The fittest I’ve ever been on the bike in late December

I’ve discovered a new sport that has turned out to be as much fun as triathlon. I’ve intended for years to jump in a cyclocross race as the tri season winds down, but I never got around to it until this past fall. Now that I’ve taken the leap, I’m having a ball. Instead of doing a run emphasis or swim emphasis as would be normal this time of year (writing this on Christmas Eve), I’m actually cutting down on my running a little so as to be as strong as possible for the last couple races.

I’ve dabbled in bike racing here and there over the years and even though I absolutely love cycling and am very comfortable in a fast, competitive group; I’ve not fallen in love with the sport. It’s super dangerous with multiple high speed crashes at every event -race organization, at least here in central Indiana is very amateur compared with sanctioned triathlons.

That has all changed with cyclocross. There’s a new race promotion company in our area called Planet Adventure and they are putting on a first class show every weekend this fall in multiple venues – sophisticated electronic timing – instant results – free professional photography – and on and on.

If you are the competitive type and really enjoy RACING – you’d love cyclocross. It’s head to head racing at a ridiculously slow, safe speed. And as it turns out, I think triathletes are prime candidates to do very well as I’ve discovered. I’m finding I can beat guys that are much faster on a road bike and I’m not sure why. The best reason I can come up with is cyclocross really rewards general aerobic conditioning and also probably, light weight.

I’m glad I did not read too much (OK, I read nothing) about cyclocross prior to my first couple races because I would have been intimidated with the equipment “necessary” including multiple wheel sets – different tires for different conditions – and deep aero section wheels to keep mud from accumulating on the rims. Not knowing any of this, I went out on my 20 year old Bianchi with heavy box rims and six-speed drivetrain and placed 5th in my first Cat 4 45+ race. A couple races later, I was winning my division consistently and now lead the points going into the last race of the season next week. It’s kind of fun beating younger guys on their $4000 carbon bikes and Zipp wheels, but the truth of the matter is, equipment (other than maybe tires) is about as unimportant as it is in a running race.

I’ve been looking on Ebay and have noticed used cyclocross bikes, no matter how nice or expensive the original price, don’t sell for much more than $1000. Maybe December is a buyer’s market, because resale seems very, very low.

How to get up early to train before work

I am not a morning person by nature. My teaching job requires I get up at 5:30 or so just to make the commute to my classroom. So, I never considered the possibility of getting a workout in before work until a couple years ago. Now I get up at 4:45 every workday and get a nice run under my belt first thing each day.

Here are my tips how this can be accomplished:

1. Get rid of your TV. Television is probably the number one reason why people want to stay up late.
2. Get your spouse on board
3. Get a good book and head to bed around 8:00 and start reading.

Now you can grab a swim at lunch and a bike ride after work for three short but intense workouts a day!

Good luck

2011 Season

I’m starting the 2011 season with legs that seem willing to run, so we’ll see how it goes. The plan is to stay healthy, by keeping run mileage to a minimum and go for a peak performance through four weeks in August – Tri Indy Triathlon – USAT National Age Group Championship in Burlington – Chicago Triathlon.

I plan on continuing my winter running routine – 2.5 miles, very easy every morning M-F. Take Saturday off from running and Sunday will be tempo day on my hard weeks. Here’s what the program looks like:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Al8OSqOkUrxadExfTDVqUDdpd3FkQml5S281cmV6YXc&hl=en&authkey=CL2d_tME

I’ll start Threshold/Vo2 Max intervals on Tuesdays in Phase 3 towards the end of June.

Last year, I had a stress fracture that goofed up my run training most of the summer, but even with almost no running in June (of 2010) and very little in July, I still had a very decent race in Chicago last year. I think this was due to two factors: Years of running in my past. And, lots of hard bike riding.

So, the plan is to bike as much as possible – Not big long rides, but lots of rides – many if not most, at high intensity.

