Late March test results

In early March I speculated what my running zones would be using my most recent Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (LTHR) test. That test was a bit old (August 2014), but then once settled the number should not change much over the course of a season. To review, my last LTHR average heart rate for 20 minutes was 154, so at 5% less than that my estimated zones were:

Run Zones with LTHR at 146

1Z	2Z	3Z	4Z	5aZ	5bZ	5cZ
96	124	131	139	146	150	155

A week later (March 8) I did a new test, preceded by a first ever aerobic capacity test. Turns out my estimate was pretty good. My average heart rate for the aerobic capacity test, a 5 minute all-out effort, was 160. For the 20 minute lactate threshold test, 155. Take 5% off that and my run zones are:

Run Zones with LTHR at 147

1Z	2Z	3Z	4Z	5aZ	5bZ	5cZ
97	125	132	140	147	151	156

In other words, no real change in LTHR, which is what I expected.

On March 29 I did another LTHR test, this time without the aerobic capacity test, and my twenty minute average HR was 153. Not enough of a difference to reset my zones. Besides, on most days my HR zone reported on my Garmin FR610 matches what I feel, in the legs and respiration. Once in a while these things do not agree, particularly at the start of the run segment of a bike-run brick, when HR is much higher than respiration and Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE).

To get accurate results an LTHR test should be preceded by a couple days rest. This most recent test was run on a Sunday morning after a Saturday trip to Mokuleia for the same test done on the bike. On top of that, there were significant environmental differences, the kind that are beyond my ability to control. The day of the earlier test was cool but windy. For the most recent test the temperature was considerably warmer, and while there was virtually no wind the track was wet from overnight rain.

As for the bike time trial, my twenty minute average HR was 138, with a minimum of 133 and maximum of max of 142. As a matter of fact, my average over the entire thirty minute test (the first ten minutes are not counted), was 138. At least I was consistent. Bike results are typically lower than for running, but not ten points lower. I attribute some of that to the fact that I decided to approach this as a race effort test rather than all out. On top of that I probably held back too much trying to avoid going out too fast and blowing up. As it was I held zone 4 for thirty minutes, which is tough to do. From that angle I consider this a good test; I can expect to average around 16 m.p.h. on race day, for a bike split of around 1:30.

After Sunday's run test I drove out to the Oahu Club and swam a 500 yard time trial. Part to measure progress, part to begin gathering data for estimating my swim split. My numbers for 5 x 100 were 3:04.31, 3:13.07, 3:14.25, 3:12.25, and 3:11.69.

My overall average pace was 3:11/100 yards. I think a better result is had by throwing out the first set, since it is so much different than the last four. Doing that my average pace is 3:13, which I think is closer to what I can really do. That works out to a 1,500M swim split of around 50 min.

Since I have gone this far I might as well add my run estimates. Based on recent runs I expect an average pace of 14:30, which comes out to around 1:30:0 for the run segment.

Last year my T1 time was 5:30 and T2 was 2:30. I know I can improve on that T1 time but I will use it here; it all works out to a sub four hour race.

Here is how I look compared to last year's 65-69 age group. My estimates are in the last column. All times rounded to the nearest minute. Totals include T1 and T2.

Segment	Low	High	My Est.
Swim	0:29	0:49	0:50
Bike	1:12	1:41	1:30
Run	0:52	1:30	1:30
Total	2:41	4:13	3:56

I am about one month out from my first of two races. I do not expect any dramatic improvements in these times. I will keep checking and tweak the numbers when I feel that it matters, but from here on my focus will be more on developing the endurance and skills to do all three segments at this level, without the benefit of rest breaks and in the midst of all the frenzy and emotional stress everyone feels on race day.

Information overload

A friend of mine at work recently announced she wants to run the Honolulu Marathon. Her first long run event. It seems like only yesterday I said the same words, so naturally I began to shower her with all the knowledge I had gained in the last couple of years. She is a very smart person, and it wasn't long before she began to point out conflicting bits of information. Runner's World says this, Training Peaks says that, and so-and-so says something different again. The two things we all agree on are 1) she should start with a walk-run program that gradually increases the run duration, and 2) she should wear proper running shoes. I guess you could say the the confusion started with which brand of shoe, and went off in all directions from there. How often to run. Where to run. What to eat. When to eat. Smartphone vs. dedicated HRM vs. smart watch vs. activity tracker.

