Hello running legs...Nice to see you again

Well the base is winding down. Pretty pshyced that even though I had several colds this winter (2 year old, newborn and life in general are the culprits) I feel like I have a really good base. I have already knocked out my main goals for base.

1. Get to 275 Watts. I'm at 280 now
2. Get under 173. I'm at 167 with 11% bodyfat
3. Squat 275. Done that and more...without any real injuries.

Now I have to work on my goals for the build. Most of these involve getting back to some simplier things, but also some pure number goals as well.

1. Get body weight under 165 and 10% bodyfat
2. Get Power to weight ratio up to 3.9. Would love to see 4.0, but I think this is a little out of reach. I will need to watch out for weight getting to low and leading to a drop in power
3. Really focus on the diet. Paleo has been going okay, but I can do better.
   
4. LT run pace down to 6:05. Again, so close to that magical 6 minutes number, but I just think it would be too much of a sport specific stretch that is not needed for Ironman.
   

So on to todays tempo run. I've not been doing too much running as it is my strength, but I need to get back to it now. I had a 90 minute run today that included some tempo portions. The quote on the chalkboard yesterday at the bike session was "Bite off more than you can chew, and then chew it". With this in mind I was looking forward to this one. So the workout called for 3-4 x 6 minutes in zone 3 with 2 minute recoveries. With the above quote in mind, I opted for 4x 1 mile in zone 3 with 2 minute recoveries. I figured that zone 3 would be about 6:30 pace as I have done no real hard efforts in quite some time. Now the warmup felt good, and the weather was perfect for this kind of run. There was also a nice 1.3 mile loop that is marked every .1 miles near my office, so I figured I would give it a go there. 1st mile was 6:23 and right in the middle of zone 3. Felt pretty good. The one thing I tried though was to push the 2 minute recovery a little and try to cover the .3 miles back to the start. This didn't work to well as it is all uphill. So after the second repeat, I just jogged around the mile mark for 2 minutes. 2nd mile was 6:27 after not recoverying enough. The last 2 though I hit them pretty hard. 6:17 and then 6:07. The 6:07 was exactly one beat over zone 3. I'll take it. Given that my legs were feeling pretty heavy after the last 2 hard bike sessions, I think this went much better than expected. I'm looking forward to improvement with my running and I'm glad to see that my low run volume hasn't killed my ability to run well.
I'm still up in the air about jumping into the broad street 10 mile the first week in May. It would be a great test of my LT pace, but I just don't want to push too hard on an effort that isn't specific to my end goals. I will have to ponder this one further.

later,
Dave

(trying to get) Back to our regularly schedule programming

Well not that things have settled down at all, in fact it got a little more crazy over the last week. Mateo is doing well, although of course he doesn't sleep much. Helen, who normally really values her sleep, is doing really well though. Ben unfortunetly had a pretty bad cold that turned into "Croup" last Saturday. We had spent the morning at the aquirium (Just dad and Ben) and that night he woke up and couldn't breath at all. We had to take him to the ER and they gave him some medicine. Since then he has been getting steadily better. He certainly is making strides in the area of communication. He has very interesting conversations (with himself as well as us) and is learning more and more words and phrases.
My cutback week ended up not having any real tests except one as I was sick. But I did do a final Power test for the Cadence bike class. I was really happy with the numbers. I think I could have done even better if I hadn't been under the weather. My FP is now 279, which checks off one of my objectives to get to 275. I now am going to modify the goal and shoot for 290 (which of course is so close to 300...but we will see). Also this is all happening with my weight coming down slowly, but steadily. My Power/Weight ratio is now 3.45, so I am pretty happy about that.
The other big thing I am tackling this week is my diet. I have decided that I really want to focus on this as I have also done "so-so" in this area. I usually eat realatively healthy, but probably eat too much bad fat. I have also wanted to cut out grains, etc. To this end I am giving the Paleo Diet a 1 month try. I started on 3/14. Basically I have to cut out dairy (not that hard for me...don't do that too much), breads, potatoes, rice, beans, sugar and some other things. Basically good lean meats, and all the fruits and vegtables you want. I am going to follow the Diet with some slight modifications though. The book Paleo Diet for Athletes allows for high GI (Glycemic Index foods) foods (potatoes, rice, etc) after workouts as part of the recovery process. I expect this will be tough for me at first (there is usually a temporary loss of energy), but I plan to stick to it for 1 month. Fortunetly they do play by the 95:5 rule, which says that 5% of your meals can be "cheat" meals (ie whatever you want). I would really like to get to single digits in terms of bodyfat and overall I agree with most of the research behind this diet. I also like that they have modified it for endurance athletes. One of the hard things is simply getting in enough calories. When you eat 2 cups of vegtables, you get full, but there just isn't much in the way of calories. And of course calories is energy.
Hopefully I will get back to some normal training. This week is going okay so far. Both of my swims this week have been less than stellar, but I did a hard weights session on Tuesday and it after skipping weights last week, I'm sore.

