April

Here are the summary stats for April:

Swim: 0 (hope to get a chance to swim again soon)
Bike: 1,280 miles
Run/Hike: 130.2 miles
Time: 110 hours and 25 minutes

For comparison, when I was focused on getting ready for our Bolivian Mountaineering expedition last May, here is what April 2019 looked like:

Swim: 22k yards
Bike: 823 miles
Run/Hike: 273 miles
Time: 135 hours and 41 minutes

2018, might be a better comparison as I was focused on triathlon as I am this year (or at least was before CoVid):

Swim: 17k yards
Bike: 1,123 miles
Run: 54 miles
Time: 88:48

So compared to 2018, this is what April 2020 looked like:

-obviously no swimming as I lack a viable swim location at this point
-significant biking miles--all virtual this month (thanks Zwift!)
-considerably  more run/hike, especially the later
-investing significant time training even in the context of limited racing for an extended period of time.

Looking ahead to May:

-I hope to get my feet wet so to speak and try to get say maybe 10,000 yards this month
-Probably will get around 1,300 miles on the bike.  I plan to start riding a bit more again outside
-Continue in the 100-150 miles run/hike range
-100+ hours training

ground hog week!

OK...a bit different because I took two days off from run/hike....here's the totals:

Bike: 336 miles
Run/Hike: 23 miles
Time: 25:33

Sideways and sideways!

back into CoVid training life

I spent 28:31 training this week and racked up 329 miles on the bike and 34 miles on the run....

onward and upward!

this week

A "lite" week this week due to my drive to Lawrence, Kansas and back between Wednesday and Friday--1160 miles each way--to pick up Jen and bring her home. I got up early on Wednesday and rode for 90 minutes and then drove just into Illinois.  I slept in the back of my truck at a truck stop.   Up early (2am) on Thursday and I was at Jen's by 7:30.  I did an 8 mile run/walk in Kansas on Thursday.  On Friday we left just after 2am and drove straight back to Delaware and arrived about 8:30pm.  I decided (no surprise) to not workout on Friday--that's the first day of total rest I've had this year....

Here are the totals:

Bike: 221 miles
Run/Hike: 27 miles
Time: 19:25

I fully expect to be back above 300 miles biking and 30 miles running and closer to 30 hours training next week....

Onward and  Upward!

1st quarter training volume stats

Lastly week was pretty much like the 3 (Coronaville) weeks prior to it:

Swim: 0 yds
Bike: 310 miles
Run/Hike: 30 miles
Time: 27:40

The month of March:

Swim: 10k yds
Bike: 1,336 miles
Run/Hike: 99 miles
Time: 113:00

The first quarter this year compared to last year:

Swim:  2019: 52k     2020: 12k
Bike:  2,968      2020: 3,538
Run/Hike:  2019: 398    2020:  235
Time:  2019:  305:07   2020: 283:00

The differences to last year are:

-Big reduction in swim due to Corona and my post back surgery issues.  I would have normally expected to do 30k yds of swim this month if I had access to a place to swim.
-Big uptick in the bike as it is my prime focus this year vs. in 2019 when I did a lot of hiking/running to prepare for the Bolivia mountaineering expedition.  My bike numbers would have been even greater this year if not for the 11 days we were snowboarding in Park City.  My March total is on a 16,000 mile/year pace.
-Big drop in Run/Hike due to Bolivia prep last year as I went down to Shenandoah 4-5 times for 2-3 days of 10-16 mile hikes, which we are not doing this year.  I wouldn't have done as much hiking with no expedition but I had planned on a trip or two but instead am staying the f at home.
-The lower time number this year is due to all the hiking last year.

Looking ahead: generally I'm going to try to do 25-30 hours/week with about 300+ miles of biking and 30+ miles of run/hike.  It will be less this week because (believe it or not)  I'm driving out to Kansas to bring Jenny home so will miss most of 4 days of training.  Will be a nice rest for my bod...

Onward and upward!

to post or not to post

I debated if I was being insensitive right now posting about the trivial stats of my workouts when so many people are dealing with major issues and many people aren't as fortunate as me in terms of access to good workout facilities.

I've concluded that anything that any of us can do that maintains a bit of normalcy in our lives must be for the positive on balance so I guess I'm going to continue to do so.  if this feels like a bad choice to you I apologize and take full responsibility for it as I'm aware how some folks may view this as a really bad move.

So, here goes:

The last 3 weeks I'd characterize as full "Virus Mode".  I'm Zwifting or riding my indoor trainer a lot every day--typically 2 rides each day.  also, I have been getting outside most days--mostly to walk/hike, but occasionally to run.  I had to skip my spring cycle of knee injections so I'm being a little cautious about running.  I'm also doing weights/stretching 3-4 X/week.

Here are the totals for the last three weeks:

Bike:  339 miles, 299 miles, 339 miles
Run/Walk: 16 miles, 25 miles, 24 miles
Time: 25:53, 25:07, 28:08

This obviously a lot of working out but feels easily sustainable at this point.  I've lost some weight and given the typical quality of my Zwift rides, I'm starting to get pretty fast on the bike.  Here is a screen shot from yesterday's Zwift ride:

We all have different context from which we evaluate numbers such as this but for me, these are pretty compelling stats for March.  Putting up nearly 200 watts on my second ride of the day, at the end of nearly 1000 miles of riding over the last 3 weeks is not my norm.  A fair amount of the ride I was above 250 watts and I spent most of my time in high Z3-Z5, and frankly, it felt pretty easy.  The TSS of 91 is my highest since IM ARIZONA.

Averaging 24.2mph isn't too shabby either but this is in part due to a fair amount of pack riding...

onward and upward!

Upon further review...a change of plans

Well, like everyone else in the world right now, we've adjusted here to a new "normal" for what feels like a pretty long time.

My working assumption is that this year will be a year with no racing opportunities and that hopefully our Kona slots get transferred to 2021.

I'm also quite aware, relatively speaking, that is a minor concern at this point.  Our big focus is on our health and that of our family and friends.  Judy and I are rather lucky in that we can hunker down relatively easily in our home here in Delaware (Kara and Marshall are at the Beach).
We have a great gym here in our house and lots of people-free outdoors to get out into.

I'm locking into a routine of sorts.  I'm riding indoors (trainer and Zwift) mostly but hope to increasingly shift outside as it warms if that is still permitted.  I've found over the last two weeks that I can readily absorb 1.5-3.5 hours/day of riding.  I'm riding every day now and did 330 and 300 miles the last two weeks.

Further, I've decided to get outside and walk or run most days (I'm targeting 6/week at this point).  This will probably push my weekly distance to 30 or so miles.  I'm also lifting weights and stretching 3-4X week for 45-60 minutes.

This roughly works out to 25 hours/week which I seem well adapted to.  I want to carefully monitor this and will cut back if I feel the least bit of residual fatigue but it seems pretty normal for me right now....

Hang in there everyone!