The Training Log: November 16-20

Monday
The training plan begins this week so I'm spending tonight grocery shopping, cooking, and preparing my equipment for the lactate threshold / FTP test tomorrow.

Morning HR: 52 bpm
Afternoon HR:  bpm
Soreness: 10
Stress: 10
Fatigue: 10
Mood: 10
Hydration: 8
Sleep: 7 hours 40 minutes

Breakfast: Mandarin orange, 10g pecans, 10g almonds
Lunch: 1/2 bag soylent, vitamin D pill
Snack: Mandarin orange
Dinner: 3x chicken tenders, sriracha, whole cauliflower head
Dessert: Small amount of root beer sorbet (coconut milk based)


Tuesday
Woke up really tired, but felt fine within 5 minutes. 

Test Ride: 444 kJ, 238 LH
FTP test today! However the ERG mode wasn't working properly due to power drops, not sure about results. Will have to test again, perhaps early next week.

Morning HR: 49 bpm
Afternoon HR: 52 bpm
Soreness: 10
Stress: 7
Fatigue: 7
Mood: 9
Hydration: 8
Sleep: 8 hours

Breakfast: Banana, whole wheat English muffin w/ peanut butter, vitamin D pill
Snack: 10g pecans, 10g almonds
Lunch: 1/2 bag soylent
Snack: 170g 4% Greek yogurt, 10g honey
Dinner: Tilapia, avocado, sweet potato, raw spinach


Wednesday
Bike: First workout of the training plan with FTP set by the BSX insight. Power meter & ERG issue sorted (finally). The workout felt good, not hard by any stretch of the imagination, but also not a breeze.


Morning HR: 54 bpm
Afternoon HR: 53 bpm
Soreness: 8
Stress: 7
Fatigue: 7
Mood: 9
Hydration: 8
Sleep: 7 hours 30 minutes

Breakfast: Banana, 165g 4% Greek yogurt, 10g honey, English muffin w/ peanut butter
Snack: 10g pecans, 10g almonds
Lunch: 1/2 bag soylent
Snack: English muffin w/ Peanut butter
Dinner: Chicken, sriracha, carrots, rice


Thursday
Run: First run in 5 1/2 weeks, finally pain free from plantar fasciitis. HR/pace was abysmal, but that is to be expected after such a long haitus.
Lift: Leg lift felt good. Still weak, but getting better. 1x 10, 8, 6 reps single leg dead lift with 20lbs dumbells, 1x5 reps each leg lunges. Stretching.

Morning HR: 57 bpm
Afternoon HR: 57 bpm
Soreness: 7
Stress: 9
Fatigue: 8
Mood: 9
Hydration: 9
Sleep: 7 hours 40 minutes

Breakfast: 131g 4% Greek yogurt, 10g honey, English muffin w/ peanut butter
Lunch: 1/2 bag soylent
Snack: English muffin w/ peanut butter, 25g almonds, 25g pecans
Snack #2: Chocolate milk
Dinner: Chicken, sriracha, rice


Thursday


Morning HR: 57 bpm
Afternoon HR: 57 bpm
Soreness: 7
Stress: 9
Fatigue: 8
Mood: 9
Hydration: 9
Sleep: 7 hours 40 minutes

Breakfast: 131g 4% Greek yogurt, 10g honey, English muffin w/ peanut butter
Lunch: 1/2 bag soylent
Snack: English muffin w/ peanut butter, 25g almonds, 25g pecans
Snack #2: Chocolate milk

Dinner: Chicken, sriracha, rice

Friday

Morning HR: 57 bpm

Afternoon HR: 57 bpm

Soreness: 7

Stress: 9

Fatigue: 8

Mood: 9

Hydration: 9

Sleep: 7 hours 40 minutes

Breakfast: Whole wheat English muffin w/ peanut butter

Snack: 151g 4% Greek yogurt, 10g honey

Lunch: 1/2 bag soylent

Snack: English muffin w/ peanut butter, 25g almonds, 25g pecans

Snack #2: Chocolate milk

Dinner: Chicken, sriracha, 

The Training Log, November 9-15

Week 2 of preparation. The girlfriend is in town and I'll be flying to Chicago for the weekend, but I should still be able to get some quality prep work in leading up to the start of formal training next week.

