How to make a tie-dye running shirt

But first... my swim from today. A timed 1200m.

First 500 10:45.
Second 500 was 11:15 (total 22:00)
Last 200 was 4:30 (total 26:30).

For swimmers, this is bad. For me, this is good.

First 500 m is 2:09/100
Second 500 m is 2:15/100
Final 200 m is 2:15/100
Average swim pace is 2:13 / 100 m which if I could maintain that for an Ironman is 84:15. This is good. From start until when I am on my bike I would like to manage 1 hour 30 minutes or anything faster. At this point, four months away with excellent coaching from Paul and with a wetsuit on race day this seems very possible.

OK... now on to the tie-dying.

Back to feeling good about life and training

Training is like have a case of rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. Not just from day-to-day but also from hour to hour. Today was manic, happy Dave.

Today's run was short and felt awesome. 10 x 400 m at 1:45/400m (that's about 4:22/km). I could have done them a little faster but that's not the point.

Rep    Time    Avg Heart
1    1:43    141
2    1:41    138
3    1:44    131
4    1:44    133
5    1:46    140
6    1:41    141
7    1:44    142
8    1:41    143
9    1:41     145 (Coming up University Bridge)
10    1:48    150 (Finish bridge and steep hill at top)

I am pretty happy with that. Call me Mr. Dial-A-Pace.Good heart rate results too, I think.

I headed out for my ride almost immediately following the run. I did the Clavet Triangle (55 km). It was 1/3 into a BRUTAL headwind over the three College Drive hills, 1/3 cross wind North past the potash mines, and one fast ride home from Clavet. See if you can tell on this speed graph where I turned east and headed for home? Yeah. It's kinda obvious.

I really tried to focus some attention on pedaling efficiency (aided by my Polar Bike Computer with power meter). This is a big area of weakness for me. It felt pretty good. I definitely am developing a better feel for spinning as opposed to driving down a short stroke with my quads.

The best news from the ride is that I didn't really feel any ill-effect when complete. I last did the Triangle on April 7 and was left feeling tired. I have done it many time and always felt tired. This time, nothing. It certainly felt like I could have gotten off the bike and gone for a long run. All this training does seem to be training my muscles to go longer. This is good.  By May 30, a 3:30 marathon will not hurt at all, right?

I even looked happy at the 2 hour mark...

This week's plan (5 weeks to go)

MONDAY: Afternoon strength 60 min. Evening swim 45 min (24 x 50m @ 1:00/50 m on the 1:10)

TUESDAY: Afternoon run 50 min (10  min warm up – 10 x 1:45 for 400m *4:25/km* with 1 min recover walk – 10 min cool down run). Bike 2 hours EASY.

WEDNESDAY: Afternoon bike 45 min EASY. Evening swim 45 min (timed 1200 m)

THURSDAY: Afternoon run 65 min (1km – 2km – 3km – 2km – 1km – each at 4:55/km with two minutes in between at 5:15/km). Swim 60 min with Coach Paul.

FRIDAY: Morning strength 60. Swim 45. NAP. Afternoon ride 2 hour EASY.

SATURDAY: DAY OF REST

SUNDAY: Morning ride 2 hours. Run 90 min (60 min at 5:15/km and 30 min at 4:55/km).

Saskatoon Police Half Marathon (plus weekly notes)

The video is from today's Saskatoon Police Half Marathon -- starting with the tragedy of waking up.




Weekly notes April 19-25
This past week was not good. I am not sure why. Heather was out of town and I was really busy so that is where I will lay the blame. I could not keep my head into training. I was feeling pretty demoralized after today's run. A nap helped and I am in better spirits. In fact, I am right back to feeling confident about 3:30 in five weeks. I made some good race management choices today, I think. Pushing through a couple of rough spots until they passed and I fell back into the groove.

I have been having a lot of hip pain this week (waking up several times every night).

In missed 3 hours on my bike ad 45 minutes swimming. I could not bring myself to ride two hours today after this morning's run and the weather.

I am going to spend some time visualizing a better frame of mind and I look forward to getting back at it tomorrow.

This past week's totals:

SWIM 2:30 (should have been 3:15)
BIKE 2:15 (should have been 5:15)
RUN 3:45
STRENGTH 2:00

Total: 10:30

This is my lightest week in April (by 15 minutes). It sure didn't feel like it. I am feeling beat up. No injury. Just soreness and fatigue.

