I've been going back and forth about what my plans were this year, and after I decided to hold off on Boston for the time being and focus on Triathlons it was just a matter of finding the right race. I've been looking at shooting for the Half-Ironman distance (1.9K/90K/21.1K) for a while now, and I wanted to find an early season race to get some experience with the distance.
I was originally thinking of doing Welland, as it's relatively close and the first opportunity for this distance. Fortunately, a few friends who are just looking at getting into multi-sport events started talking about Peterborough and as they had a half-iron distance Triathlon it helped to make the choice nice any easy. It's further away and will need an overnight trip, but given the length of this race that's not necessarily a bad thing (especially with friends to relax with the night before). It has the benefit of a more scenic course and buys me a few more weeks to prepare, although it's got more hills and will likely have hotter weather. Either way, as of this morning, I'm now registered and have a hotel reserved for the stay.
As such, it is now just a matter of getting ready for the race itself. The objective for this event is just to finish at this point, as a five to six hour race is a lot more than I've ever done before. Individually, the distances of the three legs are largely trivial for the training that I've done, however combined it's a tall order. My running and swimming mileage are more than sufficient at this point, so the main thing will be to get my cycling up to snuff in the coming weeks. With the weather getting better I'll likely be taking the bike off of the trainer very soon, and that will do a lot to help.
The other aspect that I'm going to need to work on is figuring out a nutrition strategy. Looking back on my data from individual exercises, I'm probably going to burn somewhere in the neighbourhood of 4000-5000kcal over the course of the race. That translates into needing to take in more than 2000kcal of fuel during the race itself which is a lot more than I've ever had to think about before. I also have to figure out the logistics of bottle exchanges on the bike, as that's where the bulk of that consumption will likely have to occur so the two aide stations will be critical.
Finally, I'm going to have to come up with a formal training plan for the coming weeks so that I peak at the right time. My dithering up until now has made that difficult, as without a specific target date it's difficult to plan things out. I haven't really found one that I've been terribly crazy about, but if I don't have any luck I'll likely look at modifying the plans that Friel has in his book. My main problem with his plans in the past has been the time rather than distance based targets, however that should be easy enough to work around (time target*planned pace=distance target).
Either way, I'm going to be busy over the next little while trying to figure out how to handle all of this stuff. In addition to the planning, I also need to put the Speedfil I bought at the end of last year on the bike and bring it in for it's spring tune up so that I can get her outside and start logging proper miles again. As always, I welcome any suggestions that you guys have to offer as the next couple of months are going to be a big learning experience!
Showing posts with label plan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plan. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Making Plans
The last few months have been pretty crazy, and as a result I've dragged my feet on figuring out a racing strategy for the season. I've (kind of) got the big A races figured out, and have been training sufficiently for them - but the B and C races have to be fitted in there as well to build experience and test progress. The result is that we're now a good ways into the season and I've yet to get any Triathlons in so far. With a couple of months left, there isn't a whole lot of opportunities remaining so it's gotten to the point where I need to start figuring out what I'd like to do ;)
On Wednesday one of the spokes on my rear wheel snapped, and as Ironman Lake Placid is this weekend the bike shop was pretty much slammed meaning that I'm not getting it back until Tuesday. Cervelo pretty much dominates the triathlon market, so given that they only have a couple of dealers in town, things get pretty hairy whenever an Ironman is anywhere remotely close. With Lake Placid being pretty much the only full iron race within practical driving range, it's especially popular around these parts. As such, I couldn't head out for my Friday or Saturday rides which gave me a little extra free time and I figured I should use that to do a little homework ;)
I ended up missing my chance to do the Muskoka long course triathlon this weekend, which is probably just as well given the spoke issue ;) The Subaru series appears to now just have sprint distance events left before Ironman Muskoka, whereas the HSBC series has a few Olympic distance races. I definitely want to squeeze in at least one Olympic distance race in, although it would likely be a good idea to do another Sprint distance race ahead of that to get a bit more practice.
Tentatively, I'm thinking of starting out with the Niagara sprint tri followed by the Cobourg Olympic distance race. That will give me a couple of weeks between the races, and both are relatively close by so they should work out well. Cobourg is near the end of August, so it should leave a good amount of time for Muskoka if I do choose to go down that route. If not, I might add Lakeside's Olympic distance race into the mix as well.
As for Ironman Muskoka, as noted above I'm still going back and forth on that one. While I feel relatively comfortable with the distances, I'm not confident that I'd be able to put down an all-out effort at this juncture. Given the extremely high cost of that race, I'm not sure that I want to spend that kind of money for a 'just finish' race. At this point I'm leaning in the direction of just doing a few Olympic races (with one all-out) to build up my strength and experience and then focus full bore on the half ironman distance next year.
The HSBC series has an unofficial half iron race (Welland) in June which costs a lot less than the sanctioned race in Muskoka. This year it wasn't an option as I hadn't gotten my mileage up high enough that early in the season, but if I do a few intermediate distance races this year I should be able to ramp up faster next year. If I can do the Welland race as a just finish race, then I'd hopefully be able to gear up and try to do the 2011 Muskoka race at a hard enough effort to justify the costs involved. Further, the money I'd save from not doing the race this year would almost be enough to buy my own wetsuit, which would make it a lot easier to get some open water practice in.
The downside, of course, is that I don't get to cross off that half ironman goal this year. Further, as much of my training this year has been focused on those goal distances, a lot of that will have been for naught. It's still going to be a few years before I'll be ready for the full ironman, so neither plan will likely have much effect on that. Doing the half this year would certainly have it's benefits, but so would squeezing in a larger number of shorter races.
Either way, the priority at this point is to figure out the intermediate races and I can make the bigger decision a bit later. One of the benefits to the Niagara race is that it's a few days before Muskoka's registration cut-off, so I can get at least one race in the books before I figure out which way to go. Making the call based on real-world race performance is likely the best guidance that I can work within ;)
On Wednesday one of the spokes on my rear wheel snapped, and as Ironman Lake Placid is this weekend the bike shop was pretty much slammed meaning that I'm not getting it back until Tuesday. Cervelo pretty much dominates the triathlon market, so given that they only have a couple of dealers in town, things get pretty hairy whenever an Ironman is anywhere remotely close. With Lake Placid being pretty much the only full iron race within practical driving range, it's especially popular around these parts. As such, I couldn't head out for my Friday or Saturday rides which gave me a little extra free time and I figured I should use that to do a little homework ;)
I ended up missing my chance to do the Muskoka long course triathlon this weekend, which is probably just as well given the spoke issue ;) The Subaru series appears to now just have sprint distance events left before Ironman Muskoka, whereas the HSBC series has a few Olympic distance races. I definitely want to squeeze in at least one Olympic distance race in, although it would likely be a good idea to do another Sprint distance race ahead of that to get a bit more practice.
Tentatively, I'm thinking of starting out with the Niagara sprint tri followed by the Cobourg Olympic distance race. That will give me a couple of weeks between the races, and both are relatively close by so they should work out well. Cobourg is near the end of August, so it should leave a good amount of time for Muskoka if I do choose to go down that route. If not, I might add Lakeside's Olympic distance race into the mix as well.
As for Ironman Muskoka, as noted above I'm still going back and forth on that one. While I feel relatively comfortable with the distances, I'm not confident that I'd be able to put down an all-out effort at this juncture. Given the extremely high cost of that race, I'm not sure that I want to spend that kind of money for a 'just finish' race. At this point I'm leaning in the direction of just doing a few Olympic races (with one all-out) to build up my strength and experience and then focus full bore on the half ironman distance next year.
The HSBC series has an unofficial half iron race (Welland) in June which costs a lot less than the sanctioned race in Muskoka. This year it wasn't an option as I hadn't gotten my mileage up high enough that early in the season, but if I do a few intermediate distance races this year I should be able to ramp up faster next year. If I can do the Welland race as a just finish race, then I'd hopefully be able to gear up and try to do the 2011 Muskoka race at a hard enough effort to justify the costs involved. Further, the money I'd save from not doing the race this year would almost be enough to buy my own wetsuit, which would make it a lot easier to get some open water practice in.
