Posts Tagged ‘triathlon’
This is was the first time in my life I was actually able to finish a run on the treadmill. Usually I make it about 5 minutes, get bored, then do something else.
It helps that I have a plan I am now following. Todays workout was pretty straightforward and challenging. Actually, I found that doing it on the treadmill was a bit easier to maintain pace than it is outside. Maybe this season I will be able to get more treadmill time in and improve my overall running. Only time will tell.
The workout was a 15 minute warm-up with a couple pickups.
Main set: .5 mile x 1 HR Z4, 3minute recovery. Then 1 mile x 2 (3′) HR Z4.
Cool down.
Total time on the treadmill was 45 minutes and my heart rate was higher than my last outside run of a similar zone 4 workout.
Every so often I pull out my trigger point rollers and use them to loosen up my legs and hips. Every time I think to myself “why don’t I do this more often?”. Hopefully this time I will keep them out and handy to make the trigger point system part of my regular routine. It really does help to make my hips and IT band feel much better.
Trigger Point - Love The Hurt.
What’s the down side? IT HURTS! but it hurts so good. Especially on the hips and IT bands, which makes perfect sense because that is where I am currently the most tight. It is still early in this training cycle so I will do my best to keep using the TP system and finally free my hips from being so tight.
I usually just do the sequence on my own starting on my calf’s then adjusting to my quads. Then roll out to my IT (this is the one that hurts). Then my sciatica. All in all, it takes about 30 minutes to get my legs good and loose. And I can totally feel the difference after it is done. I highly recommend this to anybody who feels a little tight or is prone to certain injuries, such as IT band syndrome.
My official start date to outseason training was this monday. And just in time too, I am starting to feel really out of shape.
For the run test, it was a essentially a 5k time trial.
- Distance: 3.03 miles
- Time: 00:25:02
- Pace: 8:16
- LTHR: 175 (my heart felt like it was going to explode for the final mile)
- Vdot: 37
The bike was a 40 minute time trial. I did it last week outdoors and redid the same test on the indoor trainer. I like the outdoor test better because I need to work on my mental focus while on the indoor trainer. That will come in time. My outdoor test results for the bike:
- Distance: 13.3 miles
- Time: 00:41:24
- Speed: 19.3 mph
- LTHR: 160
The silver lining is that I have A LOT of room for improvement.
Here I write on Halloween morning, October 31. Surrounded by snow I can hardly believe winter is upon us, several times this week I have had to literally stop and think and wonder what month we were in.
I have been running intermittently after my stress fracture flared back up stopping me from runningbthe Denver half. I have Goofy’s challenege coming up in January and I found it more important to heal for a few weeks in order to properly train for that. As it is I will finish the races that weekend but will do so at a leisurely pace.
Last night I started spin teacher training and loved it. 3 more weeks of this training. I have also been biking to work each day possible.
Swim, hmmmm, need to get back to the pool…
Sure the training plan was 30 weeks, but the preperation was a lifetime. Granted, I was 33 years old the morning of race day. Therefor about 28 years of my lifetime were part of the experience leading up to the day but most likely had a negative effect on my fitness.
Anyway, this is about that one morning. The one day that I dreamed about for years and trained specifically for 30 weeks to achieve. That morning was my first Ironman. Ironman Coeur D’Alene 2009.
A nice thing about racing in Coeur D’alene is the fact that the sun rises early and sets late. So even though the start is early, the sun is already up and the day is bright. It made starting the day pretty easy. I still felt tired, but it was bright and there were thousands of other people up and about too. It actually felt more like 11:00am then 5:00am. Ofcourse, that could have just been positive nerves as well.
My wife, duaghter, and I arrived at the beach with my special needs bags and wetsuit ready to go. I immediately found a volunteer to take care of my markings. Number 714 on my arms and my age on my legs. I was ready to go.
Oh wait, drop the special needs bags off, put fresh nutrition on my bike, pump my tires, and then I was ready…
The start was not as crowded as I had imagined. Sure, it was crowded with 2,500+ people all jumping in the water at once. But I thought it was a suprisingly calm “chaotic” swim. The winds were pretty strong so the current was choppy, but it was a consistant chop. Easy to get in the groove or flow with. I consider the swim quite nice for anyone who has done atleast a couple open water swims.
I was aiming for a swim time fo about 1:12, given my Iron distance swim time of 1:09 in the Aurora reservoir back home only 5 days earlier. But the chop and crowds apparantly added a little more time than anticipated. Oh well, still a great swim. The water temp was in the mid 60’s and actually felt quite warm.
My only issue with the swim was the guy I was drafting on the final stretch went from a smooth freestyle stroke into a breastroke. His abrubt change into a frog kick cought me right in the nose! It hurt, it hurt alot. I think the chillish water helped sooth the pain. I learned quickly to stay away from that guy.
Out of the water in 1:20:14. I think I could do better, but let’s be honest. This was my first ironman and I am not qualifyeing for Kona (this year…) So who really cares if it took a little longer than I anticipated…
In transition 2, the service was excellent again. I dismounted my bike, crossed the dismount line and somebody took my bike so I didn’t have to worry about it. I was again ushered to the changing tent and handed my transition bag.
