4/18/2010

I am going to keep this short so that I can get to bed. I am beat. This week I rode 280 miles and ran 48 miles and I was also able to increase my long run to 12 miles. Not bad overall. Unfortunately, all of my rides were inside on the trainer but, on a positive note, I am starting to feel much better on my runs. I was really concerned that all the riding would make my legs feel thick and heavy but when I balance the riding and running they feel pretty good. They are not as fresh as they used to be, like even last spring, but I am finally able to do all of my running in the 6:30-7:30 min/mi pace range so I am back to where I should be.

Monday: bike - 30, run - 8mi+ (56:08)
Tuesday: bike - 40 (AM), 30 (PM), run - 8+mi (54:06)
Wednesday: bike - 30
Thursday: bike - 40 (AM), 30 (PM)
Friday: run - 11.5mi+ (79:44)
Saturday: bike - 40, run - 8.5mi (58:35)
Sunday: bike - 40, run - 12mi (80:21)

Next week I am planning on bumping up to 300 miles on the bike and 50+ miles of running. We will see though because Wednesday is the first of the GCS track workouts and I have not decided if I am ready for that yet. I think that I am ahead of last year at this point and I had a great spring season, but this is an Achilles injury and I do not want to press my luck.

4/11/2010

This week was supposed to be an easy week and I was hoping to feel well rested by the end. Well, that was not the case. It started out alright but I commuted to work on my bike on Tuesday (36 miles each way because of a detour) and that pretty much killed me for the week. I think that the problem was that I did not have enough calories and fluids on the ride home and I totally bonked. I did not really slow down but I was in a trance just cranking along in the cold (it was 45 and damp) and only made it home because I have ridden or run that stretch of road so many times before. I was really tired the rest of the week and I had a hard time getting psyched to get out the door for a ride or a run. By the weekend things began to turn around and I had a really good workout on Sunday morning - I rode 40 miles and ran 10 miles before 8:30AM.

For the week I got in 182 miles on the bike and 40 miles of running. Quite a drop off from last week, but hopefully I can build next week. The plan for next week is to get 250 miles on the bike and close to 50 miles running.

Monday: bike - 0, run - 8mi+ (59:02)
Tuesday: bike - 36 (AM) 1:50:21, 36 (PM) 1:45:05 -- today just killed me!
Wednesday: bike - 0, run - 10mi+ (73:17)
Thursday: bike - 30, run - 8mi+ (57:58)
Friday: nada!
Saturday: bike - 40, run - 4mi (26:08)
Sunday: bike - 40, run - 10mi+ (69:32)

I did get the Kuota Kueen K back from the shop this week and really wanted to ride it but discovered something that I did not know about the bike. It has what is called an integrated seat mast. Instead of a seat post that can be adjusted to fit your inseam there is a very short seat post and the frame has to be cut to fit your position. I guess that this improves rigidity, but it just seems stupid. If I cut the mast too short the bike is scrap and if I want to sell the bike down the road I can only sell to someone with a shorter inseam than me. The previous owner of the bike claimed to be 5'-11" with a 33 inch inseam (I am 5'-10.5" with a 32" inseam) so I was hopeful that it would fit me fine. I can barely touch the pedals on tippy-toe when sitting on the bike. He had to have a 35"+ inseam I bet. This leaves me with cutting the frame, which I am a little scared to do, or selling the bike. I played with the shifting a bit too (it has SRAM Red) and I would have to say that it does not seem nearly as smooth as the Campy Record on the other bike. I double checked with the shop to see if it was dialed in correctly (it was) and they said this was normal and that SRAM Red is a bit noisy, but overall very nice. Weird.

4/4/2010

It is hard to believe that it is Easter already. Time is flying this year. This was a pretty hard week because of the total miles that I covered and the number of workouts. I was able to trim it down to only 2 triples, but those were long days. I met my goals for both running and biking by hitting 41 miles on foot in 6 runs and 303.7 miles on the bike in 9 rides. That is an almost 44 mile increase over last week on 2 fewer rides in the week (a 23.6 mile/ride average versus a 33.8 mile/ride average). Thankfully the weather cooperated this week and I was able to get out of the basement and out on the roads. I was not sure it would make that much of a difference, but I have a much easier time handling time on the bike when I am outside, both mentally and physically. My achilles seems to be hanging in there too as I can do a full 8 miler without stopping to stretch my calves and hamstrings. Here is a breakdown of the week's training:

