Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Training- 8mi Run

Training- 8mi Run by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

I damn sure didn't feel like doing anything today, but I did anyways.  I did my 8 mile run at 8:09 per mile average pace... a little faster than I was suppose to (8:15 per mile).  Nerve pain was shooting down my left leg after about 6 miles, but I tried not to let it affect my pace. 

Afterwards I went swimming for an hour to do drills!!  I did see some improvement in my balance, so I think it is paying off.... slowly.

Training- 26.5mi Bike

Training- 26.5mi Bike by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

Today I went to the group swim and then had a short bike ride.  The swim was uneventful... still seem to be having issues increasing my yardage and breathing correctly... Going to Total Immersion workshop so hopefully that will help. 

Bike ride was good.  Went out in a group of 4 with 3 pretty fast riders.  At times, they were going too slow for me, so I passed them and pushed the pace.  At the halfway point my IT band started hurting again!  Oh shit!  Luckily, like it always seems to do, it stop hurting after a mile or so.  I'm finally getting to the point where I'm averaging 20mph!!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Saturday Long Run- 10mi

Saturday Long Run- 10mi by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

It was raining outside, but the run still started off good.  After 6 miles, I was feeling so good that I started thinking about running 12 miles instead of 10.  Then, all of a sudden my knee started hurting after 7mi.  I wasn't enough to slow me down much (I only slowed down to an 8:45 per mile pace for about a mile), but it was enough to get me to stop thinking about doing any extra mileage.  I didn't have my ITB strap on today, so maybe that has something to do with it, but maybe not.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Brike Workout- 15mi Bike

Brike Workout- 15mi Bike by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

I missed the warmup so my overall mileage was a little lower than I wanted it to be.  The good thing is that I increased my average speed to 16.8mph.  My knee never really hurts during the spin for some reason, but that's a good thing.

Brick Workout- 3mi Run

Brick Workout- 3mi Run by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

Ran a 7:54 per mile average pace, which is what I should have been running.  Everything was ok until my back started hurting towards the end, probably the last 3/4 of a mile.  I stretched afterwards, so I hope that helped.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Brick Workout- 38mi Bike

Brick Workout- 38mi Bike by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

Average speed 18.9mph!!  7 of the miles were above 24mph!!!  It was windy again today, but I didn't crash!!

Brick Workout- 6.5mi Run

Brick Workout- 6.5mi Run by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

I was suppose to run yesterday, but didn't so I ran extra today, after the bike ride.  I was suppose to run 3 miles today, but as I was running, I decided to go ahead and do another loop (each loop is 3.25 miles).  I took a piss break between laps and my back was definitely tight, so I ran the laps slow.  I started off fast for the first 2 miles, but then fell off.  I was able to pick up the pace the last mile though and finish strong.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Brick Workout- 15.5mi Bike

Brick Workout- 15.5mi Bike by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

1st bike (spin) since accident.  It went good.  I didn't feel any back pain at all, so I'm confident that I can go 100% and not hold back during my rides/spin classes.

Brick Workout- 3mi Run

Brick Workout- 3mi Run by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

1st run since bike accident! Went good.  Accidentally did negative splits and ran WAY TOO FAST the last mile cause this guy wanted to race me.  He had passed me after the 1st mile, when I was just taking it easy to see how I felt.  Then I picked up the pace because I was feeling good, but I wasn't trying to catch up to that guy, it just slowly started happening.   By the time the second mile was over, I was about 10 yards behind the guy and he heard me, so he started to run faster... which made me want to run faster.  I hadn't "tried" to catch him, but now that I was so close, I wanted to beat him to the finish.  I caught up to him and we ended up SPRINTING side by side to the finish.   That wasn't smart... that night my back was really killing me!!!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Brick Workout- 50mi Bike

Brick Workout- 50mi Bike by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

Had a pretty bad bike crash! Ambulance and everything...

First 30 miles of the bike was great!!  I was really impressed by the progress that I had made.  I was going pretty fast and hard the whole time.  That good feeling made me want to go even faster and harder, so I did...  more to come.

Brick Workout- 2mi Run

Brick Workout- 2mi Run by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

Run wasn't great because my back was hurting... details tomorrow.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Brick Workout- Swim

Today we were suppose to do the following workout:

50 yard freestyle
50 yard catchup drill
50 yard superman drill
50 yard one arm drill (right)
50 yard one arm drill (left)

100 yard freestyle
200 yard freestyle
2x300 yard freestyle
200 yard freestyle
100 yard freestyle

and there was more, but I didn't have enough time to finish it and I don't remember what it was.  Anyways, I got to use my Swimsense watch for the 1st time, so I'll post more after I download the data.