The other day I thought it would be helpful to share some of the books I have purchased for my Kindle. Come to find out that not all Kindle books can be loaned, those that can can only be loaned once, and only for seven days. None of the books I wanted to share are load enabled; so much for that. So I did the next best thing, I sent her a bibliography. Keep in mind this is not exhaustive, just some books I have found to be useful.

Abshire, Danny (Mr. Newton). Natural Running: The Simple Path to Stronger, Healthier Running.

Dicharry, Jay. Anatomy for Runners: Unlocking Your Athletic Potential for Health, Speed, and Injury Prevention.

Fitzgerald, Matt. 80/20 Running: Run Stronger and Race Faster By Training Slower. (Bought but not yet read, supposed to be good.)

Fitzgerald, Matt. The New Rules of Marathon and Half-Marathon Nutrition: A Cutting-Edge Plan to Fuel Your Body Beyond "the Wall." (Target is advanced runners but good to know. I used his training plans for half marathons, went very well.)

Friel, Joe. Fast After 50: How to Race Strong for the Rest of Your Life.

As I put this list together I realized how much material I had, and how badly I wanted to re-read some of these. The Dicharry book especially, since I have so many range of motion issues. I am still reading "Fast After 50" and even then it will take a lot of time and study to implement Friel's advice. Then there are the books I did not list, especially Friel's "The Power Meter Handbook" and Fitzgerald's "80/20 Running."
Oh. Her response? "Will tag for later; currently on information overload."

This week I managed to find time to get started implementing workout suggestions from "Fast After 50." The more I worked on my Training Peaks calendar, the more confused I got.

Then came a question about protein intake. According to Friel (well, the research he refers to) and old guy like me needs to consume a lot more protein after a hard workout than a young stud. I am a big fan of chocolate milk, and while one 8oz. serving supplies a nice dose of recovery nutrition for a typical morning run, it is not nearly enough after a hard session. I thought the best person to ask was my strength and bike coach, Dorian Cuccia, and yep, he recommends protein powder. Do you have any idea how many brands of protein powder there are? Or that some are considered downright unhealthy? It's crazy.

This afternoon it hit me. I have so many different sources of information that the task of blending them into a smooth, cohesive whole seems impossible. I have a hunch this is how my friend, the new runner, feels. This is not to say I plan to turn my back and just go by feel. Nope. I know that all this information has a role to play in making me a better athlete. What I am looking for is balance.

I'll get back to you when I find it.

Rethinking my low intensity weeks

In "The Triathlete's Training Bible" Joe Friel presents guidelines for creating an individual training plan. These same guidelines are incorporated into the Training Peaks Annual Training Plan (ATP). (The new site does yet include the ATP. To get there you must revert to Classic, on the drop-down menu triggered by clicking your name.) Friel's new book, "Fast After 50," also gives advice on setting up a training plan, and some of the suggested solutions are different. No doubt he has updated his recommendations to reflect new knowledge.

A key element of an ATP is periodization by week. Friel recommends that young whipper-snappers insert a reduced volume week every fourth week, whereas mature athletes insert one every third week. I am not sure where he or the TP computer draw the line. All I can say for sure is that TP schedules me a rest week every three weeks, with a target of 7 hours of activity, which is exactly what Friel recommends in his book for someone my age with an annual training goal of 500 hours.

Once you have your weekly volume mapped out you can use the TP Virtual Coach to help fill in individual workouts, again following the same guidelines presented in "The Triathlete's Training Bible." During reduced volume weeks you will see workouts that are really the tests he describes in detail in his book, such as the run LTHR test.

About that 500 hours. As I move into the new year I am finding it difficult to schedule, much less do, as much volume as TP recommends. Somewhere between the complexities of life and the vagaries of the weather I have not been able to put in as much time as I would like. One thing I need to fix is my swim time estimates. I have been scheduling swim workouts based on time in the pool, but my Garmin Swim only gives me credit when I am moving. The most I have ever gotten from a one hour pool workout is 40 minutes. But if I shave off twenty minutes there I have to add it on somewhere else, and there are not very many possibilities.

Okay, I admit that the computer did not assign me 500 hours per year. I chose it, because that is the recommended volume for a Half Ironman:

Suggested Annual Training Hours

RACE DISTANCE	ANNUAL HOURS
Ironman	600-1200
Half-Ironman	500-700
Olympic	400-600
Sprint	300-500

Friel, Joe (2012-11-27). The Triathlete's Training Bible (Kindle Locations 2069-2070). VeloPress. Kindle Edition.

