April Totals

Really solid month of training. I had no major set backs. In fact, I moved forward quite well. Even had time for a recovery week at the end of the month.

Previously stated goals


1. More balance, less sporadic volume spikes--DONE
2. Consistent long rides AND runs--DONE
3. Build FTP higher--Probably DONE
4. Hard bricks--Half Done

For my volume, here are my goals
Bike: 500 miles (125 a week)--474 Actual. I will take a 94.8%
Run: 100 miles (25 a week)--89.3 Actual. Not bad for me.
Swim: 40,000 (10k a week)--35800 Actual. Really good for me.

Overall, I am very pleased. I felt really dialed in and a few flats, rainy days and busy schedule were the only thing to prevent me from hitting the totals.

April Goals

Coming off a solid March has me thinking more and more about what I want to accomplish in April. So here are my goals:

1. More balance, less sporadic volume spikes.
2. Consistent long rides AND runs
3. Build FTP higher
4. Hard bricks

For my volume, here are my goals
Bike: 500 miles (125 a week)
Run: 100 miles (25 a week)
Swim: 40,000 (10k a week)

I suspect that the breakdown will be 4 bikes a week (doable), 4 runs a week (must push myself to do these) and 3 swims a week (easily doable). All I need is some good weather. The trainer isn't going to cut it anymore.

March Totals

Really good month of training in the books. My numbers look inflated and they are. My run was added by two races--Tom King Half and Powerman Alabama. Those two days alone provided 25.5 miles or 29% of my total mileage. But given the races, there was plenty of recovery that forced me to not run. Shrugs shoulders

I did a bike focus week and that really helped drive up my biking volume. That week alone gave me 150 miles or 41% of my volume. Overall, that is a solid amount of riding for a month. Hopefully kinder weather will help me in April.

I am very pleased with my swimming. I think this is my 2nd or 3rd most yardage in a month ever. The only times I put in more were the two months leading up to IM Florida. I guess those 4500y workouts added up. The best part is that I don't really feel like I made any extra effort to get to the pool. In fact, I was only swimming 2x a week most of the time. I know there is room to add another swim.

March's totals:
Bike:	19h 56m 23s - 362.2 Mi
Run:	11h 49m 18s - 88.6 Mi
Swim:	10h 31m - 31318.07 Yd

January is in the books

One month down. 11 more to go.

As expected, I am not finding ample time to keep this blog updated. I have things to blog about just lack the motivation and energy on most days. Most of my creative thoughts are being put into the FTP blog. Jessica and I are in full content creation mode right now. Tons of stuff to unveil in the next 45 days.

Training is going sufficient right now. I took a week off in the beginning of the month. I did NOTHING for 5 straight days. No trainer. No pool. No strength. I think I needed a rest. And it seemed to help. I feel like I bounced back nicely.

I am marking Monday as my official kickoff in training. I have a half marathon in about 6 weeks. At some point I need to hit my long runs. I WILL run long for the next 5 weeks. I WILL. Last night was the first time since last year that the trainer won. Quite honestly, my legs are fried right now.

Jessica has me working on a posterior chain strength routine that leave my hamstrings screaming for a couple of days. Additionally, I overdid it a bit this past weekend. But...but...but....it was sunny and in the 60s. I bought a new road bike and had to test it out. But I forgot how different the geometry feels and it works a totally different muscle group. Great in the long run. Sucky in the short run. So I started this week with heavy legs. I have a feeling that an ice bath is in my near future.

I am also slowly finding my way to the pool. I have plenty of time to swim. In fact, I have NO excuses seeing as I basically work at the pool or across the street from it. But I like to make excuses. My biggest issue is that I want to swim masters but the times aren't convenient for me. I coach during their early sessions. Then the 9 am class is only MWF. I don't typically work M or F, so I really don't want to commute into town just to swim masters. The masters class by the house has a 9am TT class but I have a personal training client in that slot. SIGH. My life is so miserable, lol.

Overall, I am pleased with January. Taking 5 straight days off hurt but my numbers are still solid. I rode about 40 miles more than last year. And I ran 25 more. My swimming was almost the exact same. Ironically, I took off a week last year in January to recover.