Monday
Rest day. Went out to dinner for the girlfriend's birthday. Stretched for a few minutes before work.

Morning HR: 55 bpm
Afternoon HR: 54 bpm
Soreness: 8
Stress: 10
Fatigue: 10
Mood: 10
Hydration: 7
Sleep: 9 hours 10 minutes

Breakfast: Banana, 150g 2% Greek yogurt, 10g honey
Snack: 10g almonds, 10g pecans, 2 mandarin oranges
Lunch: 1/2 bag soylent, vitamin D pill
Snack: Raw spinach
Dinner: Dinner at Alden & Harlow - small plates, too much to record. Let's call it a somewhat healthy cheat meal.
Dessert: Vegan cupcake

Tuesday

I finally have my new phone! It's a Galaxy S5 which should be useful for this blog as it has Ant+, an activity tracker, and a heart rate monitor. I've been taking my morning HR sitting down at work, but for fun I used it sitting at my desk shortly after waking up... and it was 44 bpm. The variation is making me realize how valuable the 24/7 hr monitor will be. Got in an awesome 2.5 hour bike in with 30 minutes of lower body lifting and stretching - my body is going to feel that tomorrow. Couldn't find my heart rate monitor before the ride, though.

Morning HR: 48 bpm

Afternoon HR: 55 bpm

Soreness: 8

Stress: 9

Mood: 8

Fatigue: 10

Hydration: 5

Sleep: 8 hours 10 minutes

Ride: 2.5 hours, 135 NP, 1195 kJ

Breakfast: Mandarin orange, 142g 2% Greek yogurt, 10g honey, 10g pecans, 10g almonds, vitamin D pill

Lunch: 1/4 bag soylent

Snack: 1/4 bag soylent, mandarin orange

Dinner: Broccoli, Pasta bolognese, raw spinach, steamed asparagus, coconut chocolate milk

Wednesday

Easy day, shaking out the legs and logging miles. I'm really feeling the squats & lunges from yesterday. My heart rate/wattage is down, and I think that this is a sign of some of my fitness returning (because the HRV metric I'm using on my phone indicates that my stress levels are low... I really need to get back in the habit of using my ithlete finger cuff to meaure it).

Morning HR: 52 bpm

Afternoon HR: 55 bpm

Soreness: 4

Stress: 9

Mood: 8

Fatigue: 8

Hydration: 5

Sleep: 8 hours 15 minutes

Ride: 30 minutes, 132 NP, 236 kJ, 106 BPM

Breakfast: Banana w/ peanut butter, mandarin orange

Snack: 160g 2% Greek yogurt, 10g honey, 10g almonds, 10g pecans, vitamin D pill

Lunch: 1/4 bag soylent

Snack: Fuel for fire, 1/2 apple

Dinner: Pork & shrimp dumplings, sushi

Dessert: Vegan cupcake, root beer sorbet (coconut base)

Thursday

As I'll be away this weekend I'm going to get in some volume tonight. I also did a 30 minute easy swim before work; man does swimming suck when you haven't done it for a while. Still really feeling Tuesday

Morning HR: 52 bpm

Afternoon HR: 55 bpm

Soreness: 5

Stress: 9

Mood: 9

Fatigue: 8

Hydration: 6

Sleep: 7 hours 10 minutes

Ride: 2.75 hours, 112 bpm, don't trust wattage numbers

Breakfast: 191g 2% Greek Yogurt, 10g honey, mandarin orange, 10g almonds, 10g pecans, vitamin D pill,

Snack: 

Lunch: 1/4 bag soylent

Snack: Fuel for fire

Dinner: Raw spinach, 1/3 bag soylent

Friday, Saturday & Sunday

The last off days before the organized training begins. I went to my gf's alma mater to meet her college friends and go to a football game.

The Training Log, November 2-8: An Inauspicious Start

Annnnnnd it's gone! As you can see below, my phone died. Really badly. Which makes it impossible to get my HRV readings, and more of a hassle to record my subjective metrics. Not the greatest way to kick off my off season training given that I'm writing a blog detailing all of these data points, but shit happens. My new phone should be here next Monday.

