But it could have been worse too.1. I didn’t drown. (Obvious from the fact that I’m writing this.) This will be considered a major victory on the day.2. I started off really well, leading the lane, feeling pretty good and moving at a halfway decent clip.3. Then, after 30-40 minutes (of a 90 minute swim), the swimming muscles kind of “quit”. The had gone unused for 8 weeks, and were apparently

I had my first dream about the first day of swim club last night. I hopped in, and was instantly gliding effortlessly through the water, faster than I’ve ever gone before. Perfect body position, excellent roll, catching massive amounts of water with every stroke.I have a sneaking suspicion that reality will be the exact opposite of that in ten days. :-O

You may have noticed a distinct lack of posts in the last couple of weeks. Part of that is due to vacation, but there’s other reasons as well. It’s not that I’ve stopped doing things, I have just stopped writing about it.I’ve decided to no longer use the blog as a daily training journal. I have to imagine any readers left are as bored reading about it as I am writing it. How many different ways

Author’s note: Sorry about the delay in posting this. Racing in the middle of vacation can be an issue, what with the lack of access, and then real-life piling on once you get back. But finally, here it is.I’ve done a night race once before. Actually, that’s not exactly true, since it was an untimed run, but it was Central Park at midnight. Needless to say, these don’t pop up too often on the

Just to work out the kinks from the flight, and to try to get used to the heat/humidity, I knocked out an easy little run around the resort. There’s a path around the lake that’s just shy of 2km, so I did four laps, with a few sixty second pickups thrown into the second half. I felt pretty good, although I was doused with sweat by kilometer three. Hopefully it won’t be too bad tomorrow night.

It’s on the brink of vacation time, and tomorrow I get to head south to sunny Florida. While it’s not the point of the vacation, I will be doing my last race of the year, and depending on how I react to the heat and humidity, I hope to do fairly well. I won’t have computer access while I’m away, so the lead-up and race report will be written and back-dated upon my return.And to keep things loose,

This is it, the end of the line. All that remains is a couple of easy runs, a couple of openers to wake up the legs after travelling, then it’s time to toe the line for the last time this year. Seven weeks without a race has been a bit strange after a packed summer, but there’s been enough other business to keep me occupied. But I’m ready for one more kick at the can.Tonight was pretty easy in

Today was the last day with a race-pace effort. Similar to those previous, it was five hilly miles, at a relatively easy pace, then all-out for three miles, shooting for my projected race speed. I was able to shave off a few more seconds from last time, and I had to dig pretty deep to get that.First thing settled: the 310xt does not accurately measure speed/distance with the footpod indoors. My

Another two hour ride, again spiced up with a couple of half-hour efforts. I felt pretty good, and didn’t feel like I was that close to any threshold. It was just a good piece of work, followed by an afternoon of yardwork. Lots of raking and mowing. If you own a maple tree, chop it down before it’s too late.I’ve added the Garmin speed/cadence sensor to my bike, so I can keep recording all of my

Run: 3 miles @ 7.5 mph

We’re at the point now where there’s some hard work in each day, but with extra rest. So today had some T-pace intervals, but with three minutes of rest instead of the usual one. This kept a fair bit of energy in my legs, considering by the end of it I had twenty minutes of harder running completed. That’s when the fun began, with a 12 minute acceleration run. For this, I started at a moderate

Run: 3 miles @ 7.5 mph

Along with the 310xt, I picked up the footpod. What this allows me to do is get speed/distance readings even when I’m running inside, based on calibration to my stride.(It is also useful outdoors, as it can track cadence, or be used as a surrogate any time you lose the satellites.)Now, I don’t believe that the readings will be perfectly correlated to outdoor speed, just as I didn’t believe that

So first, the run. It was cool, almost cold, although it was starting to warm up in the sun by the end of the day. The wind, however, was pretty sharp. Any time I was exposed it seemed to drop a few degrees, and progress was slowed. (It turns out the wind was over 25 km/h, gusting over 35.) But even with that, I had a really good day. The first lap went at the usual pace, followed by a relaxed

Tonight I’m off for Thanksgiving dinner, so it was a must that I get in a good ride beforehand. An hour and a half, two by twenty minutes at a decent effort, and all was right with the world. I feel good, pleasantly taxed, but ready for a good run tomorrow, that will include a bit of a surprise.Bike: 90 minutes, zone 1-2, w/2×20 minutes @ 250w

