Overload

The way forward in endurance sports, according to the experts, is to overload your training (i.e., do "more" in the current phase/period/cycle than was done in the previous) and then recover adequately. The experts say that, given the chance to recover, the body will super-compensate from the larger training load and will be "stronger/fitter/faster/whatever term you like" than before applying the larger training load.

I've put the overload concept into practice over the last four weeks with my swimming and dramatically increased the training load in my swim program during that time .
I looked back through my training log and found the largest swim week I'd ever done was 8700 yards. I've topped that number each week during the last four weeks.
Here's how each week totaled out:

Week 1: 8,800 yards

Week 2: 14,600 yards

Week 3: 15,400 yards

Week 4: 18,500 yards

This week, week 4, was a bit of a challenge with Thanksgiving mixed in. Both local pools were closed on Thursday, which meant I'd have to either swim on the weekend (which I rarely do) or double up and do two swims in one day…I chose to double up.
Here's how this week played out in the pool:

Mon: 3200 yards continuous, 1:00:37

Tues (A.M.): 3200 yards, masters swim, 1:07:13

Tues (P.M.): 3600 yards continuous, 1:07:05

Wed: 3500 yards continuous, 1:06:10

Fri: 5000 yards continuous, 1:34:11

I did the Tuesday evening swim at the Y. I'm usually in the pool between 5 and 5:30am and there are rarely more than 2 other swimmers there. Most mornings it's just me and the lifeguard. Well, let me tell ya, it's a different world at night at the YMCA pool.
The kids swim team was practicing (about 8 kids), 3 or 4 other adults were swimming, there were a couple of families with kids in the pool, ANNNND, two scuba divers. The divers scared the SHEOT out of me when I first saw them. They were just sitting on the bottom of the deep end blowing bubbles. Needless to say, it was a bit chaotic in there at times, but I made it through. I only ran into one person while swimming...

So, the training load has been applied, now onto the recovery. The big questions is, how much recovery? I'm thinking 3 medium distance (3k or less) swims per week for the next couple of weeks and then add a forth as part of my normal basic week and go from there. We'll see how it goes. I definitely don't want to throw away the work I've done over the last four weeks.
I've never really focused much on swimming as it's such a small part of the overall distance in triathlon. But, if I'm going to hit the goals I have for myself next year, I'm gonna have to focus on EVERYTHING.

Up next, running focus. Not just 4 weeks, 12, starting Monday.

That's all for now…..back to my leftover turkey sandwich.

Happy Training, TJ

Birds and Fishes

We visited the Riverquarium Sunday afternoon to see the aviary that recently opened.
Here's a bit of what we saw.

I also got a little footage of the big fresh water fish swimming around. The video doesn't come close to representing how big these guys are. They're HUGE. The big one at the end is a sturgen and it is ginormous.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

TJ

Deer and snot rockets

Even though the calender may not show it yet, winter has arrived in Georgia!
2 hours on the bike this morning proved yet again that my blood is way too thin for anything much below 70 degrees. Actually, it wasn’t too terribly bad once I got going, but the first 15 minutes or so with temps in the low 30s had me ALMOST wishing I’d opted for the trainer.
One benifit of riding when it's cold is that it brings out deer. I saw deer everywhere this morning. Not even the constant launching of snot rockets seemed to scare them away.

Training this week has gone well. I finished week 3 of my swim focus and hit the pool 5 mornings in a row. I finished up the week with 15,400 yards.
Here’s a breakdown of the sessions:
Mon: Easy recovery. 1600yds. 30:44
Tues: Masters. Warm up, drills, toys, main set, etc. 3000yds. 1:00:19
Wed: Straight Steady. 3250yds. 1:00:39
Thurs: Straight Steady. 3250yds. 1:00:25
Fri: Straight Steady. 4300yds. 1:20:38

Biking is in maintenance mode until the new year:
Tues: Trainer. 30min easy/30min steady. (med resistance) 21.1 miles. 1:00:04
Sun: Easy/Steady with a few harder efforts. 37.62 miles. 2:05:26.

Got in a few runs too:
Mon: Easy/Steady. 6.17 miles. 57:00
Wed: Tempo. 4.13 miles. 31:29
Fri: Build (i.e. increase hr 10bpm every 10min). 5 miles. 40:17

Next week will finish up the swim focus. I can already feel the benefits and I know my swim fitness has increased. I’m hoping to continue to build on what I’ve started and maintain 4 swims per week instead of the typical 2-3 I’ve always done.
I’ll be starting a run focus on December 1st as a part of a buildup towards an early spring half marathon. I want to give this race a real go instead of it just being part of a buildup to something bigger. My half marathon times have been pretty unimpressive in the past and I’d like to have a decent PR. We’ll see…
Speaking of racing, I’ve been doing some race planning for next year.
This is what it’s looking like so far:

January 03: Kiwanis River Run (5k)
January 24: Run Around Town (5k)
January 31: Nun Run (5k)
February 14: Valentine Run (10k)
March 7: Snickers Energy Bar Half Marathon *registered
March 21: Tri at the Y (Sprint)
May 09: Gulf Coast Triathlon (Half IM) *registered
June 14: West Point Lake Triathlon (Olympic)
August 15: Georgia Veterans Triathlon (Sprint)
August 23: Tri States Century
September 13: Nut Roll Century
September 27: Augusta 70.3 *registered
November 07: Ironman Florida *registered


Happy Training,
TJ

Quick Check In

Friday ended week #2 of a four week swim focus. I swam every morning Mon-Fri and ended up with about 15000 yards for the week. A couple of the sessions were pretty short. I’m hoping I'll have time for a bit more this week (60hr work week last week). I managed three runs for the week and am about to head out for ride #2. Luckily I get to do this ride outside. I’ll take temps in the 30s outside over a warm trainer ride any day.

Happy Training,
TJ

Lap 2

I made the trip down to Panama City Beach with AB this weekend to watch Ironman Florida and sign up for my 2nd lap around the Ironman Florida course. 2009 is gonna be a great year. I would have much rather been racing, but it was also a great day to be a spectator and watch the race unfold as Tom Evans shattered the course record.

A few highlights of the trip were getting to met IronSherpa DeeDee, seeing Wes half way through the marathon and seeing Lana as she headed out for lap number two on the marathon. I looked for all the other blogger peeps, and I'm sure you passed right in front of me, but I missed yall in the chaos . Congrats to all of you!

The registration process was a bit different this go 'round. In 2006 when I signed up for lap number 1, I got to the race site about 6:45am. There were hardly any others around and I was about 10th in line. This year, I got to the Boardwalk a little after 7am and there were 2 lines already. Each line was at least a couple hundred yards long. One line was for the volunteers and the other was for the rest of us. They started registering the volunteers around 7:15-7:30. They finished with them around 8:15 and our line started slowly moving soon afterwards. The actual registration only took maybe five minutes once I got in the tent. A volunteer took my vital info, credit card number, explained the process and sent me on my way. After registering, I headed straight over to the Boardwalk and made my reservations at the condos for next year. Now all I have to do is get my a$$ in gear and get fit for an Ironman again. I'm glad I have a whole year....

I took a ton of pictures. Here are a few of the leaders.

Tom Evans looking strong just out of T2.

Torbjorn Sindballe a few minutes behind

Bella coming in from the bike course headed for T2

Tom making the turn at mile 13.

Bella at mile 13 on her way to win number 5 in Florida.

Tom Evans a few 100 yards from the finish line and a record smashing time.

Happy Training,

TJ