Bike Workout

I did 35 minutes on the trainer today. As is typical, I didn't wear my watch while on the trainer, so I have no heart rate data. I go with RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion/Effort) on the trainer. I typically go fairly hard and work up a good sweat.

After another session with my new pedals I've come to the conclusion that I really like them. Since last Sunday I've tinkered with the position of the cleats on my shoes and I think they're finally in the right place and tightened down enough that they won't move/rotate. I think the cleats moved around a bit on my Sunday trainer session, which isn't good because a change in cleat position can make it harder to clip in or out. They didn't shift position at all today however, and clipping in and out has never been easier, even with my old pedals. Overall, I'm very glad I upgraded.

That being said, I'm still wanting to get a more practice with them before taking the bike out on the road for the first time. Thankfully I have roughly two more months before I'll take it outside, so I'll have plenty of time to practice.

I am looking forward to riding outside again though; even with the TV going the trainer gets a bit boring and there's always temptation to just quit early. I haven't yet, but the temptation is always there. If I'm riding outside and get ten miles from home, there's no way I can just quit - I still have to go the last ten miles home (I never walk my bike unless I have a flat and no spare tubes with me), so in that aspect I'm really looking forward to getting outside again.

Besides that, I really need to practice riding outside with the new pedals before the KC Triathlon. Thankfully I have a bit more time that I thought - I got my half-marathon switched with the KC Tri. The half-marathon is at the end of April and the KC Tri is in the middle of May. For some reason I had them switched in my head (maybe because I'm more excited/anxious about the tri?), but more time to prepare for the triathlon is better.

My first race of the season is the first weekend in March; it's an indoor mini-sprint triathlon (the swim is in a pool, the bike is done on a stationary bike and the run is done on an indoor track). I am looking forward to that one, but not as much as the KC Triathlon. For some reason, I have trouble thinking of the indoor tri as a "real" race; it's more of a tune-up/practice run for the KC Tri and, in October, the Border Wars Half Ironman. Overall it's good that my first A race isn't until April, as it gives me more time to prepare, but after the Matt Mason Triathlon was cancelled last August I've been really looking forward to and wanting to do a triathlon with an open-water swim and a bike leg where I get to actually ride my bike. To me, the KC Triathlon will be my first "real" triathlon, and the first real test of how well I'm doing in this crazy sport.

Running and Swimming Workout

I did a brick tonight, running two miles followed by swimming 850 yards. It was a great workout. I'm very tired now.

The run went very very well. I went two miles, just like last Friday, but I was able to run more and thus lowered my time by over a minute. I again did intervals (standard operating procedure for me), this time running .3 miles and walking .1 (on Friday I ran .25 and walked .1). I finished in 26 minutes and 7 seconds, with an average speed of 4.6 mph and an average pace of 13:03 minutes per mile.

I would say the swim went OK. If I step back objectively I'd have to say it went great, but I find it hard to be objective about swimming. I swam 850 yards in 19 minutes and 51 seconds. The first four 100 yard sets were done on a 2 minute and 15 second interval (meaning I started the first 100, then 2 minutes and 15 seconds later started the second, then 2 minutes and 15 seconds after that started the third, and so on), but after the fourth I needed more rest than the interval was going to give me so I switched this one to a 2 minute 45 second interval. The rest of my sets were done on the initial 2 minute and 15 second interval. I sprinted the last 50 yard set and finished it in exactly 50 seconds.

I felt like I was moving too slowly for the swim workout. and that my arms got tired way too early/easily. Part of it may have been running two miles prior to swimming, but I don't think it would make as big a difference as I felt. I know I've been out of the water for a few weeks due to laziness and sickness, but I didn't think I'd lose as much endurance as I seem to have. It's frustrating for me to feel slow/ineffective in the pool. I swam competitively for eight years, and while it's been twelve years since I stopped swimming in races, in my mind I should be able to jump right back in and get right back in the groove. I know logically this is not the case and that twelve years of inactivity will obviously take their toll, not just on endurance but on form, yet I can't shake the thoughts that tell me I should be better than I am in the water. Hence my frustration with tonight's swim. I know I shouldn't be frustrated with it, but I can't help it.

Hopefully more swimming will help. I'm actually following my training plan this time. and right now it's got me swimming twice a week. My next swim workout is Friday, which works out well as my arms are pretty tired from tonight's workout. Friday's workout will be 400-500 yards longer than tonight's, so we'll see how I do then.

New Pedals

This weekend I upgraded the pedals on my bike, going with the Crankbrothers Eggbeaters. I went with the entry level option of this pedal as opposed to some of the more expensive, upgraded options. Looking at the pedals, it's obvious where the name comes from: they look like, well, eggbeaters. 

