Week 11: May 21, 2020

Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
Run 🏃	Swim 🏊	CKO 🏋️	Off	Bike 🚴	Bike 🚴/ Run 🏃	Off
35	35			72	43
					23
Done - 5K	VR8 - Short	VR8 - Long	VR8 - Bike	Bike - 50K	Done	Off

(Read more about my 🏊🚴🏃training plan here.)

Have a look at my week in review.

I finished VR8 shaving off more than a half-hour from VR6, so I'm happy about that.  V9 is a longer distance--that's too much for me, so I'm going to bow out.  Hopefully V10 is a sprint distance.  Next week is a recovery week, so not having a race makes sense in any case.

May 21: Run 5K

May 22: VR8 - Short



May 23: VR8 - Long
(Much better than VR6.  Still a challenging distance for me.)



May 24: VR8 - Bike
(Winds were brutal, but I finished.  Phew!)



May 25: 50K Bike
(My longest ride.  50K on Memorial Day.  Less wind than the previous day, still a tough slog.)



May 26: Bike / Run
(Legs tired/sore from yesterday, but I felt it was a good effort.)

Ironman VR8 - Completed

The winds were brutal on the bike ride (again), but I completed VR8.  With a better long run, I shaved ~33 minutes off my time (compared with VR6).

VR9 is too long for me (a 70.3 distance race), so I'll be skipping this one.  It corresponds with recovery week so that's nice.  Hopefully, V10 is a sprint distance.

[Short Run] - See Splits Here.
[Long Run] - See Splits Here.
[Bike] - See Splits Here.

Let's recap:

VR6: "With your 3:59:16, you finished 12318 out of 12744 finishers and 2466 out of 2545 in your Age Group."

VR7: "With your 1:34:03, you finished 12878 out of 17069 finishers and 2465 out of 3237 in your Age Group."

VR8:  "With your 3:25:57, you finished 3210 out of 3545 finishers and 654 out of 721 in your Age Group."

Week 10: May 14, 2020

Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
Run 🏃	Swim 🏊	CKO 🏋️	Off	Bike 🚴	Bike 🚴/ Run 🏃	Off
32	32			65	39
					21
Done - 5K	VR7 - Short	VR7 - Long	VR7 - Bike	Bike - 23M	Done	Off

(Read more about my 🏊🚴🏃training plan here.)

Have a look at my week in review.

This was a good week. I'm glad to have pushed through and keep my off day on Wednesday.  VR8 is long one -- hopefully, it works out better than VR6.

May 14: Run 5K

May 15: VR7 - Short
(Starting with the short-run was a good idea.)



May 16: VR7 - Long

(This effort felt solid. )

May 17: VR7 - Bike
(A nice ride; felt good.  The longer ride was for VR7.  The shorter ride was returning home.)





May 18: Bike - 23M



May 19: Bike / Run

(My legs felt a bit sore.  But a nice ending to this week.)

Ironman VR8

I signed up for Ironman VR8 (Challenger Division).  Like VR6, the race is structured as a simulation of their 5150 triathlons -- two runs (one at 3km and another at 10km) and one ride (40km).  (The Challenger division means the activities have to be done outside -- since I lack the technology for an indoor run/bike, this suits me fine.)

Unlike VR6, I hope the long run won't be agony.

I'm going to run the short run on Friday afternoon (like VR7), and give myself a meaningful distance between eating and running.

In the long run, I'm going to use a 135 bpm cap for the first half, and move to a 150 bpm for the second.  For the last 0.3 miles, uncapped.

If the weather cooperates, I'm going to bike on Saturday and run on Sunday.

Let's see if wiser translates into a better time.  (I think it will....)

Ironman VR7 - Completed

A much more manageable distance than VR6 -- 1.5km run, 5K run & 20K bike -- and I felt better about my performance.  (More careful this time about running after lunch.)

"With your 1:34:03, you finished 12,800 out of 16,923 finishers and 2,452 out of 3,220 in your Age Group."

[Short Run] -- See splits here.
[Long Run] -- See splits here.  For my long run, I capped my BPM at 150 (instead of my training goal of 135), until the last 0.3 of a mile.  This seemed to keep me okay. 
[Bike] -- See splits here.

Week 9: May 7, 2020

Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
Run 🏃	Swim 🏊	CKO 🏋️	Off	Bike 🚴	Bike 🚴/ Run 🏃	Off
29	29			59	35
					19
Done - 5K	VR6 - Long	VR6 - Short	VR6 - Bike	Off	25M Bike	Bike / Run

(Read more about my 🏊🚴🏃training plan here.)

Have a look at my week in review.

This was a challenging week. The long-run in VR6 was painful, but at least I finished.  I signed up for VR7.  This will be a sprint distance and, with the lessons learned, should be more manageable.  No big lunch before the afternoon run!

I ended the end nicely.  The run on the 13th felt really good.

May 7: Run 5K



May 8: VR6 - Long

(Painful!)

May 9: VR6 - Short

May 10: VR6 - Bike

May 12: 25M Bike

(Longer than usual; I think I'll go back down to a 22M target.)

May 13: Bike/Run

(The run felt really good.)

