Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf

Dory Dory

Tuesday, September 29th, 2015

Bike

20 min warmup (12 min easy, 6 min single leg, 2 min easy)
5 x (6 min @ 60 rpm and 125w to start with and go up from there, 3 min easy)
5 min easy
8 x (:30 hard with power over 250w!, 2:30 easy)
5 min cool down

Well, this was a little busted in that I had mechanical problems with my Garmin (it pooped out on me on the first 6 min big gear interval), and that little issue distracted me and contributed to me not hitting the initial target of 125w. Boo. But I redeemed myself by hitting all the other targets, even if it took a bit of extra effort to do so today. The 5 x 6 min big gear work, stated as "average cadence...average power", was as follows:

61...120
67...135
up one gear
64...147
up another gear
61...157
62...164

And, for the second week in a row I managed to exceed 250w for all 8 x 30 second bursts! Whoop whoop!!! Average power for the eight of them was as follows:

268, 285, 283, 291, 294, 290, 281, 286

I sort of goofed, however, and only allowed myself 2 minutes of rest between those 30 second intervals instead of 2.5 minutes. I couldn't figure out why I finished this session 4 minutes early until it finally hit me what I had done!!

Actual bike: 1:35:00 goofing and busting on the Cat over lunch

~~~~~~~

Swim

Well, this was sort of busted session number two today. But it was absolutely pouring down rain this evening to the point that my outside pool was overflowing. :eek: Torrential is the word that comes to mind. So....instead of doing the planned session, I put on the wetsuit and hopped in the endless pool for about 45 minutes of endless swimming. It was either that or do nothing...and I couldn't do nothing!!!

Actual swim: 45 minutes in the tank, rubberized and ready to go!

Dory Dory

Wednesday, September 30th, 2015

Run

A rise and shine 30 minute treadmill trot!

I started out nice and easy at 5.0 on the treadmill scale, and I worked my way up in increments of .3 every 5 minutes until I reached a spiffy 6.5. This actually wasn't that bad.

Actual run: 30 minutes before the rooster crowed

~~~~~~~

Run

Another treadmill trot....

10 min warmup
15 min @ 7.3
15 min @ 7.6
15 min @ 7.9
15 min @ 8.2
5 min cool down

This felt awful from the very beginning. And it got progressively worse....to the point that on the last 15 minutes at 8.2 I actually stopped a few times, and even held onto the bar some too. Not a good night. Heading to bed early.

Actual run: 9.x horrible, horrible miles in 75 minutes

Oryx

^^^you should have quit and told L.

I see IMMD cancelled this year!

Dory Dory

Oryx wrote: »

^^^you should have quit and told L.

I see IMMD cancelled this year!

Quit? You say this to the gal who ran 10k on a femur as it was fracturing??? But I did tell L. I really need to start tapering. !!!!

And what a shame for all those IMMD peeps. We're having horrendous weather at the moment - been having it for almost a week now - but the hurricane that's coming our way is supposed to amp it up even more. And IMMD is on the coast/eastern shore, so evacuation is always a possibility if the hurricane's path hits just right. Necessary move to cancel, in my opinion.

Dory Dory

And this just in from eagle-eyes Oryx, there is a possibility IM Louisville may cancel the swim. F*ck. Apparently there is an algae that is in full bloom on the river that causes all sorts of issues to those who venture in. F*ck. IronMan will make the call next week. Here are two articles I found on the situation - one from a week ago, the other from just yesterday. :(:(

http://www.whas11.com/story/news/local/2015/09/21/ironman-monitoring-ohio-river-algal-blooms/72589290/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/01/us/toxic-algae-outbreak-overwhelms-a-polluted-ohio-river.html?_r=0

Oryx

Fingers crossed for you.

Neady83

Awh s**te ballz DD. So we're hoping for big storms and lots of rain in Louisville and for it to be all cleared up by Oct 11th. All digits crossed for you

pgibbo

Easier said than done but try not to get distracted by this. What will be, will be. There's nothing you can do to influence the outcome.

It's worth thinking about the fact that the swim might be cancelled and how that will influence your race strategy. Best to have race plans for both scenarios.

Kurt_Godel

pgibbo wrote: »

Easier said than done but try not to get distracted by this. What will be, will be. There's nothing you can do to influence the outcome.

It's worth thinking about the fact that the swim might be cancelled and how that will influence your race strategy. Best to have race plans for both scenarios.