The spindle for the entry level eggbeaters is made from forged chormally steel, the body and the wing are made from stamped steel and the spring is made from 300 series stainless steel. With some of the higher level options the body and wing are made from cast stainless steel instead of stamped steel (and the highest level option is made mostly of titanium), but since I'm just trying these out for the first time I didn't really feel the need to spend the extra money.

 

After doing 40 minutes on the trainer with them today I can say I really like them. They are much more minimalist and lighter than my previous pedals, and after figuring out how to use them they are easier to clip into and out of.

It took me more than a few attempts to figure out how to clip into them. My previous pedals had a platform that guided the cleat on your shoe into close to the right position to clip in. The eggbeaters don't have that and it turns out that on my first few attempts I had my foot positioned too far back on the pedal (the pedal was too close to my toes), which meant the cleat on my shoe wasn't engaging the pedal. Once I realized this and moved my foot forward, clipping in became very easy. After a little more practice this winter on the trainer I think it'll be second nature once I get the bike back out on the road, which is the goal.

I decided to upgrade because I was having problems clipping in easily with my old pedals. I could get my right foot clipped in well enough, but had problems clipping my left foot in. This led me to fall more than once. Unclipping was usually not a problem, but I was always a bit scared to stop for traffic as I was tentative about getting my left foot clipped back in. 

I'm hoping the eggbeaters help this. The big strength of the eggbeaters is that the design allows me to clip in regardless of the position of the spindles on the pedal - with my old pedals, I had to make sure the platform was aligned correctly, which led to problems.

As of now, I'm quite happy with the pedal and am looking forward to working with them more.

Biking Workout 12/28/14

Got 40 minutes on the bike trainer in today during the Chiefs game. This is the longest session I've done on the trainer, being almost twice as long as my last session last week. 

Again, I forgot to put on my heart rate monitor, but it was a great workout. I ended soaked in sweat and quite breathless. 

Overall this was a good workout to start the week after coming off a rest day yesterday. Tomorrow is running and swimming. We'll see how my legs like running after doing all this biking today.

Run

Today I ran 2 miles in 27 minutes and 11 seconds. I ran intervals, running 1/4 mile then walking 1/10 mile to catch my breath. I was hoping to do 1/2 mile runing, but after not running for a number of weeks a quarter mile was all I could manage. 

I was pleased with my run. After not running for so long actually being able to get the whole thing done was nice. 

Biking Workout 12/24/14

Got up on Christmas Eve morning and spent 22 1/2 minutes on the bike trainer. I forgot to put my heart rate monitor on so no heart rate data, but I did get my heartrate up; I'm still sweating as I type this.

I had planned to go for 35 minutes, but have been fighting a wicked cold recently. Of late, a minor cough that sometimes explodes into a major fit of coughing has been the only remnent of this sickness left, but around 22 minutes into my workout I started hacking hard and decided I'd best call it a day and not risk making myself any sicker than I already am. The coughing has subsided now and while I don't like cutting any workout short, I'm glad I stopped.

This was my longest ride on the trainer to date. It's much different that riding on the street. For one thing, there's no resting. When you're riding on the street and go downhill, you can coast. If you stop pedaling on the trainer, your workout effectively stops.

For another, I can actually watch TV while on the trainer, which is kind of nice. Today I loaded up a Youtube playlist of Lindsey Stirling videos and jammed out while riding. If you haven't heard Lindsey Stirling, I strongly encourage you to check her stuff out; almost all of it is available on Youtube for free or for purchase on iTunes if you like it well enough. I came across her stuff about two years ago via her Skyrim Main Theme cover and she quickly vaulted to my number two favorite artist (she couldn't unseat Garth Brooks, however). She's easily the most talented violinist I've ever heard.

I don't know if I'm going to have time to get tomorrow's planned workout in given that it's Christmas, so everyone have a merry Christmas!

Border Wars Triathlon

First off, I apologize for the derth of posts recently. I've been working lots of overtime at work and haven't had much time to workout and no time to keep this site updated when I did workout. 

I recently signed up for my first Half Ironman, the Border Wars Triathlon. It takes place on October 4th, 2015 in Alton, Illonois. The "Border Wars" part comes from the rivalry between Missouri and Illinois. When registering, participants were required to allifiate with either Team West (Missouri) or Team East (Illinois). Being from Missouri, I obviously chose Team West. At the end of the race, the directors look up which team had the most members cross the finish line first, and that team "wins" the contest. (Team West won last year, which was the inagural year for this race).

I'm very very excited but very very nervous about this. I know I have 9 1/2 months to prepare, but the extreme distance (1.2 miles swimming, 56 miles biking and 13.1 miles running) is still very intimidating to me. But one of the reasons I got into triathlon was Ironman, so it makes sense to take the first step on that journey now. 

I can't wait for October to get here, but I'm sure that somehow it'll get here far too quickly for my peace of mind.