Pheidippides’s BodyBlog

Light easy workout today.  About half an hour at the weights, concentrating on upper body, and 31 minutes on the stationary bike.

Weight lifting consisted of a few sets of barbell bench press, pullups, overhead press, concentration curls, dumbbell overhead triceps extension, lat pull machine.  No PRs this time, but I’m going to go for another bench press PR soon.  Should have done some ab exercises but forgot.

Bike: 31 minutes, 11.2 miles.  20 plus minutes sustained 167 watts with ave HR around 135.  Mild aerobic level throughout.  I need to do a longer, easy bike workout sometime this week.

Tomorrow, a swim workout, with longer yardage — 2800 to 3000 yards. May do 10×100 intervals again to see if I can sustain them under 1:35 pace.

On Saturday morning I went on the first (real, as opposed to stationary) bike ride of my training.  About 28 miles, with 25 of it timed on the bike trail.

The purpose was to get a rough measure of my fitness level over roughly the same distance as the bike leg of my triathlon.  I hope to complete that leg of just under 25 miles in something under 75 minutes — that’s around 20 mph.  So I decided I would try to hold a pace of 18 mph.

The temperature was a little under 50 degrees — fine for running but a little cold for cycling.  I wore a long sleeve top but shorts rather than long tights or pants.  Gray, cold, and damp — a typical Sacramennto Valley January day.  The cold didn’t bother me as much as I expected, although my fingers and toes were a little stuff at the end.

After about a mile plus warmup getting to the 12 mile marker on the bike trail, and I started at an 18 mph pace.  I was able to hold it fairly steadily throughout.  There are only two stop signs on the bike trail between that marker and Discovery Park (mile zero), so it allowed for a steady pace.  I completed the first 12 miles to Discovery Park in about 40:20.

On the way back I picked up the pace just a bit.  The ride throughout was not too taxing aerobically.  I don’t have as good a feel for my pace riding as for running, but I would describe it as between an endurance pace and a threshold pace — analogous to a brisk but well below threshold training run.  The limiting factors were not my heart but my quads, which burned after a while, my back, which ached a bit, and most of all my butt, which was in excruciating pain after 20 miles.  Obviously I have some sort of adjustments to make either in the set up of my bike, in my choice of seat, or in the way I am riding.  It was definitely driving me crazy by the end.

Even so, I finished the 25 mile segment in 1:22:42, a pace of around 18:15 mph or  3:18 min/mile.  Given it was my first ride and I was not trying to race, I was pretty content with that.  In last year’s race that time would have been good for 189th out of 292.  I feel pretty good about achieving my goal time of 1:15 or less in race conditions five months from now with 1:22:42 as an endurance-plus pace at this point.

Worked out at the gym yesterday, laying off the legs (my glutes and hamstrings still ached) and emphasizing chest and back with multiple sets of bench press and bent over barbell rows, respectively.  I feel some muscles growing but the tape measure doesn’t show much change yet.  Still, I think I can reach the weight lifting goals by the end of February.

I achieved another one of my short-term lifting goals, about two months early, reaching 281 for the 1-rep equivalent in the squat (195 pounds x 12 reps).  Two goals down, three (barbell biceps curl, barbell bench press, and barbell overhead press) still to go.  I’m close enough on al three that I’m pretty confident of achieving all three by February 28, provided I continue lifting intelligently.

Also got weight down to 174 yesterday morning.  I’m eager to see what the scale will say tomorrow morning if I can continue to be good today.  It will be a challenge, because we’re going to an Indian restaurant tonight, and Indian food is very caloric and also, for me, just about irresistable.

Short workout last night, with some weight lifting (tried but just missed reaching goal in biceps curl) and then brief segment on bike.  About 12 minutes on bike, with five minutes at 230 watts, HR = 156.  The pace felt a bit over lactate threshold, so I need to build cycling strength to be able to maintain that level for an hour.  Based upon calculators I’ve seen, 225 watts is about right to achieve the time I want in the cycling segment of the triathlon (but I could be way off on that).

Mid-day 2550.  I tacked on 50 yards just so I could tell myself I swam farther than the last time.

With the exception of just a couple of speed intervals, I swam mostly at a steady pace — probably what would be considered an endurance pace or slightly faster.