Brick Workout- 26.75mi Bike

Brick Workout- 26.75mi Bike by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

My knee hurt during the 1st and last miles. Other than that, I was ok. I DEFINITELY need to go to Koala Health & Wellness and have them look at my knee. The 1st half of the ride into the wind... not fun at all. That was the 1st time I felt winds like that while on a bike. I had to stay in the aero position, otherwise I wouldn't have made any forward progress. On the way back, the tailwind was GREAT! I was hitting and maintaining speed up to 23mph.... NICE!!!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Training- 8mi Run

Training- 8mi Run by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

Damn... I ran too fast and probably too far. Technically, I was suppose to run 4 miles since I ran the marathon last weekend. Had I not ran the marathon, I was suppose to run 8 miles today. Technically, this was considered a Saturday Long Run, therefore I should have ran at 8:30/mile pace. BUT... 8 miles really isn't a "long run" for me, so I was thinking I should run it at a "short run" pace of 8:15/mile. After the 1st mile, I was feeling good, so I picked up the pace to ~8:00/mile. After 2 miles, I didn't want to turn around (and stop after 4 miles), so I decided to go ahead and run 8 miles.

BAD IDEA! I'm still not fully recovered from the marathon. After 6 miles, my IT (illiotibial) bands on both knees started hurting, so I stopped running and walked about 100 meters. Then I started running again, at a slower pace. I ran that mile in 8:30. Then I decided to pick up the pace again to 8:00/mi. Now I'm done running and both my knees/ IT bands hurt... not good! Hopefully I'll be fine tomorrow. I have a swim/bike brick tomorrow.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Gettin' back on track!

This past week, I haven't done much.  Just been trying to recover for the marathon.

Monday:  Rest
Tuesday:  Rest
Wednesday:  Swim 1500 meters
Thursday:  Was suppose to do a brick, but it was canceled because of the weather.  I swam instead.
Friday:  Rest

Wednesday was a good swim because I tried to swim the entire distance in 25 meter increments, but with minimal (less than 30 second) breaks in-between.  It ended up taking me almost exactly 1 hour to finish.  Next swim, I'm really going to try to follow the scheduled workout and not just focus on swimming the scheduled distance.  I also called to set up a Swim Stroke Evaluation with Johnny.  That's scheduled be on Thrusday Feb. 10th

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Chevron Houston Marathon

Chevron Houston Marathon by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

I had been trying to decide whether or not I should run this race.  I signed up for it way before I even thought about doing a Half Ironman.  I wasn't going to run it actually, but I was still training for it in-case I changed my mind.  That's exactly what happened.  As the race day got closer and closer, I started wanting to run it more and more.  But I hadn't done that much work since my last marathon.  I didn't do any long runs between the marathon and the end of November and in December, I had a terrible 16 mile run (due to bad hydration) that really messed up my confidence. 

In January, I was suppose to have 2 long runs... One was 16 miles and the other was 18 miles.  Before the 16 mile run I was scared that I wouldn't be able to do it.  But then I ran it with NO PROBLEM and actually didn't even feel tired afterwards... I actually wanted to keep running.  Then the 18 mile run came and I pretty much felt the same way... it was easy!  WTF?  That's what made me decided to go ahead and run the marathon.

I asked Kevin what time I should go for.  To my surprise, he said 3:36-3:41.  Considering the fact that I'm in the middle of my Half Ironman training, I thought he was going to say something slower, but to be honest, I really didn't want to run slow.  Honestly, I wanted his permission to run fast, so I was glad when he gave it to me.

Before my 1st marathon, I was really nervous and excited and going nuts basically, the hours and days before the race.  This time it was completely different.  I really didn't feel anything (except insomnia) beforehand.  The night before I figured out my hydration schedule and adjusted my iPod play list by adding some songs and shuffling some things around, and that's about it.  That night/morning I started eating french toast every 2 hours at 1am and I tattooed my hydration plan on my arm and tried to get a little sleep.

Race day was suppose to rain, but it was also suppose to be warm.  I prefer to run without a shirt, but I packed 2 in my race bag just in case.  Before I checked the bag, it wasn't raining and it wasn't cold, so I took off the shirt I had on and put that in the bag and decided to go without a shirt.  I forgot to bring my carrying case for my glasses, so I was scared they'd get broken when I checked the bag, but I didn't have a choice at that point.  I never run with my glasses on, I prefer the tinted running shades instead.  As soon as I checked the bag, I went outside and stood in line to pee.  As I was standing there, it started rain.  I was thinking "oh shit... I should have just worn the shirt".   It was getting close to the start time so I just did my stretching while in line. 

When I registered for the race, I hadn't ran a marathon at that point, so I wasn't sure how fast I could run.  I told them I thought it would take me 4:30 to finish (and that was being optimistic).  They put me in the slow group because of that.  The week before the race, I emailed them asking if I could move to the fast group based on my San Antonion Marathon time, but they said "once you get placed, you can't move to another group, unless it's a SLOWER" group.  That's bullshit.  So after I pissed, I went to my slow group start area.  In front of my group, there was about a 1/4 - 1/2 block gap with race personnel and then there was the fast group.  Before the start of the race, I just ran through the race people to the fast group.  My bib was blue (= slow) and the race group bibs were red, so the race people immediately knew that I wasn't suppose to be in the fast group, so they tried to stop me as I ran and they where saying stuff like "sir, HEY, sir.. your group is back there".  I just kept running and once I got to the back to the fast group, I just weaved myself into to middle of the pack.

