Bloomington Cycle and Fitness Kit

Bloomington Cycle and Fitness Kit

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

training

I have had a positive week this week. Training is going good check it out.
Monday:
Run 1 mile warm up
5 x 800 sub 6 minute pace
1 mile cool down.
Tuesday
Swim
500 warmup
10 x 50 drill
5 x 200 2 @ 1:30 2 @ 1:25 1 @ 1:15
5 x 200 pull set.
200 kicks and cooldown
Wednesday
ride
3 hours
3 x 30 mins spin progressive 30 min hills
Thursday
Trail run Clinton Lake North fork access area
4 mile warm up
repeat hills w/ tempo thur passing area
4 mile Cool down

Friday is suppose to be a day off.
Saturday
Swim
500 warmup
10x50 drill
2 x 20 minutes sub 1:30 pace

Run 8 miles progressive

Sunday
Run 5 miles easy

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

50 degrees what?

It is Feb 1st and I rode my bike outside today. Is this really Illinois? I rode for 1 hour and accomplished 5 x 5 minutes at 85 %. Felt really strong on the way back to town with a tailwind. Heading out was a bit different.
Tomarrow is a good swim in the morning, followed by a 10 mile trail run at Clinton Lake.
The swim will be 500 warm up, 10x 50 drills, then a ladder:100,200,300,400,400,300,200,100, kickset of 200 and 500 cool down.
I have to say that this trail running is a different style of running. I feel like I can never get up on a comfortable pace. I have get used to the terrain changes and footing issues. This trail run is a single track that will be a little muddy and slick , but that makes it fun. The course has approximately 1500 feet of elevation change. I love hills.
So tomarrow will be a good day of training. at least a 1/2 day of training. I have nothing planned for tomarrow afternoon. We'll see...

Train hard Train smart

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Im back

This central Illinois weather really puts a bite into training. Yesterday the schedule reflected hills, so hills on the trainer it was. I started with a 30 minute spin and moved into 30 minute progressive hill workout. It wasn't to bad. I was able to maintain a nice cadence pushing low gears. A 30 minute spin ended the session with a little extra push for 9 minutes half way through the spin. Thanks to ESPN hockey highlights I was able to make the 1 and 1/2 hours fly by.

It seems as if I'm heading in the right direction in losing a few unwanted pounds. After Ironman Wisconsin I went a little crazy. I needed the time off to recover but I didnt need the extra poundage.lots of good beer, maybe a little to much. I can really feel the extra weight when Im running. Mondays and todays run were examples. Monday morning I ran a progressive 8 miles, yes on a treadmill. awesome workout. It ended with the last mile being a sub 6:00 pace. Today I completed a 10 miler 3 x 3 progressive. 7:30.7:00, and 6:30 On the 7th mile I could feel the lack of energy and the heavy feeling. I could have used a gel around mile 5 to not have this feeling. I was out of Power Gels and was only fueling on water. I pushed through and finished the last mile at 6:00 pace.

I have in the recent past been toying with the idea of hiring a coach. I have coached athletes from couch to 5k to marathon and sprint triathlon to Ironman distance races. I have also been coaching track and cross country on the high school level for the past 4 years and I enjoy every minute. Of course I charge a nominal fee of NOTHING for my services. What am I thinking .I get paid through watching the results and what can be accomplished through hard work and determination to reach a certain goal.

Im gonna give a shout out to a couple coaches I have spoken too. Both are Pro tri athletes and have a great sense for who they are, and what they are accomplishing through helping others. Carole Sharpless and Jenna Parker/Shoemaker are both accomplished athletes that wish to share their passion through coaching others.

I have yet to commit but will someday.

I have not touched on swimming so here we go. The pool is about the same. I swimming 3 days a week, nothing to crazy yet. a typical week right now...Tuseday 5 minute warm up 10x 50 drills, 10x 100 at 1:25 pace 5 x 200 at 1.25 pace 200 kick set and cool down Thursday same warm up and cool down. Main set is a ladder 100,200,300,400,400,300,200,100 with 1 minute recovery. Saturday has been a longer set day. typically repeat 400's or 500's

I feel pretty good right now stay tuned for more.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

2012

What does 2012 have. Well stay tuned and we shall see.

Been away from blog land for a while and lots changes since last post.I promise in 2012 I will write more. Illinois weather is upon us an indoor training is here. The race schedule for 2012 is in the works. The training regimen is switching gears from long iron distance races to shorter races. I feel the need for speed for a year then I will bump back up to a Iron distance race in 2013.

Also stay tuned for updates on Heyworth track season this year. The 2011 Cross country season went well and Heyworth saw an 11th place finish at State, 1st in Heyworth Cross Country history.