In the changing tent, volunteers were there to help change shoes, massage out cramps, organize gear. It was pretty cool. I didn’t want to spend too much time in there as the bike already took me a full hour longer than I expected. That’s right, an HOUR LONGER than my target. Winds, cold, and strange pains led to the slow time. But again, I am not going to Kona this year, so really, I didn’t care. I was still out there to have fun.
My goal now was to run the Marathon in 4:30. I put on my running shoes and at the last minute decided to wrap my jacket aroung my waist, that storm was still threatening us all.
As I left transition, guess who I saw again? My family was right there at the start of the run. Now I truly fealt awesome. I was done with the Bike and on my feet. My legs fealt ok, not great, but ok. I was ready for the marathon.
My strategy was to run the race with an average pace of 9:30/mile. I started off the first six miles with a target pace of 10:00/mile to get in the groove and loosen my legs. The strategy worked great, six miles down and I fealt ready to run. So I upped my pace to a 9:30/mile.
About 30 minutes into the run, the rain started and I was thrilled to have my jacket. It was cold, but certainly manageable. The run course is an out and back X2, which leaves 4 opportunities to see family and friends. I just could not believe they all stayed outside in the cold rain to chear me on! They ROCK!
On one pass, my daughter ran out to me with her arms up, I immediately scooped her up for a super hug and gave my wife a kiss. I believe in life it is important to stop and enjoy the things you love, even if it is halfway through the marathon portion of an Ironman. This moment may have taken 15 seconds off my time, but in reality it re-energized me to finish this thing.
The run actually felt fine, as expected my legs were in a bit of pain. But this is Ironman, it is not supposed to be comfortable. I ran through most of it, and walked the aid stations. As it got colder, I started to craving the warm chicken broth at each aid station.
I ran it one mile at a time, some miles were faster than others, and a few were very slow.
Over the course of the run, aches and pains came and went. One thing that stayed constant was the ear to ear grin I had. Knowing in a short time I would see the finish line and hear those words “Steve Cogger, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN”
As I turned the final bend and saw the chute to the finish I got another surge of energy and picked up the pace. I attempted to space out the guy in front of me with the guy behind me so we could all hear our names and enjoy our moment.
As I enetered the final chute I saw my family in the bleachers, still braving the cold and wind (and now dark) to be with me as I crossed the finish line. I blew some kisses and absorbed the moment as best I could. My family is awesome!
I am a big fan of team blaze and respect what John Blaze accomplished. One thing I was not expecting was the guy 20 feet in front of me to slow down to a walk as he approached the finsh, lie down, and roll through the finish. Again, respect to John Blaze, but I nearly tripped right over this guy as I crossed the finish line.
So, rather than a photo of me with my arms raised victouriously crossing my first ironman finish line, I am hopping over some guys feet.
After that little hop, I got my medal, finishers hat and shirt and photo.
Grabbed a couple slices of pizza and found my family. My two year old daughter said “Daddy, you a ionman” and then asked for my Pizza, which I gladly gave her a bite of.
I just finished a 600m open water practice swim at the Aurora Res. Aurora is great because they actually keep open water swim buoys set up just outside the swim area for racers to come train all summer.
This morning my friend Ali and I headed for the water only to be joined by close to 8 other women. We asked what they were training for and the answer was their own private tri.
I had total appreciation for this for a number of reasons. Often times the entry fee to races precludes people from participating. Often times their schedules or other committments (I.e. Raising children or cleaning houses) might. This group of women said screw all that. They have weekly group trainings with one another at times that work for them. And then a few times a year they stage their races.
It isn’t for sponsorship, or times, or goodie bags. It isn’t even necessarily for the sake of competition. To me it seems it is more for the building of community through common experience. And in this case, it is for the love of the sport, triathlon.
Go Girls!!!!!
This morning as I swam back and forth and back and forth staring straight down at the black lane line below me I found myself wishing I was instead swimming in open water.
For me, this was a major break through as the swim portion of a triathlon has always been the dreaded start, necessary to suffer through so I can get on to the fun part. The idea of swimming indoors was never exciting, but it beat the alternative. The thought of having to submerge myself in murky water I can’t see in, then get hit or kicked by those around me all while trying to swim was more than I could handle. Add to that the claustorphobic of a wetsuit and I was a mess.
This summer has brought many more open water swim opportunities than I ever knew existed. We also vacationed for a week in Hawaii next to a lagoon so I could swim in the open water every day for a week. These open water swims coupled with the indoor total immersion swim training we did this winter have gotten me past the point of just suffering through.
Heck, last week when doing a short open water swim(600 m) in very murky water with no goggles (I forgot them) I was not only doing it, I was enjoying it. I even caught myself thinking….. I could this for 2.4 miles some day:)
This morning I overslept. I overslept a lot. Actually got 11 hours of sleep. No, I am not sick just really really tired. Today I feeling much better and had a great workout.
With all the biking, running, and swimming the areas that I have let slide are Yoga and resistance training. This morning I worked out with my buddy at our local gym. We did a quick workout (17 minutes) that got the entire body and felt great.
The workout was simple
1min – squat with medicine ball throw
1min – cleans
1min – jump up on step, two feet (I used an 18 inch step)
1min – bar press
1 min- row machine
1min rest
reapeat for a total of 3 sets
The total workout only took 17 minutes and every muscle in body was shaking by the end. It felt great to do some resistance training.
Tonight I am going to the group run with the rocky mountain tri club. Only 2 workouts today. I guess that is what happens when I oversleep…