Applicable reading:

http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/running/deliberate-undertraining.aspx

Going Long – Healthy Lifesyle Part II

I’m amazed how much improved my eating habits are from a year ago when I wrote, “Going Long – Healthy Lifestyle.” At the time I was surprised by some of the comments I got here and on Slowtwitch.com saying my “new and improved” diet wasn’t all that healthy. I decided that maybe nutrition is too personal to write about in this blog since everyone has their own ideas of healthy eating. People that are laid back about nutrition think that the healthy eaters worry too much about what they put in their bodies, and the folks at the other end of the spectrum can’t believe the “junk” other people eat.

I have come to think of nutrition as a journey for me and my wife. We read, listen to podcasts, read some more, and then make a change in our eating habits. Then we read some more and get inspired to improve again.

Specifically, I’ve cut out the “fruit snacks” as a snack. I’m not quite ready to give up on a sweet drink with meals, so I’ve replaced Snapple which seems to me to be a glorified soft drink, with Tradewinds Raspberry Tea which is real “kettle brewed” tea. I’ve quit drinking V8 vegetable drink and increased my intake of real, organic vegetables.  I still do the peanut butter and jelly wraps and this serves as my dessert many nights after dinner and before bed. I still think the stats are pretty good, but I know high sugar is a problem I need to address one of these days.

I’ve replaced Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheat with Kashi Cinnamon Harvest. It’s slightly less sweet and looks to have a bit better stats. Actually, I eat very little of it – Just a handful now and then as a snack.

For breakfast, my wife researched and implemented a green smoothie which we enjoy every morning. She has just the smoothie, but I’ve still been doing my two pieces of toast and jelly and milk in addition to the smoothie. I think starting tomorrow; I’m going to do just the smoothie. Some of the components have to be ordered online, so it’s not a simple thing to throw together, but it does pack a nutritional punch.

1 1/2 c water
1 leaf romaine lettuce
1 leaf kale
1 large handful spinach
1 banana
1/2 apple
1 spear pineapple (frozen)
1/4 c blueberries (frozen)
6 ice cubes
1 tablespoon of the following: maca powder, goji berries, flax seed, bee pollen, lecithin, chia seeds and protein.  2 tablespoons of hemp seeds.

This makes enough to fill two 12 oz cups.

My favorite go-to dinner is organic, whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce and organic, locally raised turnkey meat. The wife fixes up a batch over the weekend and I have it to warm up two or three nights during he work-week. I recently learned she also sprinkles flax-seed in the sauce to add to my Omega 3 intake.  I combine this with the veggie of the day for a nice quick little dinner.

Here is some information on nutrition as it relates to prostate cancer prevention.
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/453191-overview

the case for sprint training for endurance athletes

Unlike sports which require strength, speed and power to be successful, distance running is primarily limited by the delivery and use of oxygen. There are no studies showing that strength training improves oxygen delivery from lungs to muscles. In fact, the resulting changes from strength and endurance training are contradictory. Strength training stimulates muscle fiber hypertrophy (growth). This may increase body weight, which increases the metabolic cost of running (more muscle requires more oxygen). Larger muscles also have a smaller density of capillaries and mitochondria, which is detrimental to endurance. Endurance training causes muscles to respond in an opposite fashion by increasing the number of mitochondria and capillaries to facilitate the use of oxygen. Endurance training also decreases body weight, optimizing oxygen use.

Despite this seeming contraction, there is growing research demonstrating the value of “power training” as opposed to traditional “strength training.”   Recent studies have shown, in subjects who used power training, running economy improved when subjects included explosive or heavy weight training in their training programs.

Besides the documented positive increase in running economy one of the biggest advantages of all-out power workouts is that they flood your body with Human Growth Hormone (HGH).  HGH is released in the body while sleeping so getting a good night’s sleep and even an occasional nap is a strategy athletes have used for years to maximize recovery and to ultimately, perform better.   Many bodybuilders and anti-aging types frequently take artificial injections of HGH at a very high financial cost.  HGH production decreases as we age so it is probably even more important to the masters athlete.

Power training is done with weights in a weight room using heavy weights ( >85% of one-rep max), and fast speeds for 3 to 4 sets of 5 to 6 reps. Another popular method uses plyometrics which includes jumping and bounding exercises involving repeated, rapid eccentric and concentric muscle contractions. This is shown to improve running economy and 5K running times.

