Apr 23 - Apr 29
S: 15,348 yds - 3hr 55min
B: 170.19 mi - 9hr 31min
R: 42.93 mi - 5hr 20min
Total: 18hr 46min
Whew! It was a good week of a more-than-generous amount of intensity on the bike and my normal dose of swimming and running. Part of me thinks that Brian was trying to see how much threshold riding I could handle on the bike in one weekend before cracking. Saturday was quite rough, mainly due to temperatures in the high 80's and running out of fluids, but Sunday felt a lot better...probably because I had a good early birthday steak lunch to fuel up before the ride! What makes this all worth it is that I'm one week away from my 2012 triathlon debut at Rev 3 Knoxville (olympic), and I'm pretty excited to see how it goes. This year has been a pretty drastic change in training structure; and after racing a half marathon, a duathlon, a 5k, and tracking progress through daily workouts, it's pretty clear that it has been a good change!
4.30.2012
4.22.2012
"Get the work done"
Apr 16 - Apr 22
S: 15,398 yds - 3hr 51min
B: 140.05 mi - 7hr 33min
R: 44.43 mi - 5hr 47min
Total: 17hr 12min
Probably one of the best weekends I've had in awhile, mainly because I got to see all my favorite people! I headed down to Tuscaloosa on Friday to watch the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship that would take place the next day. The race was pretty fun to watch because instead of just mindlessly watching athletes fall all over themselves while they try to mount their bikes coming out of transition (which is actually pretty entertaining), I was tasked with calling out splits for Jay McCurdy as he balled his way to an 8th place overall finish. Birmingham's own Hallie Blunck took 3rd overall in the female race, and Sara Phelps BEAT DOWN the entire field in the female open race for a 2:30 margin of victory. Also, Marcus Farris and Kendrick Gibson took 2nd and 6th in the men's open race. I'm proud to say that my friends straight up dominated this weekend!
I really enjoyed hanging out and watching some racing this weekend...but like it says, that's no excuse to start slacking. One of the highlights of the weekend was a double run day on Saturday, culminating in a "trip down memory lane" run through campus and around the quad, stopping briefly at Denny Chimes to stretch and soak it in. Sunday was of course a long ride with K and S through Lake Lurleen State Park and surrounding areas. And as tradition would have it, the trip ended with a stop at Chipotle for a monster steak burrito...yum!
S: 15,398 yds - 3hr 51min
B: 140.05 mi - 7hr 33min
R: 44.43 mi - 5hr 47min
Total: 17hr 12min
Probably one of the best weekends I've had in awhile, mainly because I got to see all my favorite people! I headed down to Tuscaloosa on Friday to watch the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship that would take place the next day. The race was pretty fun to watch because instead of just mindlessly watching athletes fall all over themselves while they try to mount their bikes coming out of transition (which is actually pretty entertaining), I was tasked with calling out splits for Jay McCurdy as he balled his way to an 8th place overall finish. Birmingham's own Hallie Blunck took 3rd overall in the female race, and Sara Phelps BEAT DOWN the entire field in the female open race for a 2:30 margin of victory. Also, Marcus Farris and Kendrick Gibson took 2nd and 6th in the men's open race. I'm proud to say that my friends straight up dominated this weekend!
 |
| Denny Chimes |
4.16.2012
Asheville!
Apr 9 - Apr 15
S: 9,957 yds - 2hr 30min
B: 168.47 mi - 10hr 18min (17,073 ft of climbing)
R: 42.15 mi - 5hr 25min
Total: 18hr 13min
On Thursday afternoon I headed up to Asheville, NC for a weekend of epic cycling and trail running in the mountains. Luckily, I was joined by 2 solid riders (Oliver and Lancaster), although all the running was solo. Friday and Saturday pretty much followed this schedule:
S: 9,957 yds - 2hr 30min
B: 168.47 mi - 10hr 18min (17,073 ft of climbing)
R: 42.15 mi - 5hr 25min
Total: 18hr 13min
On Thursday afternoon I headed up to Asheville, NC for a weekend of epic cycling and trail running in the mountains. Luckily, I was joined by 2 solid riders (Oliver and Lancaster), although all the running was solo. Friday and Saturday pretty much followed this schedule:
- wake up, huge breakfast, coffee
- kit up
- 3.5-4 hour ride, climb as many mountains as possible
- post ride meal and lounge around
- head to the forest for a 50-60' trail run
- shower and clean up
- steak dinner/local beer
- sleep
 |
| Rolling out on day 1 |
 |
| The day's agenda: Mt. Mitchell and 7400 ft of climbing |
 |
| Bikes in a row at Craggy Gardens |
 |
| Photo shoot at Craggy |
 |
| Mt. Mitchell: the day's first hard effort |
 |
| KOM attempt on Mt. Mitchell...BOOM!! |
 |
| Starting off day 2 with a nice Cat 1 climb |
 |
| Devil's Courthouse |
 |
| Another view from Devil's Courthouse |
 |
| Refueling after day 2 at a bed and braekfast |
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| Nice view of Mt. Pisgah while we ate |
 |
| View from the daily evening trail run |
 |
| Ending the week right: "Death by Hops" |
4.08.2012
Another Biggest Week
Apr 2 - Apr 8
S: 15,438 yds - 3hr 52min
B: 168.62 mi - 9hr 30min
R: 40.88 mi - 5hr 10min
Total: 18hr 32min
Like it says, another biggest volume week ever. And if you are wondering why I swam such an odd number of yards, it's because 3/4 of my weekly swims are now long course meters!! The major highlight from the training week was actually having spring weather for once, which made everything more enjoyable. Saturday was a great 4 hour ride with some awesome friends. Sunday was another great day of celebrating Easter with fellow believers at church and then with my family.
