Ironman Training

One of the great athletes and coaches in triathlon is Chuckie V. If you haven't read his blog (chuckiev.blogspot.com), I recommend you look it over. Nearly even thing he writes (about triathlon) is gold. Personally, I follow a lot of his recommendations. Recently, he's written a wonderful piece about Ironman training with a template that, I believe, is better than anything else I've come across.

Chuckie V recommends:

Monday: Run (1:00) + Swim (1:00)
Tuesday: Ride (1:00)
Wednesday: Time-consuming Run (2:00) + Swim (:45)
Thursday: Ride (1:00)
Friday: Run (1:00) + Swim (1:15)
Saturday: Time-consuming Ride (4:00)
Sunday: Time-consuming Ride (4:00) + Run (1:00)

And again, the three primary challenges within this are the midweek long run, and the weekend rides. (The real challenge, however, is in repeating such a week ad infinitum.) The long run is (or should be) self-explanatory: get out and run for a long time. If you run it too hard (or you go too long), you'll know a couple days thereafter. Be in tune with this and be aware in advance of next week's long one. The bike rides are ideally set-up in a manner where the challenge comes on Saturday (i.e., a harder steady-state effort), with Sunday's ride simply done as a "Caveman day" or a "feeling based" ride, followed by a transition run (we are, after all, triathletes). If you feel (and are indeed performing) like crap on Saturday the two rides can easily be swapped…in hopes you won't feel poor again on Sunday.

Now, as to where the rest of the challenge should lay, that's up to the individual and the coach, assuming the individual has a coach. If not, this is what I advise…

But first a disclaimer! It's imperative in training that you don't become mired in protocol or in a specific code of conduct. Protocol simply cannot prepare you like an adaptive response to reality can. (Reality = events that unfold; life.) This adaptive-ness is essentially the "art of training" and is every bit as important (if not more so) than the "science of training". And though verified to generate desirable outcomes on a wide range of athletes, the following is merely a suggestion based on principles and fundamentals and can only work if you make it work. And alas, making it "work" is NOT entirely up to you but rather your body and its fickle, ever-irregular responses. Amend where needed, when needed, as needed.

Okay…

Since the weekend is big enough Monday really ought to be recovery focused, a day free from the rigors of leg abuse. The hitch, however, is that we must continue to get the weekly load in, and starting the week with just a swim (regardless of what came the day prior) is a sure-fire way in which to fall short by the end of the week, and so Monday also includes an easy jog in the afternoon, preferably as late in the day as is feasible. And depending on how challenging the transition run was the day before, Monday's bout ideally ought to remain relaxed and slow, preferably on dirt or some other soft surface (rubber, pillows, babies butts, etc). As far as the swim goes, it's a good day for some "upper-body isolation" or "sport-specific strength work". Strap your feet together, throw on the paddles and a small pull-buoy and do a simple but challenging main set, like 10 x 250s @ 90% effort. With about two hour's training time in all, that leaves Monday a done deal.

As far as Tuesday is concerned, this is where the midweek bike challenge ideally fits in, at least on paper. (Keep in mind that everything is easy on paper, even an Ironman and even the Pacific Crest Trail, though you'll need that much more paper for the latter! And since everything is easy on paper, I plan to do my next long hike entirely atop the stuff.) In all truth, your body (and your drive) must always have the final say, but planning a hard strength-related ride here allows you to make the most of the restricted amount of time you have (or, more precisely, don't have). Warm-up approximately 10 or so minutes, then do 40-minutes at 95%-98% of FTP/UHOP in interval form (e.g., 5 x 8-minutes on 2-minute's rest), all the meanwhile seated in the aero-bars (not literally though, that'd be weird and hard to balance the bike) at slow, smooth cadences, roughly 65-70RPM. Cool-down for a minute or two and be done with it. Tuesday…check.