The downside, of course, is that I don't get to cross off that half ironman goal this year. Further, as much of my training this year has been focused on those goal distances, a lot of that will have been for naught. It's still going to be a few years before I'll be ready for the full ironman, so neither plan will likely have much effect on that. Doing the half this year would certainly have it's benefits, but so would squeezing in a larger number of shorter races.
Either way, the priority at this point is to figure out the intermediate races and I can make the bigger decision a bit later. One of the benefits to the Niagara race is that it's a few days before Muskoka's registration cut-off, so I can get at least one race in the books before I figure out which way to go. Making the call based on real-world race performance is likely the best guidance that I can work within ;)
Friday, January 1, 2010
2009: Year in Review
2009 has been quite an eventful year for me, with a number of major milestones. I ran my first marathon in May, and while I didn't get the second one in as planned I did manage to parlay that training into a Triathlon. In addition to those major steps, I also managed to get my 5K time below 21 minutes for the first time. I've run a lot more miles than I did in the previous year, and have built up a good amount of experience which should be invaluable for future seasons. Further, I moved my cycling training to a more structured format and introduced swimming into the equation as well.
There were setbacks, of course, with my first real experience in dealing with injuries this year. Fortunately, they were relatively minor and healed pretty quickly with appropriate rest. They did interfere with my training plans a bit, however that is part of endurance training and getting the experience of how to deal with them will be an asset in the future. The upside, however, is that derailing my fall marathon plans helped me to focus more on the Triathlon side which has a lot of promise for the upcoming year.
With that said, at this time last year the plan was simply to do a 30K race in the spring and worry about the full marathon in the fall. Fortunately, after training went well in the early part of the year I elected to use the 30K as a stepping stone and work my way up to the Mississauga Marathon in May. As such, I'm happy to say that I was able to exceed my expectations and I'm a lot further along than I expected to be ;)
The Numbers:
Running: 2,694.5km (1,674.3mi) - 230h02m (5:07/km avg.)
Walking: 237.0km (147.3mi)
Cycling: 4,058.6km (2,521.9mi) - 134h13m (30.2km/h avg.)
Swimming: 180.7km (112.3mi)
Total: 7,170.8km (4,455.7mi)
Overall, that's a little less than 1,300km (~810mi) short of last year's total. The main difference, of course, is that I significantly cut back on the walking sessions that made up the bulk of my mileage last year. Between major increases in running mileage and finding time for the other two sports, fitting in time consuming walking sessions was difficult this time around.
Further, the two (minor) injuries that I had this year took a chunk out of my mileage as well. Aside from the direct loss of time/distance, I also had to gradually rebuild the fitness lost during that downtime which further contributes to mileage loss.
Either way, to illustrate this I put together the following plot of my running mileage over the course of the year (click on it for more detail). It has the weeks of my two 18 week training cycles overlaid on the graph, the 5 weeks of recovery between them. The plot also has markers for each of my races as well as the two injury periods:
To compare progress over the last few years, I've also thrown together a table with a few rough numbers. My weight (yellow line above) has drifted up a bit this year, however I'm still well within the normal range so I'm not worrying about that too much. Most of that built up part way through my first training cycle, as getting used to the fueling requirements of running beyond the half took a bit of learning. I've held it roughly steady since that point, as I think that I've gotten the hang of the right balance. With that said, some of that is likely additional muscle mass as swimming and cycling work groups that previously didn't see much load.
My running index is a little lower (blue line), but that's likely skewed by the walking at the beginning of the year. Polar's running index is a synthetic metric that is intended to monitor fitness levels by looking at exercise telemetry (primarily comparing %VO2Max against pace). Unfortunately, as walking is a more efficient gait than running is it tends to inject higher scores into the plots. Resting heart rate is likely a better measure anyway, and on that front I'm roughly in the same boat as I was last year (slightly lower, but likely within the margin of error).
2009 Racing History:
Looking Ahead
Either way, 2009 is now officially in the books and I'm looking forward to what I can achieve in 2010. I'm still working out the details for the overall plan, however the primary objectives are as follows (in order of importance):
Happy 2010!
There were setbacks, of course, with my first real experience in dealing with injuries this year. Fortunately, they were relatively minor and healed pretty quickly with appropriate rest. They did interfere with my training plans a bit, however that is part of endurance training and getting the experience of how to deal with them will be an asset in the future. The upside, however, is that derailing my fall marathon plans helped me to focus more on the Triathlon side which has a lot of promise for the upcoming year.
With that said, at this time last year the plan was simply to do a 30K race in the spring and worry about the full marathon in the fall. Fortunately, after training went well in the early part of the year I elected to use the 30K as a stepping stone and work my way up to the Mississauga Marathon in May. As such, I'm happy to say that I was able to exceed my expectations and I'm a lot further along than I expected to be ;)
The Numbers:
Running: 2,694.5km (1,674.3mi) - 230h02m (5:07/km avg.)
Walking: 237.0km (147.3mi)
Cycling: 4,058.6km (2,521.9mi) - 134h13m (30.2km/h avg.)
Swimming: 180.7km (112.3mi)
Total: 7,170.8km (4,455.7mi)
Overall, that's a little less than 1,300km (~810mi) short of last year's total. The main difference, of course, is that I significantly cut back on the walking sessions that made up the bulk of my mileage last year. Between major increases in running mileage and finding time for the other two sports, fitting in time consuming walking sessions was difficult this time around.
Further, the two (minor) injuries that I had this year took a chunk out of my mileage as well. Aside from the direct loss of time/distance, I also had to gradually rebuild the fitness lost during that downtime which further contributes to mileage loss.
Either way, to illustrate this I put together the following plot of my running mileage over the course of the year (click on it for more detail). It has the weeks of my two 18 week training cycles overlaid on the graph, the 5 weeks of recovery between them. The plot also has markers for each of my races as well as the two injury periods:
To compare progress over the last few years, I've also thrown together a table with a few rough numbers. My weight (yellow line above) has drifted up a bit this year, however I'm still well within the normal range so I'm not worrying about that too much. Most of that built up part way through my first training cycle, as getting used to the fueling requirements of running beyond the half took a bit of learning. I've held it roughly steady since that point, as I think that I've gotten the hang of the right balance. With that said, some of that is likely additional muscle mass as swimming and cycling work groups that previously didn't see much load.
My running index is a little lower (blue line), but that's likely skewed by the walking at the beginning of the year. Polar's running index is a synthetic metric that is intended to monitor fitness levels by looking at exercise telemetry (primarily comparing %VO2Max against pace). Unfortunately, as walking is a more efficient gait than running is it tends to inject higher scores into the plots. Resting heart rate is likely a better measure anyway, and on that front I'm roughly in the same boat as I was last year (slightly lower, but likely within the margin of error).
| 01/01/2007 | 01/01/2008 | 31/12/2008 | 31/12/2009 | |
| Weight | 240lbs | 180lbs | 151lbs | 166lbs |
| HR-Rest | 74bpm | 62bpm | 43bpm | 41bpm |
| Running Index | ? | 41 | 66 | 61 |
2009 Racing History:
- March 15th Achilles 5K 20m55.6s (PB)
- March 29th Around the Bay 30K 2h27m48.6s (PB)
- April 4th Harry's Spring Run-Off 5K 22m56.4s
- May 10th Mississauga Marathon 3h29m03s (PB)
- September 19th Lakeside II Sprint Tri 1h17m37s (PB)
Looking Ahead
Either way, 2009 is now officially in the books and I'm looking forward to what I can achieve in 2010. I'm still working out the details for the overall plan, however the primary objectives are as follows (in order of importance):
- Build up my mileage in the Triathlon, with the hopes of doing a Half Ironman in the fall. Whether that is realistic or not remains to be seen, however even if I don't get up to the half I want to at least do an Olympic distance race sometime this year.
- Build towards a 3:20 Marathon in the spring as a stepping stone towards the 3:10 I need for Boston. To run a 3:10 I'm going to need more experience under my belt, so aiming for the mid-point between where I am now (3:29) and where I need to be (3:10) should be a good learning experience.