Bike:	12h 26m 48s - 220 Mi
Run:	10h 59m 08s - 81 Mi
Swim:	3h 56m 19s - 12350 Yd
Strength:	1h 20m

I don't have a particular goal for February. I suspect my riding will be closer to 250, my running closer to 120 and swimming around 20,000. It isn't quite go time but I feel ramp up. My first race is an olympic this year in mid may. So I don't feel too much pressure...yet.

When September Ends

This song was made popular a number of years ago by the band Green Day. And for the most part, I found myself singing the chorus all month long.

The month of September was absolutely brutal on me and the body. In those 30 days I did all of the following:

--Traveled to SC to see a good friend and a football game
--Was a groomsman in a wedding
--Traveled to Orlando and visited the Magic Kingdom
--Traveled to Tuscaloosa to race
--Raced an Oly and Sprint
--Traveled to Macon for 2 day meetings
--Traveled to Nashville twice for business

I dare you to find a consistent pattern in which you can train or even eat for some regularity. My diet plummeted. I somehow found the time and energy (when I wasn't driving) to train.

September's totals:
Bike: 13h 39m 12s - 272.1 Mi
Run: 8h 53m 17s - 67.15 Mi
Swim: 7h 24m 21s - 19965.31 Yd

For entertainment value, I sat down last week and developed a color-coded calendar of what my month looked like.



So when September ends was the mantra. Now I hope to resume my regularly scheduled life. Well...sorta. There is moving to another state, quitting my day job and taking over another business. Details, details, details.

(rolls eyes)

June Training

Half way there! June was a tremendous training month for me. I am really happy about. Despite not doing any really long training (3+ hours on the bike or 90+ minute runs), my monthly volume is nearly on par with IM training.

June Totals
Bike: 20h 13m 06s - 400.8 Mi
Run: 11h 58m 44s - 88.1 Mi
Swim: 7h 33m 10s - 22112 Yd

I am thrilled with my bike and run totals. It will be difficult to replicate the bike totals this next month but my goal is to run 100+. I haven't been there in a long time.

I am now ahead of pace for my annual totals. I don't really feel like any of them are in jeopardy. In fact, they might have been understated. I already swam more than I did all of last year, which I find impressive. I should easily hit my bike target with typical riding. And I suspect that I will demolish my run goal for the year.


2010 Totals

Bike: 89h 30m 56s - 1721.64 Mi (57% of goal)
Run: 57h 57m 03s - 436.94 Mi (58% of goal)
Swim: 44h 13m 08s - 127180.2 Yd (63% of goal)

All in all, I just need to hope to stay healthy. Right now that is the key. Hopefully it pays off in a few months.

Monthly Totals

I have become very lazy about getting out these updates. I really just like to have them for record keeping purposes.

May was a solid month of training. I tapered the first week of the month and took nearly an entire week off. The swim total certainly reflects those adjustments.

May's totals:
Bike: 14h 08m 23s - 275.8 Mi
Run: 9h 51m 27s - 72.17 Mi
Swim: 6h 15m 40s - 18212 Yd
Yoga: 25m

With 5 months (42%) of training in the books, I feel pretty good about my totals for the year. I anticipate my focus this summer will be volume as I will race less.

2010 totals
Bike: 69h 17m 50s - 1320.84 Mi (44% of goal)
Run: 45h 58m 19s - 348.84 Mi (46% of goal)
Swim: 37h 35m 07s - 107868.2 Yd (54% of goal)

Total hours: 152h 51m 16s

Turn Up the Volume

It appears to be that time of year. I am moving from period I (base) to period II (build) in the training plan. And goodness the body felt every bit of it this week. Fortunately, I was able to combat the amassed fatigue by visiting my crazy, head-splitting open massage therapist Eileen yesterday.

It is kinda sad to admit, but this week was my largest volume since June of last year. heh. The focus on intensity is still there but my mileage on the run stepped up a bit more, I assume in preparation for one last surge before the ING half mary. I ended up putting in nearly 26 miles of running which eclipses any non race weekly total in quite some time. And I cut off a few miles on the week due to time constraints.

Most notably, as my last blog indicated, was the entrance of masters swimming into the workout schedule. I think my body is still in shock from the time adjustment. And I felt every bit of it this week when training. I found myself quite lethargic in the afternoon, not looking forward to riding or running. My energy levels were sapped due to the 5 am wake up call. Given that, I am even more please with my ability to focus and push through the workouts this week. We will see what happens this week as I expect a bit more of the same.