All in all, fitness is coming around quite nicely. The first triathlon of the season (Rev 3 Knoxville Olympic) is a month away, and I'm pumped to see how things go. The duathlon a couple weeks ago was a good sneak preview as to what is to come...but based on how things are progressing, I don't even think that was the tip of the iceberg...which is clearly a good thing.
S: 15,438 yds - 3hr 52min
B: 168.62 mi - 9hr 30min
R: 40.88 mi - 5hr 10min
Total: 18hr 32min
Like it says, another biggest volume week ever. And if you are wondering why I swam such an odd number of yards, it's because 3/4 of my weekly swims are now long course meters!! The major highlight from the training week was actually having spring weather for once, which made everything more enjoyable. Saturday was a great 4 hour ride with some awesome friends. Sunday was another great day of celebrating Easter with fellow believers at church and then with my family.
All in all, fitness is coming around quite nicely. The first triathlon of the season (Rev 3 Knoxville Olympic) is a month away, and I'm pumped to see how things go. The duathlon a couple weeks ago was a good sneak preview as to what is to come...but based on how things are progressing, I don't even think that was the tip of the iceberg...which is clearly a good thing.
4.01.2012
Rumpshaker 5k, etc
Mar 26 - Apr 1
S: 11,900 yds - 2hr 49min
B: 132.08 mi - 7hr 32min
R: 28.81 mi - 3hr 34min
Total: 13hr 55min
What appears to be a light week is really not so much, at least that's what the legs are sayin'. Monday and Tuesday were essentially off, so everything was crammed into a Wednesday through Sunday. As the title says, at the last second I decided to sign up for the Rumpshaker 5k...mainly because of the super cool name. Since run fitness is starting to develop after 3 months of consistent 40 mile weeks, I really wanted to test out the engine on a flat-ish course. Not too much to say other than a 9th overall and my first time under 18 minutes for 5k. Although the 5k was fun, it really made the rest of the weekend pretty tough. There are plenty of races that trash the legs, but for me a properly executed "pass out at the finish line" 5k really takes it out of me. Luckily for me, Saturday and Sunday were both 3 hour tough bike sessions, including a great end to the weekend seen below:
S: 11,900 yds - 2hr 49min
B: 132.08 mi - 7hr 32min
R: 28.81 mi - 3hr 34min
Total: 13hr 55min
What appears to be a light week is really not so much, at least that's what the legs are sayin'. Monday and Tuesday were essentially off, so everything was crammed into a Wednesday through Sunday. As the title says, at the last second I decided to sign up for the Rumpshaker 5k...mainly because of the super cool name. Since run fitness is starting to develop after 3 months of consistent 40 mile weeks, I really wanted to test out the engine on a flat-ish course. Not too much to say other than a 9th overall and my first time under 18 minutes for 5k. Although the 5k was fun, it really made the rest of the weekend pretty tough. There are plenty of races that trash the legs, but for me a properly executed "pass out at the finish line" 5k really takes it out of me. Luckily for me, Saturday and Sunday were both 3 hour tough bike sessions, including a great end to the weekend seen below:
 |
| "oh my..." |
3.25.2012
Double Oak Duathlon Race Report
Mar 19 - Mar 25
S: 7,800 yds - 1hr 50min
B: 63.06 mi - 3hr 11min
R: 32.28 mi - 4hr 5min
Total: 9hr 6min
As seen above, this week was pretty awesome in terms of getting to sleep in a couple days towards the end of the week. After ~3 months of pretty hard and consistent training, today marked the season's first race...aka time to really figure out how I'm progressing. Of course I already know how I'm progressing by looking at power files and stuff, but today was a real race atmosphere with rested legs, so I was pretty pumped about laying down a good effort. The Double Oak Duathlon was a 5k run, 20k bike, 2.5k run. So basically, a very painful ~60 minute effort. The short story is that I was 2nd overall, a little over a minute back from first and 2-3 min ahead of third. The long story is below.