- Try to get my 5K time below 20 minutes sometime this year. It's a bit of an out-of-band goal, however I got within a minute of that early last year and that was coming off of an injury. I've gained a lot of experience this year, and my fitness level has improved since then so it should be realistic.
Happy 2010!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Looking Forward...
With this season all but wrapped up, it's time to start thinking about what comes next. The original plan was to focus on refining my marathon performance and focusing on getting it down to 3:10 in order to qualify for Boston. Playing around with Triathlons, however, has drawn my attention away from that singular target so things are a bit more complicated at this point. Trying to get to the point where I can run an entire marathon at a 4:30/km pace is a daunting task in and of itself, and trying to do that while I'm also training for two other sports may not be realistic.
As I've mentioned in previous posts, I thoroughly enjoyed the Triathlon that I did back in September and would like to push forward on that front. Over the last couple of years, I have constantly been pushing out towards larger goals down the road. Training to improve my marathon times was enjoyable, but simply being a refinement of an already achieved goal wasn't quite the same as aiming for something new and untested. As such, my secondary goal of pulling off my first triathlon became more and more significant and the excitement of mixing in the new sports helped to drive me on.
Looking at the race schedules for next year, it doesn't really look like the Triathlon events start until June. As such, I'm tentatively thinking about focusing on a spring marathon (probably Mississauga on May 16th) and then switch gears to Triathlons for the fall season. Aiming for a 3:20 target at that point is likely within reach, and if that goes well then I can try for the elusive 3:10 in a following year. That would allow me to exclusively focus on the training for each sport in separate seasons, while allowing me to track both of my goals without too much overlap. The only concern is how quickly I can recover in time for an early-June Triathlon following a marathon in mid-May.
If I do follow this plan, my year would look something like this:
Winter/Spring Season (Marathon):
Summer/Fall Season (Triathlon):
Worst case scenario, if I determine that I'm not up to the task of such a race I can fall back to shorter distances or even just aim for a fall marathon. I don't want to step into a 5-6 hour race without sufficient preparation, so I'll have to see how the Olympic distance race goes and determine whether or not it is realistic. With that said, if I do try the half-ironman distance, the goal will simply be to finish and not so much to go all out - that will have to wait for a future year ;)
Either way, I'm still considering my options but the above is roughly what I am hoping to achieve in the coming year. It is undoubtedly an aggressive plan one way or the other and it may need to be scaled back, but I'd rather aim high and have to pull back then aim low and wonder if I could have done more ;) For the time being, my focus will have to be on improving my swimming and getting my base fitness up to the level that will be required to train for this schedule. I also have to look into getting some books on Triathlon training so that I can build a formal schedule to work my way up this ladder.
As I've mentioned in previous posts, I thoroughly enjoyed the Triathlon that I did back in September and would like to push forward on that front. Over the last couple of years, I have constantly been pushing out towards larger goals down the road. Training to improve my marathon times was enjoyable, but simply being a refinement of an already achieved goal wasn't quite the same as aiming for something new and untested. As such, my secondary goal of pulling off my first triathlon became more and more significant and the excitement of mixing in the new sports helped to drive me on.
Looking at the race schedules for next year, it doesn't really look like the Triathlon events start until June. As such, I'm tentatively thinking about focusing on a spring marathon (probably Mississauga on May 16th) and then switch gears to Triathlons for the fall season. Aiming for a 3:20 target at that point is likely within reach, and if that goes well then I can try for the elusive 3:10 in a following year. That would allow me to exclusively focus on the training for each sport in separate seasons, while allowing me to track both of my goals without too much overlap. The only concern is how quickly I can recover in time for an early-June Triathlon following a marathon in mid-May.
If I do follow this plan, my year would look something like this:
Winter/Spring Season (Marathon):
- Achilles 5K (2010-03-14)
- Around the Bay 30K (2010-03-28)
- Harry's Spring Run-Off 8K (Reduced Pace, 2010-04-03)
- Mississauga Marathon (2010-05-16)
Summer/Fall Season (Triathlon):
- Milton Triathlon (750m, 30km, 7.5km) (2010-06-06)
- Guelph Lake Sprint Triathlon (750m, 20km, 5km) (2010-06-20)
- Gravenhurst Olympic Triathlon (1.5K, 40km, 10km) (2010-07-17)
Worst case scenario, if I determine that I'm not up to the task of such a race I can fall back to shorter distances or even just aim for a fall marathon. I don't want to step into a 5-6 hour race without sufficient preparation, so I'll have to see how the Olympic distance race goes and determine whether or not it is realistic. With that said, if I do try the half-ironman distance, the goal will simply be to finish and not so much to go all out - that will have to wait for a future year ;)
Either way, I'm still considering my options but the above is roughly what I am hoping to achieve in the coming year. It is undoubtedly an aggressive plan one way or the other and it may need to be scaled back, but I'd rather aim high and have to pull back then aim low and wonder if I could have done more ;) For the time being, my focus will have to be on improving my swimming and getting my base fitness up to the level that will be required to train for this schedule. I also have to look into getting some books on Triathlon training so that I can build a formal schedule to work my way up this ladder.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Week 39: Review
With the triathlon last week, I did a bit of a taper to help prepare myself for the race so my overall mileage is down significantly from the previous week. Contributing to this was the fact that I developed a sore throat on Monday, so that also forced me to move things around from what was planned. Fortunately the throat got better pretty quickly so it didn't pose a huge problem, but I'm still a bit stuffed up so it's not completely gone at this point.
Outside of all of that, my plans for this week were pretty fluid so while the actual execution was significantly different it wasn't really a problem either way. I would have liked to get the long ride in on Monday as planned, but I didn't want to venture that far out with the sore throat so I figured I'd play it safe for the race. With the race coming up, I figured that a little lost training was less significant than having to do the race in a compromised condition - especially as this was pretty much my last chance for this season.
As mentioned in my last post, the race itself went quite well despite the problems leading up to it. Naturally, there were a few snags that slowed me down a bit, however none of them were related to physical preparation and they all add up to valuable lessons learned for any future attempts. Either way, the process itself was extremely enjoyable and it's definitely something that I want to do more of.
Week 39 Totals:
Running: 26.9km (16.7mi)
Walking: 2.5km (1.6mi)
Cycling: 44.3km (27.5mi)
Swimming: 3.9km (2.4mi)
Total: 77.6km (48.2mi)
Year to Date:
Running: 1,900.6km (1,181.0mi)
Walking: 198.9km (123.6mi)
Cycling: 3,122.0km (1,939.9mi)
Swimming: 53.2km (33.1mi)
Total: 5,274.7km (3,277.5mi)
As for this week, the rain and humidity has messed things up once again but it appears that after today things will start getting better. I've already started working speedwork back into the mix, and I hope to get a proper long run in this Sunday now that I'm comfortable the ankle is better. Depending on the weather, I'd also like to head out for a long ride (80-100km) on Friday or Saturday. Regardless, the tentative schedule is as follows:
Mon Rest (was going to do a bike ride, but it rained most of the day)
Tue 2mi Swim (3x750m), 5mi Recovery w/6x100m
Wed 30K Ride (if weather permits), 10K Recovery
Thurs 5K Swim, 5mi GA
Fri 80-100K Ride
Sat 4mi Recovery, 50K Ride
Sun 8mi (12.9K) LSD
Going forward, I'm starting to reconsider my options at this point. The original plan was to focus first on getting my Marathon time down to 3:10 in order to qualify for Boston and perhaps do a few more Triathlons on the way to get some practice. At this point, however, I'm seriously thinking about putting that on the back-burner and trying to work toward a Half-Ironman in fall 2010. If I focus on building a base in all three sports over the winter, and then do progressively longer Triathlons over the summer it should be possible.
Working to refine my marathon time was enjoyable, but training to simply do better at something I've already done doesn't quite have the same sheen as aiming at something bigger. I've refined my times on shorter distances over the past year, but most of that has simply been a byproduct of working my way up to the marathon. Training for the Triathlon mixed something new into the equation, and gave me a brand new target to aim for.
At some point I'd like to try my hand at a full Ironman, but getting to that point will take a few years of concerted effort. Having that big target up there on the horizon is something that I missed while training for my second marathon, so putting that back into the mix could potentially be a significant motivator. Given that the Ironman contains a marathon, however, putting some focus on that race as well is something that could be part of the equation rather than an ultimate end.