Then the race started.  The gun went off, but it took me a few minutes to get to the start line.  When I finally got there and started running it was congested as HELL!!  Here's what my plan was:

8:30/mile pace for Miles 1-3
8:20/mile pace for Miles 3-12
8:10/mile pace for Miles 12-26.2

My first mile was about 9:00, but I didn't care because there was nothing I could do about it... there were just too many people to fit on the road.  AND there were SO MANY FUCKING WALKERS!!!  If you're going to walk, why sign up to be in the FAST GROUP?  I'm talking about withing the 1st few miles, so I'm damn sure that they didn't get a cramp that quick and ALL of the walkers were either fat or old, so again... why did your fat/old ass sign up to be in the fast group?  They're messing up the paces of the people who actually RUN marathons!  Damn...

Anyways, I just tried to weave in and out of the other runners and get to a place where I could focus on running my pace, rather than focus and not getting tripped or running into someone's back.  Eventually, I found that place.  The miles went by and it was pretty easy actually.  It was raining off and on, but it really didn't bother me.  It did bother my Garmin watch though.  It always acts up when it gets wet.  I'm just glad that it didn't completely lock up on me because I couldn't remember how to reset it.

Eventually, I started getting a little tired.  My hydration plan was way off in the beginning because I wasn't exactly sure where the water stations were going to be when I made my plan.  Later in the race, I got it back on track, but I wasn't sure how much damage had already been done. 

There were alot of people on the streets, so I decided to use them.  What I learned running the San Antonio Marathon with a pace group was to have fun and use the crowd.  Interact with the crowd.... talk to them... get them hype... feed off their energy.  So that's what I did.  If someone had there hand extended, I gave the "high-5".  When I got tired and the crowd wasn't making any noise I'd say "Come on!!  Wake up!!!  Make some noise!!  Give me some energy!!" while rising my airs in the air (like football/basketball players do when they want the crowed to make noise) and they responded!  And it worked!  I'd feel energized and start running faster.  I really had a good time running this marathon.

So as I got to the end, my thighs and calves started to cramp and I'm thinking "not again!".  That's the same shit that happened in San Antonio after the 21st mile.  I was going so good up to that point and then my race was ruined after that.  I didn't want that to happen again, so I tried to just keep drinking Gatorade and water whenever I could.  Luckily, this time it didn't completely lock up like it did in San Antonio, so I just had to run through the pain.  I hit "the wall" at mile 25.  My legs went completely numb and I was thinking "oh shit"!  But at the same time, I knew what it was like from hitting the wall in San Antonio, so I didn't get too excited about, I just told myself "so what, KEEP GOING!!".

That last mile was long as hell... my Garmin watch said I had exactly 1 mile left, but then I saw a sign that said "1.5 miles to go" and I'm thinking WTF!  Let me rephrase the 1st sentence of this paragraph... "That last 1.5 miles was long as hell".  It really did seem like it took forever to get there.  I wish I would have been able to see the finish line ahead, but like so many other races that I've ran (this is my 9th race by the way), you have to make a turn at the very end and THEN you'll see the finish line.  I really tried to run my ass off the last 1.5 miles because I was ready for this shit to be over-with!  I crossed the finish line and flexed... it's like my trademark.  Then I went to get my medal and post for the post-race photo.  While in line for the photo, my legs started to lock up.  After I picked up my race back, they were almost completely locked up, so I went straight to the massage area and got a quick 10 minute massage.  After that, I met up with Eri and we went to the race results area to pull up my official time on the computer... 3 hours, 41 minutes, 39 seconds!  My NEW PR!!  Not bad for my 2nd marathon.  Beat my 1st marathon time by about 13 minutes. 

When I got home I checked my Garmin and saw two things:
1.  The 1st mile was my slowest, the last mile was my fastest!
2.  I had run 26.5 miles instead of 26.2! 

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Swim Workout- 1500 meters (Wednesday, Jan. 27th)

Today I had my best swim to date.  Theresa was there and she had a pyramid training schedule that she was going to use, so I used it to.   I have to get the details from her and I'll post it later, but it involved some sprinting, using the pull buoy (which I'd been completely neglecting) and using the kick board (which I had also been neglecting).  I was actually able to kick board a length of the pool... it was only once and it was really a combination of me making it 1/2 way twice, but still... that was the 1st time I had done that with any kind of success.

