Project Exercise

I was tossing and turning all night so at 3:15 am I decided to just get up and go for my morning run.  Today my plan called for some hill training with RPE 3 on the flats.  So I headed towards Diamond Head to do the Diamond Head loop.  The loop is 4 miles around the crater which includes going up and down a couple of hills.  I live around a mile from the loop so it was easy to get a 10K (6.2) mile run out of it.  

Since I knew I was going to encounter some inclines I planned to run slowly.  However, my run turned out to be a tempo run.  In fact, even with the hill I completed the run faster than any other 10K run that I have done so far.  I clocked 1:06.  Granted, that is slow, but for me it was a PR.  As most of already know, I am slow.  Just  5 days ago I did a 10K in 1:13.  For some reason I was able to keep pace going up the long, drawn-out climb up Diamond Head Road.  

I like to log my training at www.mapmytri.com.   It is a sister site to www.mapmyrun.com, www.mapmyride.com, www.mapmyfitness.com, etc.  Once you sign up for a free membership, you can access your training log from any of those sites.  Anyway, I downloaded the iMapMyRide app to my iPhone last night.  I really like the app.  It uses my iPhone GPS to keep track of my run.  The cool thing is that you can set it up for voice notifications during the run.  So I was getting average pace, time and distance information every half mile.  I was also wearing my Garmin, but it only beeps and vibrates every mile.  Unfortunately, I need to wear reading glasses to see the Garmin information.  Since the iMapMyRun app announces the information by voice, I always knew how I was doing.  I think that help motivate me during the run.  Hearing my pace information was very handy.  I carried my iPhone on my hydration belt and I could hear it loud and clear.  It was pretty accurate.  In fact, it tracked my Garmin pretty well.  Once you finish your run, you can upload it directly onto the site so you don't have manually type the information.  Oh, btw, you can even upload the information from the Garmin to the site too.

I also downloaded iMapMyRide which I will use on my next bike training session.

I haven't been on the bike since my triathlon on June 7.  So since I consider this week 1 of training for my next triathlon, I need to get back on my trusty steed and ride.  With all the running, swimming, strength training sessions, squeezing in the bike gets tough, but it has to be done.  During my training for my first triathlon, I only biked about once a week.  Luckily for me the bike is my fastest event (and I don't know why since I did train much on the bike).  While I was BOP for the swim and the run, my average speed on the bike was better than average.  

Ok, I digress.  Anyway, I decided to commute to work on my bike today.  I have a rack that clamps on to my seat post and I mount paniers (bags) on it to carry my laptop (I am a software engineer) and extra clothes.  My total round trip came out to 15 miles.  The ride to work is pretty easy, however, on the way home I have to ride up the back side of Diamond Head which means that I have to negotiate a steep hill for around a third of a mile.  The hill is a great training tool because most of my rides have been on the flats.  Ideally, I would like to commute to work twice a week and do a long ride on Saturday.  

Due to traffic, I have to be vigilant during my ride.  The afternoon commute is tougher than the morning.  Further, the buses are wide and take up most of the road.  I try to bypass  the main rodes when I can.  It will take some time to get used to riding during the morning and afternoon commutes.

During my lunch break, I hit the gym and worked on shoulders, biceps, triceps and abs.  I went light and did a lot of reps.  On each routine I would do between 20 and 30 reps on my first set and work my way to about 12 to 15 reps during my last set.  I got incredicle burns!  I think these type of workouts will give me better muscle endurance… something I feel is important for a triathlete.

By the way, I did those steering wheels for the abs again today.  I really like those as they directly hit the core. 

This morning the alarm clock notified me of my pending run.  It was 4:15 am.  My first mile was kind of tough.  My heart rate shot up big time and took a while to settle down.  There is usually a point where my limiting factor shifts from my aerobic capacity to my legs.  This is the point where my breathing settles into a groove and I feel like I could go forever aerobically.  This morning it took a little longer than usual.  Before the first mile was over I was actually thinking of stopping!  Is that stupid or what?!?!?  I pushed through, though, because I knew that it was only a temporary thing.  So after the first mile my breathing settled into a nice rhythm.  Now my limiting factor would be my legs.  So around mile 5 my legs were getting a bit tired.  My current training schedule calls for minimum runs of 5 miles, however, I just wanted to get to 10K like I did a couple days ago.  I am glad I pushed forward to get my 10K training run done for the day.  I was even able to shave 3 minutes off my last run.  As an extremely slow runner, that was good news.  I used my Garmin 310XT and it worked out great… but, then again, my Garmin 305 works great too.  Maybe I will wear both of them on my next run so that I can compare the results.

During my lunch break I headed to the beach to do a swim.  During the swim I was a bit tired.  It could be because I am doubling up running and swimming on the same days, but I think swimming last Sunday during the Tin Man has something to do with it.  This will be my third swim for this week.  It was okay, though, because my intention was to completely concentrate on TI stroking technique and bilateral breathing.  I was able to bilateral breath for the entire swim.  I took my breaths every 3 strokes.  I wonder if I can do every 5?  Maybe someday.

Oh, btw, I also wore my Garmin 310XT during the swim.  Now, I did not have big expectations for the device in the water.  As a former RF engineer, I knew that the water attenuates the high frequency signals.  Further, I have been reading forum posts where others have not had good results using their 310XT for their swims.  However, in Garmin's defense, they don't state anywhere that it can track distance in the water.  During my 800 meter swim, my Garmin 310XT reported 1.4 miles!!!   Ok, so if you want to get the device to track swims and you already have a 305, you may want to just save your $$$ and hold on to the 305.  At any rate, I will do a review after I use it for a while.

