2 Months in Review: February and March by the Numbers

February
Swim: 30,300yards
Bike: 496.9miles
Run: 85.4miles + 11.8miles walking
Weights: 8 short 15-20min sessions TRX/bosu/core

To be honest, I can't even remember February at this point. I know that I continued to be diligent about getting to the pool for short (2000-2500yard) swims and even got in a few longer swims. Biking all on the trainer (despite the mild winter) and one day a week at FastSplits on the computrainer. I continue to LOVE the computrainer. After replacing my new (Lake) cycling shoes with a second new pair (Shimano) the foot trouble I was having subsided enough to be manageable. I still get some numbness if I ride hard or long but nothing debilitating and nothing that kept me from running. I returned to running in my heavy trainers (Adidas Supernova Sequence 3) which was fine given the slow steady miles I put in. Endurance started returning on the run which was good to feel, despite the slow paces.

March
Swim: 32150yards
Bike: 538.8miles
Run: 138.4miles + 19miles walking
Weights: 5 TRX/core sessions

March was a pretty great month. A breakthrough run month!

I took a week of vacation the second full week of the month and just trained to my heart's content. It was blissful. 3 swims (2k, 3.5k, 4k), 5 rides (1hr OUTDOORS, 1h10m, 1h30m, 1h40m, 2h30m) with two 3+mile t-runs and one longer 1hr run off the bike. I moved my long run (usually Saturday) to Thursday so I could hammer that longer ride/run on Sunday. Long run was alright, nothing to write home about. Friday was a 90/30 brick, also good not great. Saturday I had speed work on the plan. I was thinking 6x400. I jogged easy to the track and then settled into the planned work. As I came toward the fifth interval I realized that my pace (including rest intervals) was pretty darn close to my current 5k PR time so I gunned it through the last interval. I came in just 1 second off my PR. I slowed to a jog to recover and realized I was feeling quite good. I decided to pick it up to mile 4. Then mile 5. Set a new 5mile PR (by a longshot). Decided to go for 10k. Came through 10k with the second 5k faster than the first 5k, and a PR by over 30 seconds!!! (21:54)   At this point I am on cloud nine, pretty psyched with all that frustrating slow running I did all winter. With basically no speedwork I found myself with speed. I ran another lap or so and was still feeling awesome. At this point my total distance was around 8.5miles. Something clicked in my head and I decided to just keep going. Miles ticked by one after another. At some point I decided I was going for 13.1. Why not? Its my vacation, I can do what I want!  The last mile was a 7:10. 7:10! That's my (former) 5k pace. I don't know where this came from. I ran through 13.1 and my watch read 1:39:59. Admittedly this is not a true time. I stopped my watch twice for ~30 seconds (at the end of that first 5k of trackwork (5.1miles) and then after the 10k of trackwork (8.2miles). Even if I were to call it 2 minutes of stopped watch we're talking many minutes faster than my HM PR set in November. (If you recall I was gunning for a 1:45 that day and then blew up at mile 10 and shuffled home in 1:48:xx.) REDEMPTION was mine!

During the month I rode my bike outside twice. I feel good about that. One on quiet roads to shake off some of the lingering fear I have from last year's witnessed accident. The second in traffic to really get myself used to my new road pedals and all the stresses of riding with cars and traffic lights. Both were slow, nothing like the confidence I have on the trainer. To close out the month I did my second FTP test of the season. My FTP came up more than 10% and my W/kg increased from 3.3 to just over 3.75 thanks to more watts and fewer kilos! All in all, a great month!!

Month in Review - January (and December 2011)

December 2011
Swim: 11,500 yards
Bike: 400.7 miles
Run: 75 miles
Other: 8.6 miles
Weights/Core: 12 sessions
Total Time: 42 hours 27 minutes

2011 Totals:
Swim: 252,575 yards
Bike: 5316.35 miles
Run: 1105.5 miles
Other: 130.15 miles (walking, hiking)
Weights/Core: ~30 hours
Total Time: 613 hours 32 minutes

January 2012
Swim: 23,425 yards
Bike: 453.25 miles
Run: 73 miles
Other: 32.4 miles (walk, hike, snowshoe - mostly walk)
Weights/Core: 18 sessions, 5 hours
Total Time: 55 hours 7 minutes

Not sure exactly what to say about this prep and semi-structured base period...I like a routine. I like working out a lot. I like having mojo. I like going hard. There has not been very much of any of this. In December I sort of did whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted; but it was not very much. I got in the pool a few times but my swims did not continue to be good (as they had been, surprisingly, after my 2 month layoff). My often grumpy shoulder did its grumpy thing. I did short trainer rides which I enjoyed and allowed me to keep up with various tv shows that are on after my bedtime. I started going to a computrainer class at a local multisport store. I LOVE THE COMPUTRAINER. If I owned a computrainer I don't think I would ever ride outside. (This is not a problem I have to worry about given the cost. But I know the risk would be high given the amount of time I spent on my old run down trainer last summer when the roads were available.) I ran slow and short. I wore a heart rate monitor which continued week after week to tell me that my heart would explode at any pace faster than a walk (sometimes even at a walk). I spent the last week of the year visiting my hub's family and gaining a few last lbs.

On January 2 I started revamping my training and eating. Attention to recovery window refueling. Attention to adding fruits, veggies, colors. Attention to avoiding starches in the evening. The only hard part is what happens after 7pm. Fruits and veggies instead of starches during the day has been easy for me. Cutting out my luna bar + skim milk nightly dessert, difficult. Sometimes, very difficult. As always, easier to put on the weight than take it off, but I think I am on track to be back to my last summer race weight before my first A race in June.

