2010: Week One

Well, it's been a while. One of my New Year's resolutions was to maintain a training diary. I've done alright so far - writing down training / nutrition details before bed. It's interesting how keeping a log helps to maintain focus. I've slacked over the last few days, so I thought I'd update the first few training days of the year here:

Jan 1: 50-mile ride on TT bike ("Flash"). Rode from home in Scripps out along the 56 bike path and then north on the PCH to Leucadia where I turned around and headed home. Planned to ride for about 3 hours, but I turned around after about 1:18 and ended up riding about 2:40.

Jan 2: Club ride (coastal). ~38 miles. Hammered on the way up to Oceanside, then let the group head back before cruising back to Del Mar.

Jan 3: 20.5 mi. trail run in Noble Canyon. Slow. Not many calories taken in during the run and I kinda ran out of gas on the last long incline before heading down to the parking lot. It was my longest run since Chicago and will be the longest before Carlsbad (full). Ate a lot afterwards!

Jan 4: Took Monday off from running. Bought a Continental trainer tire and set up Flash on the CompuTrainer (w/o race wheels). Rode for about 1/2 an hour.

Jan 5: Track workout at UCSD. 8 x 800m (1:30 RI). 1 mile warmup followed by reps of 3:05, 3:05, 2:59, 2:59, 3:03, 3:02, 2:59 & 2:53. 1 mile warmdown and some planks before the lights went out. My first trip to Whole Foods afterwards. Good food, but pretty expensive!

Jan 6: Very easy 5-mile lunch run at Lake Miramar. 75°. Averaged just over 8 min miles. One hour on the CT (Kona course). Not very inspired. Diet was good. Just some jerky and soup for dinner. Snuck in a Clif bar w/glass of mile for desert.

Jan 7: 5-mile mid-tempo midday run at Lake Miramar. Warm temps (73°). My Garmin was out of battery, so I just used the cheapie Timex IM stopwatch and clocked the whole run at just under 34 minutes (33:50ish). I guess I averaged about 6:45-6:50 pace.

Based on the latest track workout and today's time trial, I would say I'm looking at a marathon time of somewhere around 3:10. First swim lesson (of a three-part intermediate series) with Ruthy Vesler tonight - yikes! Can't remember the last time I did a serious pool workout. I'm in trouble! Hoping to try out some new techniques at the Cove tomorrow afternoon (if I can get out of work in time). Long ride / brick run Sat! Carlsbad course preview run Sun.

Back At It

Finally! 15 miles. Not technically a long run, but it felt long! Met with the SDR peeps at Lake Miramar on Sunday morning and banged out 3 laps, averaging 7:22. There were some rough patches, but I found my stride towards the end of each lap. Starting back up after a quick pitstop for water and electrolytes was not the most fun thing. Good company made the run bearable.

1/2 hour on the CompuTrainer in the evening (~30 min.) Spin Scan is still not where I need it to be. It's remarkable how much quicker you can pedal when you lift and thrust forward just before reaching the top of each cycle. It's just tough to maintain it as it uses different muscles. Working on it...

Decisions

Ok, so the whole interval thing didn't work out all that well last night. I hit up a friend and he said he was up at a conference, so I bagged the intervals for a 5-mile tempo run down at the Waterfront. It was good to catch up with some training buds and grab some $1.50 tacos and Red Trolley.

Have to figure out whether to do the Weds run before JCC masters swim or get out on the bike at the lake. Leaning towards the lake as my legs are still struggling to recover from Chicago. I don't know that any running between now and Sunday will help anything.

Also, seriously considering a CompuTrainer. Looks like an awesome training tool. If we have to be cooped up for the winter, might as well take advantage of the time - and technology - and get ready to make a run at a Kona spot next year!

Hello World

Time for a quick shout!

It's Tuesday and Soma Triathlon is this Sunday. A good group of SDR / TCSD athletes are making the trip to Tempe. We're traveling on Friday and will be staying at the Courtyard Marriott downtown. Bike check and course preview on Sat (and maybe a quick dip in Tempe Town Lake?).

Tonight will be some short intervals (6x400), easy run and masters swim at JCC on Weds and an easy ride at Miramar on Thurs.