2010 Running Update

For Base 1 running I managed to average 60 miles a week plus I got around to measuring out my weekly running routes. It turns out I'm running faster than I thought. On average I'm sustaining 7:45-7:50 pace. The weekly easy long runs are slow, but no slower than 7:59 pace. As expected and disappointing the obvious is, one bad run or a run cut short kills the weekly run mileage. This past week, I hit all seven runs but after a killer bike interval workout, I was too toasted to run 60 minutes and survived only 30 minutes.

The shoe situation finally came around. I'm happy with the new Nike LunarTrainer replacement shoes. After seven days of running in them, they felt fine. I may consider using them for IM Wisconsin. The other option is the new Nike LunarRacer.

Bike and swim training continues at status quo: three swims and three bikes. I hit my swimming benchmark: 20x100 on 1:15 with 10 seconds rest with it feeling comfortable. I opt to mix is up with every other set of 5 using the pull buoy. For the time being, pulling that fast is easier than normal swimming.

The only other comment is that I've decided to forgo the recovery week for Phase 1 of training (Base 1-3). Since I view the work leading up to Triple T as essentially prep work, it makes sense. The volume isn't all that high, 15 hours per week, and the intensity is manageable. It breaks down to 13 workouts/wk; no days off; 7 runs/wk, 3 swims/wk, and 3 bikes/wk. The running has been steady with no tempo work, just trying to keep it at sub 8 min pace. Let me clarify this some more. What I mean by no tempo work is that I am not spending time at sub 7 minute pace. Yes, on my 60 minutes runs I usually run about 7:20-7:40 pace but for me that still is zone 2. The bike has one zone 4 workout (15-20 x 2:20/:40EZ), one 60 minute ride (zone 1), one long ride 2-3 hrs (zone 1-2). Swimming is so vanilla flavored that it is not worth discussing.

Running Volume:
January wk 3 - 55 miles
January wk 4 - 60 miles
February wk 1 - 60 miles
February wk 2 - 60 miles
February wk 3 - 60 miles
February wk 4 - 60 miles
March wk 1 - 60 miles
March wk 2 - 60 miles
March wk 3 - 60 miles
March wk 4 - 56 miles
March wk 5 - 35 miles
April wk 1 - 60 miles
April wk 2 - 60 miles
April wk 3 - 60 miles

2010 Early Season Training

I wrapped up another seven days of working out. I ran about 63 miles this week. I am not certain if I ran more since I don't measure everything out. I pretty much plug along on my normal 60, 75, and 90 minute routes at a survivable pace. I had two really strong runs, likely sub 7:30 pace, but I did have one horrible one. Running a lot is difficult.

I also had shoe issues. My trainers (Adidas SuperNova) hit their limit and I had to dip into my large Nike LunarTrainer supply.



However, I had issues with them after 45 minutes of running--a hotspot on the left foot on the third metatarsal head. It prompted me to head out and get a new pair of shoes: Nike LunarTrainer (Nike Lunar LunarGlide actually).



Initially, they felt good, but I'm having doubts. I'm cautious about the future. I'll add this though, it seems like running shoe performance is effected by the temperature. Most of my running has been outside when the temperature is below 30 degrees. The one day that it was 31-32 degrees, the new shoe felt just fine; otherwise, when it's 20 degrees they're a little stiff and hard like cardboard.

Overall, this week I ran 7 times, biked 2 times, and swam 3 times. Because the running volume requires a lot of dedication, the game plan is 7 consecutive days of working out followed by one day of complete rest.

2010

Another year begins and already I'm looking forward to it. The focus so far has been increasing my running volume. This week is going to be nearly 60 miles, my biggest ever (It actually turned out to be 7.25 hrs of running equalling 55 miles at an average pace of 8:00/mile.). I did slip in a MAF-10bpm test for today's run. In years past, I did the customary test of four miles on a track done at MAF heart rate. But this year, I'm doing a 60 minute test on a treadmill with an incline of 1.0. I did it a month ago, but did not know that I needed to have the incline set to one. Today's test was a bit sluggish because of the heavy volume. I wasn't surprised to see 7:47 average pace at 145 bpm.

