I continue to suffer though the mid-winter months of the Mid-West. Spring is really starting to sound good. Hopefully in another month, I'll be riding outside.
Swimming
I had to hop back in the pool with the Triple T on the horizon. I get plenty of aerobic training with my biking and running, so early in a swim block I focus on muscular endurance. Long, exaggerated, strong pulls, using a lower stroke count than I would ever race with. I'm swimming 1-2x a week for an hour (2-2.5k yds). For an early season Main Set (MS) I like 10 or 12 x 100s on 2mins. I can hold 1:15-1:20 per 100, so about 40sec rest. Arms, shoulders and back really feel the burn on these. As I progress throughout the season, I'll lengthen the MS to 200s. During my peak training volume, when I can hit 12x200s on 3 minutes without passing out, I'm confident that I'm in 1hr Ironman shape. Understandably, I'm quite a ways from that right now.
Biking
It's coming along. FTP is a few watts north of where I've ever been before but I'm also about 10 pounds heavy. Power to weight ratio isn't too impressive, yet. I was hitting about 4 FTP workouts a week, which was leaving me a bit drained. As we move closer to spring, I'm planning on replacing at least 2 of these sessions to build in some more tempo riding. I'd like to have about 7 biking hrs a week right now, but lately it's been a struggle to hit 5hrs. Fatigue is the main factor. The Fraser Bicycle Winter Time Trail series has been a fun little distraction. Whatever it takes to keep the pedals spinning until spring.
Run
I was running more than I typically do in the winter, about 3hrs a week (20-25ish miles) . I think mostly because it's easier to squeeze in a 1/2hr run than it is a 1hr on the bike. At times, with my other obligations, a 1/2 hr at a time is all I can muster. Last week I got a little niggle in my left knee, maybe from running too many hills, but probably from playing human snowplow. No worries, I'll give it another week of rest which will help me to continue focus on swimming and biking (which gladly doesn't aggravate the knee).
Core/Yoga
I'm getting better with this and am much stronger than I was early in January, but I'm still not doing as much core work as I should be. Swimming and shoveling really activities the core, but I'd be even stronger and more stable if I could just get myself to spend more time planking and super-manning in the basement. Push-up, pull-ups and dips have also been activating the swim muscles without getting wet.
Nutrition/Recovery
As I've said I'm still about 10lbs over race weight. My diet is much improved from back in January. I'm eating less processed carbs and I've cut way back on the sweets and am snacking much healthier again. I'm leaner now that I was in January, so I think I'm converting flub to muscle, although my quads are still trampolining off my gut in the aero bars. I like the philosophy "train heavy, race light". With my existing diet, I have no doubt the pounds will start falling off as I continue to increase my volume leading into spring; it always does.
That's all for now.
Train Smart.
Swimming
I had to hop back in the pool with the Triple T on the horizon. I get plenty of aerobic training with my biking and running, so early in a swim block I focus on muscular endurance. Long, exaggerated, strong pulls, using a lower stroke count than I would ever race with. I'm swimming 1-2x a week for an hour (2-2.5k yds). For an early season Main Set (MS) I like 10 or 12 x 100s on 2mins. I can hold 1:15-1:20 per 100, so about 40sec rest. Arms, shoulders and back really feel the burn on these. As I progress throughout the season, I'll lengthen the MS to 200s. During my peak training volume, when I can hit 12x200s on 3 minutes without passing out, I'm confident that I'm in 1hr Ironman shape. Understandably, I'm quite a ways from that right now.Biking
It's coming along. FTP is a few watts north of where I've ever been before but I'm also about 10 pounds heavy. Power to weight ratio isn't too impressive, yet. I was hitting about 4 FTP workouts a week, which was leaving me a bit drained. As we move closer to spring, I'm planning on replacing at least 2 of these sessions to build in some more tempo riding. I'd like to have about 7 biking hrs a week right now, but lately it's been a struggle to hit 5hrs. Fatigue is the main factor. The Fraser Bicycle Winter Time Trail series has been a fun little distraction. Whatever it takes to keep the pedals spinning until spring.
Run
I was running more than I typically do in the winter, about 3hrs a week (20-25ish miles) . I think mostly because it's easier to squeeze in a 1/2hr run than it is a 1hr on the bike. At times, with my other obligations, a 1/2 hr at a time is all I can muster. Last week I got a little niggle in my left knee, maybe from running too many hills, but probably from playing human snowplow. No worries, I'll give it another week of rest which will help me to continue focus on swimming and biking (which gladly doesn't aggravate the knee).
Core/Yoga
I'm getting better with this and am much stronger than I was early in January, but I'm still not doing as much core work as I should be. Swimming and shoveling really activities the core, but I'd be even stronger and more stable if I could just get myself to spend more time planking and super-manning in the basement. Push-up, pull-ups and dips have also been activating the swim muscles without getting wet.
Nutrition/Recovery
As I've said I'm still about 10lbs over race weight. My diet is much improved from back in January. I'm eating less processed carbs and I've cut way back on the sweets and am snacking much healthier again. I'm leaner now that I was in January, so I think I'm converting flub to muscle, although my quads are still trampolining off my gut in the aero bars. I like the philosophy "train heavy, race light". With my existing diet, I have no doubt the pounds will start falling off as I continue to increase my volume leading into spring; it always does.
That's all for now.
Train Smart.
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