All roads lead to ironman

With everything going on, both Stephen and I haven't posted much on this blog.. the last post being Stephen's race recap from April. We've completed quite a bit since then... so if you don't like reading.. go no further.

13 days after Ironman 70.3 California Oceanside we had another extreme adventure ahead of us, We again signed up for the Ragnar SoCal Running event, except that this time we decided to do an ultra team. Normal Ragnar, crazy enough, involves 12 people split into two vans and running 200(ish) miles from point A (Huntington Beach, CAa) to point B (San Diego, Ca), but an ultra removes 6 people and 1 van from the equation. Each runner, ran between 30-40 miles in the course of 32 hours, running 6 separate times. No lie, it's run, change, try to sleep, stretch, run, repeat. The spirits were high the whole time we had a blast, with the exception of a couple stress fractures in Stephen's foot, that he still managed to put up 20+ miles on the run, impressive.Discipline will be my key, it will be the reason I will endure the long road ahead of me.. wish me luck.

In May of this year, I ran the Orange County Half Marathon and received legacy status, running either the 1/2 or full marathon for 3 consecutive years. Nothing major to say about the race, I ran it in 1:42, about a 90 seconds off of my PR, but I went out there to pace my friend Troy who was determined to run his first half marathon in under 1:45. At about 11 miles Troy turned the boosters on and went ahead finishing in 1:41, a solid performance for his first half marathon.

The next adventure 6 weeks later was the Born to Run Ultra Marathon Running series, where Stephen was gearing up to run 30 miles on trails, I was fortunate to be able to run the first lap or roughly 10 miles with him, I have no interest in running more than 26.2 miles in 1 sitting, however, there may be a time in my day when I do an ultra marathon, just to say I've done it. I'll let him discuss this race further, if he does a post race report on it.





With a few more training races between now and November, the last 4 months of training is when it get's real, the daily training sessions will be the base and core of what will get me through the ironman. Sometimes there are times when motivation is fleeting or non existent, and I find it hard to get off the couch, or out of bed to go for a run. Oddly, one of the most motivation things I've read was something anonymously posted online, when someone asked how to stay motivated.

"It's a fickle and unreliable little state that isn't worth your time.

Better to cultivate discipline than to rely on motivation. Force yourself to do things, to get out of bed, to go the gym, to work harder and smarter; force yourself to do stuff when you don't feel like doing anything.

Motivation is fleeting, and it's easy to rely on because it requires no concentrated effort to get. Motivation comes to you, you don't even have to chase after it.

Discipline is reliable; motivation is momentary. The real question isn't how to keep yourself motivated, it's how to train yourself to work without it."

Ragnar Relay 7 Week Training Plan

Click the Green Excel Logo on the bottom right corner to download, and customize the plan!

Folsom Long Course Triathlon in Review

Prefix:
Most of my races usually start the night before with a big pasta dinner at Macaroni Grill followed by an early sleep only to wake around 5:30am to get in the car and drive anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour to the race. This one in particular was different from the beginning. 

Up until Sunday, the only racing I had ever done was running, half-marathons, marathon, and the relay race from Huntington Beach to San Diego, but Folsom was to be my first triathlon, and a Long Course to boot. I knew I could run, not the fastest, but also not the slowest, I knew how to ride a bike, and I also knew how to swim pretty well from swimming lessons as a kid, but string the three together without stopping, that...... would be interesting to say the least.

There are varying distances of triathlons but the most common ones are as follows:

Sprint: .47 Mile Swim, 12.4 Mile Bike, 3.1 Mile Run
Olympic: .93 Mile Swim, 24.8 Mile Bike, 6.2 Mile Run
Half: 1.2 Mile Swim, 56 Mile Bike, 13.1 Mile Run (known as Half Ironman or Ironman 70.3)
Full: 2.4 Mile Swim, 112 Mile Bike, 26.2 Mile Run (known as Ironman)

I was skipping the Sprint and Olympic and jumping straight into the Half Ironman distance.
Where to start? I think the proper place to start for this race review is with a race preview, about my training... and sometimes lack there of.

Chapter 1: A Lap down, a lot more to go
Come February and my last marathon over, I was able to slowly shift into Triathlon training. I had the bike and bike gear, I had my run gear, but now I needed swimming attire. I was swimming laps in the Olympic Pool that Long Beach has, which is located out doors on the beach, so glad I live in SoCal and can train in an out door heated Olympic sized pool. Let's do this!