Monday: bike - 30 (AM), 30 (PM), run - 6 (42:xx)
Tuesday: bike - 40, run - 6 (44:40)
Wednesday: bike - 30, run - 8 (58:33)
Thursday: bike - 40 (AM), 30 (PM), run - 6 (?)
Friday: bike - 28.5 (1:21:29), run - 4 (25:46) -- Actually biked outside!
Saturday: bike - 46.7 (2:12:00), run - 0 -- biked outside again. I meant to run today but I was beat after the ride. It was longer than I expected and I only had one bottle of fluids for the entire ride. Not good since this was the first 80 degree day we have had since last summer.
Sunday: bike - 28.5 (1:24:33), run - 9+ (1:04 and change) This was a nice easy ride to let the legs relax. After the ride I hung out for an hour with the kids while my wife worked out and then I went to down to Mine Falls Park to run. I thought my legs would feel better than just going into the run after the ride but my legs were like lead weights and it took me 2-3 miles to work out the stiffness.

I am going to take next week on the bike by feel. I have been ramping mileage for about 4 weeks now at about 20%/week so I will probably drop back a bit to somewhere around 200-250 and get some rest. I feel pretty good but do not want to push my luck. I should be able to hit mid to high 40's for running and I will work on adding a mile or two to my long run if it feels good. If everything goes well I should be able to level off at 50-60 miles of running and 300 miles on the bike by the middle of April.

O.M.G.

The title of the post says it all. I was so excited that the rain had finally stopped (we got 15+ inches in New England in March!), the sun was shining and it was 70 degrees. This was also the first day outside on the Kalibur and I really wanted to see how it felt on the roads. I was not disappointed. To borrow a line from my kids, the bike is sick! I am amazed at how much nicer a ride it is than my old bike. It rolls much smoother and farther and there is just this swooshing when I coast. Very cool. Also, on my old bike when I really pushed the pedals it did not respond but on this bike when I push I have to hang on because it feels like the bike is going to shoot out from under me. All I can say is incredible.

I stayed off the roads and rode the Nashua River Trail only because I had never ridden with aero bars and did not know how well they handled. I did alright, although the bike is a bit harder to control. On a positive note, I had no problem keeping in the aero position for almost 30 miles and I also did not have any problems with the saddle. I had an easy day scheduled because I rode 70 miles and ran 6 miles yesterday but once I got going I went a little harder than I should have. I did 28.5 miles and averaged 21 mph (20 out and 22 back) and then jumped off the bike and ran 4 miles in 25:45 (my first run averaging sub-7 minute pace since last fall). Very good day overall.

3/28/2010

Not a bad week overall. My goal going into the week was to run 30-40 miles and cycle 225-250 miles and I ended the week with 32 running miles, in 5 runs, and 260 cycling miles, in 11 rides. That sounds like a lot of rides but I can not sit on the bike for more than 90 minutes at a time or I go crazy (I'm on the trainer) and my backside starts to hurt. I am still getting used to the saddle. Even though my running miles were a bit on the low side, I am pleased with the progress I have been making because I got my longest run up to 8 miles for the first time since November. I feel like I need to get my run up faster though because my legs are definitely starting to change from all the cycling and they are not really feeling like running legs any more. It is helping on the bike because my legs do not hurt all the time while riding, but they are feeling a bit bulky for running now and I did not start out with small legs.

Today I spent some time getting the Kuota Kalibur set up to ride, adjusting the cables and putting on new tires and brake pads so that I could start using it. I did my first ride on it tonight and man, what a difference from my old bike. I am still getting used to the aero position and have to do some tweaking to my position, but the difference between the Campy Record and my 15 year old Shimano Ultegra is like night and day. The Campy is sooo smooth and I can ride much faster with less effort. The last thing I have to do is get some new pedals like the Looks. I have the old Shimano SPD pedals that are very narrow and I always feel like I am falling off the sides of them.

Monday: bike - 30 (AM), 20 (PM), run - 6
Tuesday: bike - 25 (AM), 20 (PM), run - 6
Wednesday: bike - 30 (AM), 20 (PM)
Thursday: bike - 20, run - 6 (44:05)
Friday: bike - 20 (AM), 30 (PM)
Saturday: bike - 20, run - 6 (44:33)
Sunday: bike - 20, run - 8 (56:59)

The goal for next week is to hit close to 40 miles for running and 250-300 for cycling. I would like to level off at 50-60 for running and 300ish for cycling and hold that for 2-3 months to build a solid base. I will then look at adding speed work and hills to both.

