Last week

Solid week considering I struggled with bronchitis and was on a Z-pack and prednisone for most of the week.   also sliced my finger performing surgery on a bagel one morning so missed a couple of pool sessions.

here you go:


swim:  4,500 yards
bike: 149 miles
run: 11 miles
other (pt/stretch/weights): 4:10
total time: 17:42

Obviously, I'm investing a lot in PT/non-SBR activities.  I believe it will pay dividends down the road in the sustainability of my training....we'll see!

No indications so far of the troubles that plagued me last year so.....maybe my plan is good!

Medical Update and path ahead

Started another cycle of PT on Monday.  My new therapist sings the same general refrain.  My left knee is collapsing on the medial side which is creating more bowleggedness.  This in turn is setting up unnatural stress on the lateral part of my upper calf.  she thinks she can help a bit with the referred pain that comes from this problem, but of-course can not help me with the fundamental problem.

She says the near-term destruction of my knee is one-issue, but she is cautioning me to watch carefully the impact on related structures such as my hips.  She really wants me to think about stopping my running....sigh.  she is impressed with my flexibility and lower leg strength--my two month investment here seems to be working.

On the positive side of things, I've really begun to hit a bit of a stride on the training front.  Beginning to feel the benefits of 3 hours or so of daily training.  It does feel good.  Getting faster across the board!  (not fast mind you, but faster)

My knee feels great.  No doubt this is part related to the steroids I'm on which were prescribed to deal with my bronchitis.  I've been battling a low-level cold/bronchitis now for the last 3-4 weeks.  The prednisone has helped with the lungs and not surprisingly with my knee as well....

Looking ahead, I've signed up for late Feb and early March sprints in Cali to ease myself back into the tri world.  I'm optimistic i won't embarrass myself by the time Oceanside rolls around.  We are beginning to lock in on our Kilimanjaro schedule and then that may free up some space to go for Elbrus too.  Roth is still a go in July.  Looks like were going to do the SNP AT trail in October.  Feeling it.

Trying to eek out a few more adventures before I change out the knee.....

whoop there it is

Totals for the "first week" of 2016 (I end my weeks on sunday):

Swim: 8,200 yds
Bike: 147 miles
Run: 15 miles
Trek: 4 miles
Other: 3:55
total time: 20:07

Yep--that is a good one (given where I left from).  Let's see how my bod holds up the coming week (may need to back off just a bit)

December Totals and January Objectives

Here are the totals for December:

Swim: 13,700 yards
Bike: 563 miles
Run: 48 miles
Trek: 27.7 miles
Stretch/Weights: 9:50 elapsed time
Total time: 75:44

I'm very satisfied with these totals given where I started from and the struggles I've had with my knee.  I'm in the midst of a very encouraging week and with the completion of my latest Eflexa cycle my knee seems to be holding up pretty well.

I'm pretty confident I can have a solid month and in considering my plan for January I reviewed my last nine Januarys.  consider these totals:

A little background can help you interpret.  2007 was my strongest year.  I worked with Peter Reid as my coach that year and by November I was definitely fit enough to qualify for Kona, but I didn't.

2008 I was self coached and once again fell short.  In 2009, I decided to take break from long-course and had a mental health year so January was way down.

In 2010 and 2011 I was back at it and managed to qualify in both years for Kona 2010 and 2012.

2012 was biz as usual but I fell short Kona wise.

In 2013 and 2014 (Aconcagua) and 2015 (Vinson) my mountaineering expeditions cut my SBR training way back (2013 did lead to another Kona qualification for 2014).  and 2015 led to my surgeries and other procedures and my year off from triathlon.

So what to do about January 2016 given my modest goals and still fledgling comeback?

Swim:  I'm thinking 30,000 yards plus--I'm ready to start a pretty rigorous 3-month swim block.

Bike:  600-700 miles--I'm going to be cautious here and emphasize a lot of quality computrainer time.

Run: 60+ miles--If I can do more I will but while I've had a nice 5-6 day run and I don't want to get carried away with things--it's quite possible that I'll never run 100 miles in a month again.

Trekking: 2-3 big days in SNP

Weights/stretch: 1-2X/week

Physical therapy: 2X/week

If I get reasonably close to these standards I'll be well on my way for 2016....

Christmas week totals

As i mentioned in my prior post, I took it really easy this week:

Swim: 0 yards
Bike: 132 miles
Run: 6 miles
Stretch/Weights: 90 minutes
Total time: 11:58

This week i intend to work quite a bit harder as I roll into what i hope will be a Long course like month in january.  Good start today with 3;30 in workouts....

Last week--on the flight path

so last week's totals were a bit impacted by a pretty bothersome cold I came down with a week ago Sunday.  The net effect was I missed one run and 1 swim.  Otherwise, a pretty solid mid December training week:

Swim: 4,000 yards
Bike: 161 miles
Run: 11.5 miles
Stretch/Weights: 2 hours
Total Time: 16:25

I went to my ortho today and last Monday.  i continue to have fluid build-up.  Last Monday I had 27cc and this morning 21cc.  We are both at a loss for why this keeps happening.  On the positive side of the ledger I had a pretty solid Computrainer FTP session.  I'd guess my FTP is around 265 watts now.  Not great, but not bad--lot's of work ahead of course.

This coming week is going to be an easy week given the holidays.  And then we'll roll into 2016 and begin to ramp it up heading towards Oceanside....

Week totals

As i mentioned in the post about last week's efforts, this week was quite similar to last.  I had 5 days up in Boston and on Monday, I had the 2nd day of my latest Shenandoah trip.  Hard to get any major workouts in with the work and social things of the past week (we went to a christmas party last night with tony Bennett!).  Anyways, still a reasonable December week, especially given the early stages of my comeback efforts:

Swim: 4,000 yards
Bike: 114 miles
Run: 11.5 miles
Climb/Trek: 13.8 miles
Stretch/Weights: 70 minutes
Total Time: 18:49

Should be a more triathlon balanced week this week--I should be able to hit a little bit more of SBR and probably won't trek much.

Onward and upward