Next week I officially start Base 1 of 3 to get in shape for American Triple T. My partner in triathlon crime, Scott Bowe, is still tapering from foot surgery so I am not too worried about the gradual start this year. For the next few weeks, keeping the running volume steady is key. Biking and swimming will be light (2-3x/wk).

I still haven't got a new bike. For the mean time, I'm using the trusty old mountain bike that Adrienne got in college. It works well on the trainer giving me plenty of resistance; plus I can ride it outside when the weather tolerates. I haven't talked to Planet X USA (Brian) since early December, but it looks like the new PX time trial bike is coming out in the next few months. Hopefully, it's in the market by the end of March; otherwise, I might be forced to get the current model.

On the sponsorship front, my title sponsor will be Gear-Grinder (www.gear-grinder.com). Its been a wonderful relationship and I'm happy to be part of the team again. My other sponsor continues to be Planet X bikes (http://www.planet-x-usa.com). I have been very happy to see a number of PX bikes arrive in the Wisconsin market in the last two years.

+++++++++++++++++++

January wk 3 - 55 miles running
January wk 4 - 60 miles running

Metrics

SWIMMING METRICS
2013
12:22 1000yd Time Trail 1-14-2013

2012
12:46 1000yd Time Trial 1-22-2012
3:46/3:45/3:44 (3x300yd with 30 sec RI) 1-19-2012

RUNNING METRICS:

Personal Best:
MAF 6:35 (2010)
MAF-10bpm 7:06 (2010)

2010
7:06 147bpm ave; 13 miles (track) MAF-10bpm 8-14-2010 warm/85 degrees
6:50 155bpm ave; 8 miles (track) MAF 5-28-2010 warm/hot 77 degrees
6:35 157bpm ave; 9 miles (track) MAF 5-6-2010
7:35 142bpm ave: 5 miles (treadmill 1 incline) MAF-10bpm 5-07-2010
6:35 156bpm ave; 4 miles (track) MAF 4-28-2010
7:47 145bpm ave; 60 minutes (treadmill 1 incline)MAF-10bpm 01-22-2010

12:45 Swim 1000yd TT 12-05-10 (Adrienne did the same)

(AeT)
Bike 135bpm (May)

2009 (MAF-10bpm)
7:24 145bpm ave; 60 minutes (treadmill 0 incline)MAF-10bpm 12-11-2009
7:30 145bpm ave; 2 miles (track) 7-2009

2008
6:49 155bpm ave; 4 miles (track) MAF 8-13-2008
6:56 155bpm ave; 4 miles (track) MAF 6-02-2008
7:00 155bpm ave; 3 miles (track) MAF 4-20-2008
7:44 156bpm ave; 4 miles (track) MAF 1-10-2008

2007
7:09 156bpm ave; 1 mile (track) MAF 4-07-2007

MAF Triathlon Run Racing Guidelines:
HIM = 15-20 seconds under MAF pace is good
IM = MAF-10bpm pace is what's possible for an IM run

2009 Additional Thoughts

At the request of a friend, I've been asked to analyze my racing schedule in relation to my desired outcome. If my desire is to PR the IM, then I might need to reconsider my current race schedule. If my desire is to win a bunch of local races most of which are short-course, then I might be setting myself up for a good IM but nothing stellar. This led me to look at what other successful Wisconsin athletes have done to peak for an IM.