I quickly learned that swimming, all be it, something easy for me to do in short bursts, was tiring for me to do continuously. I could easily accomplish 50 or 100 meters, but then I would have to stop on the side and have a quick breath. But that would slowly evolve into 200 meter sets, and 400 meter sets, and finally I did a 1000 meters non stop in the pool. Pretty proud at myself, I did it in around 20 minutes, and at that distance, it's just over half the swim portion of the race. The time came to start open water swimming, to get used to continuously swimming, instead of pushing off a wall, which meant it was time to order a wetsuit, another costly purchase.

In the interest of preparing for the Triathlon in June, I signed up for a local Sprint distance triathlon that would involve an ocean swim, and a require a wetsuit, luckily, and conveniently, the triathlon offered a discount on a wetsuit company's website, saving over 50% off the wetsuit, took advantage and used the promotion code. Unfortunately, the day of the event came and it was far to windy to compete and the race was postponed.

But with the wetsuit purchased, I wasn't too upset, because with the promo code AND the entrance fee, I still saved a few hundred dollars on the overall purchase of the wetsuit and now I could start training in the open water. Without a wetsuit, I would have frozen in the pacific ocean, that was is C-O-L-D COLD, however it seems to be tolerable with a wetsuit. I quickly learned that doing a straight 1⁄4 mile swim in open water is different than doing 400 meters in a heated pool. But I would prevail I had time!

Chapter 2: The Wheels just keep Spinning
I purchased a new road bike 2012 Focus Variado 2.0 in November in anticipation for the new adventure that I was considering, Triathlons. At the time I knew very little about the sport, except that it strings together swimming, biking, and running into one long day. I realized quickly that cycling isn't as simple as buying the bike, and going out to ride, there are plenty of accessories that you can (and will) buy to get the most out of it. From $100 cycling shoes, to $100 pedals, all and all I spent quite a bit of money on the bike, which I figured was a simple, one time purchase, boy was I wrong. However, with many more running races ahead of me, my bike training would have to subside for a while I focused on other obligations.

Along with swimming, biking took shape, I had all my gear and slowly but surely my rides showed themselves to be quite nice and easy. My usual route is out of my house, in Long Beach, down the Pacific Coast Highway to Huntington Beach and back, around a 20-22 mile trip, which could be completed in just over an hour. On the weekends, I would sometimes increase my distance to 30, 35, and 40 miles, and eventually attempted to do a 56 mile ride down Pacific Coast Highway, which lead me from Long Beach to Laguna Beach and back, and my legs were killing me.

About a month before the race, I got the opportunity to ride with the Pasadena Cycling Club to do a 45 mile mountain ride with them. That ride, up to that point, was one of the hardest things I've ever done. The first 9 miles, also the hardest 9 miles, made me want to stop and quit. At mile 3, I thought I was done, at mile 5, I knew I was done, at my 6 I had mentally quit, at mile 9, I decided to keep going. At one point I remember thinking, there's no more up to this mountain, it has to stop somewhere, right!? But the downhills, ohhhhhhhhh boy, those downhills were great, hitting speeds in excess of 40 mph, It was a great feeling to go that fast on my bike. That 45 mile ride felt more like 70 miles with all the climbing we had to do, and the rolling hills in between the peaks of the mountain were no joke. It took almost 5 hours to complete. But I felt ready.

Chapter 3: Left, Right, Repeat
Now I knew that I had the running stamina, I just had to keep it up, running with “A Running Experience Club” helped keep me running, on Wednesday’s when I could get to the run start in time, and the occasion Saturday morning when I could pry myself out of bed at 6:30am to meet up with the group. Nothing to exciting in my run training so let's just say it was all the norm? Okay? Cool, moving on

Chapter 4: The determination, the motivation, the drive... the long drive
As I mentioned earlier, most actually start the night before, however, this one started Thursday. With the race being in Folsom, CA, I had to drive to Northern California a couple days before so I could get situated and pick up my race day items. Leaving Friday morning, and a not so quick pitstop in Los Gatos, California, we arrived to Folsom around 9:30pm, the total trip up there taking about 10+ hours. The first thing I noted when stepping out of the car was the heat, which I had seen would be much higher than the climate in Southern California coastal cities. At 9:30 at night, the temperature was still in the 80s, and the next day only proved to be hotter, and Sunday, the hottest yet.

