Friday, July 31, 2009

UltraBrick

Considering the importance of Brick workouts and that Saturday is Brick Saturday I thought I'd post this workout I saw in a magazine. Total it's 1:32 minutes of riding, 56:30 minutes of running and 15 minutes of walking. It's also an excellent way to practice T2.

Warm-up:
-10 minute easy spin
-5-10 minute easy run
-4 – 6 strides of 15 seconds or approx. 100 meters
-10 minute spin


Main Set:

-20:00 ride at race pace
-T2
-15:00 run at race pace
-3:00 walk recovery
-1:00 jog recovery
-4:00 easy spin
-15:00 ride at race pace
-T2
-10:00 run at race pace
-2:00 walk recovery
-1:00 jog recovery
-3:00 easy spin
-10:00 ride at race pace
-T2
-7:30 run at expected race finish

Cool Down:

-5 minute walk
-10 minute easy run or 20 minute easy spin
-5 minute walk

Friday, July 24, 2009

July 25th Long Ride

Troy and I discussed doing the Cato loop plus some to get in our 4 hour ride. I flushed out Troy's idea and came up with the following course (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=303389). For those of you who are not map people, it is basically adding the Round Mountain part of the BDB ride (almost to Conway then a loop that swings out to the west and back into Mayflower) onto the front of the Cato loop. It’s 75 miles but has some significant climbs, so it may take more than 4 hours. Because of that, I’m up for other suggestions if anyone’s got them. If not, let’s plan on meeting at Cooks at 6AM (rolling by 6:15) in the morning. The layout of this course could be non-ironman friend-friendly since one could choose to turn around as we make our turn near Conway (for a total of 43 miles mostly flat ) or they could bail when we get back to Hwy 365 (for a total of 52 miles with a couple of moderate climbs). In any case, I’m planning on making this an aerobic ride keeping the BPMs around 130 except while climbing (i.e. very little hammering). Who’s in?

-Bird

Sunday, July 19, 2009

In the Rearview Mirror

One-third is complete.

Two-thirds to go.

8-weeks are in the books as far as Ironman Florida 2009 training is concerned. 16-weeks remain, starting Monday.

Are you where you want to be?

Have you accomplished what you've set out to accomplish to this point?

Is your base stronger? Is your engine bigger? Are you getting mentally tougher?

During the course of normal life I'm sure you've missed a workout or two. I have. It's nearly impossible to not. Having said that, I encourage you with two things regarding those missed workouts, 1) let 'em go. You're not getting them back and if you try to make them up, well, you might just find yourself getting further behind or increasing your volume too much too fast which is no good in the end. And 2) try not to miss those workouts. In other words make sure those feet hit the floor when the alarm goes off. Get out from under those comfortable, snugly, warm blankets. The payoff comes when you're running down the finishers shoot, you look at your watch and realize...."I'm going to PR!".

The build phase starts Monday.

16-weeks to go.

Panama City Beach awaits.

Are you 'All In'?

TOP-10

T-Bras fared well this past weekend at the Mighty Mite sprint in Forrest City capturing a TOP-10 age-group finish with an over-all time of 1:10:21! The time was good for 8th overall in the young, whipper-snapper group of 30 - 34.

After coming out of the water at 8:36 he rode at nearly 21 mph for a time of 37:30 on the bike. Then after a smooth transition he tackled the 5k course with a pace of 7:25 and 22:13 time.

Nice job, Troy!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Age-Grouper of the Week

I was listening today to IM Talk, a podcast created by a couple of triathletes from New Zealand. They have this segment called "Age-Grouper of the Week" where they highlight an extraordinary age-group triathlete.

This week their age-grouper was Gary Taylor. It was funny hearing them say (Use your best New Zealand accent here) "Gary Taylor from Little Rock, Arkansas". We all know he's a phenomenal athlete but his nomination was as much for helping someone else as it was for his race performance.

As he was getting ready for his wave prior to the Austin 70.3 last October he noticed someone struggling in the water in the group that went off before him. This person was having an anxiety attack. According to IM Talk Gary went out to offer help and the swimmer was still in full attack mode and tried to pull Gary under with him. After a little struggle Gary manage to help this person to shore safe-and-sound.

After that Gary went off with his wave and torched the course to the tune of a top-5 age group finish earning a spot at the 70.3 championships in Clearwater!

Great job all the way around, Gary! Congratulations.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Going Long

Saturday's long ride calls for 3:30.

Who's in?

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Top 10

It seems no matter what the topic or list, Arkansas ranks at or near the bottom. It doesn't matter if it's population, education, income or teacher pay, if you'll quickly scroll down near the bottom....you'll find Arkansas.


I found a list yesterday that has Arkansas in the top 1o!


Naturally it's not a list you want to be in the top 10 but nevertheless there's Arkansas.


What's that old saying? "Thank God for Mississippi!"