Training Week 4: 1/7/08 - 1/13/08

Planned Training
Monday - 1/7/08:
AM - Run = 30 min, Strength = weights at gym done
PM - Swim = 1 hr Master's swim done
Tuesday - 1/8/08:
Rest day!
Wednesday - 1/9/08:
AM - Bike = 2 hr 20 min hill climb up Catalina Hwy done
PM - Swim = 1 hr Master's swim, Strength = core workout done
Thursday - 1/10/08:
AM - none
PM - Bike = 3 hr 30 min ride home from work done
Friday - 1/11/08:
AM - Swim = 1 hr swim done
PM - Bike = 1 hr 40 min MTB ride done
Saturday - 1/12/08:
AM - Bike = 1 hr Spinervals workout on trainer (recovery) done
PM - none
Sunday - 1/13/08:
RACE = PF Chang's 1/2 marathon (13.1 mile run) done

Weekly S/B/R Compliance (based on BT training plan):
Swim = 155 min / 150 min = 115%
Bike = 511min / 510 min = 100%
Run = 174 min / 135 min = 129%

Total SBR training time for Week #4 = 14 hrs

Sunday, 1/6/08 Update:
I had to get creative with the workout scheduling this week since I head back to that place called WORK. Ugh. I got used to having 3 weeks off and being able to train and not have to worry too much about schedule. The hard part this week was figuring out how to fit all of the rides in with the half marathon coming up on Sunday. Normally long bike rides are reserved for the weekend, but I have that crazy long run on Sunday. So I'll be leaving work early on Thursday to do my 3.5 hr ride. I'll have Zac take my Jeep into work with my bike and stuff in the back, and just start my ride in the early afternoon and leave directly from work. Oh and there's a crazy hill climb workout I'm supposed to do on the bike for 2 hrs 20 min. The training plan says to climb the longest hill I can find. I think Catalina Hwy up Mt. Lemmon should do. The problem is trying to fit it in before work. So I'll be getting up early and riding it in the dark with my Niterider HID light. I figure there shouldn't be much traffic on that road at 5AM.

Tuesday, 1/8/08 Update:
Add last night's Master's swim to the list of "dumbest things I've done for Ironman training." At 6:30PM I arrived at the UA pool to see a bunch of HS kids in the lobby watching swim videos. It was cold, windy, dark, and raining. I followed an older guy into the lobby and found out that yes, there still was Master's swim. If they were still holding it then I was going to swim. It's a pain to have to reschedule swim workouts, so it has to be pretty bad (like no water in the pool) to force me to reschedule.

While changing in the locker room the herd of HS girls came in, shrieking at the top of their lungs because their swim workout had been canceled. Take 20 HS girls and put them in a room with lockers and tile and the amplification is maddening. Thankfully they grabbed their gear and left. One girl saw me changing and said the pool heater was broken and the water temperature was down to 75 degrees. Oh joy. In the world of triathlon, that's wetsuit legal water temperature. Alas I did not have my wetsuit with me.

Cold, raining, dark, windy, broken pool heater, and I still walked towards the front of the lane to get in. What else could we add to make this workout more fun? A large guy that had way more "insulation" than me dove in and screamed like a little girl. That was comforting. It was raining hard as I sat on the edge of the deck and put my feet in, and finally I decided the rain and wind were colder than the water and got in and swam the fastest 100 meters of my life to try to warm up. I had to remind myself that I've swum in 55 degree water and this was way warmer. But that was while wearing my wetsuit. The wetsuit that was at home hanging in the closet.

The water wasn't too bad as long as I kept moving. The swim coaches huddled like monks under their hooded parkas as they gave us the swim workout. I think we were more comfortable in the water. So I cranked out my 2000 meter workout and went home to my electric blanket.

Thursday, 1/10/08 Update:
This seems to be the week to do things for training that I would not normally do because they seem stupid/dangerous. Yesterday's morning ride can now be added to that list. The training plan said: "Easy spinning up the longest hills you can find in Z2 to low Z3, get out of saddle on steep sections to stretch legs out and you will hit Z5. Cool down: ride Z1 last 10 minutes." The longest hill I can find? Well, I happen to live a few miles from Catalina Hwy that goes up Mt. Lemmon. And the only time I could fit this ride in was in the morning before work. So I strapped my HID headlight to my tri bike and headed out at 5:45AM in the dark.

The first thing I noticed was frost on all of the plants in the front yard as I rolled out of the driveway. It was foggy out as any bit of light was clouded in a blanket. Then I hit Agua Caliente wash, which was flowing and got to ride through water right off the bat. Finally I hit Catalina Hwy and started the climb. It's kind of strange knowing you're the first cyclist on the hill that day. There's not much traffic on the road at that time of morning. I saw about 10 cars go up, and I'm sure most of them work up there. I know all of them were thinking the same thing as they passed by me..."stupid cyclist." Anyways, I made it to just past Mile 8 before turning around. By that point the sun was up. Being in the sun was warmer, but harder to see. In the shade I could see, but it was freezing as I coasted down the mountain at 30mph on a contact patch the size of a quarter. What was worse was going through Molino Basin canyon, as the cold air was rushing down the pass as the sun came up. I passed 3 other riders that had started their ride up with the sunlight. Finally I got to the bottom where I couldn't feel my hands or feet from the cold.

And what was the most dangerous part of the ride? Getting back to my house which is just around the corner from a school. All the parents dropping their kids off are insane and can't drive. I can survive climbing up and flying down a mountain, but here I am about to get creamed by Nancy Sue dropping little Bobby off at school. Note to self: avoid riding in that area at 8AM.

So I rode a total of 25 miles. It took me 1 hr 20 min to climb a little over 8 miles on the mountain, and 18.5 minutes to get back to the bottom. I averaged 6 mph climbing and 25 mph coming down. I started at an elevation of 2715 ft (my house), and climbed to 5100 ft.