From frustration to elation

I sure have some frustrating days (and night's). As I type this, for instance, my left hip feels pretty good. This is a very relative term, though. I mean it feels pretty good measured against the range of how it can feel. At it's worst it is really painful. At it's best it is sore with occasional shots of sharp pain. This results in some really frustrating moments. Last night, for instance, the pain in my hip woke me up (it's always worst lying down). In my groggy state of mind I found myself seriously debating whether or not I will make it to Ironman before it gives out. After more fitful sleep I woke up pretty demoralized. Frustration.

Late in the day, though, I spent an hour swimming under Coach Paul's tutelage. I always feel really good after swimming. The evening's hard repeats were much easier than the last time I ran 5 x 2 min at 170+ heart rate. Not easier to get my heart rate that high. No. Easier psychologically to push myself. At the end of the run I felt almost athletic. Elation.

I even tried rollerblading with Hannah the Dog. Never done that before (and haven't been on rollerblades in at least 3 years). No falls. Hannah is having NO trouble sleeping. She's pooped. Of course, she was at the working end of the harness.

Now... time to take some pain meds and go to bed. The best position is with most of my weight on my left cheek -- sort of on my back but a little bit on my side. It's a delicate balance.

Incredible, new, high-performance training method

Subtitle: I hate you Coach Bruce.

Sub-subtitle: Incredible new high performance training technique invented.

If the point of today’s run was so see how I do when tired the I think the answer is: “Kinda so-so.”

According to the Garmin I managed 14 km in 1:15:25 with an average pace of 5:22/km and an average heart rate of 148 beats/minute. Looks pretty good at this point until we delve into the truth.

Problem #1 – I was freakin’ tired at the start and through the whole run. I really needed to have a good nap before going out but I didn’t fit one in. Two nights of poor sleep and no nap with 7 1/2 hours of training put in there. I'm very fatigued.

Save as Draft

Problem #2 – I didn’t carry any liquid and it was hot. 22 C to be specific. I needed water. I stopped at Raj’s and the Mendel Art Gallery, and then back and Raj’s for water. The other stops were legit (i.e. traffic, stairs, etc) if not stretched longer than should have been. This makes the heart rate graph look like hell. Good luck sorting that out.

Problem #3 – My newly developed high performance training technique may not be all that it was cracked up to be.

Dave’s Marathon Finish Training Technique – At about the 12 km mark on today’s run I got back to Raj’s house. After I asked him to, Raj was kind enough to offer me a beer. My first instinct was to refuse. I thought to myself, “What would Lance Armstrong do?” But then I realized, Lance has probably NEVER stopped for a beer in the MIDDLE of a run. This might be the precise training method that I need. So, naturally, I had a beer and THEN I ran that last couple of kilometers. As it turns out, I would not recommend this training method for everyone. It’s probably only for really advanced runners who don’t mind running when they are burping and a little sluggish.

On the other hand, if you would like to apply from some grant money to study this phenomenon I am a willing participant.

This week's training plan (6 weeks to go)

MONDAY – Ride 90 minutes EASY. Strength training 60 minutes. Evening 45 minute swim.
TUESDAY – Run 90 @ 5:15/km (during Run do 5 x 30” sprints with 5 minutes between).
WEDNESDAY – Ride 2 hours EASY (during ride do 10 x 2’ @ 165 and 1’ @ 140). Evening 45 minute swim.
THURSDAY – Interval run 5 x 2 minutes at 170 beats/min + 4 minute recovery (walking the first minute) and then run 30 minutes EASY. Afternoon 60 minute swim with Coach Paul.
FRIDAY – Morning 60 minute strength training. Lunchtime 45 minute swim. Afternoon bike 2 hours EASY
SATURDAY -- Day of rest.
SUNDAY – Saskatoon Police Service Half Marathon. My goal is 1:43:00.

Week in review

Today was scheduled as 2 hours easy cycling and 2 hours running at 5:15/km.

Pretty much successful. There was a lot of stopping on the run (I stopped my watch when we stopped so that pace would not be affected). In total there was 15 minutes stoppage time littered throughout the run – quite a bit.

First a brief video of today's highlights...