Waking up mid morning, and a quick conversation with Stephen's aunt and uncle, who graciously put us up for the nights we were to be in Folsom, we drove over to the lake where the swim was to take place, in order to see how cold it truly was going to be... it was the most refreshing thing I've felt in a while. It was cool while the air was hot, not much more pleasure then that.

But the day quickly progressed as any other pre-race day would, we ate at macaroni grill for dinner, I was glad that my parents took the time to drive up from Santa Barbara to watch the race, it was a great feeling to see them at dinner, to joke and laugh as I mentally prepared for the day ahead.

Chapter 5: RACE DAY
What's that old saying? Early to bed, early to rise, makes a grown man healthy, wealthy, and wise? Well, I don't think that applies to someone who has been tossing and turning all night nervous and excited for the next day. WHA WHA WHA WHA WHA the alarm clock sounds, 3:45am, could it be that early all ready? I felt like I had just finally gotten to sleep, but yeah, It's time, sun's not even up, but I'm fully awake, my body not so much, but my mind was. After attempting and failing to eat an entire bagel at that hour, I succumbed to packing up the car to make the 15-20 minute drive to the start line for the race. The race in which I hoped to finish in about 6 hours. *The time Breakdown that I was attempting is as follows: 40 minute swim, 5 minute transition from swim to bike, 3 hour 20 minute bike ride, 5 minute transition from bike to run, 2 hour run, total time 6 hours 10 minutes. We arrived at the parking lot at 5:10am, well before the sun rose, only to find that it seemed like most people were arriving then too, traffic slowly crawled, but we finally made it to the parking lot and grabbed our gear. Into the transition area where I would store all my items for the day I headed, quickly grabbed by a volunteer who marked my bib number (28) on my left arm followed by my age (25) on my left calf. I was lucky enough to get a spot near the side, so my parents could be close and offer words of encouragement as I changed for the next activity, boy was I wrong.. thanks for the “jokes” dad. Some of the classics like “Hey, so you know, girls already came out of the water” were told real fast.

The Start of the race was great, at 6:30am with a water start and the horn sounding, it was on, like a free for all prison break mayhem, all swimmers in my group take off. The swim was a giant 1.2 mile loop in the lake, and that first leg felt like it took FOREVER. It just kept going... and going... and going... I assumed the energizer bunny was sponsoring this part of the race. The firs turn came, and I took the opportunity to see where I was in the pack, hoping not to be dead last, because it felt like that's how long it was taking me, I noticed that I was somewhere around the middle of the field, not bad, but no time to stop, just put your head down and swim, and so I did. The second turn came quickly and then I was on the back half, with half the swim over, I was feeling great, my pace was good, and I wasn't too tired, I simply just pushed forward. The Final turn arose, and then it was a straight shot back to the beach, where I could strip outta my wetsuit and into sometime a lot more revealing, my cycling suit. Running onto the beach, I quickly got out of my swim goggles and swim cap and ran into the transition area, not before glancing at my mom and dad and thinking, “alright sweet, 1 down, 2 to go”