Brick Workout- 15mi Bike

Brick Workout- 15mi Bike by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

First bike spin since my Memorial Hermann lactate threshold test, so now I know my zones.  Before class, I had to get a new tire and a flat tire kit.  I got  2 spare inner tubes, 2 CO2 cartridges, 3 "spoon" things (not sure what they're called) used to help you remove the tire from the rim and a carrying back that attached to the bike below the seat.  That reminds me... I should take some pictures of my equipment sometime.

During the class, I tried to keep myself at 90 rpm cadence and monitored my heart rate the entire time.  I'm going to write down the workout that we do the next time I have a class, so that I can post it.  I thing we did something like this:

10 min warm up
6x45 sec one leg drill (3x for each leg)
6 min at high Zone 4
3 min at low Zone 5
3 min recovery
6 min at high Zone 4
3 min at low Zone 5
3 min recovery
6 min at low Zone 5
3 min at high Zone 5
3 min recovery
10 min cool down
Then it's time to run!

A few times I was above the Zone that I was suppose to be in, but it's better to be above a Zone rather than below it.  Overall the workout was good.  I will it would've added up to more than 15 miles though.  Once day, I'll be able to get to the magic "20 miles" for a spin class.  That's my goal.  To get there, then maintain it.   But that's not going to happen until my Zones get higher as I get more accustomed to riding.  Since I did follow what I was suppose to be doing today, I think that 15-15.5 is where I'm suppose to be at right now.

Brick Workout- 4mi Run

Brick Workout- 4mi Run by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

After the spin class, you gotta run.  I had talked to Kevin before and asked him if I was running at the right pace (based on my lactate test) after the spins.  He wants me to run 7:45-7:55/mi pace and after the last brick, I was running about 6:42/mile pace.  He said he wants me to slow down and do the pace he recommended.  Today, I tried to run a slower pace, but when it's cold outside and I'm sweating my ass of because of the spin class, I want to just hurry up and get the run over-with.  I ran today at 7:39/mi pace (see my garmin link above)... it's a start.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Swim- 1500 meters (Monday, Jan. 24th)

Good and bad swim.  Good because I was able to do the entire 1500 meter distance... bad because I wasn't able to follow the training schedule.  I did the whole distance in 25meter increments (once again).  I was suppose to be doing:

3x100 meter warm up w/ easy drills
2x500 meter moderate w/ 30 second recovery inbetween
200 meter cool down w/ pull buoy

I didn't follow that AT ALL!  That's not good.  I can't swim 200 or 500 meters non-stop yet... sigh.

Training- 4mi Run

Training- 4mi Run by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

I usually run a little farther than this, but since I have the marathon this coming weekend, I'm taking it easy and running shorter distances this week.  A 4 mile run is nothing to write about (unless something goes wrong), so there's not much to say about it.  I ran 8:12/mile pace.  I think something is wrong with my Garmin... I hope a quick reset will fix it!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Sunday Long Bike- 35mi

Sunday Long Bike- 35mi by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

Today was the 1st group bike and we were suppose to be doing 35 miles!! I though we'd start off at 10, 15, or 20 mines, but nope.... 35 miles bitches!!  Damn...

I drive out to the middle of nowhere (Pearland) and meet up with the group.  First thing Alex said to me was "do you have a pump?".  I said "no, why do I need one".  He said you should always check your tire pressure before you ride, i.e. I need to buy a pump.  Makes sense.

J.P explains to us where we're going, but there's no way that I'm going to remember "turn right at blah, blah, blah... turn left at blah, blah, blah" so I really wasn't listening to him at all.  I just interrupted him and said "you're riding with us, right?  We'll just follow you, no need for all this detailed shit, let's just go".  Everyone agreed and laughed and we were off!

I almost fell off the bike (once again) as soon as we started because I'm still not used to attaching my cleat to the pedal and being physically attached to the bike.  Actually, to be specific, I almost crashed AND took another rider out with me, but luckily it didn't happen.  We start the ride and they're going alot faster than I thought we'd be going.  J.P had said that we were going out for a "nice, slow ride to get you use to riding".  Didn't look that way to me.. before I knew it, I was at the back of the group.  I was next to Theresa and there were two people behind us.  Everyone else was in front of us, but not by alot. 

Next thing you know, we (Theresa, myself and the people behind us) got stopped by a stop light.  This was about 1/2 a mile into the ride.  I was thinking that it wouldn't be a big deal, but once the light turned green, I could see that the group had pretty much left us.  I couldn't even see them!  Now I'm thinking I'm fucked.  I have no idea which way to go.  Alex pulled up in the TOTR (Tri on the Run) truck and said to just go straight until we get to a gas station, so that's what we did.  It turns out that the gas station was pretty far away.  Anyways, so now I realize that I'm not going to catch up to the group, so I'm just riding with Theresa choppin' it up.  Next thing I know, I see Johnny (he had stopped and was waiting for us) and he says from this point on, we have to ride in single file for safety reasons.  Cool.  So I get in front of Theresa and I just take off.  I know they're way ahead of me, but I wanted to see if I could catch them, or at least get to the point where I could SEE them!  That would have been good enough for me at that point.  So I keep riding and eventually I see J.P.  He had stopped and was waiting.  When I got to him, he started riding again.  So now we're riding and choppin' it up and eventually we catch up to a few more riders.  After about 18 miles, my ass was killing me, literally.  I wanted to get off of that damn bike!  Luckily, J.P had to pee and the others wanted to pee too, so we stopped and took a bathroom break.  That's exactly what I needed.  We took about 10 minutes rest and get back on it.  When we started riding again, for some reason J.P and some of the others just took off, I mean FAST!  I tried to keep up, but realized that I just couldn't, so I just went as fast as I could, but they just kept getting further and further away.  Next thing you know, I see J.P again.  He had stopped to wait.  Once again, we were riding together...  then all of a sudden, I hear a "BOOM!"