The fastest non-pro in Wisconsin is Thomas Brunold. This is how his IM career has played out:

2004 - Marathon (2:35); IMWI (9:12); IMKONA (9:49)
2005 - Marathon (2:31); 20K (1:06)
2006 - Marathon (2:46); HIM (4:14); IMWI (9:38)
2007 - IMWI (9:14); IMKONA (9:12)
2008 - IMWI (9:20)
2009 - 20K (1:15); Syttenda Mai (2:01); IMWI 9:31

And that's it. The guy only shows up to race IM and usually one or two long distance running races. Interesting. Lets look at his protege Joe Kurian. I included only the relevant races:

2001 - IMLP (11:53 or 11:04)
2003 - IMWI (10:34)
2004 - IMKONA (12:02)
2005 - Marathon (2:33); IMWI (10:42)
2007 - Marathons (2:31; 2:39)
2008 - Marathon (2:39); 20KM (1:06); IMWI (9:39)
2009 - Marathon (2:39); 20KM (1:10); IMWI (9:10); IMKONA (10:02)

Another to look at is Terry Labinski, long-time fast guy in Wisconsin. His fastest year was 2003. Let's look at the number of races he did that year and the distances:

2003 - Odd distance tri; 3 HIMS; 1 Sprint tri; IMWI (9:23)

Next is Scott Bowe who did a lot of racing leading up to IMWI in September 2006, then over the next seven months until IMAZ in April 2007, did only four running races to have a breakthrough race and qualify for Kona:

2006 - IMWI (10:26)
2007 - 15K; 15K; 10K; 5K; then IMAZ (9:46)

Finally, lets look at up and comer Jeff Tarkowski from Green Bay. He seems to follow the Brunold Approach: only two races a year both of which are triathlons.

2007 - IMAZ (10:10); HIM (4:30)
2008 - IMAZ (9:54); HIM (4:18)
2009 - HIM (4:01); HIM (3:54); IMAZ (9:36)

On the other hand, I can think of a number of guys who continuely crumble at IM distance but rock the short-course stuff. There certainly seems to be a dividing line between HIM and IM.

Why are these athletes racing so little? I suspect its because they trade the short-lived glories of winning multiple short-course races for the long-term benefits of getting another high volume workout in. With Ironman dependent more upon stamina than quickness, it makes sense to prioritize the season that way. Add in the responsibilities of work and family, one finds it too difficult to get in the necessary long workouts during the week hence the weekend is too valuable for training to be wasted away by a short-course race.

This limited amount of evidence suggests that I need to reconsider my 2010 strategy. I didn't sign up again for IMWI to simply participate. The Brunold Approach of doing only one race, IMWI, is extreme. I would love to hear his rationale behind it. I suspect that his teaching & working schedule might be some of the reason. Another might be that with an Olympic background, he has a natural inclination for focusing on one big "A" each year as a matter of personal experience. Besides an IM is so long that the technicalities of fast transitions is irrelevant. You simply have to slug your way across 140.6 miles. Additionally, when reviewing the front of the pack IM racers at the international scene, especially the pros, one sees a complete dedication to the distance. The local races are seen as low-key opportunities for weekend warriors infected with the triathlon bug to participate in the sport; mere diversions from the task at hand for serious IM racers. Initially, I saw such non-participation at the local races as elitism by Wisconsin's fastest IM racers and it really turned me off. But now, I'm beginning to see things differently. I'm convinced that the unfortunate promixity of many highly enjoyable triathlon races here in Wisconsin are too close to IMWI for proper race execution. Expect to see me a lot less at the local racing scene this year.

2009 Whistlestop Half Marathon

October 2009
Whistlestop Half Marathon
Ashland, WI

Matthew Amman
1:21:25 (6:12 pace)
7th Overall

Good race considering it was 22 degrees and the seven hour drive to get there the night before caused havoc to my right hamstring. I was hoping to go a few minutes faster but still chalk it up as a good performance. I held fairly strong at 6:00/mile until mile eight when the leg started complaining and I had to stop and stretch it out a few times.

2009 End of the Year

2009 In Review

Training:
I spent most of the year following my own advice, but I did add in the bike tips of Zach Ruble, an IM pro who many might know from slowtwitch as BigZach. After Ironman Wisconsin in 2008, I knew I needed to work towards achieving a deep bike base again but wanted a stronger high-end (threshold). Zach recommended some early season biking at Zone 4 then mid-season a weekly dose of Zone 3 work (3x30 min/2x45min /1x90min). As for IM prep, he recommended German-styled 5hr/3hr bike rides. It proved beneficial. I'll be doing it again for next year. This year I was inclined to add a run after them ranging from 30 to 60 minutes. I'll be dropping that down to 15 minutes. The key, as I see it, is getting the bike section to be a high quality workout. Saving something for the run afterwards is likely counter-productive.

