Planned Volume:
Swim - 2hrs 45 mins
Bike - 3hrs 15 mins
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Total Planned - 9hrs 35 mins
Actual Volume:
Swim - 1hr 45 mins (4200M)
Bike - 5hrs 5 mins (87 Mi)
Run - 2hrs 53 mins (17.95 Mi)
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Total Actual - 9hrs 43 mins
This week called for 9 1/2 hours of volume and I ended up a 8 minutes over that. My swim was down because my Sunday OWS got canceled due to poor weather. The bike is, once again, higher than planned because I am seeing very strong gains on the bike and this is where I can get faster.
When I began this blog it was done primarily as a way to motivate myself into following through with my P90X workouts. One of the side benefits is that this blog has become a journal of my progress starting with P90X and then venturing into the world of endurance sports. Every now and again I like to assess how certain aspects of my workouts are progressing by going back and reading over some older posts and then doing an honest assessment of my current abilities. I like to do this in my professional life as well - keeps me sharp - yes, I am that guy.
This being only my 2nd Tri season I have a much better understanding of my abilities than when I began last year. My year was over in October and to honestly assess myself at the time my abilities were as followed - an extremely poor swimmer, a poor cyclist, and an average runner.
After 6 months of increased volume and focused workouts here is how I break down my abilities today:
Run:
I spent most of the winter months focused on increasing volume and entering a bunch of races to learn how to pace myself and how I responded to the stress of increased pace and distance. I completed a marathon training plan and ran slow as molasses to build my base for 20 weeks. I put in a few 100 mile months and learned how to run. The results have actually been even better than I expected. I ran in a 50K, a 5k, a 5mi, two 10k's, and two half mary's. I got faster and stronger in each event. When I first began to run last year I could barely run 3 miles without walking. Now I run 3 miles and barely break a sweat. The running focused training has paid off and I plan on doing more run focused training again this winter to get even faster. I have gone from an average runner to a pretty good runner.
Bike:
Once December rolled around I purchased an Indoor Trainer and began really focusing on my cycling endurance. When I was on the trainer I did a lot of intervals and hard spins (and watched a ton of movies). Since the middle of December I have put close to 1000 miles cycling on my legs and lungs. Last year I had trouble riding in the aero position and really focused on that this off-season as well. During my last outdoor ride of the season in October I averages 16.8 MPH over a 25 mile ride. A couple of weeks ago over that same ride I averaged over 20 MPH. My bike base and fitness have improved but I still have a lot of work to do. The hardest part for me is my inexperience at knowing how hard to push or not push on the bike and still leave something for the run. I have gone from a poor cyclist to an average cyclist.
Swim:
Last year I did my first swim in June and I could do one 25 yard lap consecutively. After each lap a recovery of a couple of minutes was required. I have always been athletic and pretty decent at any sport I have ever tried. Not so with swimming, it has been humbling to say the least! Swimming is still my Achilles Heal but since I have been working on drills and intervals it has been becoming increasingly more enjoyable. I took a couple of lessons and they have helped. I am still not good but am slowly seeing improvement and plan on joining a Master's program in May. I have gone from an extremely poor swimmer to just a poor swimmer.
To recap where I am today: Poor Swimmer, Average Cyclist, and Good Runner. The positives are that 2 out of 3 sports have seen decent improvement and this improvement has been noticed over a relatively short period of time. The negative is that my swimming still sucks. That was fun!
Thanks for Reading,
Jeff
you are at the head of the class Jeff! you get an A+ for your numbers this week. just remember this, no triathlon is won in the swim. the first person out of the water never wins! seriously, think about it. you asked if I log my workouts on BT. I don't but only b/c I've been keeping the buckeye outdoors one for almost 3 years and can't possibly imagine keeping 2 logs. it would take me away from blogging and commenting too much.can't have that.
ReplyDeleteLOL ... no you cannot have that!! I've heard good things about buckeye outdoors. My swim is getting better, sometimes I like to write a post like this to remind myself that I am still new at this and not to beat myself up so much ... thanks for the kind words KC!
ReplyDeleteNice work Jeff!! You are such a super star:) Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I have been following your posts for a long time. I remember when you were only doing P90X. Well, actually several rounds of P90X and P90X+. That is how I found your blog. I have since had the pleasure to watch you explode into a up and coming triathlete. Super job, Man!
ReplyDeleteWe definitely share a similar path. I couldn't swim last year and was on a steel frame 88 Trek that didn't provide a whole lot of help for a new cyclist. Congrats on all of your hard work. Clearly it's paying off BIG TIME -- that's some serious mileage for 1 week!!!
ReplyDeleteI still remember competing with you on those freakin' "Pike Push Ups", or whatever they were. That was fun. I've enjoyed watching you transform into a devoted triathlete. Though our sports are different, we're both passionate for what we do. Keep going buddy! You're doing GREAT!
ReplyDeleteYou know the swim is important because if you drown, you cant do the bike.... that being said, it IS all about the bike. Keep the main time focus there
ReplyDeleteCongrats on all your gains in swimming, biking, and running. I love to look back and see where I was physically compared to where I am now. It's great to see improvements!
ReplyDeleteThe swim is the hardest part for me too. I just recently started seeing a swim coach and hopefully I'll start to see some improvements.
p.s. the 100 pushup challenge is kicking my a**. I did day 1 on Monday and I'm still a little sore. What's up with that? I'll do day 2 today. Hopefully my arms won't fall off! :)
Hours are hours, despite what they may be...(cheater) jk all the training sounds impressive. KEEP it up!
ReplyDeleteWow, you rocked it! I know what you mean about not breaking a sweat after a 3 mile run!
ReplyDeleteokay, so what did you think of last night's Lost?! I thought it was a good episode (a surprise) interesting to see Richard's history. I think the writers must do that on purpose, they string us along, then give us a snippet to keep us watching. I'm sure next week will be back to business. Do you think they'll make a movie after this season is over?
Great improvements!! VEry Impressive!! I am swimmer, and I have came to notice that the swim is the least important leg of the race, a racer that swim at a good pace and excels at the bike and/or run will always beat a fast swimmer to the finish line
ReplyDeleteHoly cow, great numbers! The swim is definitely the hardest for me too, and I take comfort in what folks have told me about swimming being the least important. Your hard work is paying off, keep it up!
ReplyDeleteJeff, great hours last week. Keep up the good work. Ditto on the swimming comments above.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking about the 100 pushup challenge too. Haven't started it yet though. Not sure my noodle arms could hold up!
To go from running 3 miles to running a 50K in such a short time - quite the accomplishment! Thx for stopping by my blog!
ReplyDelete