting…my form and momentum died when I took too long to ‘look’
    https://irondaughterirondad.com/sighting-in-open-water/
  • Timing the sighting to the waves pattern…something that I was getting better at on Wednesday…helped a ton to get that look at/near the top of a wave…so adjusted my stroke timing slightly when needed to get the timing right on a particular wave as I felt myself being carried up
  • Relaxing the arms…I was much better on Wednesday not ‘fighting’ the wave action, and just going with the natural tossing of the water, working on keeping my arms relaxed…still could have been a lot better
  • A higher stroke rate, kept my momentum a lot better…I found on Monday that when my stroke rate was set at a fast-for-me 1.14 (seconds per stroke), it was a lot easier to keep things together than at 1.26…right now 1.14 is a bit too fast for 2.4 miles, so on Wednesday, I did the first half (35 minutes) of the swim at 1.24, and the second half at 1.20…the 1.20 was sustainable for 25 minutes, so that was very good since that’s my current Ironman race goal rate, and a _lot_ more fluid than even the 1.24
  • Maintaining a stretched out body position…keeping a good extension…with the proper forward lean to keep my legs up, was the most difficult thing for me…better on Wednesday than Monday, but still not where it needs to be…a big part of that is knowing…which I do…that in a forward lean into that balanced position it’s actually easier to get a breath than holding my head higher…even though I ‘feel’ like my head is lower in the water…it’s _really_ believing that in rough, choppy conditions, and practising…a lot…so that it’s second nature…when I held that better position, I was a _lot_ more streamlined, got tossed around less, able to maintain my stroke rate easier…and since I was more relaxed, ‘carried’ by the wave action better, so that breathing was easier

Sadly, I’ll now be back at the pool…I really enjoy the open water swimming so much more…although working on perfecting the form elements that I saw come apart in the rougher conditions, will help me maintain them the next time in the rough stuff

…at least that’s what I’ll be telling myself, following that lane line for 25 yards, wall, turn, repeat, for endless hours…fun right 🙂

 

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Meeting the lifeguards via air horn

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Dad

Well, there I was in the ocean for the first time in years…other than races…in moderately rough conditions, getting tossed around, but enjoying the freedom of no lane lines, and just ‘swimming’ to the beep of my TempoTrainer, setting my stroke rate…when I thought that I heard an  air horn in the distance

…I was swimming along a section of the beach, about 1/2 mile long, lined with beach umbrellas and lifeguards…cool…most of my ocean swimming over the years, had been either swimming alone, or with a few die-hard Iron Buddies, and rarely if ever in lifeguard areas…yellow flag for the conditions + a warning flag for jellyfish…I don’t like jellyfish, but the water looked too compelling

So I dropped off my wife under an umbrella, waded into the surf…and worked my way out through over-head-height surf break line…staying away from the surfers…and finally found the choppy/swelling, but swimmable ocean on the other side, turned south to follow the shoreline, and then focused on the challenge of finding my ‘perfect’ pool form, in the rougher conditions.

…and then there was that air horn…at first it didn’t really register through the ear plugs, swim cap, and TempoTrainer beeping away, but then I heard it again…faint…but it was there…so I stopped, looked towards the shoreline, and saw a group of people jumping up and down, lifeguards waving their red rescue cans

…interesting I thought…wonder what’s up…they were quite a ways off, so couldn’t really make anything out through the tinted swim goggles, but decided to swim in a little closer to see what’s going on…then I started to think, geez…maybe there’s like sharks in the water…and they’re waving to _me_ …so I stopped and looked again, and could now see them waving earnestly…I looked around me, didn’t see anything, but decided to swim in…as I got closer it became clear that they were waving _me_ in…well, I thought, I guess I’ll find out when I get there.