Covered the first 66 lengths (1650 yards, or 1.5K, the distance for my triathlon swim leg) in 28:15, which I was pleased with considering I was not swimming as fast as I could and had one or two short breaks before and after a couple of short intervals.  In particular, the first 20 laps I swam for form, not speed, but I felt stronger than before and swam a little faster than I meant to.

I covered the first mile (71 lengths) in about 31:30.  I swam the full 2550 in about 46 minutes.

I’m finding it easier and more normal to swim on alternating sides, although I still have a tendency when I get tired to favor the right side when I breathe.  I did more flip turns this time, but still often reverted to grabbing the side of the pool when I got more tired.

I love the pumped feeling in the upper body (a little bit like weight lifting but not as intense), together with the fatigue, that a good swim provides.

Altogether a pretty good swim, showing some improvement.  If I can swim 1650 yards in 28:15 now, with some stopping and without swimming too hard, it bodes well for beating 25 minutes in the race five months from now.  At some point I’ll need to incorporate 400 yard intervals and try to maintain race pace over that distance (400 yards in 6:15).

On another positive note, I weighed 174.8 this morning, which is 2.8 pounds more than when I started in November but 3 pounds less than a week ago, so at least some of the holiday bloat appears to be temporary. I’m going to try to eat very carefully and continue shedding some fat.

Went to gym this evening after dinner.  Decent upper body workout plus 31 minutes on bike.

Barbell bench press 140×9,140×6,140×7

Bentover barbell row 135×9, 135×6

Overhead press 90×6

Barbell biceps curl 90 x6

Decline crunches 20

Dumbbell standing triceps extension 30×12

Concentration curls 35×10

Dumbbell triceps kickback 35×12

Incline dumbbell flies 40×10

31 minutes stationary bike — 10 minutes @level 9/149 watts 20 minutes@level 10/167 watts ave HR = 135

Fairly long workout in the gym today.

6 minute warmup on elliptical, 100 calories burned.

Up to the weight room: mostly moderate weight levels, except barbell biceps curl, on which I was able to achieve 10 reps at 80 pounds for first time, reaching new high 1-rep equivalent of 107, only 5 pounds short of my goal for the end of February.  That’s now looking very attainable.

Sets consisted of squat (135×10, 195×5, 185×10), barbell biceps curl(40×6, 80×10, 70×6, 70×6), dumbbell bench press45×8, 60×6), leg curls 130×5,110×8), leg extensions (120×15), decline crunches with 15 lb pound (20), good mornings (60×20),  french curl (80×8), and bentover barbell row (90 x21).

Then an hour of cardio:

30 minute stationary bike.  20 minutes @165 watts +/135 HR at 165 watts.  334 calories burned.

Immediately went to elliptical.  22 minutes, mostly at level 12-14.  At level 13 I was at about 248 watts, 140 HR.  Burned 414 calories.

Then got on treadmill. 10 minutes.  Mostly easy, but one 3 minute interval at about 6:53 min/mile pace.  It felt pretty challenging, like a pace I could not have sustained over a 5K.  I didn’t want to go longer than that because of my Achilles tendon.

A good workout overall.  It was a strong basic aerobic workout, and I got very close to one of my weight lifting goals.

Light-moderate workout.  Lungs still feel a bit fatigued from swim intervals yesterday.

6 min warmup on elliptical - 100 calories.

Squat 155 x 12

Barbell biceps curl warmup 50 x 8

Overhead barbell press 40 x 8, 90 x 10 — Reached new 1-rep equivalent high of 120 pounds.
bentover barbell row 110 x 15, 110 x 9

DB Bench Press 55 x 7

DB concentration curl 40 x 5, 35 x 9

BB standing triceps ext 70 x 12

Dips (very slow and straight to emphasize triceps) 6 (fatigued from earlier exercise)

Stationary bike 28 minutes @ level 9-149 watts with short periods higher than that.  Calories 294  Sust HR 128-131.  HR actually went down toward the end as I sustained same level, which I guess is good sign.

My heart is tired from yesterday so I’m glad I didn’t work out longer.

Weather is very windy and rainy today.  It is snowing in the mountains so skiiing with my daughter tomorrow is probably not such a good idea.  Ice skating with the kids may be a better bet. Or maybe the train exhibit.

Took a break from work to go swimming.

