Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike and Run Miles For Jan 23rd - Jan 29th

Yep This Was The Highlight Of My Week
Jan 23rd - Jan 29th:  This week was a huge step backwards for the 2012 season.  On Monday I woke up and rode to the pool - it was one of the most painful rides of my life thanks to a couple of saddles sores I had been neglecting.  What had been a manageable amount of discomfort had grown into literally a giant pain in my ass that was no longer tolerable. In an effort to get ahead of this before they turned into giant cysts I decided to shelved most of my workouts.  It's a really tough to let go of the training and fitness but I always tell myself that these things happen for a reason.  The key is staying positive and disciplined as I work towards proper recovery.

So with that being said, things got switched up a little.  I got in 3 hard core sessions and it is amazing how easy these are when you don't have big workouts before hand.  I haven't included those in my totals but will do so going forward.  I also got in an aqua jogging session.  For the saddle sores, well I spent a lot of time soaking in Epson salt tub, and getting in the habit of applying Bourdeaux Butt Paste afterward.  The highlight of the week was realizing they have a new maximum strength version that has 40% Zinc Oxide.  Hopefully I can get back on the bike soon but I am going to let the saddle sores fully recovery so until then I will continue playing The Waiting Game.

I did make it back to the track to repeat the 2x3 mile intervals that I have been doing.  The first one was 17:26 with 5:43, 5:51, 5:50 but I fell apart mid-way thru mile 2.  The sun was out in full force, there was little wind, and I was roasting on the track.  As a result I was totally baked.  Normally I would just pull the plug but since I got in so little this week I figured I better just suffer through it.  Unfortunately I find once my core temp rises that I am toast and that was evident on the second interval at 6:10, 6:23, and 7:22 for a 19:56.... ouch.  Never in my life have I bonked so hard in a workout before.

Here are my weekly swimbike, and run totals:

Total: 38 Miles / 12 hours 06 minutes

Swim: 13,400 yards or ~8 miles /  4 hours 0 minutes
Bike: 10 miles / 0 hours 40 minutes
Run: 20 miles / 2 hours 18 minutes


Core: 3 sessions / 4 hours 30 minutes
Aqua Jogging: 1 session / 40 minutes

Weight: 158.4 lbs (average over the 7 days)

Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike and Run Miles For Jan 16th - Jan 22st

End of Ride Sign Post at Fantasy Island in Tucson, AZ
Jan 16th - Jan 22st: It was another solid week of training with a strong swim focus. It was tough week in the pool and most of the swim sets had descending components because I didn't have enough juice to go full throttle straight from the start.  Although I didn't have any notable swim sessions I feel like the increased yardage is really starting to show with increased strength that I can feel in the water.

As for running, well I got back to the track to repeat the 2x3 miles with 800 recovery from last week along with this 4x200 with 200 recovery. Despite not running much, I had a tough day mountain biking the day before so I was happy to do the 3 mile repeats in 17:53 (5:56, 5:58, 5:59) and 17:37 (5:48, 5:51, 5:56).  It was a little tougher day with lots of wind, the second one was most likely faster because another person jumped on the track and that always provide some extra motivation.  The 200's were just done descending because by the time I got to them my hamstrings were really tight and I didn't want to tweak them. I did them as 36, 35, 34, and 33 seconds.

As for the biking, well I got in my first bike interval workout of the year.  The meat of the workout was 3x 10 min intervals with about equal recovery time.  Ideally I would like less rest but unfortunately I climb as fast as I descend on this particular hill I have picked.  Seeing that it was the first workout of the year I was happy with the watts (via Powertap) of 341, 345, 350. Besides the interval session the rest of the bike time came on the mountain bike including a trip to Fantasy Island on the south side of Tucson.

Here are my weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 231 Miles / 26 hours 12 minutes

Swim: 28,250 yards or ~16 Miles /  7 hours 48 minutes
Bike: 195 miles / 15 hours 57 minutes
Run: 19 miles / 2 hours 26 minutes

Weight: 157.4 lbs (average over the 7 days)


Featured ride of the week was a MTB ride thru Fantasy Island Mountain Bike Park in Tucson, AZ.

Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike and Run Miles For Jan 9th - Jan 15th

Tortolita Mountains Mountain Biking
Jan 9th - Jan 15th: It was another solid week of training with a strong swim focus. The highlight of the week was a continuous 6,000 swim in 1 hour 28 minutes.  I do this workout pretty frequently but I usually do it as 1 hour TT. Instead of pushing it for the most amount of yards in an hour, I simply swam strong and relaxed.  I probably could have kept holding the pace for quite some time but called it at 6,000. It may not seem like much but considering that I barely push off the wall and I don't do flip turns it is giving me a lot of confidence that my swim continues to improve slowly but surely.

As for running, well I got to the track for the first time this year and did a workout with the main set as 2x3 miles with 800 recovery, and then 4x200 with 200 recovery.  I'm slow but it was still nice to get back on the track and start to open up the legs.  The 3 mile repeats were done with emphasis on strong form over speed and were done in 17:42 and 18:05.

As for the biking well I left my road bike inside all this week and I did all my rides as MTB rides.  I am in love with the mountain bike and is the perfect bike for this time of the year as I work on getting in some solid saddle time.   Here are my weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 163 Miles / 21 hours 03 minutes

Swim: 25,350 yards /  6 hours 53 minutes
Bike: 119 miles / 10 hours 17 minutes
Run: 30 miles / 3 hours 53 minutes


Featured ride of the week was a MTB ride thru the Tortolita Mountains just north of Tucson, AZ.




Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike and Run Miles For Jan 2nd - Jan 8th

The Road to the Top of Mt Lemmon
Jan 2nd - Jan 8th:  This week was a week focused on swimming.  I got in a total of 8 sessions over 6 days with a lot of strength work and some intensity.   The University of Arizona Tricats put on a triathlon camp for their students along with students from Colorado State University and New Mexico State University.  The camp gave me an opportunity to get in another Mt Lemmon ride.  I gave the kids a headstart and played catch-up to maximize the effort.  My 60 minute power was 20 watts higher than the week before so it was nice to see that improvement so early in the season.  I also had a great tempo/threshold run down the Rillito River with USA Olympic Medal winner Bernard Lagat, the tri camp kids, and fellow professional triathletes Aj Baucco, and Doug Maclean.  Here are my training totals:

Total: 219 Miles / 22 hours 04 minutes

Swim: 30,450 yards /  8 hours 32 minutes
Bike: 175 miles / 10 hours 13 minutes
Run: 27 miles / 3 hours 19 minutes


Here is the power file with wattage and heart rate data for the ride up Mt Lemmon.  I had double warm-ups including a 20 mile warm-up to the meet up location, and then a second warm-up to the base of the mountain.