With that said, not everyone is built to do a race like that so I'm not entirely sure that my frame is even capable of that sort of thing. The basic concept of a race that takes normal people well into double digit hours borders on insanity, and the very thought of aiming for such a thing is daunting. The marathon is something that I know that I can do, and while a 3:10 target is challenging I'm pretty sure that I can pull it off with enough work. Moving my focus away from that and coming back to it later could potentially make that process more difficult, so part of me wants to just stick with the existing plan and worry about the longer Triathlons in future years.
Either way, I have plenty of time to think about this in the off-season and at this point I really need to focus on the remainder of the running season. The full marathon is certainly not possible at this point, however I'm still considering doing the half at the Toronto Marathon in mid-October. I'll have to accelerate the rebuilding process at this point to be in proper shape for it, but as the injury appears to be out of the way that shouldn't be a huge problem. I also like the idea of the Zoo Run, as I've yet to get around to running a 10K race as of yet. Time is running out to register, so I'm going to have to figure it out one way or the other ;)
Outside of all of that, my plans for this week were pretty fluid so while the actual execution was significantly different it wasn't really a problem either way. I would have liked to get the long ride in on Monday as planned, but I didn't want to venture that far out with the sore throat so I figured I'd play it safe for the race. With the race coming up, I figured that a little lost training was less significant than having to do the race in a compromised condition - especially as this was pretty much my last chance for this season.
As mentioned in my last post, the race itself went quite well despite the problems leading up to it. Naturally, there were a few snags that slowed me down a bit, however none of them were related to physical preparation and they all add up to valuable lessons learned for any future attempts. Either way, the process itself was extremely enjoyable and it's definitely something that I want to do more of.
Week 39 Totals:
Running: 26.9km (16.7mi)
Walking: 2.5km (1.6mi)
Cycling: 44.3km (27.5mi)
Swimming: 3.9km (2.4mi)
Total: 77.6km (48.2mi)
Year to Date:
Running: 1,900.6km (1,181.0mi)
Walking: 198.9km (123.6mi)
Cycling: 3,122.0km (1,939.9mi)
Swimming: 53.2km (33.1mi)
Total: 5,274.7km (3,277.5mi)
As for this week, the rain and humidity has messed things up once again but it appears that after today things will start getting better. I've already started working speedwork back into the mix, and I hope to get a proper long run in this Sunday now that I'm comfortable the ankle is better. Depending on the weather, I'd also like to head out for a long ride (80-100km) on Friday or Saturday. Regardless, the tentative schedule is as follows:
Mon Rest (was going to do a bike ride, but it rained most of the day)
Tue 2mi Swim (3x750m), 5mi Recovery w/6x100m
Wed 30K Ride (if weather permits), 10K Recovery
Thurs 5K Swim, 5mi GA
Fri 80-100K Ride
Sat 4mi Recovery, 50K Ride
Sun 8mi (12.9K) LSD
Going forward, I'm starting to reconsider my options at this point. The original plan was to focus first on getting my Marathon time down to 3:10 in order to qualify for Boston and perhaps do a few more Triathlons on the way to get some practice. At this point, however, I'm seriously thinking about putting that on the back-burner and trying to work toward a Half-Ironman in fall 2010. If I focus on building a base in all three sports over the winter, and then do progressively longer Triathlons over the summer it should be possible.
Working to refine my marathon time was enjoyable, but training to simply do better at something I've already done doesn't quite have the same sheen as aiming at something bigger. I've refined my times on shorter distances over the past year, but most of that has simply been a byproduct of working my way up to the marathon. Training for the Triathlon mixed something new into the equation, and gave me a brand new target to aim for.
At some point I'd like to try my hand at a full Ironman, but getting to that point will take a few years of concerted effort. Having that big target up there on the horizon is something that I missed while training for my second marathon, so putting that back into the mix could potentially be a significant motivator. Given that the Ironman contains a marathon, however, putting some focus on that race as well is something that could be part of the equation rather than an ultimate end.
With that said, not everyone is built to do a race like that so I'm not entirely sure that my frame is even capable of that sort of thing. The basic concept of a race that takes normal people well into double digit hours borders on insanity, and the very thought of aiming for such a thing is daunting. The marathon is something that I know that I can do, and while a 3:10 target is challenging I'm pretty sure that I can pull it off with enough work. Moving my focus away from that and coming back to it later could potentially make that process more difficult, so part of me wants to just stick with the existing plan and worry about the longer Triathlons in future years.
Either way, I have plenty of time to think about this in the off-season and at this point I really need to focus on the remainder of the running season. The full marathon is certainly not possible at this point, however I'm still considering doing the half at the Toronto Marathon in mid-October. I'll have to accelerate the rebuilding process at this point to be in proper shape for it, but as the injury appears to be out of the way that shouldn't be a huge problem. I also like the idea of the Zoo Run, as I've yet to get around to running a 10K race as of yet. Time is running out to register, so I'm going to have to figure it out one way or the other ;)
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Final Preparations...
I'm now within 48 hours of the race and am just getting my ducks in a row at this point. I got the last bits that I needed at the Running Room shop after my group run yesterday, and have now tested the Tri shorts both in running and cycling with no issues. I was a bit concerned that the minuscule chamois would be an issue, but on my test ride it didn't really feel that much different than the big thick one in my normal cycling shorts. Naturally, that may be a different story on a longer ride, but fortunately the Triathlon only has a 20K leg so that shouldn't be an issue.
I picked up the wetsuit rental (Nineteen Pipeline) this morning and got walked through the process of putting it on and taking it off by the staff. While it is certainly tight it's a lot less restrictive than I thought it would be. It is obvious, however, that I'm going to need some help getting it on as I wasn't really able to contort my arms enough to pull the zipper up under my own power. Getting it up onto my legs was a bit difficult as well, especially as you have to kind of palm it up to avoid ripping the material. Fortunately, getting it off was no problem at all and that's largely the important part (as you can take as long as you want getting it on, but the clock is running when you're taking it off).
I was hoping to get a short open water swim in today, but my schedule didn't end up working well for that. I'm still hoping to get out tomorrow morning, but I'm not certain that that's going to be possible either. That means that the race will probably be my first experience swimming in a wetsuit which isn't ideal, but as I'm doing this race more to gain experience than to get a specific time I'm not too worried about it. I can always get some practice on Saturday morning when I warm up in the lake :oP
I'm still not sure what my bib number is as the organizer's web site doesn't seem to have any form of confirmation list that tells you these things. I did get a newsletter and it looks like I'll fall into the wave 2 start (three months too old to fit into wave 1), but outside of that I'll have to wait for race morning to get more information. They also don't really have any detailed diagrams illustrating how things will be laid out in the transition zone, so I'll have to do some scouting in the morning as well.
I am also taking the time to pour through the somewhat complex rules that govern these races, and it looks like passing on the bike leg will be a bit interesting. As drafting isn't permitted in Triathlons, there is an exclusion zone of 3x7m around other bikes that you can't enter under normal circumstances. When you are passing, you can enter this zone but you need to clear it in less than 15 seconds which pretty much means that any passing will have to be of the sprint variety. That shouldn't be an issue on the flats and on downhill segments, but on uphills that may be a bit annoying. With that said, I'm not sure how anal they are about enforcing these rules. I do most of my rides solo so I'm used to riding without a draft, but I tend to like to overtake in a more gradual manner ;)
Either way, the main challenge in this race is going to be the transitions as I have little to no experience with this. I've read through pretty much everything that I could find on the topic, and watched another Triathlon to get a feel for it, but knowing what to do and actually doing it are often different things. Aside from direct mistakes, one also has to worry about problems that neighbors create so there can be unanticipated issues that need to be dealt with. This is the big part that makes me wish I had done that Tri clinic, as getting some practice on this sort of thing would have been quite useful.
