Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - CLOSED (Page 12)

Tried to get back on the wagon last night with an easy 30 minute trainer ride and 30 minute treadmill run.  Felt fine on the trainer.  No coughing like a barking seal and the back felt fine as long as I stayed on the horns.  I tried going aero and the back was mad at me for trying.  Jumped on the treadmill and started couging like crazy and the back was telling me enough.  Cut it down to 10 minutes.  Still not 100%.  I'm getting irriated.  This is the last big 4 week block of my 12 week build phase.  Doesn't look like I wil hit the 67 hours.

Hey Marc - I am glad you posted this.  I tried to pull my PMC chart yesterday to illustrate this and was having trouble getting it to copy over.

I am at the bottom as well working my way up steadily though.  Mine looked very similar to yours with two main builds to my two 'A' HIM races in June and then August.

If anybody has any questions about what that chart means feel free to ask.  This is a chart from TrainingPeaks.

I typically always workout at lunch.  I work from home most days so it is very convenient to knock out an hour workout.  In season, I mostly spend the lunch hour at the pool.

If I have two workouts scheduled and cannot brick them, I usually do something after they go to bed, about 8:00.  I use to be a morning person but that ended when the kids started getting up at all hours and I did not want to put that all on my wife to deal with.

I assume you have to have the paid side of TrainingPeaks right?  I only have the free.  Wonder if Garmin Connect can show this.

Decent (sucked less than usual) swim at lunch....maybe I am gradually getting back to where I should be in the pool. Looked at my training volume since Jan. 1, 2013. January 2014 was one of my biggest months ever due in large part to the fact that I was running very little (injury) but biking and swimming a good bit. I'll look at Raceday, the training software I use, and see how it compares over the last 2 years.

Marc-my bike workout yesterday was very similar to yours with VO2 intervals 7X3 min with 3 min easy. 

Marc:  That looks like a steady build of TSS over 8-10 weeks.  Have you found that is the best course for you as opposed to building 3 weeks and stepping back for 1 week before resuming your build?  

I seem to prefer mentally a week to step back and recharge, maybe more mentally.

I almost never train at lunch.  I work in a very industrial area (I work at a refinery) and there are no gyms close by.  I do, however, train before and after work most days.  On weekdays, I'm willing to commit to about an hour before work and an hour after....sometimes a little more, often a bit less. 

Got my run with intervals done this evening. Felt pretty good. But, the best part was stopping by the LBS for a visit and having 2 ice cold draft beers. Got to love a bike shop that keeps a keg in the shop. Shop is main sponsor for the tri team I am on and they always take good care of me.....the beers tonight were right on point!  Awesome way to end the day. 

On another note, they just started carrying Cannondale. Have to say that the new Slice looks better in person than in pictures I have seen. Still way down the list if I was looking for a new bike but better than I expected.    

We are almost through January so check in and tell us how your month went.  I know we had a lot of sickness within the group.

I would say things have gone pretty smoothly for me.  My run volume is building nicely and now starting to add in some more bike work as well the equation.  So, things are getting more challenging.  The time management is also getting more challenging as work responsibilities have also gained momentum.

Got a 2-hour trainer ride in today with main set of 5x (12 minute Z3 power and then 3' Z4 power) or 220/260 Watts is what I targeted.  I felt really good on this which is good.  220 was my HIM power last year and felt quite comfortable.

Hoping for a 4 mile easy run after work and then hockey tonight.  A Canadian triathlon of sorts .

Hey, getting some snow today! The first real snowfall in a while! 

Feeling better but i have a super nagging cough. Though with today's exploits i seem to be fine when I am in motion so i may do a short spin tonight to see if maybe i can shake some of this out. 

A bit of a crazy couple days when you don't feel 100% but my daughter does not have pink eye which is a bit of a relief though the redness in one eye is a bit worrisome ... anyway, such is the life with a toddler, especially one in daycare. 

As for January, for me it was really hit or miss. I did some good training but i had a couple of 'outages' for being sick and some 'weenie' time where i just was too lazy - i have a bit of a plan now for the next month and understand that I need to just suck it up and do it. Trying the gym close to work should help a lot too - especially since it looks like the cold is going to carry on for a while making outdoor running (with no immediate goal race) less than appealing. 

After a long winter of only running, I'm finally back on the bike and in the pool.  I'm definitely not where I left off, but probably not as far back as I had expected. 

My swim times, after five sessions back in the pool, are probably within a few seconds per hundred (I've dropped down a lane from where I used to be, which means that I'm now at the front of that lane, so no longer getting a draft benefit, so to be a few seconds slower is really not that surprising.  I think that bodes well for me and am hoping within another couple weeks, I'll be back to where I left off).

In an effort to jump start my bike training, I've taken on the crazy-ness of the Tour of Sufferlandria.  I'm through six stages so far.  I dropped my FTP by 10% from where I left off (in September) and seem to be suffering sufficiently.  I'm hoping that after accumulating a solid TSS that I can recover for a few days and then do a new set of testing to see where I am and what I need to focus on.

I've pulled back on the running since my HM.  Still running six days a week, but keeping everything easy (need to for the ToS madness!) and short.  Will start to ramp back up a bit next week.

January was going good up until last week.  But I'm slowly getting back in it.  45 trainer ride with 4x6min Z3 60-70rpms.

Last swim of the month done. Right at 35,000 yards for the month.

Strength and short run this evening. Weekend has me with longish bike/short run on Sat. and longish run/easy bike on Sunday. So far January has been good. Likely to end up with my biggest run mileage month in 2+ years.....trying to keep the easy very easy on the run.

I signed up but didn't get an invite.  I would be all over it.  I like CycleOps virtual training.  You can "race" against friends but it's not anything like Zwift.

Is the program a CPU and graphics card hog?  Can you customize your rider and bike?  I really want that invite.  It looks awesome.