Today, today was a great day. The recreation department does an indoor triathlon every year where i work. I had always wanted to try it, but for whatever reason over the years didnt. I thought this would be a good test in my training to check in on how i was doing against other participants, to see if i was even in the game or way off in trying to make this a thing.
Leading up to this week i changed my work outs a little to gear them towards the times for each of the triathlon elements.
This triathlon was set out a little different in that you have 10 minutes to swim as many lengths as you can, 20 minutes to bike as far as you can, and 15 minutes to run as many laps of the track as you can. There are point values assigned to each for the distances you achieve and the person with the most wins.
So my training this week, while still keeping with the heart rate training that i started last week, went like this:
Monday: Aerobic Zone Training 
Swim
5 sets of 250m with 100m hard kicking; 100m arms, 50m sprint
2x10min swims 450m and 500m
Tuesday off
Wednesday: Aerobic Zone Training
Bike 30 min + Run 40min
Thursday: Maximal Zone Training
5 sets of 250m with 100m hard kicking; 100m arms, 50m sprint
2x10min swims 500m and 550m
Bike 30min
Friday: Maximal Zone Training
3 sets of 250m with 100m hard kicking; 100m arms, 50m sprint
3x10min swims 450m, 500m, 500m
Saturday: off
Sunday: Indoor Triathlon Day
10 min Swim: 21.5 lengths - 530m
20 min Bike: 7.17 miles
15 min Run: 10.5 laps ( I didnt get the official count but this is my count)
So overall, i did great on my swim, i think one of the top in my heat, i did have to control my heart rate though, I took off like a shot and was really breathing hard by the 100m mark so i slowed down and got into a much better pace. After that i settled in and was pretty happy with my length count.
We had a 10 minute transition time, so i wasnt in a rush, got changed and stretched out a little, and off to the bikes.
Picked out my playlist, hoped on and within about a minute we were getting counted down to start. 
I had a little trouble with my bike as i was not used to this stationary bike, but after a panicked 'help' one of the volunteers got me sorted and off i went, while still not going anywhere haha.
I played around with the tension level but lived comfortably around the 9-12 and kept changing them at 3 minute intervals. I did keep my heart rate steady between 150-155 and was quite comfortable doing so. I hit 7.17 miles and again i think i was near the top for my heat.
Off the bikes and on to the indoor track. There was only 5 minute transition time here, which was really only enough to get to the track, and off we went.
I have not run on anything but a treadmill since like October, so my shins were screaming inside the second lap. This was the toughest part of the day. I was lapped repeatedly by most of my heat, i never really mind this, and was happy with the pace i was keeping up for myself. It is always tough in anything like this to keep focused on not trying to race others, but keep in line with your own race goals, so i didnt let it discourage me when those young whipersnappers in my heat lapped me again, and again.......and again haha.
3 songs and a Nickelback rock anthem later and it was over.
Now while this is not a true triathlon in terms of distances, I came out of the day pretty pumped. I def had more in the tank after each segment and know that if i keep up with the training over the next couple of months i will be able to complete the sprint distance triathlons i plan on doing this summer.
What i really liked out of today though, was seeing a couple friendly faces also participating as you can see by the picture at the top of this post. From those that have looked at a couple of the other pages you will recognize the face as the winner of the October Half Marathon to raise nothing for nobody. This gal is a true champ and one of the great ones that i have met while working for the organization i work for. It was a great suprise to see her at the sign in desk this afternoon and to have her in the same heat.
All of this of course unlocked a #CigarSunday which i will post about shortly AND i got a T-shirt, and a water bottle and a towel so total win - win - win - win.
I have been in and out of consciousness most of the evening, so time to hit the hay as i am still exhausted haha, and its a new week of workouts next week whoot whoot!
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan

Well, hello. So last week was the first week that I attempted using a heart rate zone work out style. It was interesting. I def struggled with some of my workouts as it was more challenging towards the end of the week. So the week went something like this:
Monday: Off due to massive snowstorm
Tuesday - Day One of Aerobic Zone workout - Swim. 
I swam approximately 80 lengths. 
I did 5 sets of:
100m kicking with flutter board
100m using just arms
50m sprint (50 sec, 48sec, 51 sec, 46 sec, 44 sec)
1 set of 750m trying to keep my heart rate between 130 and 140
Wednesday - Day Two of Aerobic Zone - Bike 50min + Run 25 min
I did two Bike sets of 25 min. I started at tension level 11 and increased the tension to lvl 15 trying to keep my heart rate between 130-140 for the entire 50 minutes. This was hard to do, and i had to really focus on not pushing to hard to maintain my heart rate.
For the run i did one set of 25min. I started my run at 4.0 and increased the speed to 4.8 keeping my heart rate between 130-140. This wasnt as hard as the bike for some reason, maybe because i have been running longer, not sure.
Thursday - Day One of Maximal Zone - Run 50min + Bike 25min
I did 2x25min sets on the treadmill.
The first set i took my speed from 4.0 to 5.2 trying to keep my heart rate between 140-150.
The second set i took my speed from 4.2 to 5.2 at a faster rate and keep the heart rate between 140-150.
This was a little tougher. I did feel okay though at 5.0 speed, 5.2 is def pushing my comfort zone, but it felt good to push a little harder as the run has been my toughest piece so far.
Friday - Day Two Maximal Zone - Swim
I did approximately 80 lengths.
I did 3 sets of:
100m kicking with the flutter board
100m using arms
50m sprint ( 48, 45, 42 seconds each sprint)
I then did 3 sets of 10 minutes races, ending in 18 lengths, 18 lengths and 20 lengths.
This def got my heart rate going as i only gave myself 1 min breaks inbetween races.
I choose the 10 minute timed races because i signed up for the indoor triathlon that St.FX is putting on next week and wanted to start to get my swims specifically for the 10 minute swim component for that race. I am pretty excited to give this indoor triathlon a go.
It has a 10 minute swim, a 10 minute bike ride and a 10 minute run. Your distances are matched for each and the person that travels the furthest for all three categories wins. I have no misconceptions - i will not win any category, but as always my goals are to finish and to not die. So we shall see how it goes.
Lastly, today. I wont jump to far ahead into next weeks post but i made a critical error today in preparing to go to the pool this morning, i forgot my underpants.
The look of shear terror on my face would have been priceless, great swim, nice hot shower, towel off, go to bag ( no eye contact made) place everything out on the bench, socks, pants, belt, undershirt, polo shirt........umm wha. I checked every pocket and every section of my nap sack like i was a Fratelli searching a Goonie. So there i was standing in the locker room thinking okay, do i go home, do i go to work, do i text my beloved and explain that i am facing the prospects of going commando for the day and i need her to bring me some underpants. No that would be the wrong choice. I would never be allowed to live it down if i sent that text. No....no. I had to commando up. Quick check around the locker room, for lookeeloos and a quick towel drop and hop into my jeans. A button and very careful zipper later and I was off, I was out there Jerry and I was loving every minute of it. Okay not quite as happy as Kramer was, it was a cold, cold morning, and that is all i will say about that. 
Wow what a bounty of movie references tonight. 
Anywho, tres embareassing ( yes i did that on purpose) so from now on i will pack and emergency pair of under britches in my back pack to avoid any future Joey moments.
Luckily there was no lunging requirements today.
Sorry haha
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan

I have to say, while i am still enjoying the training for upcoming triathlon(s) that i have started to fall into a little rut. The enthusiasm is there but it has been a bit of a grind the last couple of weeks trying to get in all the workouts that i have wanted. So feeling like i needed to change things up, I contacted really the only person I know that has been involved with high level training to get some advice. I am really happy I did, because not only did we talk about a new way to start to look at how i approach workouts but he was also able to give me some advice in terms of nutrition both of which i will share, well, right now.
So up to this point i have been trying to get 5 days of training in a week, with at least 3 swims, 2 runs and 2 bikes. All of which have varied between the sprint distance and olympic distances. I have been taking a little bit of time off each individual activity, and i have been trying to get a sense of what doing all three back to back to back will look like at the end of each month and then looking to see if any progress has been made. As someone that has never done a triathlon before and has no background in training this seemed logical.
Not that my mind was blown after talking to my coach friend, but I feel like I have been going about things in the wrong direction. What Nathaniel introduced me to on Wednesday of last week was zone training. Now i am sure a bunch of you out there know what zone training is but i had no idea.
Basically it is using you heart rates at different intervals from resting to high intensity to develop a training plan that will use your heart rate as a guide to use your fat as fuel and to improve your strengths and work on your weaknesses.
There is a lot of literature on the internet about this as i have discovered but I will give you the long and the short of it here.
Based on your heart rate you can look at your training week in a series of zones. It is up to the individual person to come up with how many zones they want to use per week, for me I am going to use three zones and possibly double up the days. So for example a week might look like this:
Day 1 and 2 of a week: Aerobic Zone - so exercising at about 70-80% of maximum intensity in terms of your heart rate.
Day 3 and 4 of a week: Maximal Zone - so exercising in short bursts of your heart rate at about 90%
Day 5 and 6 of a week: Recovery Zone: so exercising at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate.
All of this of course relies on your ability to find out your heart rate from resting to an intense work out.
Making the calculation:

1. Subtract your resting HR from your maximum HR, giving you a ‘working heart rate‘.
2. Calculate 60 and 70% of your working heart rate.
3. Add these two figures to your resting heart rate, and hey presto you’ve worked out your Zone 1 heart rates.
4. Do the same for Zones 2, 3 and 4, and you’re there.