To be more precise, 500 hours per year is the high end for sprint distance triathlons, which I did last year, in the middle for Olympic distance events which I am targeting this year, and on the low end for Half Ironman, my goal for 2016. So I did not just pull that number out of a hat.

But I digress. My purpose in this interlude was to explain where the 7 hours per week came from. "The Triathlete's Training Bible," table 14.1.

This coming week is one of those weeks. Back in December/January when I laid out my spring plan I scheduled this week this way:

Monday
    Swim, pool 1 hr 2250 yds
 Tuesday
    Swim, pool, 1 hr 1200 yds
Wednesday
    Swim, pool 1 hr 3250 yds
    Bike, spin class, 1 hr
Thursday
    Run, Foundation, 30 min
    Strength, 1 hr
    Yoga (no time)
Friday
    Run, track, LTHR test, 50 min
    Massage (no time)
Saturday
    rest day, no activity
Sunday
    Run, track, tempo time trial, 30 min

Total planned: 6:50
ATP: 7:00

Even with all that my plan is ten minutes short of my allocation. Experience tells me I will be short on swim time, and about the only way to hit my goal will be to extend some runs or tack on a ride. That or give myself time credit for yoga, which is not really cheating.

My inspiration for this blog entry was to say that after reading most of Friel's new book, "Fast After 50," I feel the need to redefine the two runs that come later in the week. I have something similar at the end of every low volume week.

One change I did spot in Friel's new book, instead of taking average HR for the 20 min run to get LTHR rate, he now recommends taking five percent off that. So this week I will get fresh LTHR data, and the result should change my HR zones, but not by much. My last run LTHR test was back in August, and put me at 154. Five percent off that would be 146.

Run Zones with LTHR at 154

1Z	2Z	3Z	4Z	5aZ	5bZ	5cZ
102	131	139	146	154	159	163

Run Zones with LTHR at 146

1Z	2Z	3Z	4Z	5aZ	5bZ	5cZ
96	124	131	139	146	150	155

So I guess that means I'll be running a bit easier.

There are some other tests Friel recommends we old folks do. I need to read over those sections again before doing any more scheduling. I will present my results in a future post.

More on training by pace

Back in October I shared my idea to switch my marathon training metric focus from heart rate to pace. Since then I have found more support for this idea. Joe Friel himself makes an excellent case for this in the context of cycling, in his book, "The Power Meter Handbook." The problem is, nobody has a practical way to measure power while running, so heart rate is generally considered the next best metric. (Actually there is a company developing a waist mounted accelerometer that measures power while running. D.C. Rainmaker has tried a beta version.)

Ryan Riell has posted an interesting piece on the Training Peaks blog, "How to Train for an IRONMAN Marathon," and in it he makes a case for training by pace instead of heart rate. He does not throw out heart rate, rather he acknowledges the variability typical of heart rate and why that makes it a poor choice for monitoring performance. A better approach, he argues, is to establish pace zones that are analogous to heart rate zones and power zones. He points out that heart rate is an input metric, whereas power and pace are output metrics. Joe Friel compares training by heart rate with trying to manage the speed of a car by monitoring fuel consumption.

Riell suggests using recent marathon performance to establish three pace zones, then use that data to calculate three zones for Ironman pace. Clearly this approach is designed for top performing age groupers. He hints at this when he describes two example athletes, one who runs a marathon in 3:15 and another in 3:45. I for one would be thrilled to run a half marathon in that time.

It turns out that Riell's piece includes a hint about a method by Joe Friel for establishing pace zones. I searched around Training Peaks and found it. What a nice surprise. I like Friel's method because it relies on a 30 minute effort, something achievable by anybody bothering to fuss with this stuff. The same test I do regularly to set heart rate zones. If only Garmin had a display for these zones, like they do for heart rate and power. When I have some time I want to look back over my recent 30 minute time trials and see how my pace zones turn out.

I should point out that I am training for the Honu Half Ironman. Strictly speaking, my goal pace should be faster than the Ironman marathon pace. At my level, anything faster than walking is good. But it is nice to have goals.

Road ID app goes beyond bracelet

I started wearing a Road ID bracelet almost as soon as they came out. They had thoughtful ads on the Tour de France featuring a bunch of pro riders talking about crashes, so I got one. Later Pattie got one, too. Their quality is superb; I wear mine every day and I am only on my second bracelet. In fact, my first one is still functional, it just looks beat up.

The idea behind the Road ID is a small message with emergency contact information and a PIN number that emergency responders can use to look up whatever information I choose to place on my page at Road ID. Additional points of contact and medical stuff. I am not allergic to anything like penicillin, but it would help an ER staff to know if I was, or if I am taking blood thinners.

Recently Road ID came out with a smartphone app that complements their bracelet. It consists of two parts. First is a wallpaper maker that helps you to create a lock screen for your smartphone with contact information. Here is mine:

I chose to add the phrase about wearing a bracelet. Pattie took this pic with her phone, which you can see in the reflection. I obfuscated the phone numbers here, they are visible on my phone. Again, this is what you see when you turn on my phone.

The second part is a timer and movement detector. Once started, if I stop moving for more than a few minutes my phone will send a text message alert to whomever I configured -- in my case, Pattie. She can also see a map with my current location as given by my phone's GPS. My phone will do its best to warn me before sending the alert. Imagine how happy Pattie would be if she drove all the way to Hawaii Kai only to discover I had stopped off at Starbucks and forgot to turn off my tracker.

This is probably overkill for those morning runs where there are plenty of people around. It makes good sense on weekends, especially those long bike rides through the countryside. It might even work on an open water swim provided I place the phone in a zip-lock bag and put that inside my swim cap. On second thought, my phone is way too big for that. I know, stash the phone in a Kiefer SaferSwimmer.

I know that it might seem intrusive to the person left behind, but the peace of mind this app delivers is more than worth whatever disgruntlement is causes. And for those of you who cherish a long bike ride as a means to get away on your own for awhile, you really do not want to be all alone when your heart decides it doesn't want to work any more. Get yourself a Road ID, and the app.

Forgetfulness

For several weeks I have been unusually forgetful. I know am naturally inclined that way and have developed the usual countermeasures: routine and reminders. Those have worked well for years, but lately I have experienced a spike of forgetting stuff related to working out.

• Two Wednesdays in a row I forgot to pack my HRM strap for spin class. Luckily Pattie loaned me hers.
• This week I remembered my HRM strap, but forgot to pack my Garmin 800. No data.
• One morning I got to the Oahu Club only to discover I forgot my towel. Luckily I always carry a TYR chamois and could dry off after my shower with that.
• On a different morning I forgot to pack underwear. Must have been a Thursday, because I was wearing running shorts rather than a bathing suit. Had to wear those all day under my trousers. No comment.
• Last Monday I was scheduled to swim after work. Got to work after Ben Williams' tri clinic to discover I had not packed the little swim bag with my goggles and caps.

I often get stuck in traffic. Besides longing for the Good Olde Days when I rode my bike to work, I use this time to ponder things. This morning I spent the time thinking about why I had become so forgetful. Here is my conclusion. It is my mind's natural attempt to save my life.

That is what our mind does, first and foremost; ensure our survival. When we are active we become fatigued. Sure you can talk till you are blue about oxygen depletion and lactate concentration, but in the end the feeling of fatigue that slows us down is our mind trying to save our skin.

Recently I have significantly upped my workout intensity. My Training Peaks PMC shows the purple TSS/d line way above the CTL and the TSB is as low as -20. In plain English I have been working hard and I should be feeling tired, and I do. The good kind. The kind of fatigue that feels like a reward. But my mind does not know about PMCs and TSBs. All it knows is that these workouts are killing me, so if I leave something I need at home I will skip the workout.

Thanks, mind. Maybe I do need to pull back a little. If there is anything certain about all this data, it is that how hard to train is much more art than science.

Ben Williams Triathlon Clinic

This morning was the inaugural session of a free monthly triathlon clinic hosted by Honolulu's own Ben Williams at IT&B. A half dozen people awoke well before dawn and braved the sub-sixty degree chill to participate. All survived without frostbite.

The basic idea is to do a bike-run brick. Today's ride was a straightforward route from IT&B along Campbell Ave, up Monsarrat, left on 18th, Kilauea to Aloha gas station, down Kealaolu to Kahala Ave and back over Diamond Head to Kapahulu via Paki. Back at the shop it was a quick transition (well, I was not so quick) and off to run a bit. Afterward Ben shared some good tri tips. Next time we will do something more energetic on the bike.

The sessions will be held on the first Monday of the month. Meet at 5:30 at IT&B, roll out shortly thereafter. Contact Ben via IT&B at 808.732.7227.

My apologies for the fuzzy photo. My phone's camera must have been frozen. But I didn't let it go!