I found that my swim had gone better than expected, I got out of the water in 36minutes 41seconds, over 3 minutes faster than my prediction. I quickly changed into my biking attire, and biking shoes, while hearing some of the great one-liners from my dad. Jumped onto the bike to start the next adventure, 56 miles of road awaited me, and it was already getting hot out. My transition from swim to bike also went better than expected, it was completed in 4minutes 5seconds.
The Bike terrain was hot and sunny, with little shade offered as the early morning turned to mid-morning, the hills which seemed so small the day before while driving the course, now seemed more like mountains, but I dug deep, down shifted and just keep pedaling, knowing that every foot uphill, was one foot downhill. Quickly the miles added up, 10 miles, 20 miles, 30 miles... at mile 38, I was treated to ice cold water at an aid station which was half drank, half poured over my helmet to cool myself, the heat had to have already been well into the 90s. Then the miles seemed to slowly tick by, 40, 42, 43, 43.5, 43.75... I couldn't catch a break, with the last turn into a canal I figured that would be nice a cool, running water always seems to bring the temperature down of the surrounding area. WRONG. It seemed to get hotter, but with 10 miles left I know my legs had it in them. Finally, the last turn came, came down the last portion to see my mom and dad waiting there, phones in hand to take pictures of me riding in, “2 of 2” complete. Quickly glancing at my watch I was still ahead of schedule. The bike portion which I hope I could complete in 3hours 20minutes took me 3hours 16minutes and 16seconds, by now I was about 7 minutes ahead of schedule. But that's when good news went to bad news.
As soon as I dismounted my bike, I was informed that Stephen had fallen on his bike, and rushed in ambulance to the hospital, I thought about quitting the race, packing up my gear and going to see him at the hospital, but new that he would want me to finish, plus there was nothing for me to do there, but get in the way. With that in mind, and a conversation with my parents, my transition from bike to run was slower than anticipated, at 6minutes 15 seconds. Off on the run I go!
Trying to push the thoughts of my training partner and friend out of my head, I knew I had only 13.1 miles ahead of me and finishing this thing, which I had trained months for. Not a mile into the run, I got a pain in the left side of my ribs, and every time I tried to take a deep breath it felt like someone was stabbing me with a small but very sharp knife. I had to walk, hoping that the pain would subside. After a few minutes of walking I decided to try running again, but then again pain. I continued this walk/run combination for a few miles, before I was nauseous and couldn't even stand the pain to try and run. The run course was a 6 1⁄2 mile loop, that was to be run twice, where you literally see the finish line and have to turn around to do another 6 1⁄2 miles. Too be honest, I was shooting for a 2 hour run, but at the halfway point, I was well over 90 minutes, I decided I was just going to finish, no matter how slow. The nice part was that there was a water station every mile on the course, and they all had ice water to help keep the runners cool. I believe that running is my strongest sport of the three, considering I've done mostly running for over a year, and just picked up the other two, but my legs were sore, my side was killing me and it was hot. At the time I crossed the finish line it was 106 degrees! I walked the last loop, which took me about 2 hours, only running when I came into eye site of the finish. Running past my parents, the only words I could muster were “I'm hurtin” but I did it, I completed the 70.3 miles that the triathlon offered, in a heat that was well into the triple digits. It took me 7 hours 33minutes and 56seconds, but I did it, I earned it.

I found out after the race that Stephen suffered a broken clavicle and will be out for who knows how long, I'll let him tell that story on his own.

But I have to give a huge shout out to my parents who took two days off of work, drove several hours, and withstood god awful heat to watch me, It means the world to me that they were there for the race, words simply do not say enough to how much I love them.

After the race and gathering my items, I realized that I did in fact NEED them. While packing up my bag, I pulled two shoes out so I could walk to the car, one race shoe, one causal shoe, both left. Then I couldn't find my helmet, which I had placed conveniently on my head as to not lose it. My brain was fried, no way in hell I was driving.

Zen and the Art of Triathlon

I listen to Brett Blankner's Podcast every week for inspiration and updates on what is going on in the Triathlon and Endurance sports world! If you are just getting into the sport you definitely have to check it out.

His podcast is chalked full of nutrition tips and real world experience that has helped me learn a lot!

Check out his Website: http://www.zentriathlon.com

Check out the Podcast:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/zen-and-the-art-of-triathlon/id76096322?mt=2

He's the real deal too!

@BBtransformer thanks so much! Means a lot.
— ZenTriathlon (@ZenTriathlon) January 16, 2014

Ironman 70.3 Training Schedule

Variety is overrated in triathlon training. It’s certainly important, but coaches often make it out to be more important than repetition when the opposite is true. There are only a handful of workout types that you need to include in your training program. You can practice these basic types of workouts in all kinds of different ways, and doing so may make the training process more interesting for you, but there is no particular physiological advantage of complex training compared to basic training.

I favor simple training plans for a few reasons. First, I find them to be less mentally stressful than complex training plans. Why make your training so complex that it is unnecessarily mentally taxing in addition to being necessarily physically taxing? Second, the results of a very basic, and highly repetitive, training plan are predictable, and predictability of effects is a major virtue in a training plan. You want to know exactly what you’re going to get out of it. When your workouts are always familiar, there’s little mystery about what they will do for you. Finally, it’s easier to measure and monitor progress in a training plan with lots of repetition. You can make apples-to-apples comparisons of your performance in difference instances of the same workout, whereas such comparisons are more difficult when you never do the same workout twice. This is important, because seeing progress inspires future progress.

Of course, a training plan has to have some variation. First, the overall workload has to increase as it goes along. Second, the key workouts must become more race-specific. The following is a super simple 16-week training plan for half-iron-distance racing. It features nine workouts per week—three swims, three rides, and three runs—and is appropriate for “intermediate” level athletes.