I got my 1st flat tire... WTF!  I had gone about 32 miles at this point and now this.  He asked if I had a spare... nope.  Guess I need to get that too!  Note to self, figure out what I need BEFORE I actually need it!  Anyways, he stops and look at the wheel and he's like "Damn... you blew the tire".  Not only was the inner tube blown, but the tire had a hole in it too!  Great!  He called Alex (who was luckily only a block or two away) and he comes Alex to the rescue.  Alex tells J.P to go ahead and finish the ride, but J.P says he wants to stay with me.  Alex shows me how to fix the flat (since I had no idea how to do it) and they stick a piece of cardboard inbetween the inner tube and the wheel so that the inner tube won't creep out of the hole in the wheel.  He also didn't fill the inner tube all the way up because it was starting to bulge out of the hole in the wheel.  He asked if I wanted to continue the ride or if not, I could put the bike in the truck and he'd drive me back to my car.  Of course I wanted to finish the ride, so that's what I did.  J.P stayed with me to make sure that I made it.  I really appreciated that.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Saturday Long Run- 10mi

Saturday Long Run- 10mi by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

Today, my timing was off.  I woke up and thought that I could chill out for a little bit, run the 10 miles that I had planned, then go to the natatorium for the group swim.  I started my run at 9am and figured at an 8:30/mile pace, I should be done by 10:30am then after I shower and whatnot, but ready to leave at 11am and show up on-time for the swim at 11:30am.  This was my 1st time driving to the natatorium and it was alot farther then I thought (why didn't I just google map it beforehand??), so I ended up getting there late.

This was the 1st group swim, so I didn't know what to expect.  All I knew was that I wanted to swim with the slow people and work on my form/technique.  Anyways, so I get there and everyone is already broken up into groups and swimming.  Sprint distance people in one lane, Olympic distance people in another lane, then 1/2 ironman & ironman people mixed up in 2 other lanes.  I got in and was told what I was suppose to be doing... it was something like:

2x100 meters warmup

1x50 meters
1x100 meters
1x150 meters
1x100 meters
1x50 meters
6x50 meters
2x100 meters cool down

First off, I'm thinking I can't swim this shit!  100 is not a "warmup" to me... that's a WORKOUT in itself.  And then the pyramid up to 150... I'd never even swam 100 without stopping... I'm pretty sure I can't do 150.  But everyone else seemed like they were doing it and I wasn't going to half-ass the workout just because I wasn't confident about it.  I was going to do what I always do... give it my max effort!  Surprisingly, I was able to do it!  I actually COULD swim 100 and 150 without stopping!  I was really proud of myself (once again).  I wasn't able to finish the entire workout (I missed the last 200 meters) because out reserved time was up, but I still left feeling like I had accomplished something BIG!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Lactate Threshold Test- Bike

When I did the lactate threshold test for the run, it went well.  My body doesn't produce alot of lactic acid and is able to quickly get rid of what it does produce.  Eventually (within a year, or maybe even later this year), I should be able to BQ (Boston Qualify)!  The people that were testing me kept saying that my body was "awesome" and that they hadn't see results like mine in a very long time.  I was excited by the news!

I was expecting similar results when I signed up for the bike test... but I should have known that wasn't going to happen.  At this point, I'd only rode the bike 2x.  I was advised by my coach to go ahead and take the test anyways.  My original plan was to wait until I had at least a month or two of rides under my belt, then take the test.

So I go and get the test done early (1 week after the run test).  It was the same drill... they took blood samples over and over again to determine the amount of lactate my body was producing as I rode at increasingly higher levels.  When I did the run test, it really seemed like I could run forever.  They kept making me go faster and faster, but physically, I couldn't feel the difference.  I honestly didn't feel like they were increasing the speed at all. 