With regards to Wednesday, you'll need to find a way to squeeze the midweek long run here, particularly if your idea of a long run is two hours or so. If a long run to you is to the refrigerator and back, be sure to place the refrigerator in a town about 6-10 miles away. I advise waking up earlier than normal and setting out at 5am, before the rest of the lazy-ass world has even thought about waking; that way you'll feel pretty damn good about yourself (which is always an important consideration) when 7am rolls around, and the world still slumbers. The long run should be paced so that you could theoretically repeat it in 48-hours or so, without a hitch. If your recovery is compromised you went to hard. Later in the day (ideally at noon) a recovery swim is in order, to hasten recovery from the run (in a perfect world, you'd never finish the day with an abusive bout of exercise). This ought to be little more than a moderately challenging "flop" or gravity-removed movement. I usually have those I guide do more strength work with some light kicking (e.g., 20 x 75s pull {all gear} at 80-90% effort on a 5-second rest interval + 10 x 50s kick, alternating with kick-board and no kick-board. Include some backstroke and breaststroke to stretch things out.) Wednesday: done.

Thursday: If you're already a reasonably fit cyclist (relative to those you compete against), this ideally ought to be swapped for another swim or another run. If not, stick with the ride and go entirely by feel, ala the Caveman. Cavemen did not ride bikes (or their bikes had square wheels anyway) but it's important here that you do, or at least do something, whether easy or not (don't be afraid of easy; in training, it ALL adds up, even the easy stuff). I don't believe in taking a complete day off each week when time is of the essence, as it's doubtful your competition does. (Check this: One day off each week = two months off each year. Good luck goal-tending with that approach.)

As for Friday, this is where the hardest swim of the week comes, though your other swims should be tough too (recall that swimming is "easier" on the body, in terms of recovery). You needn't anything extravagant, just something challenging. My personal favorite was a 5,000-meter time-trial, but I'm known to suffer from a series of mental maladies, so I advocate something a little more stimulating, psychologically speaking. (The physical stimulus of a 5K TT is profound.) In general this means a workout that relates to your goal race: if it's an Ironman for example, then 20 x 200s on a paltry 10-second's rest will do the trick, so long as they're all paced faster than your intended race pace. (Remember: unlike this workout, an Ironman Day swim = extended warm-up; whereas here now you must present yourself with a challenge in order to set yourself up for fitness growth; development follows demand.) Today's run, however, is like most triathlon-related running and is simply about remaining consistent and strong; routine in running is perfectly fine (though sameness is not). Fast running is okay only if recovery isn't compromised and if injury/illness is averted. The 48-72 hours following a given run will tell you if you ran too hard; look back to look ahead.

-- Chuckie V

2010 American Triple T Race Report

This was my first race of the year. I learned a lot.

First was the value of aero equipment. I expected the bike section to be harder without it, but I am little disappointed in myself for going non-aero. In doing so, I struggled to pull my weight out there. My teammate, Scott Bowe, may say otherwise, but I felt like I drafted too much. He was riding a 50-disc combo plus the LG aero helmet. I had nothing and didn't even bother shaving the legs.

Second was learning more about side-stitches. Like usual, I managed to have a nagging side-stitch at Triple T this year. This happens every year and I finally think I nailed down why. Personally, sustained efforts at 155-170 bpm require proper training to ward off the stitch. Years ago Ernest Maglischo wrote, in Swimming Fastest, that a side-stitch was the indication of somebody being out-of-shape. With a few years of race experience under my belt now, I believe him. I'll certainly remember to focus on this heart rate area in 2011 and spend somewhere between 4-8-12 weeks making sure my body can handle this activity level in the swim-bike-run. Tabata sprints may be a good substitute. As for racing in the lower to middle zone 2 area, that was a cake walk this year. That was a new feeling, an experience from a much deeper aerobic base. I also felt better when I was recovering between races. Keeping the swim easy helped a lot. I recall having to dig really deep (too deep) to hang with Bowe on the swim back in 2008 and putting myself in a hole for the remainder of the race(s).

Third, to access greater fitness requires a proper executed warmup. The days of no warmup are officially over. Skipping this before race #1 and #2 is part of the reason I got the side-stitches. And doing the "right" stuff in the warmup is important. Just a light jog for a few minutes doesn't cut it. I'll have to do some reading about how ITU/HIM racers warmup to assist me.

Third, I was sorting my way through the race pictures and noticed that my arm swing when running is really bad. I need to drop the arms a lot to have my hand position in right place. I'm holding my elbows really high and having the hands too high. I need to relax the shoulders, swing the elbows back and not around (torquing the chest), and have the hands much lower than the elbows. Driving the thigh has worked wonders for correcting errors on the lower extremities.

