Ok--sorry for the long radio silence...lots going on. anders and I did a mini-training camp near Palm Springs...I ran a 2:15 half, just walking out of my car....I've had a very bad cold the last week...feel pretty weak...I have troubling extensor tendonitis in my left foot....I just had the second of my latest 3-injection cycle knee treatments...blah, blah blah!
Anyways, no excuses, I have a bit more work early in the week up in NYC and then we leave for Tempe on Wednesday. I'm optimistic but also realistic.
Headline: I'm trying to shoot for around 13:30....more on my plan later. I thought I'd update you all on my training volume trends. First the swim:
The first chart below shows my swim volume in yards/week by week for the year to date and the second shows a trailing 4-week average of the same. The later view I think is a better indicator of the cumulative stress on my body--especially for the bike, run and total training time--maybe less so for the swim.
If you look closely you can see the real commitment I've made to swimming over the last few months, it's especially clear in the trailing 4-week graph. I've backed off the last couple of weeks as I've rolled into my taper. I've been gratified to see my fastest pool swim times of the year over the last week (hitting 1:24-1:26 on my 100 yard repeats).
Bottom line, since I'm trying to hit around 78 minutes for my swim at IMAZ I should be very well positioned! Frankly, I should really swim near 70 minutes but I've had 3 slow swims at IMAZ before so my expectations are low.
The week 20 zero in the weekly volume chart was when I was in Bolivia and the next is the week I was recovering from my shoulder separation:
Anyways, no excuses, I have a bit more work early in the week up in NYC and then we leave for Tempe on Wednesday. I'm optimistic but also realistic.
Headline: I'm trying to shoot for around 13:30....more on my plan later. I thought I'd update you all on my training volume trends. First the swim:
The first chart below shows my swim volume in yards/week by week for the year to date and the second shows a trailing 4-week average of the same. The later view I think is a better indicator of the cumulative stress on my body--especially for the bike, run and total training time--maybe less so for the swim.
If you look closely you can see the real commitment I've made to swimming over the last few months, it's especially clear in the trailing 4-week graph. I've backed off the last couple of weeks as I've rolled into my taper. I've been gratified to see my fastest pool swim times of the year over the last week (hitting 1:24-1:26 on my 100 yard repeats).
Bottom line, since I'm trying to hit around 78 minutes for my swim at IMAZ I should be very well positioned! Frankly, I should really swim near 70 minutes but I've had 3 slow swims at IMAZ before so my expectations are low.
The week 20 zero in the weekly volume chart was when I was in Bolivia and the next is the week I was recovering from my shoulder separation:
This is the trailing 4-week average view:
Next up is the bike data. You can clearly see the post Bolivia "Bike Monster" strategy kicking in around week 20 or so. I've definitely trailed off since mid-September and frankly, I'm not as strong a cyclist now as I was then. It's just too hard to train effectively here on the East Coast this late in the year as I can't bring myself to do the quality work indoors like Anders does. also, I think I'm best when I do a 14 week block at most and the extended time due to shifting from Barcelona to AZ has worn me down a bit.
Oh well--I did my 10th and last century+ ride of the year last Sunday (39 degrees and 20 mph wind when I left at first light), essentially averaging one century every 13 days from early July. I still feel like I can do a 5:45 bike ride and have enough in the tank to still do a reasonable run. Hopefully I can do that!
Trailing 4-week view:
Then there is the run. My run data is very distorted by the huge trekking/climbing I did prior to our Bolivia expedition in May. The build after that mid-season low point is effectively my real investment in triathlon running. It's not much, but it's all my knee can realistically handle. As I mentioned above, I was very pleased to run a 2:15 half IM one Saturday on a whim during one of my training runs.
In the IM I will seek to do a 6:08 or about 14 min/mile--just hoping to endure and get to the finish line!
Trailing 4-week average view:
Finally, my total time investment. I know I'm in the deep end of the pool here but I do like to train!
You can actually see my taper in the top graph--only 13 hours this week! I'll do 5-6 next week and then we'll see what happens!
More on the race and what I plan and hope to do in the week ahead!
Onward and Upward!
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