On the bike... I WAS DYING!!  Every time they increased it, I definitely felt it.  I was sweating profusely and felt like I wasn't going to be able to keep it up for long.  For the run test, I did 12 iterations of increases and hit my lactate threshold at the 11th iteration.  For the bike test, I did 7 iterations of increases and hit my lactate threshold at the 5th iteration!  BIG DIFFERENCE, but it's to be expected since I just started biking.  This time, they weren't impressed.  It's cool though, cause next time I go back, they will be!  Anyways, because of this test, I now know the heart zones that I should be working in for my spin classes and road rides:

Zone 1:    101-123  Recovery
Zone 2:    124-137  Extensive Endurance
Zone 3:    138-143  Intensive Endurance
Zone 4:    144-153  SubThreshold
Zone 5a:  154-157  Super Threshold
Zone 5b:  158-162  Anaerobic Capacity
Zone 5c:  163-168  Power

Swim- 1000 meters (from Wednesday, Jan. 19th)

Today, I decided to focus on doing the drills from the Total Immersion book that I've been reading. I got the floating on the back drill down (I think), but the other drills seem to be hit or miss... I can do it for a short period of time, but not the entire length of the pool. It almost seems like as soon as I start thinking "I'm doing it, I finally got it!" in my head, that's when my focus/technique seems to fall apart and crumble. I immediately stop and stand up in the water and try to restart from where I am, to finish the lap. I did this for about 1/2 the workout (probably less), then I just focused on 25 meter freestyle laps. Towards the end, my shoulder REALLY started hurting. I finished the workout, but was a little concerned that I might be damaging my shoulders because of my shitty technique. I had planned to attend a Total Immersion swimming workshop in Austin in mid-March, but it's really starting to look like I need some help ASAP!! I might have to break down and shell out $700 big ones for 5-6 hours of Total Immersion instruction here in Houston, by the ONE guy in the entire city that's certified (thus the insane fee he charges), just so that I don't hurt myself/shoulder. Fuck!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Brick Workout- 2mi

Brick Workout- 2mi Run by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

I was glad that this was a "recovery" week, so I only had to run 2 miles day because it was FREEZING outside!! The wind was blowing like crazy by the time we started running. I was suppose to be running 7:45-7:55 per mile, but I decided to just run at a fast comfortable pace so that I could hurry up and get out of the cold. I looked down at my watch and saw I was running at 6:30 pace!!! WTF!?!? That's the FASTEST that I've ever ran in my life!! Damn... When I had my lactate threshold test about a week ago, I was running 6:23 pace at the end of the test, but that was on a treadmill. I told the people doing my evaluation that I didn't think I'd be able to run that fast on dry land, but they said I was in great shape and FAST and they were sure that I could. I guess they were right. I couldn't believe it! I was running that fast and didn't even feel like I was sprinting. Before, I would sprint at full speed and it was 6:59 pace! I felt proud of myself and tried to keep the pace for the second mile... It ended up being 10 seconds slower... still great though, but I was breathing hard and tired at the end.

Brick Workout- 12mi

Brick Workout- 12mi Bike by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

I was really dreading my workout today. All day long, I was tired at work and close to falling asleep. I REALLY didn't feel like working out today! And it's cold/windy outside so that doesn't help get me motivated either. I decided to drink a cup of black coffee before I left work. Hopefully that'll give me the extra energy boost I need.

I got home early today, 90 minutes before the spinning workout starts... Shit! That's not good. If I sit on the couch, it's over. I decided to cut my hair to pass the time. It worked. Once I got to the training center, I was surprised that I wasn't tired anymore... I was ready to go and determined to keep my cadence above 90 throughout the workout.

We started with a warm up and then 45 second single leg drills which I'm still trying to get use to. It's not the spinning itself that's the problem, it's reattaching the shoe cleat to the pedal that's the problem. Anyways, after those drills were done, we did 8min, 6min,4min 100+ cadence intervals. I was tired as he'll after the FIRST one! But then I got my second wind and I was cool for the rest of the workout... But then it was time to run.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Saturday Long Run- 18.25mi

Saturday Long Run- 18.25mi by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

Last weekend's 16 mile long run went good, so I expected today's run to be cool.  I was a little worried because I did a Lactate Threshold test for my running yesterday morning.  I thought that might make me a little slower today, but it didn't.  I felt pretty good the entire run, except around 14.25 miles I got a cramp in my right calf, but I just ran through it.  The pain eventually went away.  I think I'm going to go ahead and run the Houston Marathon on Jan. 30th.  I was planning to skip it, but maybe not.  Now I'm getting sore and I have a long bike run tomorrow, so depending on how I feel after that, I'll decide what I'm going to do.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Training- 8mi Run

Training- 8mi Run by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

Easy run.  It was pretty cold outside, but at least it wasn't windy.  The run went good... time went by quick.

Brick Workout- 15.5 mi Bike

Brick Workout- Bike by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

After the last brick, my coach said that my cadence (# of full revolutions of the bike pedal per minute) was too low... he said it should be 90 revolution per minute.  I asked him why he had "Bike 20miles (1 hr)" on my schedule because I didn't understand what it meant.  He said that I should be able to ride about 20 miles in a 1 hour spin class, IF I'm riding at the right cadence.  Today, I tried to keep the 90 rev cadence and at the end of an hour, I traveled 15.53 miles... not bad, but I still need to improve.  This interval/spin class is NO JOKE... they don't start off slow at all... they just throw your ass in the fire and say "keep up!".  Right after the bike was my 4 mile run.