Fourth, this was another "coming of age" race for me. Back in 2008 I was in awe of Bruce G and John K. After this year, I said to myself, had I trained specifically for this race (by doing interval work) I could of been in the mix. They're not so scary anymore. Besides, both are friendly guys to talk to.

As for the races themselves, race #1 was really no different than years past, but the run section was a mud bath. My shiny new shoes turned brown for the rest of the weekend. Ugh. Because of high winds, heavy rain, and down trees the bike course for race #2 was changed to the course of race #3. So comparing times from previous years is not applicable. Race #3 and #4 were fun like usual. In the last mile of the race, Scott vowed for us to return next year (with him healed and transformed into a running machine) to take top honors. I'm on the fence about it like usual and I can't put my finger on to why.

In summary, Scott and I continue to be a great fit. Our abilities are nearly even and despite his lack of running from having a screw put in his foot, we ran fast enough to end up second overall in the team division. Outside my own reflections, there were a number of Wisconsinites at the race this year. It was great to see a lot of friendly, familiar faces.

2010 Base 2

Base 2 Training

The physical struggles I experienced when I resumed bike training with intervals in the Prep phase are reappearing. I'm not surprised. Introducing long periods of zone 2 efforts for the first time in eight months (IMLOu Aug 2009) shocked my system. The message was really hit home after I did a 4hr ride on the computrainer with 2:30 at zn2. After I finished, I puked. Subsequently, the 1 hr run at IM pace afterwards was cancelled. The next day I did another 4hr ride at zn1 then made up the 1 hr run, but since I felt better than expected I pushed it managing 6:35 for 9 miles on the track (HR ave 157).

Overall, my swim has progressed to my goal level of 40x100 1:15/1:30. I have not yet applied any metrics to my bike fitness. Subjectively, it feels good. I'm not dreading the 4 hour weekend rides (Sat and Sun). My run fitness is at a career-level high (see metrics post). I've managed to have all my runs, short and long, stay faster than 7:50. Running at 7:15-7:45 pace is really comfortable for the first time in my career. In years past, this was a big struggle of mine. During IM training, most of the time I could not muster up the energy to run at speeds ranging from IM pace to 5K speed, I was too tired.



Training-wise I've targeted the following for Base 2:

• increase swimming base by keeping intervals aerobic with 10-15 seconds rest.


• bike in zn 2 range for one long ride and my interval ride.


• run at a lot of different speeds (De Castella idea) by throwing in a tempo run, a run at IM pace, a run at LT (1-2 miles), etc.

Base 2 time-frame: 8 weeks

Periodization style:

The big jump in volume week three coincides with American Triple T this year. I look forward to seeing the Wisconsin and Slowtwitch crowds in Ohio.

2010 Stamina and Pursuing Speed

Lassen Virén prepared with one focus in mind: coming to a peak for the Olympics. He accumulated thousands of kilometres of running in his local forests and in winter training destinations, running at gradually increasing intensities over intervening years to prepare a huge foundation from which to peak with his anaerobic work. All else was considered only as preparation, even European championships.

His story is interesting. The absolute dedication to Olympic victory is note-worthy given the distractions of a multiple of racing opportunities. Perhaps his secret, if there was one, was that his coach, Rolf Haikkola, put him through a training regime that was, for the time, extraordinarily rigorous. The schedule combined straightforward miles on the clock with fartlek, the Scandinavian tradition of changing the pace. It included periods of training at high altitude in South America and Africa; before Munich, Viren had spent three months in Kenya, training three times a day at 7,000 feet above sea level. The bulk of his training, though, remained running alone in the Finnish woods, 150 miles a week.

Viren prepared for the Olympics in a way that no one had before him; he was ruthlessly disciplined. Today he is widely considered to be a founder of modern athletics, the prime exponent of peak performance. "All my focus was on the Olympics," he said. "As they approached I would plan a year ahead, with systematic practice aimed at that certain date. This wasn't simply a case of physical preparation. It is the mental side which can be the deciding factor." Sisu sums it up. "It is the ability to endure and overcome any pain and challenge through mental strength."

