2014 Week 3 Training Log

1/12/2014

Run (outside)

42 degrees

Light clouds

wind 10 mph

Start Time: 1230

60 minutes 

6.7 miles

Ave HR 159

Went out a little fast but quickly settled into a nice pace that I was able to maintain for the entire run.  After the run I had a little cream cheese and a yogurt and berry smoothie.  Otherwise I didn't use any other fuel for the run and I felt good. For the remainder of the day I wore my 2XU compression socks to help with recovery and reduce soreness for Monday's workout.  

1/13/2014

Bike trainer  

32 minutes

121 ave HR

82 RPM ave cadence

398 cals

Seems the compression socks helped out yesterday.  My legs felt pretty good this morning.  But since I did a couple longer runs this weekend, I took it a little easy on the bike this morning for a little recovery.  I like the numbers though.  

1/14/2014

Rest day

1/15/2014

This is what happens when you forget to bring work shoes to the gym.

Run (outside)

30 degrees

Thick fog

wind 0 mph

Start Time: 0400

35 minutes 

4.2 miles

Ave HR 162

815 cals

Lifting 30 mins

Abs

Bench

Push-up

Lat pull

DB curl

DB bench

DB row

It was a very foggy morning run.  With he temperature just below freezing the conditions were perfect for little spots of black ice all around the neighborhood.  So, if I were smart, I would have turned around and went home after hitting the first patch.  No need for injury, right?  Yeah well who said I was smart?  I just kept on running.  I used the opportunity to learn something new.

Today was also my fist day in the gym in quite a while.  This year I am adding some strength training into my workout routines.  I didn't do anything major, mostly upper body today.  I intend to spend a couple weeks using just body weight or light weights.  I am doing this to allow my muscles to adapt to the new stress of weights.  I don't want to injure myself by going too hard too soon.  This definitely something I would have done when I was younger.  

1/16/2014

Bike trainer  

35 minutes

132 ave HR

84 RPM ave cadence

477 cals

Lifting

Lunges

Free Squats

Light bar squats

Leg extensions

Leg curls

Calf raises

Pull ups

1/17/2014

Rest day

I think the addition of the weights (plus a couple bad nights of sleep) required an additional rest day this week.  My body was telling me not to get out of bed this morning.  Sometimes you need to listen to what the body is telling you.

1/18/2014

Bike trainer  

50 minutes

141 ave HR

86 RPM ave cadence

747 cals

Three Simple Steps for Running on Ice

So first a little disclaimer:

RUNNING OUTSIDE WHEN THERE IS ICE IS DANGEROUS! 

If you are apt to run outside all seasons of the year, there is a chance that you will encounter some ice along the way.  If you do, here are a couple easy steps to help improve your chances of coming out injury free. 

1. Slow Down
This should be common sense for most people.  Sometimes the simple things are worth repeating.  (Again - SLOW DOWN).  Slowing down gives you more time to react when slipping does occur.  Also, if you are out running where there is ice, you are doing it because you enjoy running in the cold - so why unnecessarily risk an injury.  Or may be you are being chased by a bear that you woke up from hibernation.  If you do find a bear, your probably shouldn't run either so slowing down works here too. 

2. Shorten your stride.
Keeping your stride short helps keep your feet under your body and protects your knees from overextending if you do begin to slide. 

3. Lean slightly forward
Leaning into the run helps keep your center of gravity in front of your feet.  A forward center of gravity can help in several ways.  First, when you begin to slide, your feet will likely slip backwards allowing your knee to bend which will lessen the force of your foot on the ice. Less force on the ice will lead to less slippage.  Also, with your foot sliding backwards it allows you to pick it up faster and to get it out front again helping you maintain upright.  When your feet slide forward, your center of gravity shifts behind you and you begin to fall backwards.  Once you start falling backwards it is nearly impossible to get your feet under you again it help you recover balance, and you usually end up on your back. 
An additional benefit of leaning forward is that if you do fall, you will most likely fall forward.  Breaking a forward fall is less likely to cause serious arm and wrist injuries than if you go backward.  When falling backwards most people tend to straighten their arms and lock their elbows.  This can cause some serious problems when you hit the ground.  Additionally, if your are somewhat skilled at falling,  you have a better chance to roll out of it when you fall forward. 

Remember if you do run outside in the winter, please be safe.  And again, please do not be afraid of the treadmill.

2014 Week 2 Training Log

I spent a lot of time on the trainer this week.  We had a crazy week of weather ranging from sub-zero mid week to nearly 60F yesterday.  Lots of rain and ice made the basement a much better option for working out - especially early in the morning. 

1/5/2014

Bike trainer  

40 minutes

138 ave HR

81 RPM ave cadence

584 cals

1/6/2104

Bike trainer  

36 minutes

130 ave HR

82 RPM ave cadence

484 cals

After the ride today when I was putting my bike away, I noticed that the rear break was rubbing on the tire.  Too bad I didn't notice that until I was done!  That might explain some of the sluggishness I felt this morning.  I had just been chalking it up to being my first early morning workout in three weeks.  A couple quick turns with the wrench and it's good to go.  Ugh!  We'll with wind chills expected to be well below zero, I'll probably be back on the trainer again tomorrow.  