For the month of February, I feel really good with where I am right now. I (crossing fingers) hope that I worked through a potential injury in January and it didn't appear to be a limiter in February. I returned to the pool. Sigh. And I feel good about the bike. I am very pleased to log 200 miles given that 100% of it was intensity, interval based. That being said, I am ready for some volume. I am ready for warmer temps and longer rides. Hopefully March will bring those wishes to me.

February's totals:
Bike:	10h 37m 30s - 207.2 Mi
Run:	9h 58m 25s - 77.42 Mi
Swim:	5h 42m 54s - 16050 Yd

2010 totals
Bike:	20h 30m 38s - 391.5 Mi
Run:	17h 23m 45s - 134.22 Mi
Swim:	9h 42m 54s - 28050 Yd

July Totals

Where did July go? I think I remember it but it sure left in a hurry! July was a big down month. I was feeling run down to start the month and wanted to take a few months off to see if I could turn things around.

I had a shoulder issue at the beginning of the month that kept me out of the water for a couple of weeks. Nothing long this month. Longest run was at an hour. Longest ride was probably 40 miles. Hopefully I am recharged

July's totals:
Bike:	12h 23m 05s - 234.4 Mi
Run:	8h 40m 03s - 63.75 Mi
Swim:	2h 54m 11s - 9450 Yd
Walking:	58m 19s
Yoga:	40m

June Training Totals

June was a big month for training. It should have been bigger but I had a few minor set backs.

June's totals:
Bike: 21h 50m 06s - 420.4 Mi
Run: 7h 31m 54s - 52.5 Mi
Swim: 6h 54m 01s - 22512 Yd
Strength: 35m
Yoga: 1h 40m

The focus this month was clearly the bike. I found myself on it more often than I do laundry...which creates a problem when you need clean shorts. The volume really only represents three solid weeks of training. Last week was little to nothing. I also raced two sprints in June that prevent a bit more training.

For the year, it looks like this:

Bike: 89h 46m 08s - 1681.94 Mi 56% of goal
Run: 57h 18m 09s - 397.35 Mi 53% of goal
Swim: 33h 12m 20s - 101978 Yd 51% of goal

It looks like I am on par with where I thought I would be for the year. Of course, the goals were a bit random. I actually think I will be hard pressed to reach the bike and definitely the swim. I think the run goal will be achieve easily.

Fluid Loss and Heat Training

Summer is here. For those of us in the South, we were met with 90 degree temperatures a number of times over the past week. Just as predictable as heat and humidity to Atlanta, it is the time of year where athletes begin feeling less energetic and more fatigued. The reality is the heat beats you down.

To understand why, you need to look no further than a basic science book. The body is made up of water. Sweat is 99% water, blood is 90% water, muscle mass is 75%. This easily demonstrates why we weigh ourselves and find our weight often +/- a few pounds. Most of it is water loss or retention.

This becomes crucial for athletes who train in warm and humid conditions. As heat and humidity rise, the body begins to sweat as a cooling mechanism. In order to sweat, there needs to be an ample supply of water. As the body loses fluids in the form of sweat it becomes even more critical to replace the fluids to keep the body hydrated. Most of this is common sense. But have you really ever thought, beyond basic dehydration, about how fluid loss impacts your training?

Over the past year of training, it has come to my attention that I am a VERY heavy sweater. This seems to stand in face of conventional wisdom given my general fitness level and lean build. However, I often walk back into the house with a heartrate strap that will produce a small river beneath. I think this problem has the potential to become a major detriment in training...both during the workout and in the recovery process. My goal is to devote time this summer to determining my fluid loss rate and developing a better hydration strategy.

Your nutrition that worked in April might need a slight modification to meet your needs on a hot day. However, most of us still stick to the one bottle per hour rule of the thumb when training. Instead, we need to think past this general concept and begin understanding how much fluid our body actually NEEDS during the workout.

Calculating your fluid loss or need is a simple process:

1. Weigh yourself prior to the workout
2. Workout, 60 minutes at a moderate intensity is most ideal
3. Weigh yourself after the workout
4. Subtract the difference between the weights
5. Repeat often


The difference in weight can then be converted to fluid loss if you assume that 1 pound of body weight equals 16 ounces of fluid. Thus, the key becomes determining the proper level of hydrating to prevent significant weight loss. For example, I conducted this test on a humid morning run:

1. Pre workout weight: 168.4
2. Workout: 67 minutes, 7.5 miles, moderate intensity
3. Post workout weight 165.4
4. Total weight loss: 3 pounds or 1.8% of body weight.