Monday
My triathlon team, Zoom Multisport, had a town hall meeting so this was planned as an off day. Additionally it was a friend and teammates birthday which means going out for a beer to celebrate. My body felt the workout I did yesterday more than I would have expected, but was still only lightly sore.

Morning HR: 52 bpm
Afternoon HR: 53 bpm
Soreness: 7
Stress: 9
Fatigue: 9
Mood: 9
Hydration: 3
Sleep: 8 hours 45 minutes

Breakfast: Oatmeal, whole grain English muffin w/ peanut butter, vitamin d pill
Lunch: 1/2 bag soylent, madeleine
Dinner: 1/2 bag soylent, 1 beer


Tuesday
I was planning on getting a 2 hour trainer ride in on my new Tacx Vortex smart trainer, but getting it built up and paired with Trainer Road was more difficult than expected. I ended up only being able to do a 1 hour ride and did 2x10 single leg dead lifts w/ 10 lbs dumbbells to top it off. The ride didn't feel hard at all, but my heart rate was crazy high for the wattage and perceived effort even though I'm fully . Also, I haven't lifted more than a handful of times since last winter, so I'm taking it really slowly. Feeble, but this is where I am right now.

Morning HR: 50 bpm
Afternoon HR: 48 bpm
Soreness: 9
Stress: 9
Fatigue: 9
Mood: 9
Sleep: 7 hours 15 minutes

Ride: 1 hour, 161 NP, 569 kJ, 148 bpm average

Breakfast: 4.5 oz Greek yogurt, 0.5 oz honey, 0.3 oz pecans,
Snack: Madeleine, granny smith apple, banana, 2 hard boiled eggs
Lunch: Teriyaki salmon, sesame chicken, green beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, mozzarella, rasberry honest tea
Snack: 2 tbsp peanut butter
Dinner: 1/2 chicken breast, sriracha, green beans, raw spinach, pasta w/ vodka sauce


Wednesday
I woke up feeling a lot better than I expected. My heart rate wasn't jacked, up, and my legs were barely sore. I did succeed in getting my planned 2 hour ride in, but it was once again fairly terrible from a wattage/heart rate perspective. The upside is that I'm really happy to be spending time in the saddle again, even if it is on the trainer. I have to say that I'm really pleased with my investment in the Tacx Vortex, the thing works phenomenally well, and using it in ERG mode with TrainerRoad helps the time go by faster. I followed up the ride with 1x8 each leg lunges w/ 20 lbs dumb bells and lots of stretching.

Morning HR: 52 bpm
Afternoon HR: 58 bpm
Soreness: 8
Stress: 9
Mood: 9
Fatigue: 8
Sleep: 7 hours 45 minutes

Ride: 2 hours, 129 NP, 910 kJ, 123 bpm average

Breakfast: 150oz Greek yogurt, 10oz honey
Snack: Whole grain English muffin w/ peanut butter, vitamin D pill
Lunch: Mediterranean salad with beef & chicken shawarma, pita bread
Snack: Chocolate milk
Dinner: 1/2 chicken breast, sriracha, raw spinach, Pasta w/ vodka sauce
Snack: Chocolate milk #2


Thursday
I woke up feeling yesterday's workout, which was the plan because my girlfriend is flying in today and I won't be getting a workout in.


Morning HR: 56 bpm
Afternoon HR: 50 bpm
Soreness: 6
Stress: 9
Mood: 10
Fatigue: 8
Sleep: 7 hours 40 minutes

Breakfast: 15g almonds, 15g pecans, 2 scrambled eggs, 2 slices toast w/ butter, 3 pieces bacon
Snack: 5g almonds, 5g pecans
Lunch: 1/4 bag soylent
Dinner: Orzo with mushrooms, scallions, lemon & parsley. Mixed green salad. Portobello cap stuffed with vegan ricotta. Coconut milk zebra (vanilla & chocolate) milkshake
Dessert: Vegan citrus coconut cake


Friday
With the gf in town I only planned on getting in small lift and stretch. If I feel good tomorrow I'll feel confident about doing a real leg day. Tonight we went out to celebrate the girlfriend's birthday (which is on Monday) so I had a couple beers to celebrate. My goodness I'm drinking an abnormally large amount this week...