The other thing that may be a bit difficult will be pacing myself in the water. I've done enough in the pool over the last couple of weeks to be confident that I can comfortably cover the distance at a decent clip, but when one is in a group the vacuum effect can take over. Further, as I have no method of objectively monitoring my pace it will be difficult to gauge exactly how fast I am going, so there will be some recognition lag to deal with here. Unlike a pool, there are no walls to grab, so if I go out too fast and get tired part way through it could pose a problem. As such, I will have to be especially careful to be mindful of how hard I am pushing.
With all of that said, the next matter is figuring out my targets and how I intend to attack the race. I've managed to get myself to a point where I can comfortably cover much longer distances in each of the sports individually, however I'm not entirely sure what effects they will have on one another. As such, any targets that I have are going to have a pretty wide margin of error. If the stars align perfectly and I don't run into any issues, my best case scenario is a finish in about 1:10 (14m swim, 37min ride, 16min run and ~3min for transitions), but I'm likely going to run into some issues so that's unlikely. I've managed those paces continuously in longer sets for all three sports (4K, 80K and 5K respectively), but only in isolation. More realistically, I'm hoping to get in within 1:20 but I won't really be upset as long as I finish in under 1:30. Either way, the primary goal is to finish at this point so I'm not going to be too preoccupied with time (just wanted some ballpark numbers to aim for) ;)
I picked up the wetsuit rental (Nineteen Pipeline) this morning and got walked through the process of putting it on and taking it off by the staff. While it is certainly tight it's a lot less restrictive than I thought it would be. It is obvious, however, that I'm going to need some help getting it on as I wasn't really able to contort my arms enough to pull the zipper up under my own power. Getting it up onto my legs was a bit difficult as well, especially as you have to kind of palm it up to avoid ripping the material. Fortunately, getting it off was no problem at all and that's largely the important part (as you can take as long as you want getting it on, but the clock is running when you're taking it off).
I was hoping to get a short open water swim in today, but my schedule didn't end up working well for that. I'm still hoping to get out tomorrow morning, but I'm not certain that that's going to be possible either. That means that the race will probably be my first experience swimming in a wetsuit which isn't ideal, but as I'm doing this race more to gain experience than to get a specific time I'm not too worried about it. I can always get some practice on Saturday morning when I warm up in the lake :oP
I'm still not sure what my bib number is as the organizer's web site doesn't seem to have any form of confirmation list that tells you these things. I did get a newsletter and it looks like I'll fall into the wave 2 start (three months too old to fit into wave 1), but outside of that I'll have to wait for race morning to get more information. They also don't really have any detailed diagrams illustrating how things will be laid out in the transition zone, so I'll have to do some scouting in the morning as well.
I am also taking the time to pour through the somewhat complex rules that govern these races, and it looks like passing on the bike leg will be a bit interesting. As drafting isn't permitted in Triathlons, there is an exclusion zone of 3x7m around other bikes that you can't enter under normal circumstances. When you are passing, you can enter this zone but you need to clear it in less than 15 seconds which pretty much means that any passing will have to be of the sprint variety. That shouldn't be an issue on the flats and on downhill segments, but on uphills that may be a bit annoying. With that said, I'm not sure how anal they are about enforcing these rules. I do most of my rides solo so I'm used to riding without a draft, but I tend to like to overtake in a more gradual manner ;)
Either way, the main challenge in this race is going to be the transitions as I have little to no experience with this. I've read through pretty much everything that I could find on the topic, and watched another Triathlon to get a feel for it, but knowing what to do and actually doing it are often different things. Aside from direct mistakes, one also has to worry about problems that neighbors create so there can be unanticipated issues that need to be dealt with. This is the big part that makes me wish I had done that Tri clinic, as getting some practice on this sort of thing would have been quite useful.
The other thing that may be a bit difficult will be pacing myself in the water. I've done enough in the pool over the last couple of weeks to be confident that I can comfortably cover the distance at a decent clip, but when one is in a group the vacuum effect can take over. Further, as I have no method of objectively monitoring my pace it will be difficult to gauge exactly how fast I am going, so there will be some recognition lag to deal with here. Unlike a pool, there are no walls to grab, so if I go out too fast and get tired part way through it could pose a problem. As such, I will have to be especially careful to be mindful of how hard I am pushing.
With all of that said, the next matter is figuring out my targets and how I intend to attack the race. I've managed to get myself to a point where I can comfortably cover much longer distances in each of the sports individually, however I'm not entirely sure what effects they will have on one another. As such, any targets that I have are going to have a pretty wide margin of error. If the stars align perfectly and I don't run into any issues, my best case scenario is a finish in about 1:10 (14m swim, 37min ride, 16min run and ~3min for transitions), but I'm likely going to run into some issues so that's unlikely. I've managed those paces continuously in longer sets for all three sports (4K, 80K and 5K respectively), but only in isolation. More realistically, I'm hoping to get in within 1:20 but I won't really be upset as long as I finish in under 1:30. Either way, the primary goal is to finish at this point so I'm not going to be too preoccupied with time (just wanted some ballpark numbers to aim for) ;)
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Racing...
The injury threw a wrench into my racing plans for the fall, so at this point I'm working on formulating what I'm going to do instead. The original concept was to do the Orillia Tri a few weeks back and then the Toronto marathon. Naturally, I missed the Tri as I was still limping at the time and the loss of two weeks of training is too far to catch up on this close to a marathon.
At this point, I'm basically back up and running. The swimming hasn't really been hurt much, and cycling-wise I'm not too far behind. I havn't really tested running at speed just yet, however I'll be testing that out tomorrow and see how it goes. With that said, I'm not going to be doing any speedwork in the immediate future, and distances are going to be short while I build back up. The tricky part, however, is that I've always used structured training plans based on target races so figuring out my schedule is going to be dependant on what I elect to do.
In the running sphere, it shouldn't be a huge problem finding alternative races. I was planning on doing the Toronto Marathon in October, so I don't think the half marathon would be a huge problem at this point. I've also heard a lot of good things about the Zoo Run (10K), so I'm seriously thinking about that. Either way, there are a variety of races available over the next couple of months so I've got some time to consider my options.
The Triathlon side, however, is a bit more complicated. As they are dependant on the water temperature, they don't have nearly as long a season so I don't have a lot of time to work with. Looking over the schedules, it's basically down to the next couple of weeks. While I could do the Try-a-Tri in Wassaga next weekend, that doesn't give me a lot of time to get back up to speed dispite the trivial distances involved. The race the following week would work better, but as the Try-a-Tri distance is already sold out I'd have to move up to the sprint distance. The running and cycling bits of that wouldn't be a problem, however as this would be my first shot at open water swimming I'm a bit concerned about that leg.
At this point I'm leaning towards the sprint race, as I think the additional recovery time will be important at this juncture. I managed to swim nearly 3K continuously in the pool this week, which bodes well for my ability to cover 600m in the race. Unfortunately, there is a world of difference between swimming in a controlled pool and in open water so I'm still a little nervous about that.
The other caveat is that I'll have to look into the wetsuit side of the equation as there isn't a lot of time to figure that out. I was likely going to do the race in Orillia without one, but with the extra time in the water and the potential for cooler water in late September that's likely not too wise if I do elect to go down this route. I would have liked to try it out before the race, however it's difficult to find suitable locations to do sustained swims in open water (especially on one's own).
The other option, of course, is to simply forget about it for the time being and just use the off season to strengthen my swimming. I could then jump into longer distances from the start and be a good deal more competitive than I can at this juncture. The problem with this, however, is that I wouldn't get any experience with transitions and any screw ups after a full winter of preparation would be a lot more frustrating than they would be now (where it was simply a secondary objective).
Either way, I have a bit of thinking left to do on this topic but wanted to get it down to help work my way through the options in a structured way. Naturally, I'd be welcome to any outside input that might have a different perspective than I'm looking at it from ;)
At this point, I'm basically back up and running. The swimming hasn't really been hurt much, and cycling-wise I'm not too far behind. I havn't really tested running at speed just yet, however I'll be testing that out tomorrow and see how it goes. With that said, I'm not going to be doing any speedwork in the immediate future, and distances are going to be short while I build back up. The tricky part, however, is that I've always used structured training plans based on target races so figuring out my schedule is going to be dependant on what I elect to do.