…sure enough, all the fuss was about me…no sharks, just concern about some fruitcake in an orange swim cap, obliviously swimming out in the middle of the ocean…I was swimming out waaaay too far, I was told by a polite young woman in a Baywatch swimsuit, surrounded by a group of lifeguards standing beside the ‘supervisor’ jeep…she explained that the ‘ordinance’ was chest-shoulder height water or 50 yards from shore, and that I was _waaaay_ beyond that

…she explained that if for some reason I wanted to swim out that far, that I could do it outside the lifeguard area, and she pointed to the direction towards the fishing pier in the distance…but in the lifeguard area I had to stay in close to the shoreline

…geez, I’m sorry I said..didn’t know…all the time pulling in my stomach…sooo happy to be 15 pounds ‘thinner’ in my Speedo, trying to look like a ‘real’ swimmer

…are you training for something or just out for a swim she asked

…my 5th Ironman I said…dang that was a good answer…good quick mind I thought

…she smiled…okay, look, she said…we can cut you a little slack…just beyond the break line, but that’s it…pointing to the line where the waves were breaking…and again re-inforced…do you see where that line is breaking right there…yes I said…that’s it okay…okay I agreed…next time talk to us first and tell us what you want to do…I will I said…have a good swim she said

…so I re-assembled all my stuff, headed back out into the surf, and away I went…of course there’s not really a ‘hard’ break line, but I was definitely in closer, tossed around a lot more, but enjoyed the rest of the swim for an hour without incident

…oh there was that one jellyfish sting on my right arm…but didn’t really hurt too badly at the time, so I just kept on swimming…turned out it was pretty mild really, more like the feeling of a vine of small thorns being dragged over the skin…and then felt ‘prickly’, but that was about it…a bit of a red welt for about an hour after the swim, but then subsided, and not a big deal…apparently 7 or 8 other sting ‘casualties’ that morning

The best news about the swim, is that I was able to stay with a variety of stroke rates without any problems, from 1.26 to 1.24, to 1.14, to 1.20…so that was very good…the weakness was that I could feel that I wasn’t able to maintain a very streamlined position in the water…my forward lean was very difficult to maintain, and therefore my legs lower in the water than they should be, as I was getting my head up too high for a breath…that will take a lot of work, or else even if I have the ‘correct’ stroke rate, if my position in the water is too inefficient, it’s going to really slow me down

…I have to _really_ develop that confidence in the forward lean position in rougher open water conditions

…today I think I’ll wear my Ironman swim cap…and talk with the lifeguards ahead of time

…so off to do it again today in advance of the hurricane…that should be a good test in some interesting conditions 🙂

 

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Updates from the other end of the training spectrum…

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Daughter

Somehow I think I missed out on the analytical gene that my father so clearly embodies… can’t have too much of a good thing in one family I suppose!

I am amazed at the progress my father is reporting from his new adventures in the pool, and it’s starting to worry me about losing the stronghold I have historically had on the swim leg in the Iron Daughter/Iron Dad ‘battle’. All the power to you though Dad.. I’d like to think this race in November will be like a game of Best Ball in golf – the best score from each leg becomes the team’s score.. and I’d be more than happy to draft off you both figuratively and literally in 11 weeks 🙂

My focus has been a wee bit different than Iron Dad’s the past few weeks, since my *shudder* DNF back at the July Half Ironman in Vancouver. While I too hope to have a PB this year (lots of room to improve from a 16:34 finish in 2009) – my focus as of late has simply been on getting the workouts in as scheduled.

Weeks 1 and 2 of Daughter's Training

And so far I am happy to report a (near) perfect record in my first 2 full-weeks of training since July! For some this might not seem like much of anything – but given my historical training results (I think in ’09 I may have had one 100% training week.. where I hit all of my workouts).. this is a pretty big deal for me, and it’s feeling great!

What has become my biggest focus I think has been the logistics around the workouts – from having the right gear packed the night before, to ensuring my meals are prepped in advance, to keeping on top of laundry, to getting enough sleep – it’s almost becoming more time consuming than the workouts themselves! Lucky for me I don’t have 3 kids in tow or a pet to take care of, and while the social life is taking a considerable hit…. I have it pretty good. I think the success for me in ‘fitting it all in’ is being way more on top of my game in terms of preparation – and not getting sucked into the couch after work with a bottle of wine watching the Bachelor Pad (although I can’t make promises for my night off tonight). It’s amazing how a few hours of prep on Sunday can set you up for success during the week; and how not getting the prep done on Sunday can really set you back (example: wine and cheese party last night, and no lunch for today).

And to answer back to my Dad’s recent success in the pool, I will be starting a swim course in September through Sea Hiker in Vancouver. I had taken a weekend course with them a few years ago and really enjoyed it, and am looking forward to bringing my A-Game to the Gulf of Mexico.. and Dad.. if you still beat me to T1 I’ll buy the first beer afterwards 🙂

Cheers,

Daughter

Posted in Achieving Goals, Daughter's Blog Posts, Ironman, Ironman Florida, Planning, Swimming | Tagged | 2 Comments

Sighting in open water

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Dad

Having been following lane lines for months now, we’re at the beach for a few days, and getting in some open water swimming.