Cycling notes – It looks to me like once I got out of town I cycled at about 26.3 km/h with a heart rate of about 135 beats/minute. I think I am a REALLY inefficient cyclist and I need to investigate some drills, etc that will make me better. I have a power meter on my tri-bike. It indicates an efficiency below 20% (although I am not sure exactly what it’s measuring). The online forums seem to suggest that 25% is something to shoot for. 30% cannot be sustained. I think I have too short a stroke. I need to make the pull through the bottom a matter of habit. Right now, it’s not. To keep my efficiency high I need to stay focused which is not my strength. Anyone with any suggestions? Also, I spent a lot of time on Saturday setting up my aerobars to the most comfortable best spot. I found, though, that the front of my shoulders, at the base of the deltoid between the delt and bicep on the front of my arm was getting fatigued. Is this a setup issue or a stop-being-a-pussy issue? I am going to toy around with the aerobars some more. I wonder about moving my seat forward 0.5 inches?

Ironman prognostication – I have been trying to get a handle on how fast I will ride Ironman while still having something left for the run… Swim 1 hour 30 minutes - this is a good guess, I think. Bike 27.5 km/h for a total of 6 hour 30 minutes. Can I run a 4 hour marathon that day? I believe that getting under 12 hours will require a 4 hour marathon. That is an average pace of 5:41/km. Seems very optimistic but not completely impossible. The traditional wisdom is to take your best marathon time and add 1 hour. That give me a 4 ½ hour marathon and a 12:30:00 Ironman time.

Running notes – At that start of the run my legs were rubber and/or lead. This quickly passed, though. Bottom line is this – 21 km at an average pace of 5:17/km with an average heart rate of 153 beats/min. This will be slightly artificially low because of the stops but not by that much. The second lap of the bridges was faster (5:13/km) than the first lap – I wanted to “run with pain.” I felt good and strong until about 4 km to go at which point I still had no trouble keeping the pace but it was starting to hurt a little bit.

Weekly totals:

Swim 2 hr 30 min
Bike 2 hr 35 min – 65 km
Running 5 hr 10 min – 57.25 km
Strength training 1 hr 30 min

Total: 11 hr 45 min

What did I miss? I skipped the interval bike on Tuesday (Hey! At least I went running in that monsoon). And I missed 30 minutes of strength training on Friday (tied up at work).

A good week.

This coming week culminates with the Saskatoon Police Service Half-Marathon. What should my goal be?

I'm tired

For the first time since March 1st... I am really tired.

This afternoon's run of only 30 minutes was hard. I'm pooped. The body is fatigued.

I am glad it's Saturday -- a day of rest. Although, I am still looking forward to Sunday morning. I will meet Raj at Tim's at 6:15. Quick bagel and coffee and then two hours on the bike prior to two hours at 5:15/km. It will be hard, I think, but I look forward to the challenge.

I feel much better about 3:30 on May 30 in Saskatoon than I felt about 3:30 back in December in Las Vegas.

Excitingly, my lovely wife and handsome children have agreed to wear tie-dyed t-shirts when cheering for my on May 30. That's two more shirts I have to make.

New pool - same faulty nose

Great day today. Sunshine. Cycled -- making up for yesterday's miss due to stomach problems, ran -- slightly shorter than scheduled but close enough, and swam -- in a new pool because my chlorine allergy could not take Lakewood anymore.

I met Coach Paul at Harry Bailey. I swam in the small pool which seems to mostly be the kiddie pool. It feels like swimming in sludge. Only Education feels light and fast. I love saline. Is Harry Bailey any better than Lakewood for me? Uh... sort of, I guess. As I type this (10 pm) only one of my nostrils is completely closed. That's a 50% improvement over Lakewood.

A good swim today. I enjoyed it.

Tomorrow it's one hour of core strength training, 45 minutes swimming, and a mere 30 minutes running. Fortunately, Ralph is coming along for the run tomorrow. He is very concerned that we be able to hydrate properly after the run and he is putting some beer in the fridge. Bravo, sir. Good thinking.

Saw a new low on the scale this morning (well... new since Christmas). 157.7. CalorieCount.com is predicting that I will hit my goal weight of 152 on May 30 -- race day. Hope so.

A very wet training run

This week's training plan and some future races

The plan for this week:

Monday – Afternoon: 60 min strength training.

Tuesday – Afternoon: Bike 10 x 1 minute @ 170 beats/min + 1 minute 140 beats/min (total 20 min). Run 90 @ 5:15/km.

