Monthly Archives: October 2015

Training, Mentoring, and the Blood, Sweat & Beers 5k

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Time for an update.  Training is going well, although at times I think my coach is conspiring with my wife to knock me off for the insurance money.  Ok not really, but if they are my coach better get a 60-40 split.   The training is going well so far. I like the structure, but worry every time the new workout schedule is posted thinking “how the heck am I going to get this done?!?”  But somehow it does get done, and I feel a sense of accomplishment on knowing that I am committed to this plan, and put it above a lot of other things.

For example, we just ran the Blood, Sweat & Beers 5k for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and to support Team in Training. It was held at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, and it was a nice course with quite a few hills (short and steep) to make it challenging.  Julie and I ran it together, and when we finished, we received a cool mug, a bowl of chili or a corn dog (I had to get a corn dog), and all the beer we could drink for free from Exile Brewery.  Exile Brewery is a local brewery that has amazing beers with names such as Ruthie and Hannah, and they have donated a lot to events such as this one.  So please support them by stopping by and tell them thank you, that way they know its appreciated.

Now, having explained that there was free beer involved, you would think that we would have stayed until the well ran dry.  This was not the case.  I had a beer and a half, and we decided that we needed to go because we still had swim drills to do sometime that day.  So we said goodbye to our friends and headed home to grab our swim bags and hit the pool.  That is what I mean about putting our workout commitment above other things.  One friend said to me that “the beer isn’t even close to running out”, but that didn’t matter to us.  What did matter was getting our training in and to focus on our long term goals.

Mentoring is about to wind up for the season, and the groups graduation run is the Hot Chocolate 5k on November 1.  It’s a fun run, pretty flat, and some pretty nice swag at the packet pickup.  We decided to take the group on a pre-race run of the course so they would know what to expect.  It’s been an amazing experience watching these people develop their abilities in running, and I hope that they continue long after the class is over.

Here are the totals for the week, and a photo of the cool mug we got for the 5k yesterday.  I have a bike ride to get in today (1:30 total) so I better get moving and get the tires aired up.

Running – 6 workouts – 19.59 miles

Cycling – 1 workouts – 26 miles

Swimming – 4 workouts – 3.35 miles

Strength training – 2 workouts – 1 hour

  
Live healthy, be happy!

Travis

Time to Move to the Next Level

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It’s been an amazing year!  After completing my first open water triathlon and my first olympic distance triathlon, I can only dream of what the next year holds.  I still have a half marathon to run (I dropped down to the half so I can run with my wife while she runs in her first half), and several 5k’s left before the year ends.  But it’s time to start getting ready for next year, to improve on triathlon times and distances, and to be fully prepared for whatever challenges happen to pop up.

So the other day, my friend Chris Matthews (she has a wonderful triathlon blog at http://watchchristri.blogspot.com) mentioned that her coach at Team Amazing Day had some openings, I immediatly started peppering her with questions.  Since Coach Jenni Keil is in the mountain time zone, and Chris is in Florida, how does it work?  Chris was very patient and answered all of my questions so I wouldn’t feel so dumb when I actually called Jenni.  After discussing with Julie our goals for the upcoming year, we agreed that we could use a professional that will structure our workouts around us and our schedules.  So, very nervous and excited about moving up to the next level, we made the call.

Coach Jenni was patient and kind, listening to our concerns and explaining how coaching online works.  There will be phone calls, texts, emails, and workouts delivered via Training Peaks.  She explained the MAF (maximum aerobic function) method of working out as to not over stress the body, while staying in the maximun aerobic workout zone.  She asked about how many hours we could commit to our goals, what we expected, what worries or stresses we were feeling (not only in exercising, but in life in general).  She even said she could work our mentoring runners into the workout schedule. We asked for a little time to discuss it, and I called her back and asked if we could call her “coach”.  And with that, we got to work.

This past week has been about Coach Jenni getting a feeling for what we can do, and setting baselines for our workouts.  We had a large questionnaire to fill out that showed our abilities (distances completed, medications, health issues, etc.).  It has also been a week of me getting used to MAF running.  I found out that I have not been running at an aerobic level, but at an anerobic level.  I have to learn to run and not allow my heart rate to go over 130 bpm.  