Morning HR: 54 bpm
Afternoon HR: 54 bpm
Soreness: 8
Stress: 10
Mood: 10
Fatigue: 9
Sleep: 8 hours 10 minutes

Lift: 20 minute warmup on stationary bike, 1x 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 squats w/ 25 lbs plate, ass to grass, stretching.

Breakfast: Piece of cinnamon swirl toast with butter, tiny glass of orange juice, Chobani blueberry Greek yogurt
Lunch: Smoked salmon sandwich with cream cheese, pickled cabbage, & onion on a sea salt bagel
Snack: 1/4 bag soylent
Dinner: Pad thai, raw spinach
Bar: 2 pints of Guinness

Saturday
I was able to get in a great ride with a couple friends on an abnormally warm November day (62 degrees in November...wtf!?). I think that my heart rate was elevated because of last night's beers. Tonight is my triathlon teams end of year party, so there are more beers in my near future.

Morning HR: 58
Afternoon HR: 
Soreness: 7
Stress: 10
Mood: 10
Fatigue: 7

Sleep: 7 hours 10 minutes. Woke up in the middle of the night.
Ride: 2 hours 42 minutes, 43.8 miles, 217 NP, 1679 kJ, 143 bpm average

Breakfast: 1/4 bag soylent
Snack: Sweet potato Fuel for Fire
Lunch: Chicken pad thai
Dinner: Steamed asparagus, 1/2 rotisserie chicken, rice, sriracha
Zoom event: various hors d'oeuvres, 2 beers 


Saturday
Today I got in an awesome easy paced ride with a couple of the strongest cyclists I know. My heart rate is still getting super high very, very quickly, but it's getting better. I can easily hold a conversation with my heart rate in the 150-165 range, which is bizarre. That'll come down in due time. Tonight is the end of year party for my tri team, so I'll be up a bit late and drink a few beers.

Morning HR: 52
Afternoon HR: 48
Soreness: 8
Stress: 10
Mood: 10
Fatigue: 10

Sleep: 9 hours 30 minutes
Ride: 2 hours 42 minutes, 43.8 miles, 217 NP, 1679 kJ, 143 bpm average

Late Breakfast: 2 pumpkin pancakes w/ maple syrup, banana, blackerries
Snack: Popcorn lightly salted w/ butter, mandarin orange
Lunch: Chicken pad thai
Dinner: Steamed asparagus, 1/2 rotisserie chicken, rice, sriracha
Zoom event: various hors d'oeuvres, 2 beers 

Explaining the Metrics

One thing you should know is that I'm a gigantic nerd. Therefore, the majority of this blog will be focused on data. Below is a list of the various metrics I'll use, and what I'm hoping to get out of them.

Heart Rate Variability (HRV): The variability of the timing between heartbeats. I'll use it as an indicator of stress on the body, and ultimately how hard I'm ready to go on any given day. More info here.

AM/PM Heart Rate: My heart rate in the morning or evening, taken while sitting down and relaxed. I'll use this to bolster/validate HRV data, and draw correlations between training loads and aerobic fatigue.

Soreness: My soreness on a 1-10 scale. 1 - 'oh my god I can't walk', 3 - 'this hurts a lot', 5 - 'Yesterday was a killer workout', 7 - 'I'm somewhat sore', 10 - 'It's race day'. I'll use this to see what areas I have to work on the most. This will be used to determine what my body is ready for in various stages of my training.

Stress: Because I don't feel like airing my dirty laundry on the blog, I'll indicate stress outside of workouts here. This could pertain to work, social life, etc. Also on a 1-10 scale, with 1 being the worst, 10 being the best. I'm a very low stress person, so this will regularly be in the 8-10 range. This will be used to look for correlations between training/racing ability and non training factors.