Great advice. I've done it the other way, fretting about swim cancellations/shortening, and invariably have a crap race. Get your head in the game now for all possibilities. Your running/biking will be 90%+ of your time on the course anyways, and you've a great streak of run/bike training to draw upon.

Dory Dory

This situation begs the question - if there is no swim, will Tunney think the qualifiers actually "belong" in Kona or not?

But there is nothing I can do about the swim - I just hope the officials make the right decision for the right reasons. Obviously I hope the swim goes on, but not at the risk of my or anyone else's health. I am annoyed, however, I received no notice of this in any of IronMan Louisville's emails or newsletters...instead, I was alerted by our head hoochie from across the pond. And, yep, planning for various scenarios has begun. It's life...and you gotta roll with it!

Dory Dory

Thursday, October 1st, 2015

Bike

20 minute warmup
10 x (15 sec spin up to max cadence/power, 45 sec spin easy)
30 x (1 min hard, 30 sec easy) - really working the last 10
15 minute cool down

So...I learned something new today. I learned if you have two devices running at the same time, like a Garmin Edge and a Garmin 920XT, and tracking the same data, like cadence and power, then the tracking and recording of the data can get pretty screwed up. And I also learned, after fiddling with both devices during my first 10 x 1 min hard, that you basically have to shut one down totally and reboot the other to get things working/recording properly again. I had no idea this issue would occur!!! ???

But, this session went fine. Legs were still a little tired and I'm so wanting to wind this baby down and get on with race day. It's time. Data from the last 10 x 1 min hard stated as "average cadence...average power" is as follows:

92...167
93...169
94...177
94...176
93...172

up one gear
87...195
88...198
90...191
90...206
90...209

Actual bike: 90 minutes on the Cat over lunch

~~~~~~~

Run

This was just a nice easy 30 minutes on the treadmill immediately off the bike. And, this felt really good. It was good and slow at a 10 min/mile pace, but it really felt good. Yay!

Actual run: 30 minutes of slow treadmill trotting off the bike

~~~~~~~

Just a couple of this-n-thats....
My planned swim for this evening was nixed...and my planned run after tomorrow night's swim has also been nixed. I hate altering a plan, but I'm tired (mentally and physically) and I need a break and to start tapering. I got 9 hours of sleep last night, and I plan on the same tonight. I've been seeing some evidence of fatigue coming on for a few weeks, yet I've been hitting most of my targets therefore my assumption was/is that the fatigue was/is normal for the volume of training I've been doing and where I was/am in the plan. I do wonder, however, if my hotter than prescribed 18 mile run last weekend isn't biting me in the rear - I was told not to go much under the instructed 9 min/mile pace and to take the "easy" easy...and I was told that so I wouldn't be, and I quote, "smashed". This is a learning process, and I'm obviously still learning...and still making mistakes. But the good news is I'm in full fledge taper now - the work is done and now it's all about rest and staying sharp for the next 10 days. YIKES!! 10 days???!!! :eek:

Oryx

I dont want to be letting away secrets or anything but...

H***y B*******y to you
H***y B*******y to you!
H***y B*******y dear Dory
H***y B*******y to you!!!!!!!

Dilbert75

HBDD!

Neady83

Happy Birthday DD and happy taper time, what a great day to start tapering

I hope there's chocolate cake, lots of it

interested

Many many happy returns !!!

pgibbo

Breithla shona dhuit :cool: Have a great day

Myles Splitz

Happy Birthday. Hope Louisville has a nice present in the works over the next few days for you.

Kurt_Godel

Happy reverse birthday Carol!

(my present arrived today:o)

Oryx

Kurt_Godel wrote: »

Happy reverse birthday Carol!

(my present arrived today:o)

So did mine. Who else gives presents for their birthday!?!

catweazle

Dory Dory

Myles Splitz wrote: »

Happy Birthday. Hope Louisville has a nice present in the works over the next few days for you.

I just figured this out.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Happy birthday Carol.

pgmcpq

Happy birthday !
Hope Joaquin is heading east ( it's dropped 30f in a day here ) and you get your swim in Louisville

Dory Dory

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!!!

And yes, pgmcpq, the temp has dropped significantly here today - it's now in the mid 40s and raining. Brrr...and yuck. A quick check on the hurricane indicates it will probably have no positive effect on the bloomin' algae in the Ohio River. The race is still a week away, but Louisville weather forecast looks like there was rain and clouds today, same predicted for tomorrow, but then it's back to algae loving warmth and sunshine. So....it's a wait and see kind of game.