You will find the workout descriptions self-explanatory for the most part, but the intensity and pacing guidelines require some explanation. Here’s a key to understanding them:

5K race pace = An effort performed at approximately the fastest pace you could sustain in a 5K running race.
10K race pace = An effort performed at approximately the fastest pace you could sustain in a 10K running race.
Comfortably hard = An effort that is right on the threshold of making you really suffer.
Easy = A very comfortable effort, deliberately slower than your natural pace in swimming, cycling or running.
Hard = An effort that is very challenging but not maximal for the prescribed duration (such that a two-minute hard effort is performed at a slightly faster pace than a three-minute hard effort).
Jog = Very slow running.
Moderate = An effort that feels comfortable but not dawdling.
Race pace = An effort performed at your anticipated half-iron-distance race pace.
Sprint = A 100 percent maximal effort.
Time trial = A maximal effort relative to the prescribed distance.

SOURCE: http://triathlon.competitor.com/2010/09/training/super-simple-ironman-70-3-triathlon-training-plan_12364 

Matt Fitzgerald provides a simple-to-follow 16 week training plan for the half Ironman distance.

Week 1

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 40 minutes moderate with 4 x 30-second sprints scattered.
Wednesday: Swim 800 yards total. Main set: 8 x 25 yards, rest interval (RI) = 20 seconds. | Run 4 miles moderate + 2 x 10-second hill sprints.
Thursday: Bike 40 minutes moderate.
Friday: Swim 800 yards total. Main set: 3 x 100 yards race pace, RI = 15 seconds. | Run 4 miles moderate.
Saturday: Bike 20 miles moderate.
Sunday: Run 6 miles moderate. | Swim 800 yards moderate.

Week 2

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 40 minutes moderate with 6 x 30-second sprints scattered.
Wednesday: Swim 850 yards total. Main set: 10 x 25 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 4 miles moderate + 4 x 10-second hill sprints.
Thursday: Bike 40 minutes moderate + 5 minutes comfortably hard.
Friday: Swim 850 yards total. Main set: 4 x 100 yards race pace, RI = 15 seconds. | Run 4 miles moderate.
Saturday: Bike 25 miles moderate.
Sunday: Run 7 miles moderate. | Swim 1,000 yards moderate.

Week 3

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 40 minutes with 8 x 30-second sprints scattered.
Wednesday: Swim 900 yards total. Main set: 12 x 25 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 4 miles moderate + 6 x 10-second hill sprints.
Thursday: Bike 40 minutes moderate + 8 minutes comfortably hard.
Friday: Swim 900 yards total. Main set: 3 x 200 yards race pace, RI = 15 seconds. | Run 4.5 miles moderate.
Saturday: Bike 30 miles moderate.
Sunday: Run 8 miles moderate. | Swim 1,200 yards moderate.

Week 4 (Recovery)

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 40 minutes with 6 x 30-second sprints scattered.
Wednesday: Swim 800 yards total. Main set: 8 x 25 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 4 miles moderate + 4 x 10-second hill sprints.
Thursday: Bike 40 minutes moderate + 5 minutes comfortably hard.
Friday: Swim 800 yards total. Main set: 3 x 100 yards race pace, RI = 15 seconds. | Run 4 miles moderate.
Saturday: Bike 25 miles moderate.
Sunday: Run 7 miles moderate. | Swim 1,000 yards moderate.

Week 5

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 45 minutes with 8 x 1-minute hard efforts scattered.
Wednesday: Swim 1,000 yards total. Main set: 6 x 50 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 4.5 miles with 6 x 30-second hard efforts scattered.
Thursday: Bike 40 minutes moderate + 8 minutes comfortably hard.
Friday: Swim 1,000 yards total. Main set: 2 x 200 yards race pace, RI = 30 seconds. | Run 4.5 miles moderate + 4 x 10-sec. hill sprints.
Saturday: Bike 35 miles moderate + 10-minute transition run at moderate pace.
Sunday: Run 9 miles moderate. | Swim 1,400 yards moderate.

Week 6

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 45 minutes with 6 x 2-minute hard efforts scattered.
Wednesday: Swim 1,100 yards total. Main set: 8 x 50 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 4.5 miles with 6 x 45-second hard efforts scattered.
Thursday: Bike 40 minutes moderate + 10 minutes comfortably hard.
Friday: Swim 1,100 yards total. Main set: 3 x 200 yards race pace, RI = 30 seconds. | Run 4.5 miles moderate + 4 x 10-second hill sprints.
Saturday: Bike 40 miles moderate.
Sunday: Run 10 miles moderate. | Swim 1,600 yards total. Main set: 1,000 yard time trial.