The first run using this method left me frustrated, and I immediately texted Coach Jenni and asked her what happened.  I could not get my heart rate under 130, and even had to walk for a bit!  Finally after a mile I was able to run steadily.  Coach Jenni told me that since my heart rate would not come down quickly, it showed that I had not properly warmed up before starting the actual run.  She suggested that I run a couple laps first, walk and let the heart rate come down, and then start my run.  It worked!  The next day I sub 30’d a 5k and a heart rate of 130.

She had me do a bike workout where I had a 20 minute warmup, a 20 minute session where I stayed 5 to 10 points under MAF, 20 minutes at MAF, 10 minutes at 5 to 10 points over MAF, and a 10 minute cool down.  The picture below is just about 50 minutes into the session.  I’d say it’s working…

  
It also marked our return to the indoor pool, and to swim drills.  Coach Jenni gave me a workout totaling 1800 yards and had a 400 yard time trial and a 200 yard time trial tucked within it!  The next day was 1800 yards again, but it was drills only.  It felt good to get back in the water again, and it seemed as if the drills are helping, at least to boost my confidence in the water.

I can’t wait to see what the next week brings!  I really think we made the right choice in hiring Jenni as our coach, and by knowing that it was time to get assistance to reach the next level.

Totals for the week (Thanks to Chris for letting me steal her idea for posting totals):

Running – 28 miles (8 workouts)

Biking – 23.3 miles(1 workout)

Swimming – 4,750 yards (3 workouts)
Live healthy, be happy!

Travis 

Training, Training, and More training

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I haven’t posted since I completed the Des Moines Triathlon, and I guess the reason why is that there hasn’t been much going on.  Just training, training, and more training.  Here’s a quick update of what has happened, what’s to come, and what the future holds.

My wife and I completed the Capital Striders Running Group’s “Capital Pursuit” 10 mile road race.  It is my wife’s longest run to date, and I was proud to run beside her all the way from beginning to end!  We completed the race in 1:46:53, which is an awesome time for a ten-mile run.

  
Here is a before and after picture of the Fleet Feet Sports Des Moines gang at the Capital Pursuit.  Looking at the top photo, there’s Heidi, Tom, Julie, Me, and Claire.  We had a great time, and we plan on doing it again next year.

So, what to do after a 10-mile run? Why, go on a 15 mile bike ride of course!  Our friends Karen and Mel met up with us, and we rode to lunch and then back.  It was a great day of working out and being with friends!

  
I have decided to drop out of the IMT Des Moines marathon, and change my entry to the half marathon.  There are two reasons why.  First, even though I could make the 26.2, I feel that I didn’t get enough long runs in to make a decent run of it.  I’d rather play it safe than to risk injury.  The second reason?  My wife has decided to run her first half marathon!  This from a person who said she’d never run THAT far!  She has amazed me.  In one year she has completed her first 5k, 10k, 10 mile run, sprint triathlon, olympic distance triathlon (open water), and now she’s going to run her first half marathon!  So very proud of her.

After the half marathon, we hit training mode once again.  We want to increase our swimming distance so that swimming a mile is easier than it is now.  We want to increase our biking distance, which means with winter coming, we need to get a second trainer.  We use “Sufferfest” videos for our indoor training.  If you haven’t seen these videos, look them up at http://www.thesufferfest.com.  They are awesome, advanced cycling videos that will really give you a hard workout.  The last one we did was called “ISLAGIATT”.  It was a two-hour hill training lesson in brutality that left me panting, sweating, and starving.  Only towards the end of the video did I realize what “ISLAGIATT” stood for.  It flashed on the screen just I wondered what the hell I got myself into… “It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time”.  As I wiped the sweat off of me and the bike, I knew it was a good idea, although after the first hour I would have doubted that. 🙂

We will also increase our running distances, so it becomes easier when we do our brick workouts.  As the temps in Iowa fall with the leaves on the trees, our open water swim time is growing short.  Soon we will be forced back to the shelter of the indoor pools at the YMCA, but that will make it easier for us to do our swim/bike or swim/run bricks.  It will also make being able to do a test triathlon easier, since we won’t be lugging all our equipment to the park.

I’ll end this post with some photos we took while on a bike ride the other day.  Be sure to look around as you exercise outside.  You never know what you’ll find, like a carousel!  This one is at Union Park in Des Moines.

   
    
   
Live healthy, be happy!

Travis