So in theory, I needed 48 ounces (3 x 16 oz) of fluid to maintain my weight. Over the course of the workout, I likely consumed about 14 ounces of water....so I really needed 62 ounces (48 + 14) to offset my weight loss. Of course, consuming 62 ounces over the hour is improbable. Generally, the body is only able to absorb about 34 ounces (1 liter) per hour but the deficit illustrates the importance of maintaining proper body hydration, both before and during training.

So as the training and the heat begins to increase, I encourage you to give more thought to your hydration plans. The old rule of one bottle per hour may work for you...it may not. And unless you determine your fluid loss need, then you might be putting your body in jeopardy and setting yourself up for performance failure. Therefore, the question becomes at what point does weight loss become detrimental to training and recovery?

In the next few days, I will go into more detail about the detriments of fluid weight loss and what you can do about it.

February Totals

I am still feeling good about training right now. I wasn't about to crank out a big month due to recovering from Hawaii, the Time Trial and inclement weather. I am very much ready for time change AND better weather. Overall I am very pleased with where I am. My running was solid this month and the workload is finally turning into speed. I feel like a broken record at this time of year but my bike is still lagging behind. But I am probably not giving myself enough credit for the work that has been completed to date.

February's totals:
Bike:	8h 48m 53s - 158.34 Mi
Run:	9h 08m 19s - 62.35 Mi
Swim:	4h 13m 55s - 12950 Yd
Strength:	4h 05m
Yoga:	1h 00m

2009 totals
Bike:	29h 28m 30s - 496.94 Mi
Run:	18h 10m 30s - 120.85 Mi
Swim:	11h 08m 52s - 30250 Yd
Strength:	5h 45m
Yoga:	2h 00m

January Training

Overall I am very pleased with how the month turned out. Obviously the crux of the training was done in Hawaii. Most importantly, I am thrilled about running 50 miles this month. It is well shy of the 100 I was doing this time last year but it gives a solid foundation for the year...especially with all the injuries I incurred last season.

The key will be keeping the momentum over the next few weeks....

January's totals:
Bike: 20h 39m 37s - 338.6 Mi
Run: 7h 51m 57s - 50.5 Mi
Swim: 6h 54m 57s - 17300 Yd
Strength: 1h 40m
Yoga: 1h 00m

November Totals

As expected, November totals include competing in an Ironman and not a whole lot more. But that is what I needed. I successfully took the rest of the month off and as you can see, didn't do much more. The positive is that I am mentally recharged after the holiday and ready to get moving again. I just hope the body cooperates.

November's totals:
Bike: 6h 25m 01s - 129.1 Mi
Run: 7h 06m 18s - 44.8 Mi
Swim: 3h 30m 36s - 11624 Yd
Strength: 1h 40m
Yoga: 20m

2008 totals
Bike: 194h 46m 19s - 3538.99 Mi
Run: 96h 40m 29s - 660.04 Mi
Swim: 86h 45m 15s - 261040.3 Yd
Strength: 10h 00m
Football: 25m
Yoga: 8h 00m

It appears that I will be short on my run volume for the year, minus getting a wild hair to run a lot this month. 90 miles at this point would probably be pushing it. Otherwise I am more than happy with my 2008 totals.

September Totals

Another month down.

September's totals:
Bike:	25h 47m 19s - 473.3 Mi
Run:	6h 01m 47s - 37.55 Mi
Swim:	10h 59m 47s - 32700 Yd
Strength:	20m

2008 totals
Bike:	167h 19m 18s - 2992.74 Mi
Run:	82h 19m 44s - 566.11 Mi
Swim:	71h 56m 07s - 210466.3 Yd
Strength:	7h 30m
Yoga:	7h 40m

I am definitely pleased with these totals. I biking was solid. Ideally I would have liked to be around 550. My run is better than I expected. I would feel much more comfortable if it was close to 80-90 miles. And my swim looks great.

For the year, I surpassed my swim goal a while back. I will pass my bike goal this weekend. It is unlikely that I will reach my run goal. I can't imagine that I can get 200 miles out of my body over the next 3 months. Possible...but unlikely.