In the running sphere, it shouldn't be a huge problem finding alternative races. I was planning on doing the Toronto Marathon in October, so I don't think the half marathon would be a huge problem at this point. I've also heard a lot of good things about the Zoo Run (10K), so I'm seriously thinking about that. Either way, there are a variety of races available over the next couple of months so I've got some time to consider my options.
The Triathlon side, however, is a bit more complicated. As they are dependant on the water temperature, they don't have nearly as long a season so I don't have a lot of time to work with. Looking over the schedules, it's basically down to the next couple of weeks. While I could do the Try-a-Tri in Wassaga next weekend, that doesn't give me a lot of time to get back up to speed dispite the trivial distances involved. The race the following week would work better, but as the Try-a-Tri distance is already sold out I'd have to move up to the sprint distance. The running and cycling bits of that wouldn't be a problem, however as this would be my first shot at open water swimming I'm a bit concerned about that leg.
At this point I'm leaning towards the sprint race, as I think the additional recovery time will be important at this juncture. I managed to swim nearly 3K continuously in the pool this week, which bodes well for my ability to cover 600m in the race. Unfortunately, there is a world of difference between swimming in a controlled pool and in open water so I'm still a little nervous about that.
The other caveat is that I'll have to look into the wetsuit side of the equation as there isn't a lot of time to figure that out. I was likely going to do the race in Orillia without one, but with the extra time in the water and the potential for cooler water in late September that's likely not too wise if I do elect to go down this route. I would have liked to try it out before the race, however it's difficult to find suitable locations to do sustained swims in open water (especially on one's own).
The other option, of course, is to simply forget about it for the time being and just use the off season to strengthen my swimming. I could then jump into longer distances from the start and be a good deal more competitive than I can at this juncture. The problem with this, however, is that I wouldn't get any experience with transitions and any screw ups after a full winter of preparation would be a lot more frustrating than they would be now (where it was simply a secondary objective).
Either way, I have a bit of thinking left to do on this topic but wanted to get it down to help work my way through the options in a structured way. Naturally, I'd be welcome to any outside input that might have a different perspective than I'm looking at it from ;)
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Week 25: Review & New Targets
Was a pretty good week this time around, and while the weather again interfered with a few of my rides I did manage to get my first 100K ride in yesterday. As expected, it was certainly a long way and the route that I selected had a few nasty hills to make it that much more difficult. Either way, despite the fact that it took almost 3.5 hours to complete (3:29:09 to be precise, about 6 seconds longer than my marathon) it was an enjoyable ride with some pretty nice scenery. With that said, I ended up doing this ride solo (the group didn't materialize this week) and it was a bit of a concern going that far out on my own.
One thing I do have to remember for future attempts, however, is to bring some gels with me on rides like this. Fortunately I didn't have any problems this time, but my records show a consumption of over 2100kcal which is dangerously close to the limits. I saw the numbers getting up there at about the 80K mark, and as I was running low on fluids as well I made a quick stop into a convenience store and grabbed a Gatorade and a couple of cookies to help refill the tank a bit. Finding an appropriate store was a little difficult, however, as one has to worry about where to put the bike when you go in (another thing that's much easier with a group).
Due to the energy consumption of yesterday's ride, I elected to push today's 11 mile run back to the afternoon as I wanted to squeeze in another meal to make sure that my stores were sufficiently refilled. Unfortunately, today was a pretty hot day so running later in the day didn't help with that. When I set out, the thermostat was reading 29.4C with 60% humidity and as my body's still not really used to running in the heat yet that made things pretty difficult. I brought along 16oz of Gatorade, and unfortunately with the heat I ended up running out after 13K. As I approached the 10 mile mark, I elected to just cut the run short to avoid running into any problems. I did some additional mileage on Wednesday, so I'd still have more than enough to cover my weekly target.
I also managed to squeeze in my second swimming session this week which went a good deal better than last week. I'm still horribly slow, but I think I've got most of the kinks worked out so it's just a matter of building some upper body strength and a little more endurance in the pool. I'm still a long way away from being able to race in the water, but I've still got some time to work on that one ;)
Weekly Totals:
Running: 56.7km (35.2mi)
Walking: 3.2km (2.0mi)
Cycling: 142.7km (88.7mi)
Swimming: 1.3km (0.8mi)
Total: 203.9km (126.7mi)
Year to Date:
Running: 1,295.0km (804.7mi)
Walking: 167.6km (104.1mi)
Cycling: 1,882.9km (1,170.0mi)
Swimming: 2.4km (1.5mi)
Total: 3,347.9km (2,080.3mi)
Last week marked the end of the recovery phase of my marathon training program, so I'll be restarting the Pfitzinger 55mi/18wk program again this week. Working the rest of my activities into the schedule is going to be a bit challenging going forward, but with the mileage still relatively low that won't be a huge problem for the time being. Tentatively, my schedule will be as follows however I may need to make some adjustments depending on the weather and other logistical details.
Upcoming Week:
Mon 50K Ride
Tue 8mi (12.9K) LT w/4mi (6.4km) @15K Race Pace, 1hr Swim
Wed 30K Ride, 10K Recovery (Group)
Thurs 9mi (14.5K) GA
Fri 30K Ride
Sat 75K Group Ride, 4mi (6.4K) Recovery
Sun 12mi (19.3K) LSD
When I ran my first marathon back in May, I managed to chew through my long term goal (finishing a marathon before my 30th birthday) so for the last few weeks I've been trying to figure out what goalpost to set up for the next little while. When I went into marathon training, my intention was more to get that notch into my belt and be done with it. The sheer ammount of work required to train for one of these races is daunting for someone who has never done it before (4.5 months of nearly continous training), and the thought of doing it over and over again is almost unimaginable ;)
As my training progressed, however, I found myself enjoying it and, while it was undeniably a lot of work, once you got into the routine of it it wasn't all that bad. The few short distance races that I did during my training showed marked improvements as well, so hitting all of those little mini-goals along the way helped to make it more enjoyable. When I actually ran the race and crossed that finish line below my target, however, I found myself focusing on what I could do better the next time around and wanting to give it another shot.
At the same time, after working cycling into my routine I've been tempted by the idea of playing around with giving Triathlons a shot. Over the last year and a half, I've steadily increased my targets and aimed for longer and longer distances. The marathon is about as far as I realistically want to run at this point, so aiming for bigger targets means going in a bit of a different direction. A few months ago the idea of an Ironman was pretty much insane, but at this point the concept is kind of floating around in the back of my head in much the same way that the marathon did a year ago.
Either way, after a bit of playing around with various ideas I'm likely going to split my attention a bit between achieving two different goals. In the short term, I'd like to work my way into qualifying for the Boston Marathon and I've got to shave 18:04 off of my time to get there. As such, I'm looking at targeting 3:20 at the Goodlife Toronto Marathon this fall and then, hopefully, working my way down to 3:10:59 at Mississauga next spring. Those are both pretty aggressive goals, so if I have to scale back my plans I don't mind doing that - but getting to 3:10 is not an easy goal, and one has to push pretty hard to get there.
The longer term goal is to work my way into doing some Triathlons. I'd like to attempt a short distance race later this summer to get a feel for the sport - not so much to run it competitively, but to get some experience with the transitions and see how well my body takes to it. Tentatively, I'm aiming at the try-a-tri (375m swim, 10K ride, 3K run) in Orillia in late August as the date and location work well for me. The bike and run legs are short enough that they shouldn't pose too much of a problem (even with tired legs), but the swim will require significant improvement and the transitions will likely be pretty messy the first time out.
Ultimately, I'd like to work my way up to an Ironman but thats a long ways off and will depend critically on how well the shorter races work out for me. Either way, I likely won't begin to really ramp up the triathlon side of things until the Boston goal is achieved. I hope to pull off a few short to medium distance Tris next summer to further my experience, but I won't even begin to think about the longer distance ones until I'm clear to focus 100% on them.
The tricky part at this point is to figure out how to integrate my training to accomodate both of these goals. While my running is strictly regimented by a formal training program, my cycling and swimming have simply been done by feel. If I do want to get serious about this, I'm going to have to find some sort of formal program that is flexible enough to deal with the running requirements that my primary goal will require.
