Who Are You And What Have You Done With Ironhead?

Date: Saturday, May 17, 2008

Workout: Brick

Location:Yaletown seawall / condo gym treadmill

Heart Rate Range/Zone: Zone 1

Average HR: 121

R.P.E. : 10-12

Average Speed/Pace:17.1 KMH / 7:58min/KM

Pre-Workout Hydration: 750ml of water 45 minutes before start of session

Pre-Workout Nutrition: medium bagel with cream cheese, banana

Post-Workout Hydration: 600ml of water 10 minutes after session

Post-Workout Nutrition:3 slices of canadian back bacon, 1 cup of pears in juice

Activity:

• Bike  - 41:08 total time, 33:08 in optimum heart rate zone, HR rate range 108-138, average HR 113, 10.2 total KM, 412 Kcalories - 55% from fat
• Run - 20:05 total time, 13:42 in optimum heart rate zone, HR rate range 108-138, average HR 129, 2.52KM, 393 Kcalories - 45% from fat

Positive improvements/habits:See comments on why I’m a champion below. I’m not going to ruin the surprise here. Needless to say, I hydrated like a mofo this morning, staggered my eating well, got my full dose of vitamins in, and kicked some serious ass.

Valuable lessons: Train easy. This whole triathlon thing is a slice when you train easy. It reduces mental fatigue, builds confidence exponentially, allows you to recover quickly, and most of all, it feels good. That’s not to say there’s not a time and place for grueling hill sessions or sprint training that makes you want to hurl after the fifth 800M at race pace, but there’s something to be said for just getting in a nice slow groove and letting it ride out. Finishing with a smile on your face is invaluable in this sport; it makes us want to come back to our training day after day. This is, after all, supposed to be fun, first and foremost.

Strains and Pains to Note: None. Nothing. Finger is fine. No hip issues. Little bit of stiffness in the shoulders and neck, but that’s about it. I feel great, and this should make Teri’s job easier this week when she works out the last few kinks in my back and hips.

Why I’m A Champion: At 7:30 this morning I quickly reviewed Eric’s notes on heart rate ranges, did some quick math and almost stuck my head in the oven when I realized that my mental calculator is apparently horrible at determining percentages - I’ve been working out at a Zone II for almost all of the past 3-4 weeks. However, rather than getting down about this, I saw it as an opportunity to really take it easy and see how long I could maintain constant exercise today rather than having to do intervals or rest breaks.

The result was amazing.

For the first time in my life, I ran the entire 20 minutes of my brick.

Let me repeat that…I have a feeling there are jaws simultaneously dropping across Vancouver as people who know me are grasping this concept.

I ran for 20 minutes straight. No breaks. No walking. No rest.

The best part of it is, at the end I was still totally charged up and easily could’ve run for another 20. I don’t know whether it was the full night sleep I had, the nap the day before, the actual solid breakfast I had before my brick (as opposed to the Bio-Protein/Clif combo that I tried a couple of weeks back), or a combination of everything or nothing at all. Whatever happened, it was like drinking from the Grail.

It was, quite simply, an astounding improvement. I had energy during the entire brick, simply from keeping my heart rate between 100-118 as much as possible. At no point did I let it creep over 130 on the bike, even on the hills. Granted, when I started running it went over 140, but my heart rate always climbs substantially when I run. This time, however, it hovered around 140-145 and stayed there for quite a while. I made it through the first five and thought “hell, this is easy! I’m going to go for ten!”. Then it turned into 15, then before I knew it, that familiar voice came over my iPod telling me that I had hit my target goal for the run. I went upstairs feeling like a total champ. What a way to end my hardest training week. I now go into taper for the next 8 days…light swims, short runs and bikes, lots of rest, lots of body work appointments - chiro, massage, going to see my waxer…this week upcoming is all about the mental game, and I’m heading into it on a high note to say the least.

Today’s Menu:

• Breakfast: 3 slices of Canadian back bacon, a medium bagel with 2 tbsp of cream cheese, 1 cup of pears in juice, 1.5L of water.
• Lunch: turkey bacon club from Timmy’s on whole wheat, XL double/double coffee, 500ml of water.
• Dinner: plain baked potato, chili, jr. bacon cheeseburger from Wendy’s, 2 glasses of Coke, honey dipped donut left over from my lunch combo, 600ml of water.