Dave

Baby Mateo Arrives!

Well Baby Mateo has arrived.

Name: Mateo (Matt) Bayes Hartman
Date: 3/2/2007 2:02 AM
Weight: 8 lbs 13 oz
Length: 21.5 Inches

Everyone is home and doing fine. Helen went into labor on Thursday at work. She had contractions on and off a good chunk of the day at work and she left work early. She called me on the way home at about 4 PM saying that she had some "Braxton Hicks contractions that were about every 10 minutes apart". My wife is not known for her observations of the obvious. If someone would have smacked her over the head with a sign that said "Hey, its your due date and you are having contractions...guess what?...you are in labor", she still might not have thought she was in labor. Anyway, the contractions were not that painful at all and so she thought this might be a false alarm. My wife has a very high threshold for pain and sometimes this can be a bad thing. During her first labor, she was actually dozing in and out when she was at 10 cm's.
So I came home from work and we stayed at home getting some things ready and playing with Ben for a while. At about 8PM after I put Ben down, Helen decided that things were moving along pretty well and she was having contractions every 5 minutes for about the past hour. We were told to go to the hospital and so off we went.
We got to the hospital and the dr. checked her and said she was still only about 4 cm. This seemed odd as she has been almost 4 cm the past week or so. The dr (Dr. Lu) said that every doctor was different in the way they measured. So we started walking around, listening to the Ipod and just letting things happen. Helen did mention that this time was actually more painful. Once we got about 8 cm it was quite painful for Helen and we considered getting drugs. But she opted against it.
Before we go on...rewind a week. At Helen's last visit to the dr. she had asked how big the baby was. For Ben, the doctors had said the day before Helen went into labor that the baby was exactly 8 lbs. The doctor seemed confident in this number. It really surprised us, as Helen is pretty small and 8 lbs seemed huge. Well, wouldn't you know it, Ben was born at exactly 8 lbs less than 24 hours later. So when Helen asked this time the doctor (a different doctor) said the baby was about 6 lbs. When Helen said "Really?, our last one was 8 lbs...", the doctor said well maybe 7 lbs. Not that there is anything wrong with a 6 lb baby, it was just that after Ben being so big, we wondered what had been different this time. Did Helen not eat as much or as well?
The point of this rewind was that, given that this baby was going to be so much smaller, pushing wouldn't be as hard, so let's suck it up and deal with the pain. Yeah right! (See above for the actual birth weight).
So at 8 cm they broke her water. Last time this really helped things progress and the same thing happened this time. Within an hour they said we were ready to start pushing. Within 20 minutes of pushing, the nurses said to hold up for a minute. I don't know why they start the pushing without the doctors there, but anyway, we waited a minute for the doctor to arrive. Once the doctor was there Helen took over. Blood vessels bursting on her face, she just got down to work. Never once screaming, it was total focus.
There was one scare, the shoulders. Apparently this guys shoulders were coming out sideways, instead of up and down like the doctors prefer. The doctor appeared to be struggling a little with the shoulders and then yelled out for nurses to come in and help. I have to tell you that this was the scariest moment in my life. I didn't really know what was going on, but I knew I didn't like what I was hearing. I remember everybody pushing on her stomach, including me. I could feel his feet through her stomach. I turned to Helen and said "You need to push...now". She sensed I was nervous/scared and she gave it everything she had. Mateo came right on out, no problem. I remember looking at him and thinking, "hmmm...that doesn't look smaller than Ben was...". I got to cut the cord, which was apparently huge (I don't know, I have only seen two in my life). They cleaned up Mateo, and weighed him. Once they told us his weight, I actually remember asking if they zeroed the scale first. The nurse said yes. The doctor started muttering to herself. She said that if we have another one, we should get induced at 39 weeks. Apparently, someone Helen's size shouldn't be having nearly 9 lb babies.
While Mateo was being cleaned up, Helen was being tended to. But she started fading in and out of consciousness. Apparently her blood pressure was dropping and so they put in an IV. She wasn't in any real danger, but they wanted to watch her. Her recovery took a little longer because of this and she was shivering the entire time because of the low BP. They finally moved her up to a real room and although her BP was still low, they thought she would be okay. So I went home to get some quick sleep. It was 5:30 before I got home. Now did I consider just getting my workout clothes and going to my 6:30 indoor trainer class? You bet I did. But common sense took over and I decided sleep was more important.