I’m trying Hill Sprints as my form of power training for running (I think this most closely replicates the action of regular running plus it’s easy for me to get to a short hill perfect for this kind of workout.) and 25 yard sprints in the pool.

So far I can report no problems with knees or shoulders. In fact, I’ve decided the uphill effort doesn’t seem to stress my knee at all – we shall see. The workouts are a lot different from anything I’ve done before. Think about the last time you ever ran as hard as you could go with absolutely no pacing yourself – all out for 20 or 30 seconds. I’ve felt great this week and I’m kind of excited about trying something brand new after all these years.

Here are some interesting links on this topic. Most aren’t particularly scientific but it gives you an idea of the growing attention power training it getting.

http://bodyweight-exercises.animal-kingdom-workouts.com/?p=40

http://www.tricoach.org/jhall.htm

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/394212/forget_the_gym_try_hill_sprints_instead.html

http://www.fitforfunction.com/members/news/69

http://www.feelgr8.co.uk/articles/437.html

Power Emphasis

I’m starting a “power” phase of swim and run training which I plan to continue for a total of three weeks.  The fourth week will be a recovery week. I’ll post more later about the reasons for trying this strategy, but for now I’m going to share a couple workouts I’m doing.

run
After a 15 to 20 min warm-up run do:
4 X 30 sec – all out – uphill

I’m going to continue doing tempo runs on the weekend and possibly adding Threshold runs on the track (3 x 1 mile at 10K race pace) once a week. This is all dependent on my knee and ankle holding up. If it gets cranky, I’ll have to back off and stick to my easier paced, morning runs only.

swim
You’re going to love this workout :- /    It takes a lot of time and doesn’t yield a lot of yards, and can be hard on your shoulders, but doing it once a week for three weeks should pay off (if you don’t injure yourself).

		Running total	Running total
400 swim	Warm-up	400	8 min
8 x 50 kick	With 20 sec rest	800	18 min
4 x 100 drill on 2:15	Swim with hands in fists – not open	1200	27 min
20 x 25 on 1:00	Lots of rest – go VERY hard	1700	52 min
100 easy	Backstroke and/or breast	1800	54 min
3 x 200 pull on 3:45	Your arms should be toast after this set.	2400	66 min
400	Warm down – mix in some backstroke	2800	74 min

Weekend swim workout

Here is a fairly challenging workout that can be done in around an hour.

		Running total	Running total
400 swim	Warm-up	400	8 min
4 X 200 on 4:00	1st length of each 100, swim with hands in a fist. Work on using high elbow to grab water with entire forearm.	1200	25 min
100 easy backstroke		1300	27
100 on 2:00 200 on 3:30 X4	Do the whole sequence 100, 200, four times. You’ll get lots of rest on the 100, but not so much on the 200’s.	2500	49
100 easy breaststroke		2600	52
4 x 100 pull on 1:45	Try alternate breathing if you can. Since you aren’t kicking, you won’t need as much O2.	3000	56
200 swim	Warm-down	3200	60

The main set is done this way:

• Do the 100 on the 2:00 interval
• After 2:00, start the 200 on the 3:45.
• After 3:45 start the next 100 again.
• Do this until you complete the whole set 4 times.

Winter training plan

I missed my daily late morning swim today. I had to work during my usual 9:30 – 10:15 break but it’s OK because I plan on swimming with the masters group tonight and it’s probably better to be fresh as possible for the competitive nature of those workouts. This afternoon, before masters swimming, I’ll do another short run, making it a three workout day.

Yesterday was a good day; I was able to squeeze in four snappy little workouts, keeping with my philosophy of high frequency – and in the case of running – low volume. I ran my usual, workday 5:00 a.m., 3.5 mile wake-up jog, followed by my 9:30 a.m.,1000 yard swim, followed by an afternoon 1500 yard interval workout swim, followed by a 45 min spin on the bike later in the evening.(indoors using rollers and a power meter).