Week 7

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 45 minutes with 4 x 3-minute hard efforts scattered.
Wednesday: Swim 1,200 yards total. Main set: 10 x 50 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 4.5 miles with 6 x 1-minute hard efforts scattered.
Thursday: Bike 40 minutes moderate + 12 minutes comfortably hard.
Friday: Swim 1,200 yards total. Main set: 3 x 200 yards race pace, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 5 miles moderate + 4 x 10-second hill sprints.
Saturday: Bike 45 miles moderate + 15-minute transition run at moderate pace.
Sunday: Run 11 miles moderate. | Swim 1,800 yards moderate.

Week 8 (Recovery)

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 40 minutes with 6 x 1-minute hard efforts scattered.
Wednesday: Swim 1,000 yards total. Main set: 8 x 50 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 4.5 miles with 6 x 30-second hard efforts scattered.
Thursday: Bike 40 minutes moderate + 8 minutes comfortably hard.
Friday: Swim 1,000 yards total. Main set: 2 x 200 yards race pace, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 4 miles moderate.
Saturday: Bike 35 miles moderate.
Sunday: Run 9 miles moderate. | Swim 1,400 yards moderate.

Week 9

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 50 minutes with 6 x 2-minute hard efforts scattered.
Wednesday: Swim 1,300 yards total. Main set: 6 x 75 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 1 mile easy, 8 x 600m at 5K race pace with 400m jog recoveries, 1 mile easy.
Thursday: Bike 40 minutes moderate + 15 minutes comfortably hard.
Friday: Swim 1,300 yards total. Main set: 2 x 300 yards race pace, RI = 30 seconds. | Run 5 miles moderate + 4 x 10-second hill sprints.
Saturday: Bike 50 miles moderate + 20-minute transition run at moderate pace.
Sunday: Run 12 miles moderate. | Swim 2,000 yards moderate.

Week 10

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 50 minutes with 5 x 3-minute hard efforts scattered.
Wednesday: Swim 1,400 yards total. Main set: 8 x 75 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 1 mile easy, 6 x 800m at 5K race pace with 400m jog recoveries, 1 mile easy.
Thursday: Bike 40 minutes moderate + 18 minutes comfortably hard.
Friday: Swim 1,400 yards total. Main set: 2 x 300 yards race pace, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 5.5 miles moderate + 4 x 10-second hill sprints.
Saturday: Bike 55 miles moderate.
Sunday: Run 13 miles moderate. | Swim 2,000 yards total. Main set: 1,500 time trial.

Week 11

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 55 minutes with 4 x 4-minute hard efforts scattered.
Wednesday: Swim 1,500 yards total. Main set: 10 x 75 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 1 mile easy, 5 x 1,000m at 5K race pace with 400m jog recoveries, 1 mile easy.
Thursday: Bike 40 minutes moderate + 20 minutes comfortably hard.
Friday: Swim 1,500 yards total. Main set: 3 x 300 yards race pace, RI = 30 seconds. | Run 6 miles moderate + 4 x 10-second hill sprints.
Saturday: Bike 60 miles moderate + 10-minute transition run at race pace.
Sunday: Run 14 miles moderate. | Swim 2,200 yards moderate.

Week 12 (Recovery)

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 45 minutes with 5 x 2-minute hard efforts scattered.
Wednesday: Swim 1,300 yards total. Main set: 6 x 75 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. Run 2 miles easy, 1 miles at 10K race pace, 2 miles easy.
Thursday: Bike 40 minutes moderate + 10 minutes comfortably hard.
Friday: Swim 1,300 yards total. Main set: 2 x 300 yards race pace, RI = 30 seconds. | Run 5 miles moderate.
Saturday: Bike 45 miles moderate.
Sunday: Run 10 miles moderate. | Swim 2,000 yards moderate.

Week 13

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 20 minutes easy, 20 minutes comfortably hard, 20 minutes easy.
Wednesday: Swim 1,600 yards total. Main set: 6 x 100 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 2 miles easy, 2 miles at 10K race pace, 2 miles easy.
Thursday: Bike 45 minutes with 5 x 2-minute hard efforts scattered.
Friday: Swim 1,600 yards total. Main set: 2 x 400 yards race pace, RI = 30 seconds. | Run 6 miles moderate + 4 x 10-second hill sprints.
Saturday: Bike 50 miles moderate + 10 miles race pace + 15-minute transition run at race pace.
Sunday: Run 10 miles moderate + 2 miles race pace. | Swim 2,200 yards total. Main set: 500 yards race pace.