I intended to bike to work, but when I headed out of the door I found that it was raining.  I don't have a real problem riding in the rain, however, I wasn't too crazy about negotiating cars on wet pavement during the morning traffic on a bicycle.  Maybe when I get more time on the bike and commuting, I won't be apprehensive.  Again, I don't mind the rain.  Heck, I ride a motorcyle everyday to work, rain or shine.  So I jumped on my motorcycle, which I am much more comfortable riding and headed out.  Of course, after I headed down the road the sun came out and began drying the roads.  I should have went for it this morning.

During my lunch break I headed to the gym to strength train.  My back was a bit tight from the swim yesterday so I just did chest and abs.

Chest
Barbell Bench Press: 4 sets
Dumbell Bench Press: 5 sets
Dumbell Flyes: 5 sets

Abs
Pulldown Cable Crunches: 100
Steering Wheels: 100
Crunchy Frogs: 50
Mason Twists with 10 lbs:

The steering wheels are a great core exercise especially if you use the olympic bar.

I need to re-think how I do the strength workouts.  I am used to lifting heavy.  In fact, during my military days (about 100 years ago), I used to enter bench press competitions and actually win.  Again that was 100 years ago.  However, I tend to lift the same now because it is the only way I know how… heavy.  Triathlon training puts a lot of stress on the body too.  I need to go a lot lighter and give my muscles strength and endurance.  Triathletes should include strength training into their training regiment.  In my case, I need to strength train in such a way that it benefits and compliments my triathlon training.  Heavy lifting also opens me up for injuries.  I may try to go lighter with more reps in subsequent workouts.

Well, today I officially start training for an olympic distance triathlon that comes up in May (Honolulu Triathlon).  Actually, their is another olympic distance triathlon (Lava Man Triathlon – on the Big Island) coming up in March that I also have my eye on.  If I feel ready in March I will do the Lava Man first, then the Honolulu Triathlon.  At any rate, I have to get back into a more structured training regiment.  There are a couple of sprint triathlons that I want to do along the way too.  I can use those as part of the training.

My schedule is much tighter when I wake up early to knock out some training.  Since my triathlon last month my training has been kind of "off kilter".  I wasn't training in the morning and my training was loosening up.  I was still training and working out, but it wasn't as structured as I would like it to have been.  Now that the Tin Man is done, I can begin a more focused training schedule

This morning I woke up at 4:15am to do my run.  I ran 6.2 miles (10K).  I used my new Garmin 310XT.  For the run, it is pretty much point and shoot.  However, I am having a few issues with downloading the data.  I will give you more info on the Garmin after I use it for a couple weeks.  The run went pretty well and I didn't have any issues with the knees that I had a few weeks ago.  I ran a slow 10k pace at RPE Level 3.  I am going to re-attempt keeping my minimum training distance at 5 miles. 

During my lunch break, I headed to the beach to do a 1100 meter swim.  I worked on my bilateral breathing.  I estimate that I did more than 3/4 of the distance using bilateral breathing.  So during my next swim, I should be able to do the entire swim using bilateral breating.  I am currently doing 3 strokes per breath.  My good buddy Jeff is doing a combo 3 strokes/breath and 5 strokes/breath.  I haven't gotten there yet.  I tried a little of it today, but I realized that I need to take "baby steps".  I hope to adpot Jeffs taining method in a few more weeks.  

You may wonder how I track my open water distance.  I use www.mapmyfitness.com.  There are tracking issues in the water with the Garmin 310XT.  I will post about those issus when I review the product.

A couple co-workers and I formed a team to do the Tin Man.  Actually, a big part of this was to encourage a cyclist who used to compete several years ago to get excited about training again.  Needless to say, he was stoked when it was finished.  

My co-worker who did the run did pretty well.  All in all it was a good day.  We had a fun!

I did a video summary of the swim.  The video is deceiving.  The ocean was actually rougher then the video makes it look.  In fact, I saw life guards on jet skis pull a couple of triathletes out of the water prior to my wave.  Check out the video…

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This is a video about my first triathlon completed on June 7, 2009.  It is way overdue.  I you want to read about it go here… First Triahtlon.  While I did a blog post about it, I kind of wanted to do a video too, so here it is and much too late.  Btw, the blog post is probably much more detailed.

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P90X has been a great tool for improving my fitness.  It helped get in shape for my very first triathlon at age 52!

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Thanks for stopping by! 

Today is a rest day, however, I have been afflicted with "Triathlon-on-the-Brain".  So I stopped by my local triathlon store to pick up issues of Triathlete Magazine and Bicycling Magazine.  While I was browsing around the store I saw that they had the new Garmin 310XT.  Not even Amazon has the 310XT ready for sale yet!  I couldn't resist!!! Now I am the new proud owner of this device.  I got a good deal… 15% off.

This is from the Garmin site…

"Finally, a GPS-enabled training device that isn't afraid of the water. The rugged Forerunner 310XT is the triathlete's indispensable training tool — a GPS-enabled, swim-proof trainer that tracks bike and run data and sends it wirelessly to your computer. This multi-sport device has up to 20 hours of battery life, tracks distance, pace and heart rate (optional), and goes from wrist to bike in seconds."

I am charging the device right now.  Since I am on a rest day, I don't have a training session today to try it out.   However, I am doing the swim relay tomorrow at the Tin Man Triathlon, so I will have a chance to try it out tomorrow morning.

I will do a review on it after I get more training time with it.