Resting Heart Rate

I've decided....Drawn a line in the sand, set the date.  Gonna take the bull by the horns, nose to the wheel, axe to the grind stone....blah blah blah.  I'm doing my Aerobic Threshold (AT) test on January 17th.  It's be the test detailed in the link to the Heart Rate Training article I posted earlier.  

"5 min. warm up slowly to a pace at the end where you are beginning to breathe a little hard
5 min. maintain the pace, increasing a bit at the end
5 min. increase pace again to labored breathing.
5 min. on a gradual incline increase the pace from just breathing hard to
breathing very hard. Transition directly into…
2 min. all out sprint on a steep hill to maximum speed!
1 min. push this max speed while still going up and hold for a minute or
as long as possible!! Record MHR.
10 min. cool down at a very easy pace and stretch.
------------------
33 min. total ( 18 minutes hard, 15 minutes warm up/down)"

So to get ready, I slept with my HRM last night to get a glimpse of my true resting heart rate (RHR).  Kind of funny results but I've established 65 BPM as a base line which I seemed to achieve a couple of hours before I woke up.  However, I appear to be somewhat of a restless sleeper as there were some spikes thru the night.  I'll have to read up more on that.

Anyway, I went ahead made some theoretical calculations for training zones just to see what they may look like.  Above are the results for my ideal training zones if my Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) turns out to be 185 like I suspect.  So actually, my concern of training too fast maybe a little unfounded.  Regardless, I'm gonna stick with the original plan and try to maintain a lower heart rate and run for time rather than distance up until the date of the AT test.

On another front....I go back to work on Friday.  (whoo hoo, one day of work before the weekend).  So today I'll get my road bike out,  clean it up, check the tubes, and tune up as necessary.  Probably going to attempt a test ride to the office tomorrow (New Year's Day activity) and then attempt a cycle into the office.  Should be fun!

So as I get my trusty old Nasbar home built steed out, I've got to keep in mind one thing about myself.  Bicycles are to me....... what pornography, crack, booze, and gambling are to other addicts.  I love it, and can't go past a bike shop without going in, chatting with the mechanics, and walking out with $30 worth of tubes, levers, tools, jerseys, shorts, cleats, or anything else their nasty point of purchase displays have to offer!  If not kept in balance, I could easily throw my family into bankruptcy $30 - $100 at a time!  So wish me luck!

-Dave

  

Today's run....sort of

So, I've been using a Garmin Forerunner 301 GPS / HRM running computer.  I got a great deal on it used from the Craigslist for $75.   I've been using the Garmin Training Center to log my workouts.  I think it's really convenient.

So in this morning's post I set my target to keep my workouts for the next 3 weeks in the 120 - 130 bpm range.  Holy cow is that difficult, frustrating, and boring!  I set the HRM alarm for an alert at 140 bpm so the plan is to slow down to a walk, and recover at the 140 mark.    The chart show's that it only takes like 1 minute of jogging at what I feel a comfortable pace is before I hit the 140 alarm and have to slow down to a walk.  I was really surprised at how much I was walking and recovering.  I think tomorrow I'll set the alarm at 135 and see if I can do better.

-Dave

Training Plan...uh Sort of.

So, I've been running pretty steadily for about 3 weeks now.  Averaging 3 - 4 times per week, between outside, our own treadmill, and various Shera-hilton-iday-Hampton Inn Hotel workout rooms.  And sadly, I haven't been losing weight like I had hoped.  Here are the two reasons I believe.

1)  Travel, work dinners, hotel, and Airport Chili's restaurants.  I typically find myself having 2 -3 business dinners / week which usually means a beer or two and some wine.  Throw in my natural desire to polish off the bread basket before appetizers, and you couldn't necessarily classify my existence as "carb-free" living.  

2)  Beer.  When I'm home I LOVE beer!  Who doesn't?  Anyway I have such a refined taste that I'll only drink porters and stouts, and consider a pretty hoppy Pale Ale my light beer.  I scoff at Miller Lite, and would rather drink dirty pond water than open a bottle of Michelob Ultra!  That's a problem as each beer is the equivalent of 2 pieces of bread.  I've no clue how many equivalent loaves of bread I consume in a week.  But onto the most important topic of this blog....

3)  The way I've been training....  Which consistently means, trying to rush to the treadmill or get my sneakers on and get outside before someone notices I'm gone.  I get at most 1/2 hr in and try to run intervals  where most of the training is at a heart rate of 150 - 160 bpm.  Luckily I can maintain that because that's what I'm accustomed to, but not good for establishing a good "aerobic base".  This hit me last week while on the treadmill looking at the various speed / inclinations settings there are categories for a) fat burn, b) aerobic, c) endurance and d) strength according to various speeds.  And another chart for heart rates according to age.  And for my age, the fat burn zone is around 123 bpm.  Everything I've read (and happily disregarded) is that early in training the concept of LSD (Long Slow Distance) inorder to establish an aerobic base and conditioning to build on for future improvements.  

I should have known better as my College swim coach back in the early 90's swore by this concept and made sure there were only 2 ways to get your ass screamed at in practice.  A) For not swimming slow enough during conditioning sets.  That's actually tough when you feel good and want to work out in that 150 - 160 bpm zone.  and B)  For not swimming fast enough during the speed / endurance sets.  The times when you work so hard that you can feel your heart beat in your head, start to get dizzy, and almost throw up.  

Coach had a process for establishing the perfect pace time for training.  Each swimmer would do a set of 5 X 100 free from the wall at max effort with 10 seconds rest between each.  Let's say the times work out to be :53 + :10,  55 + :10, 1:00 + :10, 1:05 +10, 1:10 + :10 for an average of 353 seconds.  Divide that by 5 for an average AT time of 1:10 roughly.  Then all training was done with a swimmer swimming at a pace close to their AT time.  For example a typical practice set would be 3 X 10 x 100 free at AT + 10 seconds, AT + 8 seconds, AT + 5 seconds on 1:30, 1:25, and 1:20 second intervals.  And the team was divided into lanes based on like AT times.   This test was done 3X per year....  3 weeks into practice, right before the 2 week florida training trip, and right before taper.  It was amazing to see how our averages came down because the splits of the 4th and 5th 100's improved so much due to conditioning thru the season.  

So, what does all of this mean to me and Triathlon training?   A)  I'm eating wrong (handle that in a different posting after I eat like Kobiashi on New Years), and B)  I'm training wrong and in the wrong zone.  Above is an example of a training run I did on Sunday Night.  As you can see I'm way out of my zone, and was very frustrated.  My naturally inclination was to run at the 150 160 bpm range and as I set my alarm on the HRM, I found myself stopping to walk to get back down into that base building zone.  Ideally (without data) I think I need to be in the 120 - 130 zone but I haven't done any testing to find out where I should be.  So I found a great article at beginnertri.com 

on how to establish the correct training zone to build a base.  It consist of a pretty grueling test similar to that described above in the pool.  So my plan is to train in the 120 - 130 range for at least an hour a day 4 - 5 days per week, and maybe long walks or family hikes on the off days for the next 3 weeks.  And then do the test on a Saturday outlined here.

So that's pretty much my plan for the next Month as this is a figure it out as you go Tri training program.  In closing a few more things to work on.  A)  Figure out how to cycle to the office (hopefully travelling will slow down and I only live 5 miles from work.  B)  Get the bike down and pump up the tires. 

-Dave 

Dec 28, 2008 Day 1 Week 1

Ok, Let's get going.

The pic's posted above are me over the last 16 years. As you can see evolution hasn't been so kind to me! I've just turned 37, breached the 200 lb. threshold, and have decided I need to set a good example in lifestyle and nutrition for my kids. So I've decided to get into the Triathlon game. So you ask, why not just join a gym, do nutri-systems , weight watchers , the Adkin's diet or something like that? For me the answer is simple....I'm freaken lazy, I like Nachos, Pizza, and beer! So if I don't have a goal, target or competition of some sort to strive for, I'll never get off my ass and get my act together.

What better way, than to force myself to sign up for a local Triathlon Series.

So why Triathlon? Easy again. A) Experience, B) It'll get me into shape quickly, C) It combines 3 sports I've done, am familiar with, and love. So here is where we baseline.

I did a sprint tri about 10 years ago. Since then I had difficulty keeping up with training as new jobs, ex pat assignments in Mexico, getting married having kids, and other obligations rightfully took priority. It was rather natural as I ran Cross Country and Track in High School, swam in High School and University (actually achieved Collegiate All America status ), and have picked up a passion and enjoyment for Mountain Biking. (One of the things I've learned is that I enjoy Mountain Biking 10X more when I'm in shape from doing a lot of road biking). And also Triathlon training by nature gives a nice variety to keep from getting bored with the same 5K loop day after day.

I intend this blog to be a repository for my training diary, work out planning, and info I come across when researching training techniques, injury prevention, and diet. The Goal....Look Like I did when I was 20 with out shaving my head!

These pics are the evolution of me....!

Left, age 20 (1992) ~165 lbs. And NO I wasn't in a Guatemalan Street Gang! Just getting ready for State's my Junior Year at Alfred University.

Middle, around 1998 age 26 running the Y-athlon in Erin, NY! At that time I was living in Corning NY and also coaching age group swimming. With that I was able to cycle to work daily, run daily, and would train in the water with the team 2 - 3 nights when I wasn't coaching.

Last, TODAY, Dec, 28 immediately after my 4 mi. Run / Walk / Run / Walk / sputter / cuss / wince / Run session. 196 lbs. buck naked!

But more on training plan, log, and weight tomorrow!

-Dave