The one idea that I've been flirting with is giving the Running Room's Triathlon program a shot. Their Aurora store has a clinic that started last weekend targetting the Orillia race, and their running programs did do a lot to help me when I first started out. The caveat, however, is that (a) that store is a good distance away from here and (b) I havn't really been able to find much information about how their program is structured. It has to deal with athletes with a wide range of backgrounds, and whether it can be sufficiently flexible to deal with my requirements (ie weak swimmer, relatively strong runner/cyclist).
One thing I do have to remember for future attempts, however, is to bring some gels with me on rides like this. Fortunately I didn't have any problems this time, but my records show a consumption of over 2100kcal which is dangerously close to the limits. I saw the numbers getting up there at about the 80K mark, and as I was running low on fluids as well I made a quick stop into a convenience store and grabbed a Gatorade and a couple of cookies to help refill the tank a bit. Finding an appropriate store was a little difficult, however, as one has to worry about where to put the bike when you go in (another thing that's much easier with a group).
Due to the energy consumption of yesterday's ride, I elected to push today's 11 mile run back to the afternoon as I wanted to squeeze in another meal to make sure that my stores were sufficiently refilled. Unfortunately, today was a pretty hot day so running later in the day didn't help with that. When I set out, the thermostat was reading 29.4C with 60% humidity and as my body's still not really used to running in the heat yet that made things pretty difficult. I brought along 16oz of Gatorade, and unfortunately with the heat I ended up running out after 13K. As I approached the 10 mile mark, I elected to just cut the run short to avoid running into any problems. I did some additional mileage on Wednesday, so I'd still have more than enough to cover my weekly target.
I also managed to squeeze in my second swimming session this week which went a good deal better than last week. I'm still horribly slow, but I think I've got most of the kinks worked out so it's just a matter of building some upper body strength and a little more endurance in the pool. I'm still a long way away from being able to race in the water, but I've still got some time to work on that one ;)
Weekly Totals:
Running: 56.7km (35.2mi)
Walking: 3.2km (2.0mi)
Cycling: 142.7km (88.7mi)
Swimming: 1.3km (0.8mi)
Total: 203.9km (126.7mi)
Year to Date:
Running: 1,295.0km (804.7mi)
Walking: 167.6km (104.1mi)
Cycling: 1,882.9km (1,170.0mi)
Swimming: 2.4km (1.5mi)
Total: 3,347.9km (2,080.3mi)
Last week marked the end of the recovery phase of my marathon training program, so I'll be restarting the Pfitzinger 55mi/18wk program again this week. Working the rest of my activities into the schedule is going to be a bit challenging going forward, but with the mileage still relatively low that won't be a huge problem for the time being. Tentatively, my schedule will be as follows however I may need to make some adjustments depending on the weather and other logistical details.
Upcoming Week:
Mon 50K Ride
Tue 8mi (12.9K) LT w/4mi (6.4km) @15K Race Pace, 1hr Swim
Wed 30K Ride, 10K Recovery (Group)
Thurs 9mi (14.5K) GA
Fri 30K Ride
Sat 75K Group Ride, 4mi (6.4K) Recovery
Sun 12mi (19.3K) LSD
When I ran my first marathon back in May, I managed to chew through my long term goal (finishing a marathon before my 30th birthday) so for the last few weeks I've been trying to figure out what goalpost to set up for the next little while. When I went into marathon training, my intention was more to get that notch into my belt and be done with it. The sheer ammount of work required to train for one of these races is daunting for someone who has never done it before (4.5 months of nearly continous training), and the thought of doing it over and over again is almost unimaginable ;)
As my training progressed, however, I found myself enjoying it and, while it was undeniably a lot of work, once you got into the routine of it it wasn't all that bad. The few short distance races that I did during my training showed marked improvements as well, so hitting all of those little mini-goals along the way helped to make it more enjoyable. When I actually ran the race and crossed that finish line below my target, however, I found myself focusing on what I could do better the next time around and wanting to give it another shot.
At the same time, after working cycling into my routine I've been tempted by the idea of playing around with giving Triathlons a shot. Over the last year and a half, I've steadily increased my targets and aimed for longer and longer distances. The marathon is about as far as I realistically want to run at this point, so aiming for bigger targets means going in a bit of a different direction. A few months ago the idea of an Ironman was pretty much insane, but at this point the concept is kind of floating around in the back of my head in much the same way that the marathon did a year ago.
Either way, after a bit of playing around with various ideas I'm likely going to split my attention a bit between achieving two different goals. In the short term, I'd like to work my way into qualifying for the Boston Marathon and I've got to shave 18:04 off of my time to get there. As such, I'm looking at targeting 3:20 at the Goodlife Toronto Marathon this fall and then, hopefully, working my way down to 3:10:59 at Mississauga next spring. Those are both pretty aggressive goals, so if I have to scale back my plans I don't mind doing that - but getting to 3:10 is not an easy goal, and one has to push pretty hard to get there.
The longer term goal is to work my way into doing some Triathlons. I'd like to attempt a short distance race later this summer to get a feel for the sport - not so much to run it competitively, but to get some experience with the transitions and see how well my body takes to it. Tentatively, I'm aiming at the try-a-tri (375m swim, 10K ride, 3K run) in Orillia in late August as the date and location work well for me. The bike and run legs are short enough that they shouldn't pose too much of a problem (even with tired legs), but the swim will require significant improvement and the transitions will likely be pretty messy the first time out.
Ultimately, I'd like to work my way up to an Ironman but thats a long ways off and will depend critically on how well the shorter races work out for me. Either way, I likely won't begin to really ramp up the triathlon side of things until the Boston goal is achieved. I hope to pull off a few short to medium distance Tris next summer to further my experience, but I won't even begin to think about the longer distance ones until I'm clear to focus 100% on them.
The tricky part at this point is to figure out how to integrate my training to accomodate both of these goals. While my running is strictly regimented by a formal training program, my cycling and swimming have simply been done by feel. If I do want to get serious about this, I'm going to have to find some sort of formal program that is flexible enough to deal with the running requirements that my primary goal will require.
The one idea that I've been flirting with is giving the Running Room's Triathlon program a shot. Their Aurora store has a clinic that started last weekend targetting the Orillia race, and their running programs did do a lot to help me when I first started out. The caveat, however, is that (a) that store is a good distance away from here and (b) I havn't really been able to find much information about how their program is structured. It has to deal with athletes with a wide range of backgrounds, and whether it can be sufficiently flexible to deal with my requirements (ie weak swimmer, relatively strong runner/cyclist).
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Mississauga Marathon: Final Days
Down to less than 3 days before the race and the taper is coming to an end. I'm heading out tomorrow morning to pick up my race kit and will likely try and drive as much of the route as possible. Luckily, the organizers have a detailed map with a full elevation profile (here) so I have a pretty good idea of what to expect but it would still be beneficial to see it in person.
One thing that I did miss earlier in the week was an offer to have custom pacebands made up prior to the packet pickup. To get them, I would have had to send an email by Monday in order to pick them up at the expo. Unfortunately, there was no mention of this when I registered I didn't go back to check until yesterday so I missed the window. Regardless, it appears that they will have generic bands on hand at the expo so hopefully it'll work out anyway. I could always make my own up, however having it laminated with a proper closure would be significant benefits.
Either way, getting back to the plan the target is still for a 3:30 finish (~5min/km). Given that I've done a good number of my long runs near this pace (including a 20 miler at a 5:09/km pace) this is likely a bit conservative, but as this is my first shot at this distance I'd rather play it safe than sorry. A lot of things can go wrong at this distance, so leaving a little extra in reserve is likely a good idea either way. If the legs have it in them near the end, I always have the option to pick it up and aim for something better.
Fortunately, this time my target lines up with a standard mark so I'll hopefully be able to make use of the pacers provided by the race organizers. At the Scotiabank half marathon the pacer for my target time wasn't there, and at Around the Bay my target was half way between so this is really my first opportunity to take advantage of this type of thing. Fortunately, yumke may also be targetting this pace for the first portion of the race so even if the pacer doesn't work out I may have some help.
