Hills

The group ride I was planning on today didn't happen. Carol planned lunch with her brother and who she is hoping is her future sister-in-law - I was not going to get out of it. The guys I was going to ride with were leaving too late for me to get back in time to make it to the lunch. I had already revised the schedule to fit the group ride in so I picked a route that I thought would be similar to the route that I would have taken with them.

Talk about hills - This was the best hill climbing workout that I have done this year. I need to get to the other side of the river to find better hills than what I did today. I rode the "normal" hill climbing route (190 into Stafford Springs and back on 140), but changed it up a bit. I rode up 190 to Gulf Road and turned up Gulf Road to Soapstone Mountain. The difference betweent this and the time I went up 140 and hit Gulf Road from the other side is that you have to climb a pretty big hill before you even get into Soapstone the way I went today. I rode most of the hills at tempo pace, but really hit Soapstone hard. I rode most of it at a high tempo pace and then stood and gave it everything I had for the last section of hill. When I got to the top I turned around and rode down to the scenic lookout, sat down and had a Gu. I don't stop very often, but it was a nice view and sometimes you just need to stop and smell the roses. I got going again in about five minutes and rode down the hill back to Route 190 and then continued the ride as normal until I came to Crystal Lake. The road was all chewed up as they are about to repave it (thankfully, it was getting treacherous) - I turned onto, or should I say up, South Street towards Tolland. The bottom section of the hill is steep then it rolls. I took a right onto Peter Green and continued on rolling terrain. I rode that whole section in the top chainring. I had to stand a few times to crest some hills, but it was a good workout.

Ride stats:
Total distance: 38 miles
Avg speed: 17 MPH
Total time: 1:20
Average HR: 137
Max HR: 172

Healing

Today is Saturday and my workout plan called for five all out one mile runs with 8 minutes rest in between. I did not feel confident doing that workout due to the recent groin injury so I ran five easy miles instead - stretched real good both before and after the run. The groin felt good; however, I felt soreness/tightness in the right glute. Normally I would chalk this type of feeling up as normal muscle soreness, but it was only the right side which is the same side as the groin injury so I wonder if its related. Regardless, I took it easy and will see how I feel tomorrow.

Thurday night I rode all out for the "normal route" which is about 19.2 miles. Finished the route in about 56:50. I refused to the shift out of the big chainring and stood on all of the hills. I was running out of gas near the end, but kept pushing as I was skipping the run to get one more day rest for the groin. Also, it was getting dark and I was racing the sun (I lost).

Planned to swim Friday but that was a bust - busy at work and worked right through lunch. Would have preferred to get a swim in, but that does not pay the bills.

I'm going to an Italian wedding today - I WILL NOT BE IN THE ZONE.

Week in review

After the Greenfield race I was extremely tired - almost falling asleep at the wheel tired. I blasted the a/c and occasionally rolled down the window to keep alert. I took a long nap when I got home.

I was battling a cold - it was very evident Monday morning when I woke up. It felt like someone pumped air into my head.

Skipped Monday's workout due to the cold and still trying to heal the groin.

Went mountain biking Tuesday - not feeling 100%, but actually a little better than Monday. BBQ after the bike ride was not in the zone (oops).

Wed - lifted - squats, box jumps and step-ups supersetted for time. Actually felt very good and had the most energy that I ever had for this type of workout. Biked 15 minutes and started to run 15 minutes but had to stop as my groin started to bother me again. I'm guessing the lifting aggravated the injury. Did not swim due to needing to spend time with daughter. Can't neglect the family.

Thur - swam 45 minutes. Warmed up with 1000 yards. Did two 100s on 2:00. Did three 100s all out with three minutes rest between each 100. warmed down with 200. Tried paddles - did not like them - will try again tomorrow. Ride planned for tonight.

Greenfield Race report

They had to cancel the swim for today's race due to high bacteria count. At first I minded as I was really plannning to push the swim to see what I can do; however, I found out the water temp was only 57 degrees. I'm o.k. with the swim having been cancelled.