Ironman VR6 - Completed

[Long Run]

The long-run (10km) was tough.  Because the event started at 2pm EST, I ran later in the day than I usually do.  It was also too close to my lunch.  My stomach did not enjoy that, and I felt pretty bad after the first quarter.  (After feeling pretty good until then.)

I'm glad to have finished.  But not especially happy with my results.  My slowest pace is a long time.

See my splits here.

[Short Run]

Feel better about my short run.  The rest of the day I was wiped out though.

See my splits here.

[Bike]

The wind was brutal on the way back and so my time was in line with my previous efforts.  Nice to be done.

See my splits here.

[Finisher]

According to the website: "With your 3:59:16, you finished 12218 out of 12594 finishers and 2445 out of 2522 in your Age Group."

Ironman VR6

I signed up for Ironman VR6.  The race is touted as a simulation of their 5150 triathlons.   Those events feature a 1.5km swim, 40km bike, and 10km run.  The VR6 will have two runs (one at 3km and another at 10km) and one ride (40km).

• Short Run.  I'm going to replace an MG interval with the short-run (and treat it as a high-intensity workout).  Clocking in at 1.86 miles, it's longer than my regular short runs.
• Long Run.  This doubles my usual target. 😲 I'm going to try to cap my BPM as usual but increase the amount I cap it at to 150 bpm based on the Karvonen formula (see below).  The 135 cap feels too restrictive for this distance. This corresponds to Zone 5A default in my Training Peaks app. 147 is the max of Zone 4 in this app, so hovering around 145-150 looks okay based on these metrics. 
• Ride.  I've pushed my rides up to 22 miles so an extra 2.85 miles looks like the least increase over my regular activity (and I've gone longer than 40k before). 

This should be interesting.

Target heart rate zones based on the Karvonen formula (with a resting heart rate of 55 based on a month of Apple watch data.)

Target Zone

% Intensity

THR in bpm

Maximum
VO₂ Max Zone

90% - 100%

163 - 175

Hard
Anaerobic Zone

80% - 90%

151 - 163

Moderate
Aerobic Zone

70% - 80%

139 - 151

Light
Fat Burn Zone

60% - 70%

127 - 139

Very Light
Warm Up Zone

50% - 60%

115 - 127

Week 8: April 30, 2020

Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
Run 🏃	Swim 🏊	CKO 🏋️	Off	Bike 🚴	Bike 🚴/ Run 🏃	Off
22	22			44	26
					14
Done	MG Interval 8	22M Bike	Done - 5K	22M Bike	Done	Done

(Read more about my 🏊🚴🏃training plan here.)

Have a look at my week in review. 

This is a recovery week, so less training volume.  I did make another training tweak (basically getting rid of an off day.)

April 30: Run



May 1: MG Intervals



May 2:  22M Bike



May 3: Run 5K
(This is the added run--see above.)



May 4: 22M Bike



May 5: Bike/Run

Training Plan Update

A small update.  I'm going to get rid of one of the rest days, adding a 5K in its place.  Now my week should look like this (with the actual activities shifting based on the weather).

• One long run -- the longer of (i) the time it takes me to run 5K or (ii) my time goal from my original plan.  On a recovery week, look at (ii).  Targeting capping my BPM in all cases.
• One 5K --  targeting capping my BPM.  No difference during a recovery week.
• Two long bikes -- targeting 22+ miles.  On a recovery week, base mileage based on how I feel.
• One interval training.
• One brick -- targeting the time goal from my original plan.  Targeting capping my BPM for the run.
• One rest day.

As noted previously, switching to a capped BPM makes the runs easier and so I'd like to add another run to work on my aerobic capacity. 

Clipless Pedals

Today was my first long ride with my clipless pedals. It was definitely easier, faster, and more efficient.  Clipping out was occasionally a problem.  I found it much easier to take out my left shoe first and then (if needed) my right.

A recommended upgrade. (Special shoes are needed as well...)

Two-Thirds the Man

I'm two-thirds the man I used to be... thankfully.

Looking at my weight, I've lost approximately 35.5% of my body weight from my high point (July 22, 2018) to this morning (May 1, 2020). Admittedly, my high point was high even for me.  (Long story.) However, if I start less than a year ago (June 29, 2020), I'm still clocking a near thirty percent loss (~29.5%).

I don't have terribly many insights other than the standard cliches:  eat better; do more activity.

For me, tracking on my Apple Watch (affiliate link) was what kicked me into high gear.  I had a vague recollection that 10,000 steps was a decent daily goal for steps.  When I was hanging out at Storm King Art Center, I decided I'd try to reach 20,000 steps (without really thinking about how hard that might be).  It wasn't easy but I made it.  That summer (2019), I tried to reach that goal at least once or twice on the weekend.  This was in addition to working out at CKO Madison.  (Unaffiliated, but recommended.)

This started the weight loss coming.

I also focused on eating better.  For me, this meant standardizing my meals somewhat.  My breakfast and lunch became very routine, smaller, and with fewer carbs.  Snacking during the day is still a struggle.  Understanding calorie counts has helped a lot.  Tracking my calories at MyFitnessPal is also helpful to me.  It's hard to justify a very unhealthy snack if I have to log in and input those calories and ruin my progress for that day.

Now, with my training plan, I'm burning more calories.  Eating better has gotten easier.  But I still struggle with passive snacking.  But, overall, I feel good.  Real good. 😊