The Mississauga Marathon course is a net downhill race with only a few small hills to deal with so pacing should be pretty even. Naturally, those hills will feel more significant than the normally do because of the distance so I can't just write them off, but it is an easier course than most Marathons in this area. The main challenge will likely be the winds near the end of the race, as it finishes up along trails by Lake Ontario so it's quite exposed. With the weather reports calling for 30km/h winds, that could easily be a significant issue. The upside, however, is that this segment of the race heads eastward so that wind will hopefully be at our backs at that point.
The tricky part will be the fueling aspect of this distance, as I don't have a lot of experience with that at this juncture. I've experimented with Gatorade and Gels on my training runs, but as I topped out at 20 miles (~32.2km) the benefits weren't really apparent. It was enough to indicate that neither should be a problem, but it's difficult to figure out exactly how many calories I will need to take in. Fortunately, pretty much everyone that I've talked to appears to suggest that somewhere in the region of four to five Gels should be sufficient without causing any problems.
My original plan was to stick with Gatorade as it has all of the necessary components in approximately the right mixture. The problem with that, however, is that I can only carry about 32 oz (~200kcal) on my water belt so I'd have to be partially dependant on the aide stations to make up the rest. This, in and of itself, isn't a big problem but trying to keep track of how much I take in at those stops would be impossible, so it would be difficult to ensure that I take in the appropriate quantity. With Gels, it is easy to keep track of how many calories are taken in (although it won't help with tracking the ammount of water and electrolytes).
As for the next couple of days, I still have a couple of short runs left (a 5 miler tomorrow and a 4 miler on Saturday) and fortunately it looks like the new shoes have broken in so they'll likely be suitable for the race itself. The calibration check on Sunday appears to have done the trick, and I'll double check that on tomorrow's run. Looking over race reports from previous years, it appears that the kilometer markers may not be terribly reliable so it will be important to make sure my watch is providing as accurate numbers as possible.
One thing that I did miss earlier in the week was an offer to have custom pacebands made up prior to the packet pickup. To get them, I would have had to send an email by Monday in order to pick them up at the expo. Unfortunately, there was no mention of this when I registered I didn't go back to check until yesterday so I missed the window. Regardless, it appears that they will have generic bands on hand at the expo so hopefully it'll work out anyway. I could always make my own up, however having it laminated with a proper closure would be significant benefits.
Either way, getting back to the plan the target is still for a 3:30 finish (~5min/km). Given that I've done a good number of my long runs near this pace (including a 20 miler at a 5:09/km pace) this is likely a bit conservative, but as this is my first shot at this distance I'd rather play it safe than sorry. A lot of things can go wrong at this distance, so leaving a little extra in reserve is likely a good idea either way. If the legs have it in them near the end, I always have the option to pick it up and aim for something better.
Fortunately, this time my target lines up with a standard mark so I'll hopefully be able to make use of the pacers provided by the race organizers. At the Scotiabank half marathon the pacer for my target time wasn't there, and at Around the Bay my target was half way between so this is really my first opportunity to take advantage of this type of thing. Fortunately, yumke may also be targetting this pace for the first portion of the race so even if the pacer doesn't work out I may have some help.
The Mississauga Marathon course is a net downhill race with only a few small hills to deal with so pacing should be pretty even. Naturally, those hills will feel more significant than the normally do because of the distance so I can't just write them off, but it is an easier course than most Marathons in this area. The main challenge will likely be the winds near the end of the race, as it finishes up along trails by Lake Ontario so it's quite exposed. With the weather reports calling for 30km/h winds, that could easily be a significant issue. The upside, however, is that this segment of the race heads eastward so that wind will hopefully be at our backs at that point.
The tricky part will be the fueling aspect of this distance, as I don't have a lot of experience with that at this juncture. I've experimented with Gatorade and Gels on my training runs, but as I topped out at 20 miles (~32.2km) the benefits weren't really apparent. It was enough to indicate that neither should be a problem, but it's difficult to figure out exactly how many calories I will need to take in. Fortunately, pretty much everyone that I've talked to appears to suggest that somewhere in the region of four to five Gels should be sufficient without causing any problems.
My original plan was to stick with Gatorade as it has all of the necessary components in approximately the right mixture. The problem with that, however, is that I can only carry about 32 oz (~200kcal) on my water belt so I'd have to be partially dependant on the aide stations to make up the rest. This, in and of itself, isn't a big problem but trying to keep track of how much I take in at those stops would be impossible, so it would be difficult to ensure that I take in the appropriate quantity. With Gels, it is easy to keep track of how many calories are taken in (although it won't help with tracking the ammount of water and electrolytes).
As for the next couple of days, I still have a couple of short runs left (a 5 miler tomorrow and a 4 miler on Saturday) and fortunately it looks like the new shoes have broken in so they'll likely be suitable for the race itself. The calibration check on Sunday appears to have done the trick, and I'll double check that on tomorrow's run. Looking over race reports from previous years, it appears that the kilometer markers may not be terribly reliable so it will be important to make sure my watch is providing as accurate numbers as possible.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
The plan...
For the last few weeks I've been trying to figure out my major training goals for the next cycle as I'm getting near the point where I need to start making preparations. My major goal this time around was to work my way up to a full marathon sometime during the next year. The question, of course, was how to best go about reaching that goal.
The two main concepts that I was playing around with were to either go right ahead and target the Mississauga Marathon in mid-May, or to target the 30km Around the Bay race in March as a stepping stone for a full in one of the Toronto marathons. The former had the advantage of allowing me to train in cooler weather as well as getting me to my target faster. While there is more than enough time to properly train for this distance, I was concerned a bit that the jump from 21.1km to 42.2km was a bit too big to make in one big leap. Naturally, the latter had the advantage of allowing me to fit in another training cycle to climb to 30K first and get comfortable with longer distances. The other advantage to the latter was that the weather on race day would likely be better.
After playing around with training schedules, I've settled on working around a bit of a hybrid plan. I'll use the 55mi/18wk Pfitzinger marathon program targeted for the Mississauga marathon, with Around the Bay worked in as a tune-up race. In mid-March, I'll make the call on whether I feel that training has gone well enough for the full marathon. If it has, then I'll go ahead with the plan as designed. If it hasn't however, I'll refocus on running ATB as my goal race and then prepare to start a different training cycle for the Toronto marathons.
This gives me the benefit of getting in a 30K race either way, and the ability to select my route based on how things actually progress rather than having to guestimate that at this juncture. Further, if the first time around doesn't work out I'll have first-hand experience with the training program when I re-start it in the summer.
Either way, I'll be officially starting this program in the first week of January through to the race on May 11th. Until then, I'll be holding at my current 58km/36mi per week level until that point to get my legs ready for the coming increase in mileage.
The two main concepts that I was playing around with were to either go right ahead and target the Mississauga Marathon in mid-May, or to target the 30km Around the Bay race in March as a stepping stone for a full in one of the Toronto marathons. The former had the advantage of allowing me to train in cooler weather as well as getting me to my target faster. While there is more than enough time to properly train for this distance, I was concerned a bit that the jump from 21.1km to 42.2km was a bit too big to make in one big leap. Naturally, the latter had the advantage of allowing me to fit in another training cycle to climb to 30K first and get comfortable with longer distances. The other advantage to the latter was that the weather on race day would likely be better.
After playing around with training schedules, I've settled on working around a bit of a hybrid plan. I'll use the 55mi/18wk Pfitzinger marathon program targeted for the Mississauga marathon, with Around the Bay worked in as a tune-up race. In mid-March, I'll make the call on whether I feel that training has gone well enough for the full marathon. If it has, then I'll go ahead with the plan as designed. If it hasn't however, I'll refocus on running ATB as my goal race and then prepare to start a different training cycle for the Toronto marathons.
This gives me the benefit of getting in a 30K race either way, and the ability to select my route based on how things actually progress rather than having to guestimate that at this juncture. Further, if the first time around doesn't work out I'll have first-hand experience with the training program when I re-start it in the summer.
Either way, I'll be officially starting this program in the first week of January through to the race on May 11th. Until then, I'll be holding at my current 58km/36mi per week level until that point to get my legs ready for the coming increase in mileage.
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