1/7/2014

Bike trainer  

35 minutes

132 ave HR

87 RPM ave cadence

480 cals

Another really cold morning today. So another spin on the trainer.  I would say that the little break repair from yesterday was a definite help.  With just a quick look at the results, everything is basically consistent including calories burned (based on my HRM) and I had about a 6% increase in my cadence.  

1/8/2014

Rest day

1/9/2014

Run (outside)

20 degrees

Light clouds

No wind

Start Time: 0400

35 minutes 

3.8 miles

Nice easy run this morning.  Just over 9 minute pace.  I didn't look at any data during the run (no GPS or HRM). I wanted to run at a pace I feel that I can sustain for an extended time. Even though I only ran for 35 minutes, I still felt fresh at the end and I think I could have continued for quite a while.  For a better assessment, I need so do the same on a weekend when I have more time. 

1/10/2014

Bike trainer  

Start Time 0410

30 minutes

128 ave HR

83 RPM ave cadence

393 cals

Had a late start this morning so had to limit the time to just 30 minutes.  Another slow and steady day today.  

1/11/2014

Run (inside)

Start Time: 1130

60 minutes 

6.7 miles

161 ave HR

1435

2014 Week 1 Training Log

1/1/2014

Happy New Year!

Weather:

36 degrees and cloudy

Light winds

Very short run today.  Headed out at about 11:30am. Ran a little with my daughter to start.  She wants to start running, so today I ran some with her first.  After she was done I headed out on my own.  Shortly after starting out I started getting stomach cramps and felt like hurling, so I cut it short.  Not entirely sure what the problem was but I'm thinking it had to do with the fact that I hadn't eaten anything all day except coffee and last night was New Years Eve and involved a lot of junk food.  Felt better later in the day but decided not to go out.  

1/2/2014

Weather:  inside

Workout felt good today.  No more stomach issues.  I did 50 minutes on the bike trainer with an average cadence of 89 RPM and an average HR of 150.  

1/3/2014

Weather:  inside

Today I ran for 50 minutes on the treadmill while my daughter had swim team practice.  Nice run at a moderate pace.  Kept the treadmill at a 8.34 pace for most of the run.  I started at 10 min pace for about 3 minutes to warm up. And 9 min pace for last 1:30 or so.  Average HR 155

1/4/2014

No workout today.  Spent about five hours on my feet timing my daughters swim meet though.  That has to count for something, right?

2013 Review

In January of 2013 I had several goals for myself. 

Run	500 miles	Yes
Bike	750 miles	No
Swim	30 miles	No
Presque Isle Tri	1:15:00 or better	No (1:31:09)
Olympic Tri	complete	No

...So what happened?

The Successes

As I look back over the Past year, I am pretty stoked because I did reach my goal of running at least 500 miles.  As of December 2, as a matter of fact, I surpassed the half-century mark.  And for me, that is a major accomplishment.  Also, in the past year I ran several 5K races, a sprint triathlon, a 10K, my first ever half-marathon and first duathlon. 

While doing all of this, I was also raised money for two great charities.  I was able to raise nearly $500 to support Sebastian Riding Associates.  I also signed up with Charity Miles to use my training mileage to raise money for Autism Speaks. 

The Failures

I didn't come anywhere near my goals for riding or swimming.  Why not?  Well, because I didn't put enough priority on those two areas while training.  I greatly improved on my results form 2012 but did not even come close to the goals I set for this past year.  I also didn't improve on my time for the Presque Isle Triathlon.  That I partially attribute to not allowing enough recovery time between the half marathon and the triathlon (they were only a week apart).  And no Olympic distance triathlon for me this year either - didn't even sign up for one. 

So What Did I Learn?

1. I really think I should focus more on the duration of my training not the total distance.  This past year I only spent about 90 hours total doing some form of training (from my workout log on runkeeper.com).  In 2014, I want to at least double that number. 

2. I need a training plan

3. Recovery is critical.

4. I need to learn about nutrition - and not just race time nutrition.

5. The Six step process for reaching your goals really does work.  (I followed this process to reach my running goal - unfortunately I didn't for any other goal.

6. I need to sign up for more races. (See number 5)

Most Inspiring moment of 2013

Hands down this year it was the Im Able Duathlon.  This was such an amazing race for a great cause.  And what an awesome bunch of people too.  The IM Able foundation's goal is to "help all individuals realize the potential to go further and push harder than their preconceived limits".  Let me just say, when you are mid-race and your legs are burning and sweat is running into your eyes, and you start thinking maybe I could just pull out of this race.  I mean who cares, right? - then you see the guy next to you huffing and puffing harder than you because he is doing the same race as you with just his arms - How can you not be inspired?  Any reason you may have had to complain becomes completely irrelevant. 

Goals for 2014

1. Olympic distance triathlon

2. Presque Isle Triathlon (If I do it) 1:15 or better

3. At least 2 more sprint triathlons

4. Ride the complete Great Allegheny Passage Trail

Strategy for 2014

1. Train more consistently (follow a training plan)

2. Focus more on duration and quality of training and less on total distance accumulated

3. Work on nutrition.  Teach body to better metabolize fat for fuel.  Also, work on race day nutrition.

4. Get more experience racing (sign up for more races)