Week 14

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 20 minutes easy, 25 minutes comfortably hard, 15 minutes easy.
Wednesday: Swim 1,800 yards total. Main set: 8 x 100 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 2 miles easy, 3 miles at 10K race pace, 2 miles easy.
Thursday: Bike 45 minutes with 4 x 3-minute hard efforts scattered.
Friday: Swim 1,600 yards total. Main set: 2 x 400 yards race pace, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 6 miles moderate + 4 x 10-second hill sprints.
Saturday: Bike 45 miles moderate + 15 miles race pace + 20-minute transition run at race pace.
Sunday: Run 12 miles moderate + 2 miles race pace. | Swim 2,400 yards total. Main set: 600 yards race pace.

Week 15

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 15 minutes easy, 30 minutes comfortably hard, 15 minutes easy.
Wednesday: Swim 2,000 yards total. Main set: 10 x 100 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 2 miles easy, 3 miles at 10K race pace, 2 miles easy.
Thursday: Bike 45 minutes with 8 x 1-minute hard efforts scattered.
Friday: Swim 1,600 yards total. Main set: 2 x 400 yards race pace, RI = 30 seconds. | Run 4.5 miles moderate + 4 x 10-second hill sprints.
Saturday: Bike 40 miles moderate + 10 miles race pace + 10-minute transition run at race pace.
Sunday: Run 12 miles moderate + 2 miles race pace (beat last week’s time). | Swim 2,400 yards total. Main set: 600 yards race pace (beat last week’s time).

Week 16

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bike 10 minutes easy, 10 minutes comfortably hard, 10 minutes easy.
Wednesday: Swim 1,300 yards total. Main set: 5 x 100 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 2 miles easy, 1 mile at 10K race pace, 2 miles easy.
Thursday: Bike 45 minutes with 5 x 30-second sprints scattered.
Friday: Swim 800 yards total. Main set: 400 yards race pace. | Run 3 miles easy.
Saturday: Swim 10 minutes easy with 4 x 30 seconds at race pace. | Bike 10 minutes with 4 x 30 seconds fast. | Run 10 minutes with 4 x 20 seconds at 90 percent effort.
Sunday: RACE!

Ragnar Relay Training Program: 12 Week Program

Here is the link to the excel file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9tSu67rO2T4RXpkeEFjWmdkT28/edit?usp=sharing 

Birthday Gifts bring renewed Energy

I haven't posted much of anything on here lately, and that's been due to my lack of running, I think I've only done about 8 miles during the month of December. But I definitely plan to start out 2014 with a bang. The first Half Marathon is January 4th, so I will be quick out of the gate with running.

For my 25th birthday, My parents were gracious enough to support my new found love of running and training by providing me entrances to both the Folsom Long Course (70.3 Mile Triathlon) and the OC Half Marathon. Both set in 2014.

Look out 2014! Here I come!

Julie Weiss Training Run and Tough Mudder San Diego

Julie Weiss Training Run: http://youtu.be/RLaK8Wt-SaI?t=2m

Tough Mudder San Diego: http://youtu.be/RLaK8Wt-SaI?t=5m32s

Unrealistic Dreams Becoming Reality

I've always been competitive in my life, not just with opponents but with friends and especially myself. One thing that I've been competitive about in my running is the thought and briefly that I can always do better than I have been before. Back before the marathon and before I got hit with IT band pain I was able to set a 5 mile PR. Every Wednesday I run the same route with the run club, so I know when one run is better than the other. Using the iPhone app "Runkeeper" I am able to track the pace of my runs, swims, and biking, it uses the phone gps to pinpoint the route and speed.

Back on August 14th I set a time at 8:32/mile, amazed with myself and impressed I was satisfied, but only for the time being. Then when the IT band pain hit. I decoded to slow my pace and not hurt myself. But then October came around and the marathon came and went and my legs finally healed, then something amazing happened. I set a new PR for my 5 mile run. 

When I say I hit a new PR I don't mean by one or two seconds, but on October 23rd (exactly ten days after the LB marathon) I ran the same 5 mile course as always but I paced it at an 8:09/mile, a full 23 seconds faster than a couple months before!!! But that's not the last of it. Exactly seven days later, the very next Wednesday on the same 5 mike course I set ANOTHER PR. On October 30th, I ran the 5 mile route at a pace of 7:43/mile, a full 26 seconds faster than before, for the first time breaking an average pace of 8:00/mile for anything over 2 miles.