Mood: What kind of mood am I in on a 1-10 scale, 1 being horrible, 10 being absurdly chipper. This may end up being redundant as it will probably correlate with stress, but we'll find out. If it is I'll stop recording it. This will be used to look for correlations between training/racing ability and non training factors.

Hydration: How hydrated I am when I wake up aka how yellow my pee is. 1 being 'how am I still alive' yellow, 10 being 'how did I not piss the bed last night' clear.

Fatigue: How tired I feel when I wake up on a 1-10 scale. Again, 1 is horribly exhausted, 10 is phenomenally refreshed. I'll use this to figure out the optimal amount of sleep for a given work load.

Sleep: Amount of time spent asleep the prior night.

Functional Threshold Power (FTP): The maximum power output that can be sustained for an hour. All cycling workouts will be constructed based on this figure, and it will be tested monthly using the BSX Insight, a lactate analyzer. This will be used to determine how hard I push during my cycling workouts. More info here.

TSS/rTSS: How difficult a cycling or run workout is, determined using HR and power. More info here.

Normalized Power (NP): The steady wattage output that equals the variable wattage done in a training ride. For example, 5x5 @ 290w with 2 minutes rest in between might feel like doing 265w for 35 minutes. More info here.

Intensity Factor (IF): How the NP of a workout relates to FTP. More info here.

Self Assessment and Goals

I'll post at least monthly with an assessment of where I am physically, what my goals are for the next month or so, and whether or not I accomplishing previously set goals. I'll use these short term goals to keep myself focused on improving all of the little things required to make my big picture goal a reality.

Self Assessment
This past season was great. I was consistently at the front of the swim, able to hold 23-24 mph on the bike, and hold ~6 minute miles for the run on sprint distance courses. While the run speed wasn't an improvement over the previous year, I was only able to run 10 miles/week due to plantar fasciitis. I did only one FTP test last year towards the beginning of the season, and it was 285. Strava estimated it at 275 but having never done a 1 hour effort the 285 figure seems right.

I've just ended about 5 weeks of R&R, so I'm out of shape in all three disciplines. When my BSX Insight arrives I'll provide an update with my lactate threshold (LT) and functional threshold power (FTP).

Weight: 175
Body fat: 9.75%

Goals
My goals will be specific in terms of gains in FTP and LT as well as number of pullups and squat strength, but I'm giving myself two weeks of somewhat unstructured work to prepare myself for the upcoming workload.

Long term specific goals:

• Swim sub 1:46 200 free at the Sun Multisport Tri expo
• Swim ~18 minutes in Olympic distance races
• Bike 25-26 mph bike on sprint courses
• Bike 24-25 mph on Olympic courses
• 330 watt FTP
• Run Sub 17 5k
• Run 5:40's on sprint courses
• Run sub 6 on Olympic courses
• Weigh 170 or less
• 7% body fat or less

Down the rabbit hole

I made a bet with a friend in college that I would never run further than a mile after graduation. I was convinced it would never happen. 

Obviously I lost that bet... as I'm now creating a blog focused on my triathlon training. I paid that friend in beer and thank the powers that be that the stakes weren't higher.

It may seem like a lot of work, but I started slow...

As a swimmer growing up, I wasn't a naturally talented athlete. However, I've always tried absurdly hard and I've learned that the effort can and does pay off. 

I was lucky to receive the guidance of a coach in high school. Under his tutelage I went from a middle-of-the-pack swimmer to a state champion and state record holding, All American swimmer in high school. I was privileged enough to continue my swimming career as a D1 athlete in college.

Of course when I graduated, I stepped away from swimming and focused my attention on work, friends, and "normal" pursuits like skydiving. Then, I got the itch to start competing again... and here we are, three years later.

I've started asking myself "how fast could I be if I truly dedicated myself to the training... within the constraints of a normal life." Normal as in a 9-5 job, girlfriend, and social life.

This blog will serve as the detailed record of every metric I'm capable of getting my hands on to document my training. I'll use the data to draw correlations between my training and whatever success or failures I have. While a study with sample size 1 isn't optimal, it should be an interesting journey. I know that some of this will not be valuable to you, but hopefully something that works for me will help you get faster too.