Training itself is going according to plan. Although I haven't been feeling great I think that its to be expected (for me) during early base phase. The stuff that gets me going is the hard stuff. I don't have a lot of hard stuff going on. I was diligent about keeping an honest (read: slow) pace on all runs. I slowly started building back my yardage in the pool. Although its much easier to just hammer out 2 3000 yard swims (and then not have to drag myself back to the pool for a 3 time each week), its not the best for my shoulder or probably for my return to swimming fitness (which I know will return eventually). I got in 11 swims, ideally it would have been 13, but still a move in the right direction. I think I am actually going to go see a physical therapist about my shoulder. I know that once my fitness returns I will want to swim more and at that point the nagging pain will be a barrier - better to take care of it now. Riding has been good overall. Have continued with once a week computrainer class. I did my first ever FTP test (20 minute), which I enjoyed a lot. Finally a hard effort! I don't know what the number means relative to my peers. Regardless of the number, it will get me farther/faster the less I weigh and the better I can handle my bike. I played a bit with the QT2 calculator in terms of bike split predictions based on my FTP and cannot imagine being able to ride that fast (despite my power/weight ratio saying I should be able to). (Note, Rachel, RIDE YOUR BIKE OUTSIDE!!!)  I only did one long ride but was on my bike 18 times. Early in the month during a ride, my saddle went flying back on the rails (screw loose). I fixed it up and kept going but over time have come to realize that I think I didn't put it back in its right place. I developed some increasingly serious foot pain over a 2-3 week period. For a few days I actually got quite worried that I had a fracture in the head of my second metatarsal. At first I thought it was that my kinvaras, which I had been doing all my running in over the past 6 weeks. While those shoes are shot, a week off from running didn't completely fix the problem and the pain seems to get worse in the 6 hours after a ride. I finally moved my saddle and things seem to be improving. Still a work in progress though. I also changed my cycling shoes. For x-mas James got me proper triathlon shoes. Per the cycling shoe guy I went down in size from what I had been wearing - he said they should be snug. I am not sure if perhaps they are a hair too small? It also could be a cleat issue. Gonna have to keep playing with things. Lastly, I have been good (finally) about strength training. I built myself a faux-TRX and have been rotating between it, my kettlebells, and free weights/bosu ball at the gym. Good stuff. I love weights. I wish I were one of those people who had energy to workout in the morning and evening. I would love to hit the weights not immediately after my morning swim or run when I'm already a bit fatigued.


All in all, things are proceeding. My 20 week structured training plan began on January 30 for Patriot HIM on June 18. I did a modified Fitzgerald Level 6 last year - I was just working my way into being able to run 4 days a week last year - this year I am completely ready for it. So although I will again be working on a variant of it, I hope for it to differ because of its increased focus on the run, instead of being a bit short each week. Perhaps I should take a look at level 7 as well.

Onward to February!

Base

I never did an end of year post or a 2012 goals post. Whoops.

I find winter demoralizing. My fitness is gone and slow to return. I have spent since the beginning of December only running easy in an effort to retrain my heart so that if doesn't f@%k me over all the time by exploding through the ceiling. I don't think its working. And now I also can't imagine running the paces that I previously considered run of the mill. I am trying very hard to be patient, but my patience and my faith are running thin. Similarly my return to swimming after almost 2 months out of the water has not been as smooth as I had hoped. I had a few good swims right off the bat and then it all fell apart. I'm happy to drill and go easy in the pool but I guess it would be nice to get faster. For the last 2 years I have been content to stay in a safe zone in the water and not push myself to improve. In all honesty I consider my swimming a relative strength b/c for whatever reason I can jump in and swim 30-34 minutes for a HIM swim without thinking much about it. But as soon as I start thinking about what others are doing, or as soon as I try out timed 50s or 100s in the pool I become painfully aware that I am not actually a swimmer. I can't swim a 1:10 100, not if my life depended on it. I feel like I should be able to. I realize I would need to let someone watch me swim. As a non-competitive swimmer it may be weird to say, but I resonated with what Mary Eggers said in her post today about feeling like she had it basically figured out until she let her coach video her swim and then she could see her need to go back to the drawing board. On the one hand I have no illusions of being a true athlete or someone who could ever really compete. But on the other hand it really gets under my skin that I'm not (and that I don't have the money to invest to see what my potential might be). There is a woman at my local Y who is a fish. I watch her swim sometimes and its hard for me to see what she is doing that makes her so fast.

...I feel myself getting pulled as I write into the dark pessimistic place...

Today I did my first ever FTP test on the bike. I think it went pretty well (relative only to me). I went 20W higher than I thought I'd be able to hold. But I have no idea what the number means relative to everyone else out there. I don't know whether it will matter one way or the other if I am able to increase it by 10 or 20W in the next 12 weeks.

I read an article a few weeks ago about two different types of triathletes. I am going to botch it now, but it had to do with those who are success seeking versus those who are failure avoiding. Obviously, as with everything, people are a mix of the two. I can feel both within me. I do really groove on a good workout. I enjoy numbers and tracking improvement and attending to the nitty gritty. But truly I think I fall into thinking about what I'm not, and what I won't ever be all too quickly.

I don't much like the tone of this post. It's a winter post, what can I say...