Captain Slow getting a little faster

This past week was a decent week for me. The Saturday before last I did my longest training run, 8 miles, and i felt pretty good, as of now I don't run with a watch so I am not sure of my pace, I am running on perceived effort just trying to develop a solid base. I also played 2 hours of tennis immediately after so the legs still had some juice which I was happy about.

On Tuesday, Rico and I went to do this group ride in NJ that I used to do every Tuesday and Thursday. I remember the group being fast and convinced Rico that we should stay with the "slow" guys when they broke off into two groups. The ride was about 23 miles, it was about all we could do before it to too dark, we did stay with the "slow" guys, and averaged about 21 mph. I was able to hang and even took two pulls so my legs are starting to come back, this made me very happy.

Yesterday I did what was supposed to be my first half-marathon, it was the first one i signed up for, but thanks to Rico, it was actually my third (he "encouraged" me to do the two prior). I had set three goals for myself for this race:
Goal 1 - Will be disappointed if I don't accomplish - under 2:10:00 finish
Goal 2 - Will be happy if i accomplish - under 2:05;00 finish
Goal 3 - Probably not likely but will be super happy if - under 2:00: finish

Result - 1:58:27 - I am super happy with that result. I felt pretty good right up until the 11 mile mark, the last two miles were hard but I knew if I pushed I could break 2:00:00.

I am hitting the pool today, swimming is now by far my weakest event, I really need some help.

Tomorrow I am going to try and get back to that group ride, I am going to try every Tuesday if I can, Thursday's would be a bonus, its just tough to get out of the city that early.

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Jason – Week 8 – Rev 3 Olympic Training

Monday – 1450 yard swim (base and lactate threshold intervals)

 

Tuesday – OFF

 

Wednesday – 1 hr 10 min bike (lactate threshold intervals)

 

Thursday – OFF

 

Friday – 1300 yard swim (threshold intervals)

 

Saturday – 40 min bike (steady state)

 

Sunday – BRICK – 1 hr 15 min bike and 10 min run (steady state)

 

Week Summary

Swim – 2750 yards

Bike – 3hr 5 min

Run – 10 min

 

 

Halfway thru the program! 

 

This was a scheduled recovery week and had 2 major interruptions to training.  Although it was a lighter volume week, the intensity was higher.

 

After my run last Sunday, which had been my longest and fastest to date at about 6 miles, I developed some top of foot pain on Monday.  Enough that it was painful to wear shoes.  After researching online, I feared a possible stress fracture.  I was able to get an xray on Friday that was negative.  I have switched to my old running shoes and have since run without issue.  Also on Tuesday I had a bit of oral surgery done.  This was more annoying than painful, as the only thing it hampers is the ability to eat normally.  I was able to train the next day, although it was slightly uncomfortable.  We had some unseasonably warm weather, with temps over 90 degrees.  I love the hot weather, so I couldn’t pass up some outdoor training.   I also was able to ride the new tri bike outside for the first time this year.

 

I was really happy with the Sunday brick workout.  I was able to get off the bike and hold an 8:00 min/mi pace straight away.  Hopefully I will be able to execute the same pace at next weeks race.

 

Next week will be my first duathlon of the year, near my hometown in MA.

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Jason – Week 7 – Rev 3 Olympic Training

Monday – OFF (traveling back from CA)

 

Tuesday – 1550 yard swim (fartlek and short sprints)

 

Wednesday – 30 min run (sprints)

 

Thursday – 1 hr 5 min bike (short hill repeats)

 

Friday – 27,000 vertical/50 mile distance snowboarding at Mt Snow

 

Saturday – 1 hr 45 min bike (steady state) – Rev3 Bike Course Recon

 

Sunday – 1 hr run (steady state)

 

Week Summary

Swim – 1550 yards

Bike – 2hr 50 min

Run – 1 hr 30 min

Other – 27k vertical/50 miles snowboarding

 

Saturday I rode the Rev3 Bike course.  As you can see from the profile this is a tough course.  The hill up to Mile 14 is brutally steep.  Looking forwarding to riding a few more times before race day.

 

Also had my best run of the year on Sunday.  6 miles at a respectable pace.

 

 

Snowboarding Report:

Likely the last day of the season.  Went to Mt Snow.  Warm temperatures in the 60’s, but the hill still had great cover on almost every trail.

 

Views from the summit:

 

Weren’t running the Canyon quad, so that area was oddly deserted.

 

This was probably the thinnest trail I saw:

     

Carinthia.  Superpipe and the trail with medium jumps and features.

          

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New Equipment

Here are some shots of recently acquired equipment.

 

Front and back of tri suit (Desoto Forza):

 

Aero Helmet (Giro Advantage 2):

 

Shoes (Bontrager RXL Hilo):

 

Rear Hydration (XLab Sonic Wing and Gorilla Cages):

 

Tubular Flat Tire Fix (Vittoria Pit Stop):

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Jason – Week 6 – Rev 3 Olympic Training

Monday – OFF

 

Tuesday – 1500 yard swim (base intervals)

 

Wednesday – OFF

 

Thursday – OFF

 

Friday – 49 min run (sprints)

 

Saturday – OFF

 

Sunday – 47 min run (steady state)

 

Week Summary

Swim – 1500 yards

Bike – none

Run – 1hr 6 min

Other – none

 

Tough week, as expected, with the trip out to California.

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