Run 1 (5k): 18:47
They started the long course and short course racers together, but I knew who to watch out for. Local top amateur Aaron Ainsworth was most likely going to lay down a 17:30, so I knew I had my work cut out for me. Straight from the gun, everyone took off up a ~0.4 mile uphill. I let a couple of people slide in front of me, knowing that I didn't want to blow my legs up in the first 2 minutes. At the crest of the hill followed a good downhill, of which I took advantage of and actually passed a few guys. After hitting the 1 mile in 5:57, things started to thin out. After 2 miles in 12.07, I passed a guy that had gone out way too hard, leaving only 2 guys in front of me. The last mile had a 0.6 mile single track trail section that unfortunately limited speed a little bit, but not too bad. Coming into T2, I had Aaron and 1 other guy in front of me (both in around 17:30).
Bike (20k): 32:53
The bike strategy was to make a game-time decision on what I needed to do in response to how the race was unfolding. Knowing that Aaron was 1:20 up the road, I knew I had to be aggressive in order to give myself a shot. After passing the 2nd place guy a couple minutes into the bike, it was just me and the open road...all by myself. After a couple miles, a volunteer shouted that I was 1:05 down from the leader. At the turnaround, I speculated that I had it at 0:55 down. There isn't much else to say about the ride...other than it was all about trying to do everything perfectly: keep the power up, stay aero, cut the corners of the winding roads, etc, etc. I tried to pick it up even more on the way back, but I was at my max. Coming off the bike I was around 0:40 down.
Run 2 (2.5k): 9:27
This run was...let's just say painful. It was basically a 0.5 mile flat/downhill followed by a 0.6 mile uphill on signle track trail followed by a 0.5 mile flat/downhill finish. Things were hurting bad by then, but the run went by pretty quick. Trail running has a way of doing that; it's like you are focusing on not breaking your ankles and that makes time go by slightly quicker. Once I got back on the paved road for the last 0.5 miles, it was "just close your eyes and go hard till you hear them say your name and then go another 10 seconds".
Total: 1:02:05
So that's pretty much how it ended. 2nd overall with a consolation prize of fastest bike split. Of course I wanted to win, but I gave it all I had and left it all out there, which I'm happy with...and Aaron was the better athlete of the day. But, I'm definitely a way different athlete than last year. Running wise, a 5k under 19:00 last year would be close to an all out effort, but now it has become something that I can bike hard off of. Biking wise, I'm probably 10-15 watts stronger across the board in very general terms, which at this level is pretty significant. I'm pretty excited to see how the rest of the year unfolds...it was a good start to the 2012 season!
S: 7,800 yds - 1hr 50min
B: 63.06 mi - 3hr 11min
R: 32.28 mi - 4hr 5min
Total: 9hr 6min
As seen above, this week was pretty awesome in terms of getting to sleep in a couple days towards the end of the week. After ~3 months of pretty hard and consistent training, today marked the season's first race...aka time to really figure out how I'm progressing. Of course I already know how I'm progressing by looking at power files and stuff, but today was a real race atmosphere with rested legs, so I was pretty pumped about laying down a good effort. The Double Oak Duathlon was a 5k run, 20k bike, 2.5k run. So basically, a very painful ~60 minute effort. The short story is that I was 2nd overall, a little over a minute back from first and 2-3 min ahead of third. The long story is below.
Run 1 (5k): 18:47
They started the long course and short course racers together, but I knew who to watch out for. Local top amateur Aaron Ainsworth was most likely going to lay down a 17:30, so I knew I had my work cut out for me. Straight from the gun, everyone took off up a ~0.4 mile uphill. I let a couple of people slide in front of me, knowing that I didn't want to blow my legs up in the first 2 minutes. At the crest of the hill followed a good downhill, of which I took advantage of and actually passed a few guys. After hitting the 1 mile in 5:57, things started to thin out. After 2 miles in 12.07, I passed a guy that had gone out way too hard, leaving only 2 guys in front of me. The last mile had a 0.6 mile single track trail section that unfortunately limited speed a little bit, but not too bad. Coming into T2, I had Aaron and 1 other guy in front of me (both in around 17:30).
Bike (20k): 32:53
The bike strategy was to make a game-time decision on what I needed to do in response to how the race was unfolding. Knowing that Aaron was 1:20 up the road, I knew I had to be aggressive in order to give myself a shot. After passing the 2nd place guy a couple minutes into the bike, it was just me and the open road...all by myself. After a couple miles, a volunteer shouted that I was 1:05 down from the leader. At the turnaround, I speculated that I had it at 0:55 down. There isn't much else to say about the ride...other than it was all about trying to do everything perfectly: keep the power up, stay aero, cut the corners of the winding roads, etc, etc. I tried to pick it up even more on the way back, but I was at my max. Coming off the bike I was around 0:40 down.