They started the race with a sprint to the bikes. Due to my groin injury, I did not push that first run very hard and unfortunately had to let a few people by me that I really would have liked to keep behind me. There were no rules about what you could and could not wear on that short run, so I wore my helmet and riding glasses to keep the transition time down - all I had to do was put my bike shoes on.

I biked hard. This was the hardest I ever pushed in a triathlon and it felt good. There are two hills on the course - the first is right out of transition and is long and gradual. The second hill is short and steep. I stood on the hills and kept power to the pedals. I did a lot of passing on the hills and no one passed me after the hill. I believe my average speed on the bike was around 23 mph but will need to see the official splits to confirm that.

One of the reasons I biked so hard is I had no clue what I would be able to do on the run due to the groin. It felt better this morning, but still a little sore. I came off the bike and started running and it felt amazingly good. I could feel the groin, but it did not hurt enough to effect my running - at least I don't think it did. The other issue I thought I might have in the run was dead legs from pushing the bike so hard - the legs felt great! I'm looking forward to seeing the splits. I don't think it was a particularly fast run, but I think I may have beat last year's run time which I did not plan to do because of the groin and pushing the bike.

My overall placing was 25th vs. 51st last year. That suggests that I squashed last year's bike split. My overall time was 1:09. The following are last year's and this year's splits

2008 2009
Swim 10:09 N/A
Sprint to t1 N/A :53
T1 2:00 :43
Bike 43:41 41:20
T2 :51 :48
Run 26:45 25:23

The math has my bike average speed at around 21.72 mph; however, my computer had it closer to 23 mph. I would like to believe the bike computer. The running pace calculates to 8:11. It shouldn't be much longer before I'm running under 8's which is my goal for this summer. I'm not sure how far I can go with this, but I'm fairly certain I am still on the improvement curve.

Good news, good news, good news, bad news

Thurday I pulled my groin muscle on the right side. O.k., sounds like I'm starting with the bad news, but I'm really not. Yesterday it hurt pretty bad and I could not stand on my right leg to put my left sock on.

First set of good news - feels a little better today - still had to support myself putting sock on, but it did not hurt as much as yesterday.

Second set of good news - I am fairly sure that it will not affect my swimming.

Third set of good news - went for a bike ride this morning and although I could feel the soreness, it did not effect my riding at all. As a matter of fact, standing was quite comfortable. Ride today was one hour aerobic ride with five sets of three minutes standing and one minute sitting. Like I said standing was quite comfortable. Average speed was 18.4, total ride time 1:02, max HR 162 (I refused to shift to small chain ring on one hill), average HR 139.

Bad news - skipped run today to let groin recover. I am fairly certain that the pull will effect my running; however, I am still going to race Greenfield tomorrow (I already paid and I'm weird about that). I will take it easy on the run, but plan to push the swim and bike and hopefully destroy my splits from last year. If it hurts too much I will either walk or pull out - not worth aggavating the injury. I have bigger fish to fry this summer and into the fall.

All in all, it seems like a minor pull and will probably heal in a week. I learned a lesson about doing speed work in the morning (I usually do my speed work early evening). When done in the morning, additional warm-up and stretching is a must.

This one hurt

By far the hardest run workout so far. 4 x 800's with three minutes rest between sets, 100% effort. This is the first workout I have done with 800s. I find 400's and miles both to be easier than 800's. 1- 3:03; 2 - 3:03; 3 - 3:08; 4 - 3:11 max HR 171.

Quick post

Swim went well last night. Did about 40 minutes of the 45 minute workout - got kicked out of pool by an excersise class. Warmed up with a 500, did five 100s on 2:00, rested two minutes, did three more, rested two minutes, did 10 50's on 1:00 warmed down with a slow 100 (that's all I had time for).

Rode 90 minutes at aerobic pace this morning. 18.2 average. Legs felt a little fatigued but not bad.