Brick Workout- 4mi

Brick Workout- 4mi Run by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

After the spin class, you end up soaking wet and you gotta run, IMMEDIATELY, just like it'll be on race day.  I was cold as hell outside and I was tired, so instead of running the 7:45-7:55 pace that I was suppose to, I ran 6:59 minute miles.  Also, the rest of the group was scheduled to run 3 miles and my personal coach wanted me to run 4 miles, so I wanted to see if I could run 4 miles faster than they could run 3.  I did end up passing some people (who were running, not walking), so I felt good about that!  Anyways, I can't believe that I cycled 15.5 miles and still had the energy to run four 7 minute miles!  I impressed myself today.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Sunday Long Bike workout- 20mi

Training- 20mi bike by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

I'm still figuring out how to use my Garmin watch to record my splits, so if you check out my link above, it looks crazy.

Today I went to spin class and after an hour of intervals, I had only traveled 7 miles... SHIT!  I was suppose to get 20 miles in today.  Now I have to go outside (for the 1st time) and ride another 13 miles.  I get to the cycling park and I almost fell off the bike as soon as I got on it.  The bike shoes attach/lock to the "pedals" on the bike, but it's hard to get them to attach so I almost fell off the damn thing while trying to get the shoe to lock.  This dude was standing there looking at me like I was crazy... I really was some funny shit. I had to laugh at myself.  I get on the bike and start pedaling... and I can't control the damn bike... it's too light!  I'm swerving all over the place, trying to ride in the aero position, using the aero bar.  The seat/saddle hurts my ass too much to try to ride upright.  I'm trying to go in a straight line, but it's not working.  Then someone rode up behind me and honked a horn or something, for me to get out of the way.  The sound scared the shit out of me and I almost crashed, but luckily I didn't.  Then cars started getting behind me...   The cycling park is normally closed to cars, but on the weekend it's not.  It's not alot of traffic at all, but any car is scary when you can't even control your bike.  Eventually, I figured out what I was doing and everything was cool, but my ass was killing me the last 2 or 3 miles.  I kept thinking "Damn... I'd rather RUN 20 miles than BIKE it.  I thought cycling would be easy (compared to running), but it's not! 

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Saturday Long Run- 16.25mi

Saturday Long Run- 16.25mi by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details

I'm surprised how easy this run was.  Since the San Antonio marathon (Nov. 14), I really haven't had any long runs.  I missed a few runs, then got sick, so I was pretty much off it.  A few weeks ago I tried to run 16 miles, but I ran a different route that didn't have any water fountains and I didn't have a hydration belt at the time so.... I thought I was going to pass out on the side of the road.  I was barely able to run 13 miles.. BARELY and the last 3 miles was a NIGHTMARE.  I had to walk the whole thing and even that was hard.  I can't remember the last time that I had such a tramatic run.  So when I looked at my schedule and saw that I needed to run 16 miles today, I was thinking "oh shit!".  But it ended up being EASY... the weather was good and everything was great.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Swimming workout- 800meters

Wednesday, Jan. 5th

This was a NIGHTMARE!!!

First off, I spent the majority of the day Monday, Jan. 3rd looking for a 50 meter pool, but I couldn't find one.  I didn't want to use the 25 meter pool that they have at 24-Hour Fitness, the YMCA etc. because I would have to do 32 laps to reach 800 meters, AND I thought that swimming 25 meters would be too easy.  I don't know what the hell I was thinking...

I get to 24-Hour Fitness to use their pool and they assured me that the water was about 80 degress... BULLSHIT!  That water was cold as hell... I wanted to turn around and leave to be honest!  But I'm "Terry" so obvious I'm not going to let that discourage me.  I get it and get use to the temperature and then I tell myself "Let's go!". 

Just so that you know, I CAN swim, but it's usually for fun, not for distance.  The farthest that I ever swam was out to a buoy and back when I went to Jamaica years ago.  From the beach, the buoy looked like it was far way, but it also looked like it was stationary.  I figured I could swim out to it, hold onto it and rest a little while, then swim back.  So I swam out there and grabbed onto it... and it started MOVING!!  That damn thing WASN'T STATIONARY AT ALL!!!!  I wasted alot of energy trying to hold onto it, so I decided to just swim back, but I didn't have enough energy to get to the beach, towards the end!  I thought I was going to get some super human "fight or flight" adrenaline to help me out (like on T.V and in the movies), but that shit didn't happen for me, SO.... I thought I was going to drown, but I kept trying to swim.  My girlfriend at the time who was chillin' on the beach saw me struggling and swam out there to save me!  Irony is, but the time she got to me, I was still pretty far from from the beach, but I had swam far enough to just stand up!!  WOW!!  Yeah... true story.