Knowing myself I was beyond excited with last weeks pace time. Then today, one week since my PR on the 30th, I decided I was going to push and see what I could do. I got off to a good start, setting a quick pace, running my fasted pace mile ever in my life (2nd mile was ran in 7min 5sec) and no mile was over 8min. For the 3rd week in a row I set a new PR, this week I ran my 5 mile course at a pace of 7:28/mile, dropping another 15 seconds per mile. 

Attached is a photo showing my pace time with the last 3 weeks and a comparative chart. Who knows where I plateau but I'm still going strong. Who knows what next week will bring!

Weekly Recap: Halloween, Sold Out Races, New Bikes, and Boots with Fur!

This video is about Weekly Recap 10.28.13 - 11.03.13 HALLOWEEN WEEK! Check out how the holiday affected the training.  The Ironman 70.3 that we are looking at doing sold out before we even got a chance to sign up, so find out how we adapt. Check out the bike that I am in the process of purchasing. There is also a surprise clip at the end, because you never know what you will run into out here in Long Beach!

Athletes Adjust.

Alright!

We are on our bike ride to Huntington. We are gonna bike ride to Huntington, then get in a little 3 mile run, and then bike back. We might get a beer and the half way point.  Don't tell anybody, but uh... Ya its a beautiful Saturday.  Not to much sun out there and uh the light training starts to we are excited!

What is up out there all you Stephen and Steven followers! So in that last clip feeling pretty good and um my version of this training is going to be a little different then Steven's.  You see in the post that he made everything was all great. We bike there, we ran and we biked back.  Well for me, once we got there I can feel it a little in my legs. They were starting to wear.  and then to get off the bike and to do that run transition for the first time was uh pretty interesting.  I could feel in my quadriceps um everything was just tighter.  Its different to go from that one sport to another. Even tho I've, its about an hour bike ride, so even tho Ive run for an hour before and then still ran on the legs, switching sports was really interesting.  Umm, from there we finished up the 3 mile run and uh what happened next.

Alright, so we are on our way back.  We did 12 miles down to huntington and then 3 mile run in huntington.  We didn't get subway, I mean we got subway. We didn't get beers. There is a pretty nasty headwind. I don't know if you can hear that but I hope you can hear me.  But we are on our way back and my $85 Target Bike is no much assistance so ya. Pretty humbling ride on the way back to Long Beach. Check in with you later.

Alright, so we made it back, obviously which is good, but after I filmed that clip.  Its really interesting what happened next.  it took me about ten minutes on reflecting on what I had said and I thought about it.  I actually felt really bad. I had a huge sense of remorse the whole ride home and a shift my attitude because I was tired, like i said there was a huge headwind and it was a tough ride.  Getting on a bike and I don't really... I wasn't really cycling before this ride and we jumped on it and did 25 mile bike ride so I was blaming it on the bike, but thats not what you do as an athlete. Athletes adjust and so from here on out I won't be blaming anything on the equipment.  Its all whats going on right here with my body so if I can't go as fast as I want, then I need to get stronger. Im lucky to have a bike, a swim suit and a pair of running shoes to even be able to train for this sport so ya its not a $2,500 road bike or tri bike but its what I have for now and ya know, Im looking into upgrading but for now it what I have and what I have to work with so No Excuses.

We are going to train through this and get stronger and use what we have. Thats pretty much all we have for you.  So we made it back and I'm feeling a little bit sore. its the next day that I am filming this part so a little bit of soreness in my legs, but for the most part feels pretty good.  It was a good workout, so this week I will be focusing a lot on upper body.  Pull ups Push ups, that kinda thing because I have a tough mudder coming up in 2 weeks.   I am going to try and get in the pool I'm going to say 3 times.  So try and jump in the pool 3 times and just work on form even if its for 15 minutes and check back in with you guys later!

Biking to the Run and Back

Yesterday's training plan called for a 5 mile run, but we decided to throw a curve ball to that. We decided to run in Huntington Beach instead of our usual running routes, and to change it up even more we decided that we would ride the 12 miles to the pier and only run 3 miles then ride home. All in all we ended up biking 25 miles and running 3 miles, and 2 1/2 hours of activity time.