Run 2 (2.5k): 9:27
This run was...let's just say painful. It was basically a 0.5 mile flat/downhill followed by a 0.6 mile uphill on signle track trail followed by a 0.5 mile flat/downhill finish. Things were hurting bad by then, but the run went by pretty quick. Trail running has a way of doing that; it's like you are focusing on not breaking your ankles and that makes time go by slightly quicker. Once I got back on the paved road for the last 0.5 miles, it was "just close your eyes and go hard till you hear them say your name and then go another 10 seconds".
Total: 1:02:05
So that's pretty much how it ended. 2nd overall with a consolation prize of fastest bike split. Of course I wanted to win, but I gave it all I had and left it all out there, which I'm happy with...and Aaron was the better athlete of the day. But, I'm definitely a way different athlete than last year. Running wise, a 5k under 19:00 last year would be close to an all out effort, but now it has become something that I can bike hard off of. Biking wise, I'm probably 10-15 watts stronger across the board in very general terms, which at this level is pretty significant. I'm pretty excited to see how the rest of the year unfolds...it was a good start to the 2012 season!
3.18.2012
Big Week and Skipping Spring
Mar 12 - Mar 18
S: 16,400 yds - 3hr 55min
B: 165.28 mi - 9hr 10min
R: 40.18 mi - 5hr 8min
Total: 18hr 13min
Like it says. Another biggest week ever (I think). And just like last year, it looks like we are jumping straight from 40 degree days to 80 degree days.
Training this week was full of adventure. With the time change occurring last week, we now get daylight until roughly 7pm, which is great for biking during the week. What this also means is that the Tuesday Night World Championships (aka "roadie ride") has started up. It's always fun to get to duke it out with some solid Cat 1 and 2 guys, as opposed to just doing solo rides. On Saturday, I headed out on the bike with Hallie and Ed, which has become a tradition of sorts. Hallie usually has some sort of similar set of threshold sets, and Ed is a solid cyclist and is always up for anything...so it works out pretty good. We warm up for an hour or so, and then start our respective sets and then meet up after we are done for the remainder of the ride. We tried a new route and warmed up longer than usual, so when it was time to start a ~45' set I was down to 1 bottle. Well, 3' into the first interval I hit a huge bump and unfortunately ejected my last bottle. It was a 10' interval so I doubled back such that I finished the interval right where I thought I dropped it...but I couldn't find it. From then on, it was another 3 sets of 10' without 1 sip of water...and the pollen was awful...that was probably one of the hardest things that I've done in awhile; not the workout in and of itself, but the fact that I lost my water!
Well, I'm 1 week away from this year's first race. It's a duathlon out at Oak Mountain State Park here in Birmingham, and it will consist of a 5k run, a 20k bike, and then a final run of 2.5k. Total time should be close to an hour, so it will turn out to be pretty painful. I'm ready though. I'm more confident in my biking and running right now than I ever have been. No question. Biking has been going very well lately, and I'm anxious to put all the hard work to the test!
S: 16,400 yds - 3hr 55min
B: 165.28 mi - 9hr 10min
R: 40.18 mi - 5hr 8min
Total: 18hr 13min
Like it says. Another biggest week ever (I think). And just like last year, it looks like we are jumping straight from 40 degree days to 80 degree days.
Training this week was full of adventure. With the time change occurring last week, we now get daylight until roughly 7pm, which is great for biking during the week. What this also means is that the Tuesday Night World Championships (aka "roadie ride") has started up. It's always fun to get to duke it out with some solid Cat 1 and 2 guys, as opposed to just doing solo rides. On Saturday, I headed out on the bike with Hallie and Ed, which has become a tradition of sorts. Hallie usually has some sort of similar set of threshold sets, and Ed is a solid cyclist and is always up for anything...so it works out pretty good. We warm up for an hour or so, and then start our respective sets and then meet up after we are done for the remainder of the ride. We tried a new route and warmed up longer than usual, so when it was time to start a ~45' set I was down to 1 bottle. Well, 3' into the first interval I hit a huge bump and unfortunately ejected my last bottle. It was a 10' interval so I doubled back such that I finished the interval right where I thought I dropped it...but I couldn't find it. From then on, it was another 3 sets of 10' without 1 sip of water...and the pollen was awful...that was probably one of the hardest things that I've done in awhile; not the workout in and of itself, but the fact that I lost my water!
Well, I'm 1 week away from this year's first race. It's a duathlon out at Oak Mountain State Park here in Birmingham, and it will consist of a 5k run, a 20k bike, and then a final run of 2.5k. Total time should be close to an hour, so it will turn out to be pretty painful. I'm ready though. I'm more confident in my biking and running right now than I ever have been. No question. Biking has been going very well lately, and I'm anxious to put all the hard work to the test!
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