Viren is good motivator for anyone focusing on the IM. Being on the Ironman wheel is fun. The very capacity to train appropriately for the event is rare and competiting at it, regardless of finish time or place, is special. Yet the journey to race day and to race it is muddy waters. With an influx of recreational athletes, the business side of triathlon is out there appealing to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that they should buy this, do that workout, and ingest this product. Shifting through the sand for gold is a tedious process for BOP and FOP self-taught athletes.

The strategy for training and racing an IM has been on my mind a lot the last two years. But recently, I've been able to apply life's little lessons to increase my knowledge base. The literatue base of triathlon training is small, IM even smaller, and far behind that of running and swimming. Ernest Maglischo's monograph Swimming Fastest spoiled me. Yet, triathlon is evolving. The blogs of Alan Couzens, Chuckie V, Team TBB "doc", Gordo Bryn, and others prove helpful. In their own separate ways we learn through them as athletes and coaches.

As for triathlon books, I haven't read a lot of them mainly because they're first generation genre: teaching you how to do your first triathlon. One of my favorite books in this category is Going Long by Gordon Bryn and Joel Friel. The title reaches out to their target audience--novices going long for the first time. It does a good job at introducing us to IM training while adding in some elite level tips. And not to gripe about the book too much, but it falls short on clarifying the nuances of novice versus elite and is too short on case studies. The other day I did pick up Brad Kearns' book Breakthrough Triathlon Training and was surprised at the content. Most of his material is profound in a simple way and applicable to those of us nearly toasting ourselves training week-in and week-out. His story of 200 versus 300 or even 700 miles of biking per week points out the high level of intuition the sport demands. Different folks need different pedal strokes - touche.

The other absence I see in the triathlon literature is benchmarking of swim, bike, run. That is, to do an IM swim in 60, you must be able to swim a 100yd Free in XX:YZ or some variation of that (I see that Alan Couzens, in his blog, is in the process of pointing out the physiological factors required to either complete, win your age-group, and win the the IM.). Explict definitions and training examples could clarify the fog that many of us float in. The McMillian tables for runners are great in this regard. Furthermore, I would love to see a case study of an athlete who progressed their IM bike split from a 5:45 to 5:15 or swim from a 58 to a 52. And it not just a matter of doing it, who did matters as well. We learn more from a 5th or 6th time IM participant who has breakthrough performance rather than a 2nd or 3rd time participant. From personal experience, the gains in years 1-3 are from simply putting in another year of training. For those with ongoing weaknesses the problem is no longer "more is more." Doing more 100 mile rides or adding in another 3K swim each week isn't going to help but many of us just see the answer answer as "more." The progress from BOP to MOP to FOP to Elite/Pro is, I suspect, a 5-8 year process in IM. So what does it take and how? How this occurs is what fascinates me and a trench that more triathlon authors should stake out.

When I was first introduced to IM, I badly wanted to sign up. However, an acquitance that I greatly respected in the sport told me "respect the distance" and advised me to hold off until my fitness was better. He was right, I was in the process of coming off a five year hiatus from athletics. So I waited until I acquired more money to afford the sport and soak in bike training which was completely new to me. A few years later I attended an IM training clinic held by four FOP racers (Dave Diamond, Terry Labinski, Eric Davis, and Heather Haviland), still a few years out from doing my first IM. I was captivated by their training volume, intensity, and periodization. But I also found that there was great variation in their approaches. Frankly, it was hard to summarize the clinic, instead I left chalking up their success as genetics because of the large decrepancies in their training models. Not that I'm opposed to it since God gave me some fastness, but I wanted more experience, more science, maybe a protocol to guide me.

Where am I going with all of this... I hope some good triathlon training and biography books come out in the next decade that captures the interest of racers and fans. Because, as I see it, many of us enjoy the biographies of Bowerman, Goucher, Viren, Prefontaine, De Castella. We can resonate with their victories and struggles plus, for some of us we can follow in their footsteps. Book publishers are still a few years behind me on this thought. Depth is what I seek. It reminds me of why I loved MTV so much as a kid. Video gives the artist another medium to relay his message. It helps give context to the singer's words. Comic books are the same way. Yes, the story teller can use words to tell us what Spider Man's costume looks like, but to see the artistic rendering makes it more real. The only thing that I think comes close to telling and showing us the FOP story is the triathlon movie "What It Takes" or Mark Allen's story told by Tim Noakes in the Lore of Running.