500 yard warmup, steady freestyle, no stopping, concentrating on form.  Took around 8:40.
Rest of about 1 minute until main set.

Main set: 10 x 100 yards at 2 minute intervals, trying initially to hold pace at about 1:30 per 100 yards and then give myself a 30 second rest.   Did first  interval in about 1:27 but after that slowed down to 1:32 and from that point on  completed each interval in around 1:35 to 1:39. Managed 1:32 with the 10th and last one.

After main set and rest of about 1:30, swam 500 yards fairly easy.  Form was getting sloppy.  It started raining.

Entire workout of 2000 yards took about 45 minutes.

The intervals should give me a fitness benchmark I can use in setting paces for additional workouts.  Rather than concentrate a lot on speed or lactate threshold at this point I think I should concentrate for a couple of weeks on getting adequate distance in my workouts — getting up to 3000 plus yards and swimming for close to an hour.  I can tell from my performance that the endurance boost from long, steady-paced workouts will result in faster times.

According to the scale — never entirely trustworthy — I weighed 177.8 this morning.  That’s a gain of over five pounds from where I started six or seven weeks ago.  My bodyfat percentage has ticked up a bit, too, from 21, more or less, to 22.1, more or less.  According to my calculations, based on those numbers I’ve gained about two pounds of muscle and about three pounds of fat.  Because of my poor diet — in particular, getting out of control during holiday social events and meals — I’ve been unintentionally bulking, with good and bad results.  The good is gaining muscle and strength.  The bad is I’m fatter than before, and I feel it.

The weight gain is somewhat discouraging because, with the exception of mostly weekend holiday meals, I don’t feel like I’m eating that excessively.  On a day to day basis my food selection is decent, I keep junk to a minimum, and I am generally mindful of what I eat.  But I obviously am eating too much.  Some likely problem areas: (1) too many bowls of cereal at breakfast — I need to keep it to just one; (2) excessive snacking — I have to avoid raiding the refrigerator when I am home; (3) excessive eating at holiday and family meals; (4) eating too much at night before bed time.

I’m absolutely determined at this point to start losing weight.  To maximize my performance in the triathlon I have to get my weight to a more reasonable level.  Plus, there’s no way I’ll ever see muscular definition without losing at least ten pounds.  So, the diet started yesterday, and I need to renew it every single day, with minimal deviations from the plan.  I need to put together a food log and start using it diligently.

Today I plan to swim during lunch break.  I’m thinking about doing a set of 100s, trying for 1:30 with a 30 second rest.  Not sure if I can sustain 1:30, but I know I can sustain a sub 2 minute pace for the 100 so going out every two minutes should work.   In addition to that I need to work on stroke technique and breathing.

Started the year with a pretty good workout this morning at 5:30 a.m. at the gym.

New highs at the following:

Barbell squat:  190 lbs x 12 reps =  274 lbs 1 rep equiv.  Only 7 pounds to reach Feb. 28 goal.
Bent over barbell row:  125 lbs x 12 reps = 181 lbs 1 rep equiv. Feb. 28 goal achieved.  I’m not sure if I’ll set a new goal but I’ll continue slowly to try to improve at this to build back muscles and biceps.
Barbell bench press:  140 x 11 reps = 194 lbs 1 rep equiv. 15 lbs to go to reach Feb. 28 goal.  I can tell this one will be a little harder to achieve than the others.
By the time I completed these my shoulders and biceps were tired enough that trying to reach a new high on the biceps curl and overhead shoulder press wasn’t possible.  I did those exercises anyway but results weren’t so good.
After lifting I headed down to the stationary bike, spent 36 minutes.  Warmup 7 minutes at 149-167 watts. Then 20 minutes at level 12-204 watts; sustained HR around 153.  Last 9 minutes around level 10 — 167 watts.  Total 440 calories burned; 12.94 miles traveled over 36 minutes.  I don’t know how that translates to actual road racing, but that is faster than I need to go to go 25 miles in 75 minutes during triathlon.  The 20 minute interval was mildly challenging and a little below lactate threshold.  I can probably kick that up to the next level shortly.  Legs were tired at end of workout.

More out of control eating and drinking yesterday.  Today is the day the diet starts.  I’ve given myself a bit of a handicap to try to reach 165 pounds by spring  by adding a few pounds over just the last three weeks, but I’m going to do it.