Looking for some ideas on ‘sighting’ in open water, I thought that this video clip of Terry Laughlin from Total Immersion Swimming was particularly good:

An article on their website by Suzanne Atkinson she makes the point:

Rather (than) try to fight the water lifting  your head up for several seconds at a time in order to get a clear and  unobstructed view of your landmarks or buoys, accept that it’s OK to  only see a little bit of information at a time.  In a few more strokes  you can take another peek and gather some additional information.  You  only need to see a little ways in front of you, or that you are mostly  headed in the proper direction.

The actual sighting technique,  which I’ll talk about in detail in the next article and an accompanying  video, requires just a “peek” above the water.  A small slice of visual  information.  in a brief moment, the light hits your retina and travels  to your brain faster than you can process it.  By the time you’ve  thought about what you have seen, there is already new visual  information streaming into your brain.

http://www.totalimmersion.net/blog/Open-Water-Sighting-Techniques–Overcoming-Psyschological-Fears.html

Off to the ocean to give it try 🙂

 

Posted in Dad's Blog Posts, Swimming | Tagged , | 3 Comments

and yes, I’m also biking…fast…and long

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Dad

A lot of recent focus on kicking my swimming up a notch…and yes, I’m also biking and running 🙂

Yesterday’s bike ride is a good example of my long ride with HIT (High Intensity Training) for almost half of it…typically every Saturday…I don’t have such a thing as a long, slow ride anywhere in the schedule.

…our picture today my Power graph from the Saturday ride…the blue lines are MPH, and just shows how hilly the ride is…speed is all over the place…click on the picture for a bigger version

…if there’s a minor point in that…well, actually I think it’s a major point…speed is a lousy indicator of effort in both training and racing on the bike…the red line Heart Rate (RPE very similar…Rate of Perceived Exertion) is better than speed, but not as precise as Power since _lots_ of factors affect Heart Rate and RPE, not just the effort (work) that you’re putting out…the purple line, Power is as good as it gets, until something else better comes along

…I’ll write a separate post, using this workout as an example

Here’s the workout spec: 3:30:30 total time planned:
– the Z3/4/5 designations are my Intensity Zones…for more details on Intensity Zones:
https://irondaughterirondad.com/training-zones-and-intensity-chart/

All my bike workouts are based on my FTP (Functional Threshold Power)…my tested maximum power estimate for a 1 hour period…last test 270W on May 2, 2011
https://irondaughterirondad.com/bike-functional-threshold-power-ftp-test-result-270-watts/

…I haven’t done much in the 95-100% FTP/z4-5 range for 2 months now, prior to my Vancouver Half Iron race on July 3, so was interested in seeing how the legs would hold up…also whether my weight loss had shredded the power in my legs

Warm-up: 20-30′ @ 65-70%/z1-2/Easy
MS:
â– 10′ (4′) @ 95-100% FTP/z4-5
â– 12′ (4′) @ 95-100% FTP/z4-5
â– 16′ (4′) @ 95-100% FTP/z4-5, then 10′ Easy
â– 2 x 20′ (2′) @ 80-85%/z3
â– Remainder of ride time is @75-80%/z2, in the aerobars, practicing steady riding: no surges, constant power, etc
Warm-down: 10′ Easy spin.

So here’s what I did…my training log notes…the Shearer route, is a heavy rolling course, although one of the few local roads where you don’t ‘run out of gears’…you use every gear, but can still keep 200 Watts+ even on the downhills…just over 7 miles…the N (north) direction is predominantly uphill, the S (south) direction, predominantly downhill…a hair shorter so that I don’t run into the stop sign :

solid ride, 3:37:26, @ 207W norm power…nice…although fading by the end…76-87F, 63-53%H…getting a bit hot…total calories: 3 Powerbar gel + 72oz Powerbar Perform & Gatorade  = 780 calories…been trying to stay to the light side to see if my stomach & legs like it better…maybe too light…should kick it up to 300 calories/hour next ride…last IM 400 calories/hour…maybe too much, deflecting too much attention to my stomach rather than legs
– workout as planned though, 3 sets of Shearer N & S, with rolling/planned rest between