Or you can get a fancy wrist watch type heart monitor. As previously discussed in this blog, i want one, but still on the fence in terms of the purchase price. But switching to this format of training, not sure i can put it off any longer.
Work out your resting heart rate

• Lie down and relax for 20 minutes, in a quiet room
• Have a clock or watch in clear view, that measures seconds and minutes
• Count your heart beats for one minute, with your finger on a pulse, or with your hand over your heart
• Avoid caffeine on the day

Work out your max heart rateThere are various ways of estimating your maximal heart rate, but I’ve never found them reliable. The best way is test yourself in real life. I always have an idea of my maximal heart rate from high-intensity track running sessions, or hill reps on my bike. But a more accurate method is to do your own stress test:

Find a good hill that takes about two minutes to run up. The test begins with five minutes’ running before the hill. Accelerate towards the hill, achieving around 85% effort at the base of the hill. As you hit the hill, keep your speed by increasing your effort. Keep an eye on your monitor and look for your highest heart rate as you run to the top of the hill.

All the information on heart rate calculation is from www.tridar.com and there are a lot of resources on this website. It was really helpful for all types of questions i have had in terms of training, equipment, and nutrition.

I started to switch up my training this week to include more of this type of training and i totally have my spark back. 
I have had a set back of another flare up of gout this weekend, and i stupidly still ran on Saturday which has caused some additional pain, but i am hoping to get back at er by tomorrow ( Tuesday), but we shall see.

A little knowledge is dangerous, but hopefully this change in training will help in the long run.
Until next time
Sean " BigBoyRunning" Ryan

Yup, it finally happened. I was that person. That person that fell off of the treadmill. I have always made fun of people that do that and now i am that person. Usually when i go to the gym i try to leave my cell phone at home, like many, i have the pavlovian trigger then when i see the little red light flashing indicating new correspondence, I immediately lurch for my phone like it was the last morsel of food on a barren and desolate planet. This being a very busy time at work, and having to work directly after my workout yesterday i thought i would take my phone in case anything came up that needed immediate attention.
Now since a week or so ago, I have been trying to get my speed up on the treadmill wanting to get my 5k time as it is really the only one of the three disciplines that i havent really seen any change in.
I am happy to say that i have taken my run speed on the treadmill from a 4.5 to a 5.0, so i am starting to see it dip lower as i increase the amount of time i am running at the 5.0 speed mark. ( most people run at 6.0+ on the treadmill so i am still wicked slow - but i am okay with that).
So here i am having the best run of the week, the last run of the week, and the little red light starts to blink. I am running at 5.2 speed, fastest of the week. I go to grab my phone, it flips out of my sweaty paw and in slow motion i can see it fall to land on the treadmill, and then in super fast motion it is gone and sent thuding into the wall behind me.
Instinct takes control where common sense fears to tread and of course i try to catch it as it falls!! 
As i bend down to get it, i see, to have forgotten that i am traveling at fat guy speed of light ( 5.2) and my shoe catches the non moving side of the treadmill, immediately flinging my other leg behind me.
Uh-oh.
I am going down. This is going to hurt. Please baby jesus dont let there be any elderly or small children behind me, cause they gonna get a big suprise in a second.
Luckily, my aged cat like reflexes kick in ( somewhat) and i grab the rails of the treadmill before hitting the deck. I am doing the largest lunge of my life, but i manage to pull myself back up and start running again...like nothing happened.
The gals on either side of me, who prior to this were running probably around a 7+ each have slowed right down because they are laughing so hard they cant keep up the pace they had before.
I have to hold onto the front of the machine because i have tears in my eyes i am laughing so hard.
So the three of us are laughing, each with their own ear buds in and a commercial for feed the African children on the tv's in front of us. This does not look good to anyone only arriving now on the scene.
Good times...goooood times.
Some you may be saying, there now, you probably wont take your phone to the gym anymore, and you would be absolutely wrong.
I will most likely do this again, just maybe not on the treadmill, i will flip it over so i cant see the blinky light that owns my soul.
Not a bad week overall though:
Monday: 1x750m and 1x1500m swims
Tuesday: 1x750m and 1x1500m swims
Wednesday: off
Thursday: 1x1500m swim + strength building legs session
Friday:  8mile ride ( 25min) + 6k run
Saturday: 8.5mile ride (25min) + 5k run ( time from 41min to 38min even with the cell phone incident)
Sunday: off
So over the next week i will be doing smaller distances and trying to get my speeds up. I feel like i have the endurance at the rates i am going now, but i really want to start to increase my speeds. Not sure how this will go, but we shall see.
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan