Look MA…No pain!

Went for a short ride yesterday….went for a run in the beautiful evening! No pain! Finally….my runner’s knee seems to get better. Will go for a longer ride today and run as well….I hope I will remain pain free!

 

Maxing my training…a newbie perspective.

I am new to triathlon training but not new to training. I am new to biking but the program I am currently following is NOT challenging enough so I have to do something about it. I am currently following the “Sprint Triathlon Training Program” from Matt Fitzgerald’s Triathletes Magazine’s Essential Week-By-Week Training Guide. I chose level 4….but I am going to push it up a bit. I will remain conservative in my swimming training because this is a real weakness but, really, I need more challenge.

I also have to find my lactate threshold (LT) for biking and running since, it appears that, max heart rate (MHR) is not really relevant to training….according to Joe Friel .

I was never confused about training for a run, I am quite good at it. I can push quite hard and make consistent progress. In fact, every race I set a new personal best. My first half-marathon was 2h01min, the second one was 1h39 min and the last one, in Comox last winter, was 1h34 min on a very hilly course. Next one will be a PB as well I am quite sure, I get more and more comfortable with discomfort as I get to know myself as a runner (I train 4 pain…..)

The picture above is a “Vélocipède on water”…just what I really need. Do you have one for sale? )

 

Swim, swim, swim!

Went for my first swim today…wow did I find it hard.  At first I went way too fast and was out of breath almost immediately. I am not a very good swimmer and one or two lessons will help a lot. I had trouble finishing the first 25m! Then I calmed down, took it easy and it went way better. Still, I have no idea how I will be able to swim for 30, 45, 60 minutes and over. Practice I guess! Next thursday! Ah…perseverance will do it!

To be honest, I find it hard…I can bike but not that fast, I can run ok and have run 10k, half marathons and a marathon. In my group age (40-44) I am quite good…but triathlon seems to be a completely different ball game and it is testing my patience!

 

Elk Lake

Went for a 10km run today. It’s been roughly 2 weeks since I last ran because of that stupid runner’s knee. I found it difficult, lots of walking breaks. I feel like I lost almost everything I built in the last year. I used to have a resting heart rate of 52 bpm. This morning it was 64…64!!!!

Tomorrow, cycling!

 

How embarrassing!!!!

Went for a ride yesterday afternoon, a very short ride! 400m down my street I had to stop, at at stop sign! Cars are coming so I really stop without thinking….my feet are stuck in the pedals! Too a fall! Bloody finger, bruises on my right knee, not much pain but lots of embarrassements! I guess I will never repeat this mistake again!

 

My very first triathlon!

That’s it….carved in stone! September 14th, 2008 will be my very first triathlon! Nothing impossible…a sprint marathon in Sooke, British Columbia. I just had my bike today. I bought a used bike, Cannondale Silk Road 1000 1998. Got new tires, a new cassette, a new chain, a tune-up…i got my tri-bars and I am ready to go.

My only fear, swimming! 750m…I never swam that far…which is not quite far! I have a few weeks to train but I am on vacation for the summer so let’s go…wish me luck!

 

The longest 4 minutes!

THE POSITIVE VALUE OF SUFFERING

Tabata training is intense training but if you want to perform you need to train so that you can withstand discomfort and, yes, pain! Not all pain is good, but lactic acid pain tells you how hard your muscle are working. You probably heard of Aerobic vs Anaerobic. So what does that mean?

AEROBIC VS ANAEROBIC

Your muscles use energy, mostly carbohydrates. To extract the energy from carbs your muscle cells need oxygen. The more you move, the more energy you extract the more you need to breathe. Still with me? Good! When your blood supply can not provide enough oxygen to your working muscles the environment becomes anaerobic. You still “burn” carbs but without oxygen and some byproducts start to accumulate, lactic acid is now being produced at a higher rate. Normally, lactic acid is produced almost as quickly as it is metabolized but under intense exercise, this lactic acid (lactate) starts to accmulates, this is know as the lactate threshold.

LACTATE THRESHOLD (LT)

Lactate threshold is an individual thing, it depends on the person but also on the level of fitness of that individual. The fitter you are the higher your LT. According to THIS WEBSITE, the LT of an elite athlete can be reached at around 80-90% of the VO2 Max while the unfit weekend warrior will hit his or her LT at 55% of his or her VO2 Max.

IMPROVE YOUR LT 4 MINUTES AT THE TIME

While browsing a copy of Impact Magazine I got at the Vancouver Marathon last May, I found this article about TABATA training (named after Izumi Tabata) which is amazingly simple but also amazingly intense. Here is how to do it

• 20 seconds high intensity exercise (cycling, running, rowing etc…)
• 10 seconds recovery
• repeat 8 times for a total of 4 minutes (do not stop until you reach the end of 8 repeats)

According to Tabata, 6 weeks of this regimen, 4-5 times a week, and you will improve your aerobic capacity by 14% and your anaerobic capacity by up to 28%….so go ahead and suffer!

REFERENCES

http://cbass.com/SEARCHOF.HTM

 

Why I want to be a triathlete

I wanted to be a triathlete for a long, long time. I remember watching a TV show on the IronMan in Hawaii. I remember talking to my friends about it and hearing one of them telling how difficult it is to recover from such an amazing race. After all, the IM is the true test of human endurance!

I have been running for a few years now and I have under my belt a few 5k’s, 10k’s, half and very recently a full marathon. Not so long ago I remember thinking: “wow….42.2 km,  what a test!” Yes, a marathon is quite an accomplishment but I want to go further, higher…I want to test my limits, I want to see if I will fail. I want to see if I will quit, I want to see if I can conquer myself, my fears, my psyche. I want to do something really difficult and succeed. I want to be an IronMan before or when I am 45! Four years to go!!!!

Just recently, I had no real plan for action, I did not even own a road bike. I am not a strong swimmer. But I will train, I will be an IronMan! Last weekend I decided to do something about it. You might ask what was the trigger…. Last weekend I went to see the athletes competing in the New Balance Elk Lake Half Iron Man in Victoria and I thought…next year I will be competing…and I will!

Now… back to the title of this post: Why I want to be a triathlete? Because it is difficult! PERIOD!

 

What it takes

I am a new triathlete, acually I have never competed in a triathlon but I plan to. This blog is about me, a runner, and my quest for the wheels….