Morning Workout: Weights (Power Cycle 3)

Bench Press:
6 @ 100lbs
4 @ 110lbs
3 @ 115lbs
2 @ 120lbs
3 @ 115lbs

Jockey Row :
6 @ 85lbs
4 @ 95lbs
3 @ 100lbs
2 @ 100lbs
3 @ 100lbs

Clean:
6 @ 75lbs
4 @ 95lbs
3 @ 100lbs
2 @ 105lbs
3 @ 100lbs

Evening Workout: CompuTrainer

Came home from work early and did some 4:00 Super Maximum Sustainable Power Intervals on the CompuTrainer. It's been a few weeks since I've done these so I was a bit curious as to what my wattage numbers would look like.

Set 1:
306W(437W), 23.6mph avg, 160bpm(174bpm)
304W(443W), 23.6mph avg, 165bpm(180bpm)
277W(427W), 22.8mph avg, 165bpm(178bpm)

Set 2:
294W(436W), 23.3mph avg, 161bpm(174bpm)
296W(400W), 23.4mph avg, 166bpm(178bpm)
278W(399W), 22.7mph avg, 164bpm(177bpm)

I sandbagged the last effort in each set, I simply didn't have the energy to move my legs in circles for 4:00. The first and last minutes would be good, but the two in the middle were awful and is where the average power got pulled down.

25.7 miles total.

Morning Workout: Swim

I actually made it to the pool this morning for a swim workout, my first in over a week. I did 700m of warmup/drills then went into a 1500m time trial, which I did in under a half-hour and could've done faster had I paced myself better and went out harder. 300m of cooldown (mainly backstroke) and I was on my way home.

Felt good to get back into the pool, unfortunatly the motivation to swim still isn't there. I know I can go the distance and I'm clinging to the belief that I'd be better served resting than busting my ass for a couple of minutes in the water.
Evening Workout: None

Due to a work-related emergency and horrible weather, tonight's CompuTrainer workout was canned. Going for a run would normally be an option but the electrical storms in the area and pouring ran put a bit of a damper on that. At least I got some pool time this morning so the day's not a complete waste.

Morning Workout: Weights (Power Cycle 2)

Headed to the gym after hitting the massage balls and did workout #2 of the Power Cycle

Dead Lifts:
6 @ 115lbs
4 @ 135lbs
3 @ 165lbs
2 @ 175lbs
3 @ 165lbs

Pronated Pull-Ups:
6 @ -30lbs (using assist machine)
4 @ 0lbs
3 @ +12.5lbs
2 @ +15lbs
3 @ +12.5lbs

Cable Woodchop:
6 @ 110lbs
4 @ 120lbs
3 @ 130lbs
2 @ 140lbs
3 @ 130lbs

Cable Reverse Woodchop:
6 @ 75lbs
4 @ 85lbs
3 @ 95lbs
2 @ 100lbs
3 @ 95lbs

Evening Workout: Long Run (really)

Headed to Ridley Creek again after work, this time feeling a lot better as far as being rested goes. Also made a better effort at taking my bottle earlier so the energy would actually be usable instead of just sloshing around in my stomach.

Did the first loop up the big hill, which gave me a bit more trouble today since I did dead lifts this morning. Did the second loop counter-clockwise and then ran another 1.5 out-n-back when done with that.

For next week's long run, I'll have to park at the other lot so I can stop at my car after each loop to grap a drink and a gel. I was feeling pretty bad at the end of this run from the lack of hydration and food.

13 miles in 1:41 (7:47/mile)

Evening Workout: (Attempted) Long Run

Headed to Ridley Creek after work to due my weekly long run of 1:40.  I was a bit tired, but I felt alright even though I had some doubts I'd fueled properly for the run.  Well, my doubts were correct and I was a lot more tired than I'd thought.  About a mile and a half in I could barely keep my eyes open, which on a MUP with the packs of cyclists due to appear in another hour, is a dangerous situation.  Another mile and I decided to head back and try again tomorrow.  Of course I ran too hard the whole time, so instead of being an easy short run, it ended up being a pseudo tempo run, which I just didn't need.  At that point though, I would've sprinted to get back to my car and into my apartment.

Lesson learned: Quality training requires quality rest and fuel.

4.1 miles in 32:06 

Morning Workout: Weights (Power Cycle 1)

Woke up the usual Monday AM time (0515 + snooze), hit the massage balls for about 20 minutes while fueling up before heading to the gym for the fun and enjoyment that is weight training. After a 5:00 spin on the exercise bike (they moved the spin bikes downstairs ), I did the following:

Squats:
6 @ 135lbs
4 @ 155lbs
3 @ 160lbs
2 @ 165lbs
3 @ 160lbs

Barbell High Pull:
6 @ 65lbs
4 @ 65lbs
3 @ 75lbs
2 @ 85lbs
3 @ 75lbs

Finished the workout with some abdominal/core work on the physio ball.

Evening Workout: CompuTrainer

Came home from work and hit the CT to turn this mornings weight training into power on the bike. After yesterday's CT session, though, my legs weren't exactly feeling up to the task and had to be coerced through the warmup and into a single 10:00 TT effort.

10:00, 238W(336W), 21.7mph avg, 3.61 miles

19.34 miles total.

Workout: CompuTrainer + run brick

After waking up feeling like a million bucks (two consecutive 'rest' days will do that) with very little piriformis pain (~90% gone) I decided to hit the bike. Riding outside is out until I have more confidence that my piriformis won't flare up and leave me stranded somewhere in the middle of Chester county, but the CompuTrainer is always in since I can just hop off if it flares up.

There was some work to do first, none of it fun. Getting up at 0530 on a Sunday to VPN into work isn't cool. Even more uncool is a two hour outage turning into a 3.5 hour outage. At least I had enough down time in there to do some dishes and get some food in me.

After hitting the massage balls and pre-fueling with ~1500 calories I hopped on the CompuTrainer for some tough love. Since my 'hill' workout on Wednesday went well, I decided to hit the hills again, just more of them.

The session went like this:
Full warmup (~50 minutes)
2 sets of:
- 3 mile climb @ 6%
- 3×0.3 mile climb @10%, standing the last tenth.
2×15:00 TT efforts

And these are the results:

Set 1:
3.0 miles @ 6%: 18:24.0, 254W(306W), 9.8mph
0.2 miles @ 10%: 1:44.0, 272W(324W), 6.9mph
0.3 miles @ 10%: 2:37.5, 281W(366W), 7.0mph
0.3 miles @ 10%: 2:29.5, 281W(349W), 7.2mph

Set 2:
3.0 miles @ 6%: 18:21.3, 255W(323W), 9.8mph
0.3 miles @ 10%: 2:27.5, 293W(367W), 7.3mph
0.3 miles @ 10%: 2:27.5, 291W(361W), 7.3mph
0.3 miles @ 10%: 2:28.8, 282W(384W), 7.3mph

15:00 241W(354W),21.9mph,5.48miles
15:00 241W(319W),22.0mph,5.48miles

I was really pushing it at the end of the second 15:00 TT effort in order to be in the same ballpark as the first and was quite surprised that the numbers were identical.

I took a ~10 minute break and went out for a quick run which ended up being longer than expected due to electrolyte issues which forced me to walk little bits here and there. Lesson learned: I need to make sure I salt my Cytomax.

4.1 miles in 35:11.4 (8:34/mile)

Workouts: None

I've had some piriformis issues the past few weeks along with some incredible lower back and hip tightness. At work Thursday and Friday my right hip/butt was literally throbbing with pain. No amount of stretching and tennis ball massage was giving relief and I'm not really in a position to take weeks off letting this thing heal up with IMLP just a few short months away.

Enter the massage ball.

When I first saw these at the IM Wisconsin expo a couple of years back, I was really skeptical, especially when they quoted the price. $130 for some balls and rollers that supposedly fix all kinds of injuries, yeah, right.

Some research and a lot of forum posts later, I was interested in getting a set to see if they could help my situation. At this point I was willing to try anything to get rid of the throbbing pain.

After calling around to the retailers in the SE PA region listed on the site, I found a chiro in Delaware that had them, and cheaper than expected. A 'quick' 2-hour round trip later and I was back home with the entire TP massage ball kit in hand.

After dinner I popped the DVD in and started using them. My girlfriend wasn't a fan of the video, laughing pretty hard at it, and I wasn't too thrilled with it either, the website provides better diagrams on how to use the products. I used them again on Saturday morning and again in the evening. At this point the throbbing was going down quickly and my lower back/hips felt loose and relaxed.

I pretty much followed the protocol on the website for piriformis pain: release the soleus, then the quads, then the piriformis, then the hips and lower back. The entire process on both legs is only 15-20 minutes and it does take some getting used to the pain in the very beginning.

I've only used them for two days, but I still can't figure out why I didn't purchase them sooner.

Morning Workout: None

Skipped the pool again this morning. Really don't have any excuses other than an incredible lack of motivation to swim.

Evening Workout: Running Hill Repeats

Headed from work to Ridley Creek State Park to do repeats up the monster hill there. It wouldn't be a Thursday hill session if something didn't go wrong and this time it was the battery in my Polar S1 footpod. I guess I just got used to changing it every 6 weeks or so during the winter with the reduced running volume. Oh well, the MUP is marked every 10th of a mile and I did go to engineering school so I should be able to figure it out.

1.6 mile warmup to hill
3x .55 mile up hill followed by .55 mile back down.
2.3 mile cooldown

Total run: 7.2miles (includes run to and from hill and repeats) in 1:01:20.0
152 avg HR, 180 max HR

Morning Workout: Weights (Power Cycle 2)

Headed to the gym and did workout #2 of the Power Cycle

Dead Lifts:
6 @ 100lbs
4 @ 115lbs
3 @ 125lbs
2 @ 150lbs
3 @ 145lbs

Pronated Pull-Ups:
6 @ -40lbs (using assist machine)
4 @ 0lbs
3 @ +10lbs
2 @ +15lbs
3 @ +15lbs

Cable Woodchop:
6 @ 110lbs
4 @ 120lbs
3 @ 130lbs
2 @ 140lbs
3 @ 130lbs

Cable Reverse Woodchop:
6 @ 70lbs
4 @ 85lbs
3 @ 95lbs
2 @ 100lbs
3 @ 95lbs

I really need to fix my lower back. The tightness there is hindering my dead lifts. I should be doing a lot more weight here but I'm afraid of hurting myself and not being able to do anything at all during recovery.

Evening Workout: CompuTrainer

Some google'ing around revealed that I'd been seriously under-utilizing my CompuTrainer in my hill training. It turns out that event the old Pro NES version of the Compu part of the CompuTrainer has user programmable courses of up to 20 segments totalling 99.9 miles. While riding 99.9 miles on the CT sounds about as much fun as dental work, being able to specify the length and, more importantly, grade, of each segment is right up my alley.

I pulled out the Joe Friel manual that came with the CompuTrainer and found his short and long hill interval workouts. Since I was a bit pressed for time and I just wanted to give this a try, I programmed a course that is 3.0 miles long @ 6% grade (950ft elevation gain over the course). After doing a warmup of 16:00 easy spin (53×23-19), 10:00 of light muscle tension (53×18-17), and 6:00 of high cadence ramping (~100 rpm starting at 53×21, going up a gear every 2:00), I hit the 'hills'. They, unfortunately, hit back, hard.

3.0 miles @ 6% in 18:46.5 (9.6mph avg).
244W avg, 311W max
157 avg HR, 171 max HR.

My next attempt at these I hope to do more. This workout will become a staple as I need to get better at getting myself up hills.

Morning Workout: None

Big shocker there. Was up late last night taking care of things that I didn't do Sunday (did the Tour de Jersey/PA visiting my family after the ride). I really need to get motivated to swim, but that doesn't seem to be happening.

Evening Workout: Distance Run

The weekly 'long' run in Ridley Creek State Park on the multi-use path. Did two loops of the five mile path, one clockwise up the monster hill (~255 ft vertical in .6 miles) and one counter clockwise. Ran better than last week in that I kept the pacing even, watching my watch during the first 2 miles or so and keeping my speed in check. Fared better on the hill by going a slightly slower but steadier pace all the way up. Didn't have any cramping issues for a change, so the 1/8 tsp. of salt I put in my breakfast/lunch/pre-fuel bottles must be helping.

I did have a slight twinge on knee pain at about the halfway point, but it went away just as quickly as it came on so I continued.

11.7 miles in 1:30 (7:40/mile, 161 avg HR)

Faster than last weeks run at 2 fewer bpm.