Mills’ Place Indexing Life.

I Wonder if I Bleed Gatorade, too…Posted by Mills on January 15th, 2008

Is it wrong that my sweat smells like chlorine from the YMCA pool?

Kinda gives new meaning to being one with the water.

25% and a Year in NumbersPosted by Mills on January 2nd, 2008

2007 is over. December is gone. Week 9 is complete. And almost unbelievably, I’m already a quarter of the way through my 38 week Ironman training.

What a year.

December 12, 2006: My first recorded workout on my journey to becoming a triathlete. The log simply says, “Ran 5 miles in Slater Park in the morning. Went surprisingly well! The weather was perfect. By far, my longest run to date.” No time. No heart rate. I just ran… and then took 6 days off to recover while my body screamed at me for doing something so stupid.

December 29, 2007: Just another training day. 5.81 miles. 1h 01m 02s. Average HR 142, max 156. The workout? “Easy run, zone 1″. In my notes, I ridicule the distance with single quotes for emphasis. “Awesome run. Much better than last week’s ‘long’ run. Stayed in Z1 and had good control over my pace.” This was after a 4+ mile run the day before, and followed by another 6 miles and a hard bike ride over the next few days.

In a year, I’ve come further than I could’ve imagined when I started this whole thing. And going into 2008, I’m both very fortunate and very excited that I have the opportunity to keep making progress. It’s shaping up to be a big year, and I’m more ready for the challenge than I’ve ever been.

2007 Monthly Training Volume (in minutes)

In the USA Triathlon rankings, I did pretty well considering my noobish nature, ranking squarely in the middle of my age group, both nationally and regionally.

2007 Age Group Standings (Male 25-29)

• National: 1766 / 3660 = 48%
• Regional: 211 / 412 = 51%

2007 Race Results

2008 Planned Races

Goals for Next Year

‘A’ Goals
1. Finish Ironman Lake Placid.
2. Purchase our first house.

‘B’ Goals
1. Finish IMLP in under 14 hours.
2. Place in my age group at the Triathlon by the Sea.
3. Run the New Bedford Half Marathon in relative comfort and without injury.

‘C’ Goals
1. Under 5:30 at Mooseman Half.
2. Under 1:00 at Triathlon by the Sea.
3. Under 1:45 at New Bedford Half Marathon.

‘Dream’ Goal
1. Finish IMLP in under 12 hours.

With all that said… my training pretty much kicked ass in December.

I ran 73.8 miles. Which for some people, isn’t a lot. But for me, that’s huge. My previous biggest month was February of last year, with 47.36 miles. I just about tied that in November with 47.22. But I absolutely killed it with the huge spike last month. And I still feel great! Coach Jorge has emphasized frequency and consistency over distance, and it’s working well for me. Especially over the last couple weeks. I’ve seen my HR steadily decline for efforts at the same pace. Which is a telltale sign of improvement.

With the weather, my bike rides have been limited to the trainer in front of the television, so it’s more difficult to measure improvement. But holding hard efforts for longer durations is getting a little easier each week. I feel like I’m going to hit the roads stronger than ever come Spring.

And my swimming was rocketed into the next level last month when I started feeling the water a little better and dropped 15 seconds off my 100 yard pace. In January, the pool workouts start getting a little longer and I feel completely ready for it.

Coach Jorge emphasises that consistent training is the key to success. Through December I tried to keep that in mind, with only a single day off all month. I’m entering the new year highly motivated, but with the understanding that the big day is still seven months away. Patience is very important. For now, my focus is on getting my training in today and trying to have a solid week without missed workouts.

Week 9 Totals
Swim: 44m / 2400 yards
Bike: 1h 48m
Run: 2h 50m / 17.6 miles

December Totals
Swim: 5h 49m / 16,550 yards
Bike: 8h 44m
Run: 12h 08m / 73.8 miles