As expected, I coasted on my swimming ability. As long as I could get to the pool 3 times per week I was happy. I spent most of it swimming 200-500's with a weekly set of 100's(Base 1)/200's(Base 2)/300's(Base 3) at IM race pace (1:17/100yd).

Running was not much different. I made sure to get in 3-5 runs per week with one long run that progressively got longer. My longest run was 2.75 hr and I ran 5 times over 2 hours this year. Most of the run work was done in upper zone 1/lower Zone 2 (135-140 bpm). The pace usually was 7:30-8:00.

Racing:
The highs were that I won a lot of races this year. My early triathlon dreams still lingered with me this year: to win J-Hawk Early Bird and Camp Whitcomb Mason. I managed to win both.

1st J-Hawk Early Bird Triathlon
1st Camp Whitcomb Mason Triathlon
1st South Milwaukee Tinman Triathlon
1st Stevens Point YMCA Lactic Edge Triathlon
1st LaCrosse YMCA Got Energy Triathlon

2nd Pleasant Prairie Olympic Triathlon
3rd Tri-ing for Children Olympic Triathlon

56th IM Louisville

The lows were getting hit by a car, not finishing Triple T because of another bike crash, and competing at a different Ironman venue that I thought would suit my strengths (swim, bike) but found otherwise.

What I learned this year:
I was physically sharper then ever before. Most of the improvements are from simply training another year. This was my fourth year, third serious year of training. The minor changes in my yearly training program did address some my specific performance limiters. The changes in bike workouts, the 2 week versus 3 week taper, and doing lots of early season long bike rides proved beneficial when looking at race results.

Off-Season:
To improve I need to make one big change. I recognize that competitive swimming from age 8 to 22 got me to the front end for triathlon's swim portion. As for the bike, that required 3 dedicated years of high volume and some intensity. And now, it's time to work on my running. I'm making two changes in my run training. First, I'll run in the middle to upper end of Zone 2 (6:50-7:45). Too often, I floated on the lower end (7:30-7:55 pace). It was fairly apparent when running with Scott Bowe or Chris Wichert that when running alone I was going too easy. To keep things on target, I'll start using the Polar foot pod. The other more important and more dangerous component is increasing run volume. I ran 30-35 miles/wk this year with the highest being around 40. I knew this day was coming. Every HIM or IM runner faster than me that I've met has at some time in their career put in some really high running volume. To that end, I'll attempt to put in 4-6 months of "runner" like volume. The goal is 60 miles/week January through April. I'll spend November and December slowly increasing the volume so that I don't acquire an injury in the processs. In summary, I want to be running 6x/wk during the season with a lot of race pace running.

Next, I need a mental adjustment. Work was a toll this year and took up a lot of "space" in my head. With the change in practice location and changes in fee-structures with insurance companies I had more stress this year. I need to refocus that area of my life. I am working on some ideas to make an adjustment. Although I successfully compartmentalized the mental drain at shorter races, when it came to IM I had a number of ugly thoughts slipping through related to work.

2010:
The goals include figuring out how to race hard without a side-stitch, have my run splits be more in line with stand alone run times, and having a breakthrough race at either a HIM or IM. To accomplish this I expect to race more. The tentative game plan is 10 short-course triathlon races, 2 HIM's, and 1 IM. The general training theme for the year is work on my speed for 3-4 months, then build my endurance on top of that. In Spring I'll start my usual training mode but decrease the weekly long bike to keep it under 4 hrs and keep the long run at 1.75 hr. This should allow me to add in a weekly track workout and race frequently. Late in the season I will spend 8-10 weeks doing the long stuff required for an IM and reintroduce the 100 mile rides and 2+ hr runs.