August Totals

August's totals:
Bike:	20h 45m 47s - 385.27 Mi
Run:	7h 06m 07s - 46.05 Mi
Swim:	5h 11m 04s - 15100 Yd

2008 totals
Bike:	147h 15m 43s - 2627.94 Mi
Run:	75h 43m 33s - 524.76 Mi
Swim:	62h 56m 49s - 183966.3 Yd
Strength:	7h 10m
Yoga:	7h 40m

This was a much better month than the previous two. While I am still less than thrilled, I am moving in the right direction. Despite traveling nearly half the month I did manage to surpass my 2007 totals for both biking and swimming. This month might allow me to surpass my 2008 goals in those areas. too.

July Training Results

As expected, July was a really lousy month. I spent more time at the doctor than I did training. My run total was abysmal. I didn't even run a half marathon. My bike total was surprisingly higher than I anticipated but it is really fueled by 4 different rides. My swim total shows were I concentrated this month. Ironically, I easily skipped 20-30% of my swim workouts this month and shorted a number of them.

My 2008 totals still look good. In August both my bike and swimming totals will surpass my 2007 totals and are on good pace to meet my annual goals. I am slightly concerned about my run totals. Only about 60 miles in the past two months has dropped me behind where I want to be. Not to mention that I am not certain if the run will come back around in the next few months.

July's totals:
Bike:	16h 47m 48s - 309.78 Mi
Run:	1h 54m 10s - 12.55 Mi
Swim:	9h 23m 41s - 28750 Yd
Yoga:	20m

2008 totals
Bike:	120h 46m 12s - 2134.17 Mi
Run:	67h 57m 47s - 474.51 Mi
Swim:	55h 45m 16s - 162666.3 Yd
Strength:	7h 10m
Yoga:	7h 40m

May Training Results

May monthly totals look good. I was tapering for half the month which makes it a bit more impressive. Additionally, I took my running WAY down in fear of a few injuries. Overall I am pleased. It puts me ahead of schedule for the year.

May's totals:
Bike:	24h 23m 18s - 440.05 Mi
Run:	9h 50m 29s - 67.21 Mi
Swim:	5h 26m 28s - 17466.24 Yd
Yoga:	20m

2008 totals
Bike:	87h 02m 10s - 1512.95 Mi
Run:	60h 12m 04s - 421.01 Mi
Swim:	36h 02m 45s - 104566.3 Yd
Strength:	7h 10m
Yoga:	6h 25m

April Training Totals

Solid month for training. 30 days ago, I said my goal was to get on the bike as much as possible. And that I did. In fact, that is the most I have bike in a month...ever. I was quite surprised that my run volume was so high. I never focused on long runs. In fact, I only had one long run of 10 miles. My suspicion was correct that I am nailing a bunch of 5-8 mile runs. Those used to wear me down but an hour run is now fairly routine...I just go.

I only have two complaints. First, I need to get in the weight room. Injury prevention! Second, I still haven't started Master's classes. Merry Christmas in June? The reason? Well, I am so type "A" that I want to start them on a Monday and Monday is typically a swim day for me. Well the past few weeks I have been completely beat on Mondays. So I am going to postpone them until June. I plan on shaking up my training schedule a bit before starting my Ironman Florida training. This would be an ideal time to focus on my swim.

Alas, it was a good month. I will be pushed to repeat similar numbers:

April's totals:
Bike:	27h 46m 42s - 510 Mi
Run:	11h 03m 43s - 80.7 Mi
Swim:	7h 16m 04s - 22500 Yd
Strength:	30m
Yoga:	1h 20m

March Training Totals

New month!!!! March was a good month of training....especially given that I raced both a 10k and half mary. I got on the bike a few times for rides of about 40-50 miles. And my swim remained fairly constant. In April, I am going to take down my run and see if I can't squeeze in 4-500 miles on the bike with at least one ride of ~90 miles. Plus, I think I will finally go to masters classes!!!

March's totals:
Bike:	18h 37m 31s - 299.5 Mi
Run:	14h 26m 21s - 103.89 Mi
Swim:	8h 57m 59s - 25400 Yd
Strength:	30m
Yoga:	1h 15m

2008 totals
Bike:	33h 55m - 546.9 Mi
Run:	38h 52m 27s - 270.1 Mi
Swim:	24h 01m 03s - 66600 Yd
Strength:	6h 40m
Yoga:	4h 45m