Friday, October 2nd, 2015

Swim

Due to the cold and crappy weather we are having here (and expect to have for the next few days), tonight's swim was moved indoors to the tub. I swam for approximately 45 minutes at an artificial wave pace of 1:20 (we all know it's not real!) in my long sleeve wetsuit. I'd say I am getting in the suit much faster, fitting it to my body much better, swimming in it a little easier....but I'm still not convinced I'll be wearing this one on the day (assuming there is a swim). I'm going to don the sleeveless number either tomorrow or Sunday and compare how my arms feel, then I'm sticking with my decision...unless I change my mind at the last minute. ;)

Actual swim: 45 artificial minutes in the tank

sconhome

Happy Birthday DD!

Oryx wrote: »

So did mine. Who else gives presents for their birthday!?!

I usually bring cakes into work to share, its a Dutch habit I picked up.

Was really funny seeing people this year "ah no I won't, I'm on a diet.....ah OK, just 1....can I take one for my 'partner' too?"

Dory Dory

Saturday, October 3rd, 2015

Bike

This was supposed to be a 3 hour proper bike ride, but there was no way I was going out into the wind and rain and freezing cold today. No good could have come from such nonsense...so it was me and the Black Cat in the climate controlled conditions of my great room with tunes filling my air space.

The only specific instruction for this "ride" was to do 6 x (5 min hard, 1 min easy) during the last hour...so the rest was sort of makey-uppy on my part on the fly. I warmed up for 30 minutes....built effort up to 14xw over the next 20 minutes...went easy the next 20 minutes...put in steady effort at 130w during the following 20 minutes...went easy for the next 30 minutes...then into my hard/easy intervals after that. Legs were appropriately tired at the start of the intervals, so the power wasn't anything too exciting, however it wasn't exactly rock bottom either. Data for those 6 x 5 min hard intervals stated as "average cadence...average power" is as follows:

87...134
87...136
88...140
89...144
91...151
91...152

Actual bike: 3 hours listening to the wind howl and watching the rain fall while perched on the Cat

Kurt_Godel

3 hours on the turbo is not to be sniffed at Dory- great mental (torture) training!

Slowly slowly catchee monkey... seriously impressive discipline on this training log lately.

RJM85

Happy birthday!

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/08/training/birthday-swim-workout_103873

Dory Dory

Sunday, October 4th, 2015

Run

This was 1 hour and 20 minutes of muddy field running in the spitting rain. I needed this. I'm sort of in a funk - so many things crashing together at the moment (very poor timing), and I know this dreary weather is not helping either. But I slipped into my very fashionable running rain coat that I purchased last year in Boston while shopping with our head hoochie, Oryx, (first time I've worn it!) and it gave me a lift....as did tromping in mud and muck. And under my very fashionable running rain coat I wore the tri kit I'll be wearing next weekend. No complains on this one - I took it good and slow per the instructions.

9:54, 9:47, 9:57, 9:41
9:45, 9:28, 10:05, 9:47

Actual run: 8.19 miles in 1:20:14 for an average mud and mucky pace of 9:47 min/mile

~~~~~~~

Swim

The outdoor pool may have seen it's last swim of the season. With the water temp a brisk 69 degrees Fahrenheit :eek:, I took advantage of the more civilized environment of the tank tonight. And I wore my sleeveless wetsuit. And this has now become an easy decision for me - I'm wearing the sleeveless suit next weekend. Hands down, and immediately from the beginning tonight, I am just way more comfortable in the sleeveless. I know various sources insist that long sleeve suits are faster, but it will do me no good to be swimming for an hour while miserable and fretting about my arms feeling fatigued. I need to feel comfortable. So, me and my trusty old sleeveless wetsuit will be battling it out in the algae infested Ohio River, that, by the way, is the most polluted waterway in the United States. Woo hoo!! That's right - most...polluted...waterway...in the entire United States, according to one article I read on the toxic, liver damaging, animal killing blue-green algae. Good god, apparently I didn't do enough research on this body of water. Fingers crossed the water really will be safe if they deem it safe enough to swim in on the day.

Actual swim: 30 minutes in my sleeveless number in the tub

Oh and...
P.S. - I'm sending the long sleeve wetsuit back!!!!

joey100

Belated Happy birthday, some great and consistent training going on here. Best of luck next weekend and like pgibbo said, try not to worry about what you can't control. And try to take it at least a little bit easy for your taper week!