Here’s what a typical January and February training week is looking like. I am still doing what I call a swim emphasis and that will continue through February. I obviously move things around and even add workouts occasionally, but this is the basic structure I’ve been following and will continue to follow until March.

	Early morning	Late morning	Afternoon	Evening
Monday	3.5 mile jog	Swim 1500Hard time-trial of 200 to 500 yds	Optional yoga	90 min of Tennis
Tuesday	3.5 mile jog	Swim 15001000 continuous		Sub-threshold bike ride (2 X 20 min @ sub-threshold watts)
Wednesday	3.5 mile jog	Swim 1000400 @ 1600 race pace	Optional swim	Easy bike or however I feel
Thursday	3.5 mile jog	Swim 10001000 continuous Easy	Optional run	Masters swim team workout
Friday	3.5 mile jog	Swim 1000 – 1500Depending how I feel
Saturday	5 mile jog	Masters swim team workout	Optional yoga	Tempo bike (1 x 40 – 60 @ tempo watts)
Sunday		6 mile runwith 3 miles @ tempo pace

notes
I just came off an easy week because my swim times were slipping and my knee started hurting a bit more than usual. Planning an easy week once a month is probably a good idea, but I usually wait until my schedule (due to a vacation or busy work week) demands less training or until my body gives me clues, it needs a break.

Swimming – My hard swims are Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. Monday I like to do a time trial to check my fitness. Thursday and Saturday’s I swim with the masters group which is always challenging due to the yardage (3000-4000 yards), but more importantly, because of the competitiveness of the workouts.

Biking – I roughly follow the 3X/week, indoor cycling schedule outlined above this time of year. The two “hard” days are Tuesday and Saturday. Any time we get a warm day, defined as above 40 degrees, the schedule is scrapped I get outside on the tandem or my time-trial bike.

Running – Nothing very earth-shaking here. I’m keeping the frequency as high as possible with 7 or more runs per week. The only hard day is Sunday when I run 2 – 4 miles at tempo-pace.

Tempo is defined by me as 5-mile race pace + 15 seconds (or so). At this point and time; I’d guess my 5-mile race pace as 6:45/mi, so my tempo runs need to be around 6:55 – 7:05/mi. I’m a big fan of tempo runs for triathlon training for many reasons, but the number one reason is; tempo runs just happen to be almost exactly the same pace you’ll run your 10K leg of an Olympic-distance triathlon. How’s that for specificity of training? Also, for me, I think it has less risk for injury than faster pace intervals. As the racing season approaches, I may do some threshold intervals (mile repeats) on the track at 5 mile race pace, depending how my legs are holding out. There is a 5 mile race here in downtown Indy in a couple weeks. I plan on doing it to check my current fitness, but more importantly, to determine my proper training pace.

For more information on tempo runs

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267–11909-0,00.html

http://www.runningplanet.com/training/tempo-training-tempo-runs.html

Going Long – Healthy Lifestyle

While healthy eating may or may not make you faster, it will certainly make you faster longer – as in longer life. So today I’m going to share some ideas I’ve come up with over the years to improve my diet.

To understand where I’m coming from you have to know as a younger man, I was a hamburger eating machine. I’m not fond of vegetables and some would say I’m a picky eater, but I would just say, I have (or had) a limited diet. I feel like the things I’m sharing can easily be implemented into anyone’s life. I would love to hear any of your strategies!

More and more research suggests the advantages of frequent eating as opposed to three big meals.¹ I started bringing healthy snacks to work that I think has increased the quality of my diet. When I get hungry between breakfast and lunch, I go snooping around my shelf where my goodies are kept. If all you have on-hand is healthy stuff; that’s all you’ll eat. It seems I start my snacking almost as soon as I get to work and I continue on and off until I swim. Then I’m REALLY hungry for lunch. After lunch, I have another snack or two before I head out the door for more training.

snacks i keep at work
Almonds – do a Google search as to their nutritional benefit if you don’t already know. They are great because you can grab a small handful whenever you want and have good fat to fuel your long workouts.