Back to Viren, he entered his first Olympics not as a serious contender yet came away with some gold. Most of us will never be Olympians but many seek similiar paths to personal excellence in triathlon. I would be happy to hit my ceiling of IM fitness this year and have a "best I could ever do" outcome. As you may gather from this entry, learning about triathlon training--stamina and pursuing speed--is an ardous journey that rivals the training itself.

2010 Base 1: Phase I, Phase II

The Base 1 Phase of my training is still continuing. For the first 12 weeks of a 16 week base one phase, I focused on running. The overall weekly schedule was simple:

Swim - 3x/wk 2500-4000/workout
Bike - 3x/wk 1hr; 1hr zone 4 intervals; 2-3.5 hr long ride
Run - 7x/wk 55-62 miles/wk

I am happy with the progress and general feelings of fitness, especially the improvement in running strength. My body is starting to tell me good things. Swimming feels similiarly which is a nice surprise compared to last year when I struggled with motivation. Others might be surprised to find that out, but I was calling it quits most times at 2k yards. This year my key workout 30x100 1:15/1:25 is fun to do and I'm averaging 3000k/workout. The nice thing about the pace is that 1:15 translates to about 53-55 IM swim and I'm handling 30 of them without much trouble. Undoubtably, the cruising of these 100s is deeping my zone 2 swimming and continuing to add another round of 5 every other week will get me to 40x100. The downside, if there is one, is that I may continue them for their novelty and hurt the quicker front end swimming needed to do well at American Triple T. But given that I'm passing on stand alone sprints and olympics this year, any worry is unnecessary. As for running, the overall pace came around nicely the last 4 weeks of high volume to settle in at 7:45. For the first four weeks, the running pace floated around 7:55 to 8:15.

The final 4 weeks of my base 1 phase (phase II) transitions me to bring my bike fitness on par to previous year's fitness level:

Swim - 3x/wk
Bike - 4x/wk 1hr rollers; 1.5hr zone 4 intervals; 1 hr; 3-4 hr
Run - 6x/wk 50-55 miles/wk with long run at 2.0 hr

But, in actuality I changed it because the weather was nicer than I thought. I got outside and did a lot more biking.

Swim - 3x/wk
Bike - 3-4x/wk 4:00 zone 1 (AeT-10 to 15 bpm); 3:30 with 1hr SS (AeT); 1.5 SS; 1.0 easy
Run - 5-6x/wk 40-55 miles/wk with long run at 2.0 hr

I finally got a new bike...a black PX. Yesterday I started putting it together and ran into a few hiccups. The first was the cable routing for the sram rear derailler. Apparently there is a unique cable guide allowing the cable to reach up to the screw down bolt. I missed that and for a short while couldn't figure out why the shifting was tough and horrible. The CNC ultralight brakes are very industrial looking. Since there is no opener lever I failed to figure out how to open the brakes up. I had to email the PX distributor and ask. Turns out you need to squeeze the brakes together and wiggle loose the brake cable housing. Not too complicated but certainly a different approach. It also came with a new seat which I'm going to try. Seats are funky and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. The reason I'm giving this one a try is that it's really long and allows the nose to sit near the bottom bracket giving me a steep riding angle. Helpful, but the real reason is the 100mm stem that came with the bike. Previously, I had a 80mm stem and with the extra 20mm, I need the longer seat to have a comfortable cockpit and not over-reach for the aerobars. Time will only tell if it works. If not, I'll have to get a 80mm stem and like all things, it's a pricey gadget.



Last, I fell of the wagon this past week. Training was horrible. I managed to get in the bikes and swims, but running simply did not happen. A few scheduling conflicts and lack of interest simply put some zeroes in the running category. I thought about "catching up" by killing myself but ultimately decided against it. So this week, I am starting anew by doing Monday's workout on Monday. Wow, it feels good to write that. Additionally, I added a picture of my favorite athletic movie for motivation.