On the way over to the hospital on Saturday, I talked to Helen and they said that for the first time in 11 months they had to double up in the rooms and Helen had a roommate. I remember thinking on the drive over that it would be funny if this was a fellow training partner from the Bryn Mawr Running Club, who I recalled was due around the same time. Well wouldn't you know it, that was Helen's roommate. Deb runs in the same speedworkout group as me (we are the "B" group...the "A" group is the fastest group). I don't know the odds of this, but they have to be pretty small. We got a picture of us before we left on Sunday along with another "B" group runner, Ed.
During all of this I was able to get in a 3 hour ride on Saturday and Sunday. So I was pretty happy about that. But then on Sunday I started feeling crappy and of course I woke up on Monday with a horrible cold (feverish, chills, aches, etc). Oh well, this was a recovery week for me training wise anyway. I'm just upset that I was not as useful as I could have been.
Anyway, that is the story.

later,
Dave

Thank you...May I have another?

Well I guess I have no one to blame but myself. I was the one who decided I could handle this many hours a week. After a 8.5 hour weekend...yes you read that correctly, I didn't say Week, I said WEEKEND. It was actually a great week of training. Still no baby though and I keep waiting for the mandatory time off to begin.
So what does one do for 8.5 hours over a weekend. Well first you get up at 5:30 on Saturday to start a 3 hour indoor trainer ride. Started a little late, but not too bad. Was able to do a pretty good workout. I have the ride broken into 10 minute segments, with something different every 10 minutes. I also throw in some "steady aerobar time". These are just longer stretches where I stay aero the entire time, and ride at steady/ironman race pace. I then immediately transitioned to a 1 hour run. The run felt great. Was able to do 7:30-7:40 pace without pushing very hard. HR was steady the entire run. Mostly upper z1 lower z2. Nice dip in the ice bath afterwards.
Then on Sunday I did a 3.5 hour ride. This was supposed to be a group ride outside, but instead I was back in the basement staring at the wall. I then did a 1 hour swim in the afternoon, which was only about 45-50 minutes (this is a class and I didn't get a chance to add anything either before or after). I was definetly tired, but the steak and 2 beers I had for dinner tasted all the better.
The good news is that I get to do the same thing next weekend, except I can go ahead and add an hour to the Sunday ride. I am going to do anything I can to make sure that at least this ride is done outside. Maybe even both rides. Assuming the baby arrives this week (which it definetly should), this ride may get shortened. But if I do get outside, I will definetly have to do some better planning (nutrition, tools, clothing, route, etc).
If anyone has any good ideas on a 4.5 hour route around the philly area, let me know.

later,
Dave

Getting Motivated for this weekend

So far this has been a good week. Everything is quiet on the baby front and my new prediction is that we will make it to our due date (which is 2/28 or 3/1 depending on who you talk to). Because of the imminent baby I will likely have to do both of my long rides this weekend on the trainer. I hope at least one of these can be done on the porch, where I at least be outside. I have done this in the past and it works well. You don't get overheated and although I get strange looks from the neighbors, it is much better than the basement.
I have 8.5 hours on tap for this weekend. A 4 hour brick on Saturday and a 3.5 hour ride and 1 hour swim on Sunday. The swim should be relatively easy as it is mostly technique work.
I am getting another LT test done on 3/4 which is during my next recovery week. This one will be done in a "lab" and is part of the coaching that I signed up for. They will also test my max V02, which I am not as interested in as I don't think this is as useful in Ironman training.
BTW, you thought this weekend was bad. Next weekend, which is the 3rd week in a 3 week buildup is even tougher. 4 hour brick on Sat, and 4.5 hour ride on Sunday with a 1 hour swim. That is 9.5 hours of training in 48 hours. I will be more than ready for the cutback week.
I also got my fathers day gift all lined up. I will be attending the IMLP recon trip the weekend of June 16 with Joe, et. al. Joe organized this one and it looks like a bunch of people are going, as well as some folks from Beginner Triathlete.com. I'm really looking forward to this weekend. The plan will likely be as follows:
1. Arrive Fri afternoon and do a 2.4 mile swim in Mirror Lake (2 loops)
2. 112 bike (2 loops) and ~1 hour run on Saturday
3. 56 bike and 13.1 mile run Sunday (this is tentative).