Jelly Belly brand Fruit Snacks – these are made supposedly with real fruit juices but are basically just sugar. Each little bag is 80 calories and seems to satisfy my need for something sweet during the day. I also keep a few packets in my workout bag to have right after a swim, bike, or run.

Quaker Oats Instant Oatmeal – this takes a little preparation but is sweet and healthy.

Snapple – If you’ve not tried Snapple, please do yourself a favor and buy a six pack of Peach flavor. If you’re chicken, you can sometimes find a vending machine where you can purchase one bottle. Be sure to get the peach flavor. As for the nutritional benefit – Snapple is made primarily from green and black tea. Now you have to know, there is no tea flavor to this product at all. It tastes like a wonderful sweet drink and goes down much better than Coke. The bottles have screw-on caps which allow you to take a sip to wash down your almonds and then put it back in the refrigerator for later consumption.

V8 Vegetable Drink – I wasn’t crazy about the taste of this at first, but I would chug one everyday before my lunch. I’ve actually gotten to the point where I kind of like it. It seems like an easy way to get vegetables in the diet.

snacks at home

Peanut Butter and Jelly wraps – I found this great wrap at our grocery store that has whole grains and 12 grams of fiber. The brand is “LaToritilla Factory” and at some stores they are located next to the Power Bars, not with the other wraps.

	Wrap	Peanut Butter	Jelly	Total
Calories	80	190	100	370 Kcal
Fat	3	16	0	19 grams
Fiber	12	2	0	14 grams
Protein	8	7	0	15 grams
Carb	18	6	26	50 grams

14 Grams of Fiber!
Almost a perfect (for a recovery meal) 4:1 ratio between protein and carbs.

Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats – Whole grains and 6 grams of fiber make this a healthy little snack. I grab a handful when I need something sweet.

What are your favorite healthy snacks?

Eating frequency
Weight loss
http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v26/n11/abs/0802143a.html

Lower cholesterol
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0887/is_7_18/ai_76283985/

February swim workouts

build your swim fitness in preparation for the 2010 race season

I’ll post a new set of workouts each month, each progressing toward olympic distance race readiness. We’ll assume racing will begin at the end of May or early June.

I have two sets of workouts: “lunchtime” and “weekend.” Lunchtime workouts are shorter and attempt to get the maximum results in the shortest amount of time. Weekend workouts take a bit more time, allowing for work on stroke technique and longer sets. I’m posting four lunchtime workouts today. Tomorrow, I’ll post some longer, weekend workouts.

Feel free to comment or ask questions.

lunchtime workout #1

		Running total	Running total
500 swim	Warm-up	500	10 min
4 x 100 on 1:45	Make sure you are getting between 15 – 30 sec rest, otherwise adjust interval	900	18 min
300 pull	Keep elbows high – like you’re swimming over a barrel	1200	24 min
4 x 50 on 1:00	Make sure you are getting at least 10 sec rest, otherwise adjust interval	1400	19 min
200	Warm down – easy	1600	24 min

lunchtime workout #2

		Running total	Running total
500 swim	Warm-up	500	10 min
8 x 50 on 1:00	Every other one HARD	900	19 min
6 x 50 kick	15 sec rest	1200	27 min
200 swim	Build speed – swim each 50 a little faster – last 50 finish like racing	1400	31 min
200	Warm down – easy	1600	35 min

lunchtime workout #3

		Running total	Running total
400 swim	Warm-up	400	8 min
200 pull	Warm-up	600	12 min
200 kick	Warm-up	800	17 min
4 x 100 on 1:50		1200	25 min
Rest 1 min			26 min
4 x 100 on 1:40		1600	34 min
400	Warm down – mix in some backstroke	2000	42 min

lunchtime workout #4

		Running total	Running total
400 swim	Warm-up	400	8 min
200 pull	Warm-up	600	12 min
200 kick	Warm-up	800	17 min
400 swim	@ Olympic distance race pace	1200	25 min
6 x 50 on 1:00	Descend 1-3 (moderate, fast, fastest) & 4-6 (moderate, fast, fastest)	1500	32 min
200 pull		1700	36 min
300	Warm down – mix in some backstroke	2000	42 min