Lots to catch up on...

until next time
Train hard, Train smart

Monday, April 11, 2011

Heyworth track

Just checking the calender and the State Track meet is 38 days away for the girls and 45 days out for the boys. The season seems so short and we have alot of track meets between now and then.
Heyworth has 3 meets this week and the meet tomarrow at CCHS will tell us where we stand in our training right now. The girls and boys are seated in the distances that they want to attend the state meet in. We will be running against some pretty big schools and some strong runners. Test number 1

This sport is definately mentally challenging for he LDks right now. They see improvement but being so young getting a grasp on what we are doing is difficult. They will understand eventually.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

2011 Track Season starts

The 2011 Heyworth track season has started off with a couple of really good meets. The weather hasnt been to bad but the winds have played a part as it usually does. The long distance kids (LDKs) are geared up for a good season. Most of the boys coming off a tough and long basketball season. They jumped right back into the runners lifestyle and started putting in some quality miles. We only had 2 weeks of practice before spring break and another week until the first meet.
The first meet went as expected. I told the LDKs this was just a meet to see where we were physically and it proved to be some slower times for those who haven't pushed in practice.
After that first meet the kids realized that if the goal is to go to state they better start working hard. This past week I saw a big improvement in the desire to work hard.
Monday's workout 1 mile warm up, 1 mile at 85% out to the HILL, which has a nice even 3% grade, and then some good efforts on the hill for 20 minutes.
Our HILL is a great spot for training. The grade 6 to 8% and is marked off at 200 and 400 yards. At the top it has a false flat that really makes the kids strong if they hold the same effort.
During the 20 minutes they had strong efforts up and easy back down the hill.
While writing about our season I will only use first names or nicknames so here's a LDK roster.
Matt (Sr), Zach (Jr), Tim (Jr) Eli (Soph), Cade (Fr), BK (Fr) Kyle (Fr)
Hanna (Sr), Jess (Sr), Sam (Jr), Sara (Jr), Nicole (Soph), Kaley (Soph), Ally (Fr) Ginny (Soph)


A few of the LDKs had a big meet last night and I'm proud that we had such success after the HILL workout. Zach and Hanna both did 3200 relay, 3200, 1600 and 1600 relay.

Zach ran smart races and concentrated on the last 800 of the 3200 and pulled away for the win. 10:52 First mile was a 5:30 so it was a negative split race as well. Cade 10:56 and Tim 10:57 came through with a strong 2nd and
3rd place finish. They too were strong in the last 800 and stayed with Zach until the last 200. Matt always races strong and finished with 11:21

In the 1600 the lead pack was tight and was another strategy race. The pace was slow 1:13 for the first 400. After the the second lap CCHS took over the pace and pushed. Zach was relaxed and and BK fell off the lead pack with 600 left. Kyle ran another great race and is improving with a PR in just about every race. Zach took over with 400 left and got on pace. He began to push with Eureka and CCHS with him down the back stretch. At the 200 mark Zach did the PC and out kicked the 2 followers. Even with the slow first 800 he managed to run 4:52. BK finished 5:11 and Kyle 5:33 PR

On to the girls. Hanna ran great as always with this being her senior year she wants to do well so she is putting in some hard efforts. Her ran a 2:42 split in the 3200 relay but used this race as a warm up for the 3200 which she ran a 12:27 to win. The others Kaley, Jess and Ginny all ran strong races and finished 13:43, 14:04, 16:10 respectively.
During the 1600 the field was spread out behind CCHS and Hanna who ran 2nd until the last when she was passed by a shadow who she pulled through the wind for 4 laps. Hanna pulled 3rd running a 5:57. The others ran a strong race and are just starting to realize how important it is to work hard in practice. Nic 6:02, Kaley 6:12, Ally 6:31

Next is Tremont and some more training. State is only 39 days out for the girls and 47 days out for the boys.

True Victory is Victory Over Oneself

Friday, March 25, 2011

im back

Its been way to long blog land. I have been extremely busy, but training and racing have been right on so far this early in the year. I have lots to catch you up on not only in 2011 and 2010 as well. I won't go back to far into 2010 just to Ironman Cozumel.

2010 was supposed to be a year for racing a few smaller races but I found myself needing / wanting another Ironman. So in June I found that Ironman Cozumel still was open for entry. A destination race sounded awesome, especially since it was being held in November, a cold time here in Illinois, and it would be hot in Mexico. I had never been out of the country before so my passport was ordered and plans were made. I'll be posting a race report soon. I will say that it was a great experience.
Onto 2011...
This year my "A" race is Ironman Wisconsin. The race is being held on 9/11, the 10th anniversary of the day the world changed forever. I plan on putting everything on this race, as I do with all the ironman races, but I'm hoping this one will be different. I'll post my race goals so everyone one can see and I'm sure some will even remind me from time to time what they are.

So far this year I feel really strong in the pool . I have been spending 3 mornings a week in the water and I have been staying consistant with 10,000 to 15,000 yards a week. I have realized that I have only been swimming for 6 years and I still have a lot to learn. I will say that I'm getting faster.
Biking is what I'm really gonna have to concentrate on. Leg strength is a weakness and being aware of this will push me through of this early strength phase of training. Hills, hills, hills gotto love them.
I recently had the opportunity to hammer some miles in the hills of Nevada. I took a 6 day trip to a triathlon camp put on by the Boise Aeros, a tri group out of Idaho. I quickly found out that my Illinois legs needed some help up some of hills/mountains. I was humbled on the fast day of camp. Everyday started with a nice 5 mile run, uphill to Starbux. What a great way to start the day. After breakfast we would head back to the casino and get ready to ride.
A cool ride the first day, sleeves and long pants were definately needed. Since the weather in Illinois had been nasty in January and February I had only ridden outside 1 time before this trip.
Day 1 turned out to be a 60 mile day with close to 5000 feet of climbing. The following days were just as tough. Weather it was a 40 mile day or an 80 mile day I began to get more comforatble with the climbs.
Getting back to the flatlands of Illinois the weather has really put a hurtin on outside riding, unless I was to wear multiple layers.
Come on weather change for the better.
Race reports will be posted soon on Cozumel and St Pats 5k.