#1: Z4-5: target was 255W’ish > ACTUAL: 257W, 21.8MPH (35.1KPH)
#1: N: 260W, 7.258 miles, 21:10, 20.6MPH, 148HR max
#1: S: 252W, 7.203 miles, 18:33, 23.3MPH, 151HR max

#2: Z3: target was 215-220W’ish > ACTUAL: 217W, 20.4MPH (32.8KPH)
#2: N: 217W, 7.249 miles, 23:09, 18.8MPH, 135HR max
#2: S: 217W, 7.190 miles, 19:22, 22.3MPH, 138HR max

#3: Z2: Ironman race target power: 200W’ish > ACTUAL: 200W, 19.7MPH (31.7 KPH)
#3: N: 204W, 7.254 miles, 23:29, 18.5MPH, 132HR max
#3: S: 195W, 7.162 miles, 20:24, 21.0MPH, 139HR max

…200W on the hilly Shearer route @ 19.7MPH, probably = 20MPH+ on the Ironman Florida course…
…190W probably therefore 19.5MPH’ish (31.4KPH) @ Ironman Florida

The long and the short of it is that I hit all my targets for power in each of the 3 intervals, so I was very happy with that…my legs were feeling it by the end though, and the 139HR max on the last interval tells me that I was overheating…should have been closer to 132HR’ish…as the cloud cover came off and the temperature was rising into the mid 80F’s, and/or maybe getting dehydrated…and/or maybe underfueled…or all of the above.

So of my total 3:37:26: (3.6 hours): HIT (High Intensity Training: Z3+) % as below

  • 39:43 was Z4-5 power & HR (interval 1): .66 hours = 18% of total time
  • 42:29 was Z3 power & HR (interval 2): .71 hours = 20% of total time
  • 43:53 was Z2 power and Z2-3 HR (interval 3): .73 hours = 20% of total time
  • balance @ Z1-2: warm-up, warm-down, rest intervals easy, recovery, 42% of total time

So that I’m relatively ‘fresh’ for this ride, I pull back the intensity of mid-week rides if I’m tired at all, to ‘protect’ this one.

…this long ride will move up rapidly to a number of 4.5 hour HIT rides, with roughly the same percentages of intensity, and 2 race rehearsal rides at 6 hours each…or 112 miles, whichever comes first

…part of my interest today was that #3 interval…19.7 MPH, at what I hope will be my projected race plan Power Goal…200 Watts…for Ironman Florida…this route is very hilly compared to the relatively flat Ironman Florida course, so again confirmed that 190-200Watts, _should_ get me the 19.5MPH in ‘normal’ conditions…a bit tight maybe, but doable…and I have 11 weeks to go to see if I can get my power up to a point that I can ride at 200Watts, and still protect the run (well marathon actually…26.2 miles)…right now, it’s closer to a 190Watt target (70% of my current FTP 270 Watts), so a bit more to go

…so based on this ride my race plan/goal remains the same as it’s been 🙂

Bike: 19.5 MPH / 5:44:36

Race plan: 70% of 286 FTP = 200 Watts…that should assure me of 19.5 MPH in ‘normal’ conditions…and not far off even on a windy day

Funny thing today…I was really _flying_ along on those intervals…like blowing by other cyclists and groups on the road…like passing guys going uphill…I _never_ pass guys on hills

…that few pounds that I dropped somewhere makes quite a difference on the hills, and my average speed on this hilly course used-to-be 19.6MPH, is now 20.4MPH, on the same 215W’ish power…IM Florida is flatter, so weight doesn’t come into play as much on the bike…but it does on the run…so good

…like at the end of my  #1: S interval, where I _blew_ by 3 sharp-looking guys in matching racing jerseys about a mile before the end, they stopped where I had stopped about to start my next interval, and said…

geez, I thought that we were pushing it pretty hard and then you blew right by us…I thought my chain had come off…are you like doing a triathlon or something?

Nice chat for a few minutes…

…I did look it up…as I was pressing at the end of that Interval, where the road leans slightly downhill, I was pedalling furiously at just over 30MPH (48KPH)…so no wonder I was looking good

…I know…I’m _really_ into this stuff…fun 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Cycling, Dad's Blog Posts, Ironman, Ironman Florida, Planning, Racing, Testing | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments