Weekly Training Log for March 11th Through March 17th

This past week was somewhat of a recovery week for me.  Intensity and key sessions stayed while total volume went down.  I also decided to take two full days of no workouts on Sat/Sun.
I originally was planning on heading down to Moab, Utah for the weekend to race the Canyonlands Half Marathon, but couldn't make that work.  I decided to stay home and make the best of a few easy days with my wife and kid.

I feel like those days payed off because on Monday I had the best run workout of my life and was very happy with it.

Weekly training goals for this week are 40-50 miles running, and 8 hours on the bike.  I will be heading to Maui on Thursday and will be racing the Valley to the Sea Half Marathon on Saturday.  Can't wait!

Aloha and happy training

Run - 31.4 miles

Bike - 7 hours

Swim - 0.0 yds

Sunday - Skipped the long run and a bike to go to the aquarium with my mother in law, wife, and Aiden.  I am very glad I did.  

Saturday - Launched a model rocket for the first time in years!  

Going for Broke

I am all in for 2013.

Never have I had this sort of motivation, never have I been this fit in March, never have I cared like I currently do about a sport that I participate in, never ever have I had athletic goals like this.

All of this has a huge downside though. I might break myself in this process.

The first way I break is by actually breaking. That would suck. Injuries suck - real bad. My training involves lots of intensity and I may be setting myself up for failure if I am not careful.

The next way I could break (and is more likely) is through burnout. I am in some control over this so I guess it's ultimately up to me to watch out for this. If anyone who is reading this has any experiences or tips to share, please do!

This being said, I am very hopeful given where I am on this 13th of March. It's gonna be a good year if I can hold it together. It's gonna be a really good year. It'll be an extra good year if I remember to start swimming more than a week before I go to race.

Happy training! It's looking more like spring in Boulder and I'm cool with that - rooftop beers can't come soon enough.

Weekly Training Log - March 4th through March 10th

Although I did not hit my run totals for this week, I do feel like I had ample quality run time and I do feel like I was able to get in my key sessions that are needed for improvement.  I had the best run workout of my life on Wednesday morning, and longest Friday milage day ever (at 18 miles, split between two sessions).

Bike was good.  Thats about all I can say.  I continue to do every workout fairly hard because they are all on the trainer...  I think keeping those workouts tough is a way to keep me from being bored.

Goals for next week - Hit 7+ hours on the trainer and get outside on the bike for some sort of tt to use as a metric for where I am at.  Recovery week of running at 35 to 40 miles.

Totals:

Run - 45.2 miles (including best speed/tempo sessions of my life)

Bike - 6 hours 5 minutes (trainer only - threshold and close to threshold)

It was a year ago Saturday that my Grandfather went on up to heaven.  He loved sports and is one of the reasons I do what I do.  I believe that he gave me my competitive spirit as you can see from this picture!

Alcohol, Training, and Dabbling in Sobriety

Anyone that knows me, knows that I like my drinks.   I always have and I always will.   I never really consumed any alcohol until I was about 20, and actually started racing triathlon because of it. No joke.

In the summer of 2003, I finally learned to let loose and have a good time... I can attribute that to learning to have a few drinks and relax.  With that new relaxed attitude, I tried something new in triathlons.  Over the next few years, I think that I was in catch up mode for all of those high school and college parties that I missed.   In 2006/2007, I was in party mode all the time and consumed a bit (no, way) too much for any good, and in March of 2010 I gave it up completely for nine months while waiting for my son to be born.

That complete sobriety in 2010 was a nice halt of daily consumption for me...  I will think of it as my re-set button on my consumption habits.  Since then, I have pretty much limited any alcohol consumption to one or two days per week (lately, more like one).  I will note that vacations are not included in that though.  I'll indulge when I get my travels on!

So what has limiting alcohol consumption done for training and racing and life?  Have I noticed a difference?

Yes and no.

First, the yes

The biggest place I notice the difference of non-daily alcohol consumption is mornings.  This is huge for me as I am a very very big morning person.  It's my absolute most productive and favorite part of the day.  I truly enjoy waking up feeling close to 100% every day and I attribute no drinking to feeling that way.  I love it.

I don't have an excuse to skip workouts.

I dropped about 10 pounds in the first month back in 2010.  I have stayed at 147 to 151 ever since.  I feel that it's a good race weight.  I also notice a difference in body composition.  I feel much more lean, even if I am only 10 lbs lighter.

I sleep better

I am fully sober much more often.  This can't be bad - or can it?


Then, the no

I don't think that it changing my drinking habits really affects performance in races (too much).  During all three of my ironman races this past summer, I consumed ample amounts leading up to the race and consumed a minimum of two drinks the night before each of these races.  I think this was just a mental thing though.  - It gave me a break from the daily anxiety of thinking of the race.  I treated the travel to, and the experience of racing as a nice vacation.


So there are my thoughts on this subject.  Overall, I like not drinking much and I do think it helps overall in life.  I do feel healthier and happier because I limit myself to a day or so per week.  With that being said, it's been about two weeks since I have had a beer - I think I will wait for the weekend though.  5:00 am is  a bit too early.

One of many pre-race beverages from Kona this past October