Schedule week of July 17

I mentioned last week that I had decided to rearrange my priorities, and my schedule. This week we see the first real evidence of that. I changed my original Saturday 12 mile long run to a swim + run brick, which means shortening the run. Pattie and I drive to Ala Moana, meet whoever else is joining us, swim at 7:00, and by 8:00 I am running home through Waikiki. I love it, except for dodging people along Kalakaua. Anyone who runs in a big city knows what I mean, only they don't have Waikiki Beach to sweeten the deal.

I have Tinman as a "B" race, which is why TrainingPeaks calls this week Build 2 week 1 instead of Race. The periodization is relative to the "A" races, in this case, Dick Evans. Here is the progression, starting from last week:

Week of
7/3 - Build 1 week 1
7/10 - Build 1 week 2
7/17 - Build 2 week 1 <- we are here
7/24 - Build 2 week 2
7/31 - Build 2 week 4
8/7 - Build 2 week 1
8/14 - Peak week 1
8/21 - Race
8/28 - Transition

Young, fit athletes can do a four week cycle, three hard, one reduced volume. Older guys use a three week cycle, two hard, one reduced volume. Working with schedules is easier if week four is always a reduced volume week, so us three week folks eliminate week three.

Tinman came at an awkward time, so I manually edited the ATP to come up with this progression. That explains how we have a Build week with only 530 TSS planned -- it is a partial taper week. Not perfect, but nothing ever is.

Last week

ATP: 700 TSS

Planned: 635.8
Actual: 741.3

This Week

Week of 7/17 - Build 2 week 1
Focus: Tinman, DEMRR
ATP: 530 TSS
Planned: 463.7

Mon
AM Work schedule conflict
PM ST

Tue
AM Work schedule conflict
PM Bike, Portlock Loop

Wed
AM Swim, pool
PM Bike, spin class

Thu
AM ST
PM Yoga

Fri
AM Swim, pool

Sat
Swim, OW + bike Waikiki to home

Sun
Race, Tinman

Next race: 6 weeks to DEMRR

Schedule week of July 10

Nothing knocks you out of your routine more than a national holiday coming mid-week. That is exactly what happened this week, with July 4th falling on Tuesday. Most of my co-workers took Monday off, as did I. And, I made good use of the time.

I want to get back to my upstairs bathroom renovation. The room has become a storage area, and the guest of honor has been my sitar, the one I bought back in 1968 in San Francisco for all of $140. A genuine Hiren Roy. The real deal. (Back then the exchange rate was really off balance, so my $140 -- including shipment -- was probably the equivalent of a six months wages in rupee.)  At some point during its lengthy stay at East West Center it had a little Humpty Dumpty accident, quite common for sitars. Work in the bathroom could not continue until the sitar was taken care of, so I took to UPS and had it shipped to the best Indian instrument repairman on the West Coast, Scott Hackleman. It cost A LOT MORE that $140 to ship. But it's family, selected for me by my teacher, Nikhil Banerjee. Something to look forward to when I retire.

My family does not do much on July 4th, no matter what day of the week it falls on. This is the result of several gallant attempts to take the kids to watch fireworks shows put on at venues such as Ala Moana Beach Park, only to narrowly escape being blown to bits by illegal fireworks in the hands of frenzied children, and trapped in gridlock traffic for hours. No, thank you.

Besides having no special plans, I was absolutely sure the morning would be totally free, a perfect opportunity to do a mini-tri. For those of you lacking triathlon experience, a mini-tri involves doing all three activities -- swim, bike, run -- in a manner that simulates a race only with shorter distances or lower intensity. It is all about transitions. Not only clothing changes, but changes in muscle sensing and activation. My plan was to get up early, throw the bike and running gear in the back of the Outback, drive to Sans Souci Beach Park and swim 1,000 yards, drive back to Triangle Park, ride the Tinman route, then run for 15 min. What happened was, I woke up, slept a bit more, then decided that I was too tired to do any of that. So much for dedication.

Sunday's long ride was cut short by a failed CO2 dispenser. I flatted in Kailua doing Olomana Loops (see first pic), no big deal until I went to inflate the replacement tube. All the gas came spewing out of the dispenser, as though the valve was stuck open. I worked it over and over, it felt OK. On long rides I carry two tubes and two cartridges, so I had one more chance. Same result. I had to take the bus home.

I have been doing an intensive about of running these past three months, with the usual goal of getting faster. Well, the program I was following was only piling on mileage and doing nothing to improve pace, so I have given that up and am in the process of rearranging things. More to follow.

The reason my CTL line is so much higher than my annual training plan is due to the extra running. No that I am changing course it appears to be falling too low. Be patient, I have not finished planning the way to DEMRR.

Last week

ATP: 700 TSS
Planned: 657.9
Actual: 779.5

This Week

Week of 7/10 - Build 1 week 2
Focus: Tinman, DEMRR

ATP: 700
Planned: 635.8

Mon
AM Run, 5mi + 4 strides
PM ST

Tue (Independence Day)
AM Bike, Portlock Loop
PM Swim, OW

Wed
AM Run, 6 mi, 8 x 1' hills, jog down recovery
PM Spin Class

Thu
AM ST
PM Yoga

Fri

AM Run, 3mi + 4 strides
PM Swim, OW

Sat
Swim OW + run home 7 mi.

Sun
Bike, 50 mi Kailua Lp.

Next race: Tinman, Jul 23.

Schedule week of July 3

This week went really well until Saturday morning. It always takes about a mile to find my legs, but this time I felt as though I had no control. I kept going too fast, and sure enough my HR would climb up to tempo range and beyond. Meanwhile, my legs felt stiff and a little sore all over. Not my typical warm up. I was ready to quit and call it a day when I remembered that Thursday morning at strength training we did legs. Dorian did some new things designed to work deep tissue. I did not feel as sore or tired as I have in the past after a leg session, not until I tried to run Saturday. Then I remembered that Wednesday's run had been hard intervals up Diamond Head. And Tuesday's bike workout had been hard intervals up Kilauea. No wonder my legs felt broken!

I decided to keep going, but stop if any real pain showed up. No bad pain, just lots and lots of stiffness and overall soreness. I walked when I had to. My legs finally settled down around 2 1/2 miles in. The really good part was that I had plenty of energy to run the finish hard. This is supposed to be a fast finish run, but since the finish on my course is uphill I get the intensity but not the speed. My HR was touching zone 5 at the end. Funny thing is, it felt good. Confident.

Somewhere during the week I changed Sunday's bike from another two lap Hawaii Kai ride, the one I did last Sunday, for a longer, less intense ride designed to build endurance for the Dick Evans.  I have been totally focused on hill climbing, so I decided it was time for a 50 mile ride to Kailua and back. That went really well. Plenty of energy. All that CTTS training showed. This week I do a bit more of the same sort of thing, getting to where just finishing 112 miles is not a challenge in itself.

The impact of not taking a week off after CTTS is obvious here. This week's planned workload is going to keep pushing that CTL line higher. This is not a bad thing as long as my body holds up. Maybe I should plan a little more rest before Tinman, even though it is just a B race.

Last week

ATP: Transition, no scheduled workouts
Planned: 751.6 TSS
Actual: 674.3

This Week

Week of 7/3
Focus: Tinman, DEMRR

ATP: 700
Planned: 965.3

Mon
AM Run, 5mi + 4 strides
PM ST

Tue (Independence Day)
AM Mini Tri.
Swim 1000 yds @ Ala Moana
Drive to Triangle Park
Bike 20 mi (Hawaii Kai loop)
Run 15 min

Wed
AM Run, 7 mi, 3 @ tempo
PM Spin Class

Thu
AM ST
PM Yoga

Fri

AM Run, 3mi + 4 strides
PM Swim, OW

Sat
Long run, 12 mi

Sun
Bike, 60 mi

Next race: Tinman, Jul 23.