A New Beginning

This past winter really sucked for me. Last fall, after my racing season ended, I took 2 weeks off from running to let everything heal. On my very first day back I went out for a really easy 8 miler and half way through my achilles felt a little off. This was weird because it was my left achilles that was bothering me and I had never had any trouble with it before. I have had a lot of trouble with my right achilles, but this was new. I ended the run, iced, took some advil and did not think much of it. The next day I was barely able to walk and ended up taking more than two and a half months off, completely. That's right, no running at all for two and a half months. On top of that it was the holiday season, I was working a ton and our son Noah was born. In the end, I think I gained about 15 pounds. Yikes!

Around the new year I decided to get my act together and start working out again. I could not run so I started out walking 4-5 miles each day on the treadmill. I felt like such an old fart but I knew that this was the only way I was going to get back running. After time I started adding in a some running, alternating 1/4 mile run with 1/2 mile walking. Eventually, I increased the run portion and by the first of March I was able to run 3-4 miles straight. None of this was fast, mind you. Most of my mileage has been at 8:00 minute pace and sometimes I can work down to 7:30ish pace for a mile or so. Most days I begin each run with 20-30 minutes on the bike and some easy stretching. This whole ordeal is making me really appreciate running and also realize that I can not do it as much as I would like going forward.

This is where the new beginning part comes in. I dabbled in cycling last summer a bit but did not really do it consistently, or for a long time. I decided that I need to add cycling back into my game plan and have decided to give the whole triathlon thing a try. Winters in New Hampshire are a bit rough for cycling so I started by buying an indoor trainer and also went as far as buying a new triathlon bike. I am going to put swimming off a little bit and get my running and cycling miles up. I am only running about 25-30 miles per week right now so I have a lot of work to do.

Based on reviews I read I bought the Kurt Kinetic Rock and Roll Pro trainer. I have put a decent amount of time in on it and like it so far. The only thing the Pro model adds is a larger flywheel (12lb add on to 6lb flywheel). I have been riding by feel because I have not switched the speed sensor to the rear wheel yet and the battery in my HR monitor is dead. I figure that it does not matter too much at this point because I am just putting in the hours and getting used to the bike. Right now I have a crappy, 15 year old cycling computer but I would like to find one that has gps (would be nice), cadence, speed, HR and power when I move outdoors. I am leaning towards the Garmin Edge 305, although that lacks the power option. I need to look around a bit more.

Now for the really exciting part - the bike. I have been riding a 1996 Trek 5000 with an 8-speed Ultegra groupo for a number of years. Not that this is a bad bike, but it was called an antique when I took it to the bike shop. After lots of research and reading about the new component groups, the different frame materials and brands I bought a used 2009 Kuota Kueen K with full SRAM Red groupo on Ebay, shown in the picture below. It came with Easton Circuit training wheels, but these will have to do for the first year. If I spend any more money my wife will not be too happy. I have not been able to ride it because it came completely disassembled and it is at the bike shop until April 8th getting built.

While buying this bike I discovered that I am not a very good Ebayer, if that is a word. I did not really get the hang of how the auctions ended and got a bit frustrated when I lost a bike to people 'snipping' at the end of the auction. I really wanted the Kueen K but bid on a Kuota Kalibur at the same time and ended up winning both bikes. Oops. The other bike is a 2008 Kuota Kalibur with the Campy Record groupo and Reynold MV32 wheels. Oddly enough, the bike did not come with tires, rim strips or brake pads, so I have to buy those. There is no way I can convince the wife to keep both so I am going to ride them both to see how they feel, compare the component groups and wheels and then sell one of the bikes.

Well, that's it for now. I am glad to be back to training and posting on my blog and actually pretty excited that I have something new to work at. I will try to do both the Tuesday rides from Goodales Bike shop (40-60 miles at 23-24 mph, or so they say) and the Wednesday track sessions with the Gate City Striders and post those workouts when they start in 3-4 weeks. Here is a summary of the last two weeks of training:

Monday: b(20), r(5.0)
Tuesday: b(30), r(4.0)
Wednesday: b(30), r(5.2)
Thursday: b(40), r(6.0)
Friday: b(33.3), r(0) <-- Actually rode outside
Saturday: b(23.2), r(5.8) <-- Outside again, a brick
Sunday: b(30), r(0)

Bike total: 205.5 miles
Run total: 26 miles

I am still getting used to the riding and my running is still not where it should be. I am shooting for 225-250 miles on the bike next week and 30-40 miles of running. Last week I rode 150 miles and ran about 25-30 miles.