Wednesday – Afternoon: Bike 45 EASY. Run 45 EASY. Evening: Swim 45.

Thursday – Afternoon: Run 20 x 2 minutes @ 4:55/km + 1 minute EASY (total 60 min). Swim 60 with Coach Paul.

Friday – Morning: 60 min strength training. Afternoon: Swim 45. Run 30 EASY.

Saturday – DAY OF REST

Sunday – Morning: Bike 2 hours EASY with 10 x 30 second sprints. Run 90 (or 2 hours) @ 5:15/km.

I chatted with Coach Bruce about the weekend of April 24/25. The decision is to run the Police 1/2 Marathon (instead of the 10 km). I will run a fast 10 km on the Sask Marathon course about 4 weeks in advance of Marathon race day.

Sad news for me an soccer... and the week that was

I was very naughty. Yesterday on my off day I played soccer for 90 minutes (I took it very easy in a practice). I needed to find out if my hips could take it or not and this easy practice seemed the best way. I have, sadly, decided that I cannot play soccer. My left hip was very sore last night – only one position was comfortable for sleep - and today’s run was more difficult than it should have been because of lingering hip pain and stiffness. Sitting here in the afternoon, my hip is feeling somewhat better. This is good – running makes my hips feel good. In fact, as the day has worn on my hip feels better and better. Good evidence that I can get through the Sask Marathon, Chinook Half Ironman, Frank Dunn Triathlon, Ironman Canada, Las Vegas Marathon, and the Boston Marathon before hanging up my spikes. I am thinking about The Canadian Death Race in 2011 (or maybe Tough Guy in the UK) but that’s another issue…

Otherwise today’s run was good. I did 1:50 at very close to 5:15. My first 10.5 km was at 5:17 and then my second 10.5 km was at 5:15. The second lap was one of the hardest runs I have had in some time because of the stiffness and soreness in the hips. I really tried to buckle down and push myself to keep up the pace despite the pain. Good mental training, I think. And, definitive proof that I need to stop soccer – WAY too hard on my hips.

Weekly totals:

Swim: 45 minutes, 1.5 km (I missed a bunch of swimming – sailboat injury one night, migraine another).
Bike: 3:15, 74 km
Run: 5 hours, 55.5 km.
Strength: 2 hours

Total: 11 hours.

I meet Coach Bruce on Monday. Here is what I am giving him to work with this week.

MONDAY – I have time some time in the afternoon. I am planning one hour strength training with NO squats or lunges to give my hips a complete break.
TUESDAY -- You can have from 1 pm to 3:30 pm. I would like to run with Raj at 2:00PM. He is good at 5:15/km
WEDNESDAY – You can have 90 minutes in the afternoon (from 12:30 to 2:00 pm). I will swim for 45 minutes in the evening
THURSDAY – I will swim with Paul for 1 hour at lunch. You can have 90 minutes in the afternoon.
FRIDAY – Strength training from 10:30 am to 11:30 am. Swim 45 minutes over lunch. Nap. Then you can have an hour in the afternoon?
SATURDAY -- Day of rest?
SUNDAY – You can have 6 hours Sunday morning 6 am to noon. My running partners start at 9 am so if you want me to ride before then I can.

Looking ahead to the following weekend there are a couple of local races… I wonder what my coach wants me to do?

Saturday April 24 – Bridge City Duathalon – approx 5 km run, 20 km bike, 5 km run. (My total race time will be about 1:05)
Sunday April 25 – Saskatoon Police Service ½ Marathon or SRRA 10 km run. I would be interested in taking a shot at a 45 minute 10 km run. I am happy to run a half if you prefer. Or, neither if you prefer.

And, looking WAY ahead into June…

May 30 – Marathon ***REGISTERED
June 6 – Moes Triathlon (500m swim, 12 km bike, 6 km run)
Jun 13 – Bridge City Boogie 10 km race
June 19 – Chinook Half Ironman (I am not doing the Olympic Distance Spin Off Spadina as it now conflicts with this race) ***REGISTERED

100 km/h wind - glad I didn't have to run today

As noted in my previous post, I juggled my training schedule to avoid running and biking today as the weather forecast was for something close to Armageddon. The forecast did not miss by much. Gusting to 100 km/hour. They evacuated the 18 story S.G.I. Building in Regina after some wall in the parkade gave way and the SGI Building started to sway enough to make people feel sick. Glad I didn't have to run. More on this at the end of this post.