"I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." -- Eric Liddell

2010 Working Hard & Productivity

I've been reflecting on the ingredients to a successful triathlon career. Certainly you get out of it what you put in. I find triathlon to be a fun hobby, the intensity and commitment can certainly be addictive. I have to chuckle, I recently commented to a friend that if you want to succeed, you have to be willing to train so much that you almost lose your job and unsettle your marriage. I haven't had to sacrifice that much partially because of a flexible job and a wife who's a fellow triathlete. Plus, and this is a big one, we don't have any kids. Throw that into the scheduling book and any sort of long-term aspirations of becoming a front-of-the-pack racer is gone. Be real, do you want to sacrifice family time to practice countless hours for some upcoming softball tournament, opps I mean an IM race. Doing well in triathlon is not much different than doing well in a local softball tournament. Keep perspective.

But just in case you're starting out and wanted to know what worked for me in the beginning, I jotted down some notes.

WORK:
The work of a triathlete is no different than the work of a sole-practitioner. I should know, I do both. Often times, it's done in solitude. Sometimes I stumble across others, individuals like myself who are on the same journey. Maybe our paths cross for a brief moment at a stop sign when on a bike ride, or it's at the pool when you got into the lane next to me, or maybe it's at the track when you showed up to do intervals. While our interaction may be brief it's not because we're rude or mean, it's because we're wolves. Legs fed the wolf so our time together is short by our character. It's time to move on, to keep ourselves strong, to find another meal, to live another day. In this game we got lots of work of do.

The experience of "Hard" is a personal experience. Nobody knows how hard you or I am working. A lot of the time you need to workout at a semi-comfortable pace; at other times you need to work hard and I mean really, really hard. Those that succeed in triathlon are committed to maximizing their training hours. Each gesture, each stroke, each stride is calculated for its value. 80-90% might be zone 1-2, the remaining 10-20% is zone 3 and 4. Experience shows us the foolish things we did in the past. I recall doing 8 weeks of training to race my first half ironman. I also remember doing 4.5 hour bike rides in February for a September race. Our previous errors help us to refine our training process and race strategy.

How much work does it take to be good is a common question. The most important ingredient for triathlon success is innate talent. Either you got it or you don't; no way around it. Next is dedication. Consistency of training is directly tied to your dedication. Week in and week out we need to be training. The amount of training usually parallels the distance of our A race. For short-course triathletes, that's usually 8-12 hours a week. For those at the half-ironman and ironman that means 12-25 hours for the pointy end of the age-grouper field. As for the pros, they seem to float between 20 to 40 hours a week regardless of the distance.

TEAMWORK:
The accomplishment of goals is not a solo effort. It requires the support of a team. Support can come in many forms: money, gear, advice, recommendations, strategies, constructive criticism, and praise. In the world of triathlon, team means all the things listed above but also implies expectation. Without it, we have no one to answer to besides ourselves. While we may be able to muster up enough vital force to have a few conquests, the team environment makes the process easier, more enjoyable, and often times more successful. My first mentor in the sport was Paul Eckerle. His words of wisdom still resonate true for me today. Find somebody to help you along the way.

COMPETITION
We might ride the same bike, wear the same gear, or even be on the same team, but when the gun goes off the prizes are limited and I happen to want one of those shiny trinkets. The competitive spirit has always resided within me. While I might not push you off your bike, I may turn myself purple to pass you while riding mine. And if I don't say anything when passing you on the run, it's because the pain reaches a level where it's a spiritual event. You're going to want to find a way that makes pain/fatigue/high intensity an ally. A race is a situation for testing your training program. It's important to recognize this is the time to over-reach. That might mean coming out of the water with the lead pack, not allowing yourself to be dropped on the bike, or it may mean trying to lead the race start to finish. Going for it means... going for it. You should never feel embarassed by blowing up, especially in C or B level races. Hang your head high for trying to "go for it."


In summary, I would like to say all the training and winning is worth it regardless of some of the really low points. I have experienced a great deal of personal joy and happiness in my spare time by participating in triathlon. Equally true are the numerous friends I've come to make along the way. I continue to be impressed by the quality of the people in the sport. The same traits of competitiveness, integrity, and competency that they bring to the sport are often reflected in their professional careers and personal lives.

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