Anyways, that experience is what made me think that I could swim a relatively long distance with no problem.  But at 24-Hour Fitness, I had alot of problems:

1)  I'm use to swimming with my head ABOVE water so that I can breathe!  Triathletes need to swim with their faces BELOW water and then turn their head to the side every now-and-then while they're swimming to breathe
2)  I have NO experience doing that kind of breathing
3)  I tried to swim 25 meters with my face in the water, but not breathing... couldn't do it
4)  I tried to swim 25 meters with my face in the water, but breathing like a triathlete... couldn't do it
5)  Tried an exercise that my coach told me to do where you use both hand to hold onto a kick board and then just kick your legs to propel you from one side of the pool to the other.... couldn't do it

By now you see the trend... I failed at EVERYTHING that I had tried to do!  Swim 800 meters... bullshit!  I can't even swim 25!  Sad but true.  So after all those failures, I told myself "Dammit, I'm going to stay here for a SOLID hour and try to work this out... Instead of my goal being to swim 800 meters, today my goal is to swim 25 meters, with triathlete style breathing, NONSTOP... more than once".   So I kept trying and trying and trying.... then, I swam the length of the pool (25 meters) with breathing and without stopping!!! FINALLY!!!  Then I did it again... and again... and again... In total, I think I did it 5 or 6 times, but not in a row..  I had failures mixed in-between the good ones.  The best thing that happened was, I accidentally raced this guy in the lane next to me, and I beat him!!!  BARELY... but still.  It made me feel good.

Overall, that workout was not fun AT ALL!

Running workout- 8mi

Training- 8.55mi Run by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details
Thursday Jan. 6th

I was suppose run 8 miles at a constant pace, between 8:15 and 8:25 per mile.  I was feeling good so I wanted to run farther, but I remembered what my coach keeps telling me... "stick to the training schedule, even if you feel like doing more or going harder".  So I stopped.  That's why it says 8.55 miles if you click the Garmin link above and look at my data.

Brick Workout- 1 hour spin class bike intervals followed by 3mi run

1st Brick Workout by terrypeppers at Garmin Connect - Details
Tuesday,  Jan. 4th

This was my first "brick" workout... that's where you do a training workout for 2 different sports, BACK-TO-BACK (i.e. one right after another). 

First was a group spin class.  It's not a gym, it's at a triathlon training facility, so everyone in the class is training for some type of triathlon, but most are training for an Ironman.  We all bring our own bikes and hook them up to this thing that allows everyone to bike in place, like at a gym.  There's an instructor that tells everyone exactly what to do and when to do it.  He tells you how fast you should be pedaling, how intense it should be, whether to stand or sit down while you're pedaling, when to slow down and relax a little and when to pick it back up... This shit was ALOT more intense then I thought it would be.  But iit was fun though.  My ass was pretty sore during the class because:

1) it was my first time riding my new tri-bike
2) I had to break in a brand new saddle (i.e. "seat) which was installed on the bike right before the class
3) I didn't know what the hell I was doing 

Anyways, the class was a little over an hour, but I showed up 15-20 minutes late because after I had the seat installed, I had to get fitted for the bike again.  It really important to have them customize the bike to fit your own body, so that's what I did.  I couldn't get my Garmin watch to work right for the biking part, but I think I got it figured out now, so next time it should be cool. 

As soon as the instructor said "Ok, stop!  We're done!", he followed that up by saying "GO RUN!"  So everyone stopped, jumped off their bikes, changed from their bike shoes into their run shoes and started running.  It was RAINING LIKE CRAZY outside, but it felt ok (in the beginning) because it was so hot in the spin class.  Anyways, my coach had told me to run at 7:40 - 7:55 per mile pace.  I told him I thought that was a little too fast, but he said "trust me... after riding that bike so hard for so long, your body is going to run faster than you normally would once you get off the bike and immediately start running".  Apparently he was right because I ended up running about 7:25 per mile pace.  It was raining too hard to see my watch, so I just ran at a pace that I thought was comfortable, but a little fast.

Overall, it was a cool ass workout!

Eyes wide shut

LINKS TO MY GARMIN DATA WILL ALWAYS BE HERE (DIRECTLY BELOW BLOG TITLES)
Friday,  Jan. 7th

For some reason I thought that training for the Ironman 70.3 Texas would be easy... basically, all I'd have to do is follow the training schedule that my coach gave me, and I'd be fine.  That's what I did for all 6 of my races last year and they went good... I accomplished my goal each and every time.  This week, I started my training and quickly realized it's going to take a hell of a lot more than that to training for this race.  Running a race is one thing, but doing a triathlon (swimming, biking AND running) is completely different.  I started this blog because this type of training is something that I've never done before and I want to document my daily training experiences.  You're welcome to tag along... just don't get in my way!

By the way... I'm also training for my next marathon, which is next month!  The Ironman 70.3 Texas is in April.