Due to the Thanksgiving weekend, we got sent home early from work, so I took advantage and got a bit longer run in. Still nice and easy, just a couple of extra miles.Run: 5 miles @ 7.5 mph

We’re now at the point that the high-end should be built, so less work is needed up there. Instead I got a little more of T-pace, with just a couple of really fast intervals. The run went really well, I was surprised by how well I handled the first I-pace interval since it followed short rest, but I guess some days I have better legs than others. I hope this keeps up for another two weeks or

Anyone else bored of me going for short recovery runs?Run: 3miles @ 7.5 mphI did take a look at tomorrow’s run. Now I have to admit to a little bit of nerves. It shouldn’t be that bad, but it could be. I guess I’ll find out about 40 minutes in how bad it will be.

Tuesday is T-pace day. It seems to fit doesn’t it. Tonight was as much work as the 3×12(2) workout of a few weeks ago, but shorter reps (and subsequent shorter rest). Six times through, 6 minutes on, one off. I’m not sure about my reaction to this. My breathing seemed more laboured than I would expect, but deep into the workout it remained the same, and my legs always felt good. So, some good

My long runs are alternating between overdistance for my upcoming race, and essentially the race distance with a fast (race effort) finish. Today was another fast finish. I opened with about five miles at a reasonable but not taxing clip, through the hills to get some good work into my legs, then set out for three miles at a hard effort. As long as I could keep my focus on what I was doing, I

I really enjoy rides like this, even if stuck on the trainer. This is something like my usual modus operandi when riding outside, and I find it to be a real benefit. I’m never killing myself, and I don’t feel shattered at the end, but I know I’ve done a solid bit of work. Long intervals, in the no-zone (Z3). Some say this is useless training, but I really get something out of it. At the very

I went out for a nice little run this morning. I hoped to get in about 5 miles, but called it a day at three, since my hip was still a bit off and I could feel my stride compensating. Tomorrow is one the bike, so I should be healed for the long run on Sunday.Run: 3.19 miles, ez

Tonight was the same workout as two weeks ago, with the short I-pace efforts on short rest, but with an extra time through. Like last time, it’s the two minute efforts that kill. By rep four or five, it’s a state of oxygen deprivation during the last few seconds. But I survived, and I’m getting stronger. I can feel a little stiffness in my hip, so I probably ended up overstriding to keep up with

Turns out, I actually had work to do at work today, so no lunch time run. But I was able to get my after-work miles. I considered going a bit longer to make up for missing earlier, but with house guests figured I shouldn’t push it.Run: 3miles @ 7.5 mph

And tonight I learned how to just hang on. Although the pace was a bit down from previous workouts, the length of the effort was the highest thus far. One set, forty minutes. Luckily, even Dr. Daniels knows this can be tough, so there is an adjustment to T-pace for the workout. I got an extra 13 seconds per mile, or from 9.3 mph to 9.0. After warm-up, I moved the pace up, and just tried to find a

And this morning it was time to run. There was a fair bit of rain overnight, but just overcast and drying through the morning. Fine weather to run in. This was going to be my longest run of the year (I think), at 12 miles or so. I held a nice effort through the first five mile loop, and finished a bit under 40 minutes (like 0.2 seconds under 40), then kept the pace easy for a nice two-miler. Then

Or watching a race where I was a participant.I’m not fast enough to make the actual coverage. (Or look haggard enough, since that’s the other way to make the broadcast.) To keep myself entertained during today’s ride, I dialed up my tape of the 2008 70.3 Worlds. It IS pretty fun watching a race, thinking “I remember that part” or “Oh yeah, that hill sucked.” It makes the time fly by, even when

I guess since it’s a recovery day, it’s not really a big deal, but because of work circumstances, I only got one of my runs in. Not surprisingly, I feel pretty rested about now.Run: 3 miles @ 7.5 mph

This was another time through the I-pace work. I really suck at this high-end work. It just kills me every time. Even though this wasn’t as hard as some workouts I’ve done, I could really feel this one, even as I was doing it. Usually it takes until later that night or the next morning to know exactly how roughed up I am. Tonight, I knew at about minute two of the last interval.But I should be

Run: 2.5 miles, ezRun: 3 miles, @ 7.5 mph