I swam. A good 1500 m swim. I did my last 100 m in 1:50, which is a fine time for me. It will be interesting to see if I can improve on this. I think I could go faster even at my current level of skill with a little more experience managing effort v. distance.

I am happy with my swimming. I have learned to relax if I need to get my house in order and I am definitely the fastest that I have ever been (which is still slow). I am looking forward to Moe's Triathlon (June 6 - one week after my 3:30 marathon) and then the Chinook Half Ironman on June 19. This means I cannot do the Olympic distance at Spin Off Spadina. Too bad as that would have been my only Olympic distance this season and I would be interested to see if I am any faster. I suppose I could race in Calgary on Saturday and then drive home and race in Saskatoon on Sunday...

And I went to the gym. My strength training coach Lindsay was out in Armageddon weather for a 2 hour run this morning and another two hours late in the afternoon. She claims it was awesome. I claim she is lying. Although as I said to her, "When you hit that wall during the run in Ironman this year, remembering this run - 100 km/hour gusts with snow that felt like little daggers - will give you something to focus on."

I feel sufficiently knowledgeable about strength training - form in particular - that I am going to help the local fencing club with some strength training. I am not going to lead anything but I will help the fencers with their form.

It's been a great week so far

Tuesday was supposed to be a 90 minute run at 5:30/km. I easily did 90 minutes at 5:11/km with a heart rate of 143/minute. I was very happy with this run. Possibly the best confidence boosting run I have ever had.

Wednesday was supposed to be a 45 minute easy bike. I did 2:15 instead. I REALLY wanted to get in my first highway ride of the year. The Clavet Triangle beckoned and I responded. One has to think that Saskatchewan wind is good preparation for those Penticton hills. Riding into the teeth of a 30 km/h wind for 20 km is like riding up a REALLY long hill.

Fearing the weather forecast I moved my Friday run up to yesterday. It was supposed to be 90 minutes at 5:30/km. Definitely feeling some fatigue, I only managed 5:36/km but at least I got the mileage in.

Sitting here on Friday morning it's cold, wet, and windy -- gusting to 90 km/h. I am glad that I will not be running or biking today because I would not do it. Instead a nice warm swim and trip to the gym seems down right palatable.

Best three hour run in a long time...

...well, it was the ONLY three hour run in 10 years (with the exception of Las Vegas in December).

Ran 1:50 with Glenn and then Ralph joined us. He drove us a little faster then we would have gone. Ralph was intent on running a fast 10 km and did it is 58:30 which we kept up with. That's 5:45/km which isn't super fast but is good because we had done the first two hours at 6:00/km (including water walks). I did put in a 1 km run at 4:55/km near the end and ran the last 500 m at 4:20 so I still had some gas in the tank.

In the end it was a great run. I haven't felt this good about a run in some time. I felt fairly fresh at the end. I really think I could have run another 12 km at 4:55 is this were the marathon (of course, I'm not sure how that would go if I had done the first 30 at 4:55 instead of 6:00).

Weekly totals:

Run 5:30:59 – 57.17 km
Bike 2:43:07 – 50.77
Swim 1:35 – 2.8 km
Strength 1:00

Total 10:49

I missed a 45 minute swim and 60 minutes of strength training.

A good week. 8 weeks to the Saskatchewan Marathon and 21 weeks to Ironman Canada.

How fast will I swim Ironman?

Ironman is 3.8 km. It is very true that "you can't win Ironman in the swim." It is also very true that "Dave can't win Ironman, period." But... if I have a time goal then swimming will play a big role.

For instance, in 2008 I swam 1500 m in 38 minutes. In 2009 it took me 42 minutes. At that speed, swimming 3.8 km will probably take me 1:45:00-ish. If I want to have any shot at 12 hours then this will be too slow. In truth I think I will be 13 hours. But 20 or 30 extra minutes in the water will make a huge impact on my goals.

This is why I found Coach Paul. I need two things: commitment and improvement. Coaching helps my accountability, big time.

I am getting better. I am still 5 months away from Ironman but I feel like 1:20:00-ish for the swim is feasible. This would leave 10:40:00 for bike, run, and transition. This allows me to dream of a 12 hour finish.

Here is where I am at now...