Wednesday, April 30, 2014

If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.

I'm not going to turn this into a training log and bore readers to tears with my miles and hours. I've never done a log and don't intend to start now, mainly because I've never bumped up against the physical limit of training. If you're going to push the envelope -- 15,20,++ hours per week -- you need to write it all down. I will come nowhere close to that. I'll post the occasional training update, but not all the detail.

But I thought I'd take this blog entry to review my past fitness and set some benchmarks.

Swim. I swam as a kid in the summers, up to age 16. I was ok...master of nothing, but decent at medley. Mainly...I know how to swim and that is a HUGE advantage as a masters triathlete since most masters guys/gals are novice swimmers. I get in shape fast, and I swim efficiently. Preparing for my first half IM (Oceanside 2002), I did masters swimming at the JCC in San Diego twice a week for 3 months. I beat half the male pros and all the women pros out of the water. Went 27-something.

I don't expect to do much different this time. I'll probably start masters at our local high school pool sometime in June. Will shoot for 3 days a week most weeks. I'm also going to attend a Total Immersion clinic in May or June. One can never be too efficient in the water.

Goal for Tahoe: Out of the water around 35 minutes, swimming smooth and easy.

Bike. Bike preparation strategy is simple. Do the miles. More miles, more fitness. How many miles can I do? That remains to be seen. But ultimately, it's about making an honest assessment just before race day: What is my race-day threshold power? By "threshold power" I mean specifically the power output I could hold for a rested, one-hour maximal effort. From experience, I have a good sense of making this honest assessment without actually having to do a maximal one-hour effort. A half hour push up part of Mt. Diablo should tell me what's what.

My fitness peaks in the past were at about 230 threshold watts (or "P60"=230w). Accordingly, my 2006 Oceanside 1/2IM race target was 192 watts, which I achieved on the number. That's 83% of P60. Some fast folks race at a higher % of P60; slower folks should target less. Since us slower folks are out on the bike course longer, we need to reduce our relative effort in order to have enough in the tank for a solid run.

For Tahoe, I will go on reduced expectations and target a more conservative 80% of P60. I *think* I can get to 200 watts P60. I'm 7 years older and will be starting from scratch, but I think that's a realistic goal. I think that 2-3 quality rides per week will get me there. I haven't yet analyzed the bike course up there, but 160 watts at Oceanside would have been about 10 minutes slower than my 2:40 on 192 watts.

Goal for Tahoe: Off the bike in 2:50. Subject to closer review of the course profile. Maybe as high as 3:00.

Run. The wild card. Will my feet hold up? I bought a pair of those crazy Hoka One One shoes on the advice of an ultra-running friend. Ran a half hour in them last night. Strange, but interesting. I'll report back.

A solid half IM run is done at "M" (or, marathon) pace using the Daniels Running Formula VDOT tables. These tables work. At my last fitness peak, my M pace was ~8 min/mile. I will get nowhere near that this time, but I'm optimistic I can get to 9 min/mile for a 2-hour run leg. An M pace of 9 means running an open 10k in 50-52 minutes, and means holding long easy runs (2hrs or more) at 10:15. That will be my goal for now -- doing long easy runs at 10:15 or better.

Running is not as simple as just "doing the miles" like cycling. You can ride your bike every day, and it won't break down. Even if it does, you fix it one evening and ride again the next day. Your running "chassis" can break down and take weeks to fix. I will have to be very careful.

Goal for Tahoe: Run 2 hours. This is a stretch, but I need to have a stretch goal in here somewhere.

More to come later on my specific preparations in each event. Equipment, training, diet, strategies, etc.

Cheers,
Rick

Monday, April 28, 2014

Day Zero

9:10AM Monday April 28, 2014. Click. Done.

Hi. I'm Rick Ashburn. I've now committed to the Lake Tahoe 1/2 IM. Or the "70.3" as they call it these days. Nobody wants to do "half" of something, so now it has its own name. But still...it's half. And I'm OK with that. The "full" is beyond my commitment level at this time and I don't want to stress out over preparations.

Background: I'm 53. I first got off the sofa in 2001 by signing up for IM Lake Placid for summer 2002. I was fat and out of shape. My big goal at first was to be able to run to the elementary school near our house in La Jolla without stopping. That's 3 whole blocks, if you really want to know. I eventually ran all the way to Wind n Sea beach and asked my wife to go home and get the car to take me back.

That was 4 blocks.

I worked up to my first 1/2 marathon (a neat 2 hours). Then a couple of half IMs. Then I made it around the Lake Placid course that next summer in a little over 13 hours -- 4 of which was walking.

I continued on in the sport for the next 4 years, favoring long-course events. I like my suffering as a slow-burn. Sprint tris and 5ks are too intense -- like burning your hand on a stove.The San Diego Tri Club was my base, and the monthly club races were invaluable in working out techniques and strategies.

The last serious push I made was for the Oceanside Half in 2006. I trained hard, and felt I had all the pieces in place for a top-10 AG finish. But I let my fitness get to my head a week out from the event and decided mid-ride to set a PR on my favorite 3-hr loop. I was exhausted after that, and was tired right up through the event. I thought I was a lock for top-10 but instead cratered on the swim and my day went downhill from there.

I executed OK on the bike (2:40) but just could not find any rhythm on the run. Finished 15th or 17th...I forget exactly. But that was my last triathlon. Our family moved up to the SF East Bay in summer 2006. I stuck with running for a while...did a trail marathon and some long self-supported trail runs. But I chose to stop the time commitment that is tri training as my kids were getting older and I preferred family time to bike and pool time.

I continued running for another 2 years -- 3-4 days a week. Then the plantar fasciitis hit. And hit bad. I limped around...could not run more than 20 minutes. Eventually couldn't really run at all. One day of running left me sore for a week. And, yes, I tried everything. Stretching, foot brace, Strassburg Sock, A.R.T., taping, 6 different kinds of shoes, barefoot running,...you name it, I tried it.

So I quit.

That was three years ago, and I took up golf. I always swore I would never play golf until I couldn't run any more. Well, that day arrived sooner than I thought.

Friends ask, Why didn't you keep riding? Defeatism. Being bummed out about my feet and not being able to run any more. IOW...no good reason. I just quit, that's all. Played golf; restored old motorcycles; coached Little League. I just didn't feel like riding.

But an interesting thing happened after carrying a golf bag for a few miles a couple days a week for two years. My feet got stronger and more resilient. I took some tentative runs early this year, and I got encouraged. Then I found out my golf course will be closed for renovation this summer and fall.

And so here I am. Day zero.