Okay, back to work.

Dave

Long weekend, still no baby and Ice bath

Between now and 5 PM I have exactly one hour total free (2 1/2 hour blocks) when I am not in meetings. Of course that is when I have to get some actual work done. A good weekend for the workouts though. Saturday was a 3 and 1 brick (4 hours total) with the 1 hour run done at under 8 minute pace. The run felt good and I think my running form is returning quickly. My bike was also pretty good. I mixed it up a bit and had 10 minute blocks of something different most of the way (different cadences, wattages, standing, sitting, etc). Avg for the ride was 169 Watts. The legs definetly felt it towards the end as I was pushing a little harder, but the run felt smooth and easy. Sunday I went long on the run. 2+ hours and ~15 miles. This was probably a little longer than I should have gone, but the foot had no real issues and feels good today, so I am saying that I am officially over my foot injury issue. That being said I probably won't go longer than 15 for a while. There really is no need at this point in the season. My legs definetly feel tired and beat up a little today as I used muscles I havent' used in a while. I did unfortunetly skip my swim workout in the afternoon as there was just too much that needed to get done around the house and I was pretty beat from the run. But it was still 6+ hours of workouts this weekend. Next weekend is looking tough. A 4 hour brick on Saturday followed by a 1 hour swim and 3.5 hour bike ride on Sunday....Mommy! I really hope I can do at least one of thouse rides outside as the trainer can be pretty boring.
After my 4 hour brick on Saturday I had the perfect recovery. Within minutes of finishing I had a recovery drink with some OJ, banana and protein. I then took a bucket of ice upstrairs, filled the bath with nothing but cold water, dumped the ice in and then sat in the bath for 10 minutes. I do this with my shorts and socks still on. In the summer the water doesn't get cold enough for the ice to not melt. But on Sat the ice never melted. I expected I might only last 5 minutes, but I made it the entire 10 without too much trouble. I highly recommend these after hard workouts, especially after long runs. They really help with the recovery and I usually feel much better the next day.

later,
Dave

I passed the test with flying colors!

Well I did my 20 minute all out time trail on Monday AM. We did a 15+ minute warmup, then some zone 3 efforts, zone 4a, 4b efforts and then a couple of zone 5 efforts. The purpose of the longer, tougher warmup is that you shouldn't be too fresh for the time trail. This is supposed to predict the power/hr that you could hold for a one hour race. But doing a race of this length is really taxing on the body (recovery mainly), so usually a 20 minute effort is done. I figured this would be better than my first test by a fair amount and it was. My goal was to start out at 250W and go up from there. I pretty did exactly this, with the last 5 minutes almost all over 300. I ended up with a 269 avg and was really happy with that effort. My goal was to get to 275 by spring time and I think I am on my way. This was a pretty big jump for me though, and it will mean that my workouts will now feel "harder". For example my Zone 2 power used to be 189 and now will be about 203. That means even endurance rides should be done around 200 Watts. I'm sure it will take me a week or so to adjust to this, but it is what it is. This was definetly one of the better efforts I have put out.
I also started to add some quicker pacing to my runs and the foot is feeling good. I did 90 minutes last week and this week I am going for 2 hours with a group of guys that live near me and are getting ready for IMLP as well. Good thing is that they start early (6 AM on Sunday morning), which means that I will get back home in plenty of time to help out.
I also need to give some kudos to Candence. I have really enjoyed the workouts that they have done and I am also starting to get some good information from the swim class that I am taking as well. The coach is giving me lots of good tips and it really seems to be helping. So I have decided that I am going to continue my coaching relationship with Cadence through IMLP. I think the main reason is for getting answers to questions, and having a structed training schedule. I have been okay in the past with my planning, but sometimes I don't plan an entire week out in advance. Having this done will really help out, timewise. I just have to login to see what I am doing and also I can see what my plans are for the weekend.
Speaking of this weekend, I have a 4 hour brick (3 hour ride, 1 hour run). This should be fun...as it will likely be on the trainer indoors.

Later,
Dave