Functional Power Test

On Wednesday before heading to the airport I took my first power test on the bike. I really did not know what to expect. I got to Bicycle Village at 9:45 AM after a short day at work and linked up with Gabe. He put a PowerTap wheel on my bike and got me set up on a trainer in front of a fan. The instructions were: warm up until you are ready, then ride as hard as you can sustain for 20 minutes attempting to stay steady with your effort. I started out a bit easy by picking a gear that I felt I could maintain a 85-90 rpm cadence. I ended up not changing the gear at all but slowly ramped up the cadence, this may have been the wrong technique. The middle was excruciating, but as I started working through the last 10 minutes, it felt easier and easier and I pushed higher wattage for the last several minutes. Now that I have the experience, I know I can push higher watts next time.

The results: AVG Watts 223, 1 hour sustainable watts 203, power to weight ratio 2.57 watts/kg.

What does this all mean and what can I do to improve on the second test?

Theoretically, the purpose of the Functional Threshold Power test (FTP Test) is to see how much power you can maintain for one hour. Most times this test is not riding for an hour, but rather a simulated process that has you building up to a 20 minute effort.

First I can determine my Power Training Zones: Formula from Active.com

Power Based Training Levels
Level	Name	Target Power Range (as % of avg. watts in 20:00 max test)		Target Wattage
1	Active Recovery	0	0.55	0	123
2	Endurance	0.56	0.75	125	167
3	Tempo	0.76	0.9	169	201
4	Lactate Threshold	0.92	1.05	205	234
5	VO2max	1.06	1.2	236	268
6	Anaerobic Capacity	1.21	N/A	270	N/A
7	Neuromuscular Power	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

 Not sure what good this will do me as I am too poor to buy a power meter for training, but lets see what else we can determine.

Is the cadence right for me? Joe Friel recommends that athletes take their first test at their natural cadence, three weeks later at 10 rpms below, three weeks later at 10 rpms above the first test, and three weeks later back at their natural cadence. He says this will help the athlete determine if they need to make any changes to their cadence for optimal power output.

Where do I stack up?

This chart from saris.com puts me at a disappointing CAT 4 performance, but at least I know where I really am. http://www.saris.com/aboutus/PTS/HowDoYouStackUpWithWorkout.pdf

Oh well enough for this post. Before the next one on this topic, I plan to research the proper way to warm up for one of these tests and will let you know how a proper warm up and trying the lower cadence affects my results.

Your Donations to Team Alex Fund Test Cures Like These

http://www.lohud.com/article/20120119/NEWS02/301190035/Westchester-program-clinical-trial-give-hope-brain-cancer-patients

Alex had am MRI the other day and found out that tumor is 5-10% bigger. The change was very subtle. Alex and his family are taking it as good news from the perspective that Alex hasn’t had any substantial chemotherapy for about a month and a half. If this was as aggressive as originally thought would have seen far more growth. Alex's body is having a hard time with teh chemo, so the doctor wants to try a new procedure that targets just the tumor. I am attaching a link to this about a similar procedure. Donations to The Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation help fund research that leads to these cures.

Alex Strong!

Week Beginning 1/16/12

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Week Totals
Type	Distance	Duration
Bike	75.8 mi	05:34
Run	20.3 mi	03:20
Strength		00:25
Swim	5000.0 yd	02:10
Total Duration:		11:29

Training: I had a big week coming off of recovery week and trying to get it all in before travelling next week. Lisa assures me all is okay, but every once in a while I get panicky that I am not doing enough to prepare.

Team Alex: Alex came home from the hospital after platelet transfusion. The doctor is going to try a new procedure that targets the malicious cancer cells without attacking the rest of his body. Alex Strong! Fundraiser is up to $684 dollars but did not move much since the first week. I really need to get creative and find some ways to get it moving.

Monday: 90 minute bike ride with Coach

                  1 hour Swim: Main Set 10 x 100s between 1:33 and 1:35, very happy with this set

                  Bicycle Village Spin Class: Added simulated hill climbing session this week.

Tuesday: 20 minute Tempo Run Main Set, it was 3 degrees with wind chill at the Fort Carson Track, this was rough and slow. After did 20 sets of 10 pushups/10 situps.

                Laps:
1-1:52 HR 144
2- 2:01 HR 158
3- 2:00 HR 162
4- 1:58 HR 165
5- 1:58 HR 168
6- 2:00 HR 168
7- 2:00 HR 170
8- 1:59 HR 171
9- 2:03 HR 171
10- 1:53 HR 172

Wednesday: 50 minute recovery run, 85 push ups, and 6 sets of Tabata situps

            Bicycle Village Spin Class

Thursday: 3K Swim. Main Set 1200m took me 22 minutes.

Friday: I was dying, so took unplanned rest day.

Saturday: Straight from log: This Sucked. Wind...West At 40 To 60 Mph With Gusts To 70 Mph Or More. Local

Gusts Over 80 Mph Will Be Possible Across The Higher Peaks And
In The More Wind Prone Areas Along The Eastern Slopes.

Windiest ride ever. Almost doing a track stand uphill and fearing for my life on the downhill. 1 hour climb fro 10 miles against wind, 15 minutes on the return then a 4 mile loop.

File for IMAZ 2012. When the winds kick up, I can tell myself I have ridden in 3-040moh sustained winds.

Sunday: 100 minute trail run at Rampart Range Reservoir. It was beautiful but slow.

Donna is Taking on IMAZ 2012!

Donna: We will be ordering some wall tattoos and maybe clothing labels for Team Alex. Best of luck!

1.    What do you do for a living?

I own a small design business www.lemondingo.com. I make wall art, stickers and clothing transfers. I like it because it’s flexible and allows me to work around home schooling my children, training and family life. I have 3 kids and a great husband who understands and supports my triathlon obsession.

2.    What was the best part of volunteering for IMAZ 2011?

I didn’t volunteer for IMAZ 2011. I have volunteered at IMCDA the last few years but I decided to take my chances and be part of the crazy online rush to sign up for IMAZ 2012.  I knew it was going to sell out quickly so I was prepared to do some fast typing and bypass a lot of the silly questions they have on there. Luckily I managed to get all the way through before it reached capacity. Some of my friends did not which was disappointing.

3.    When do you plan to begin your training for IMAZ 2012?

Officially my IMAZ training will begin in June but I have other races I will doing earlier in the year so my official training for this season starts January 30^th.

4.    What are your major goal races this season?

My goal races are Boise 70.3 (June) and of course IMAZ (Nov).  I plan to do a few half marathons, sprint and Olympic tris and the Seattle to Portland bike ride as well just to mix it up and keep it fun and interesting.

5.    Why do you want to do an Ironman?

I think once you get hooked on triathlon you are inevitably drawn towards completing an Ironman. It’s the ultimate challenge in this sport. Is that a good enough reason?

6.    What are your greatest triathlon strengths?

My coach’s philosophy is to “enjoy the journey” and really that is my strength. I have a great group of people that I train and race with and so I just love the process.  I think that it is a strength when it comes to making it through log, grueling workouts.  I look forward to them and enjoy them. On second thought…maybe my strength is that I’m a masochist….but that doesn’t sound nearly as good J

7.    What weaknesses are you training to improve this season?

Open water swimming is a bit of a mind game for me. I could swim forever in a pool but get me out in murky, cold water …well that’s a whole other thing.  I have to work hard to get over this as I’ve heard talk that Tempe Town Lake is a wee bit chilly come November.

8.    What is something interesting about you that you would like to share?

I’m an Aussie girl who moved to the U.S back in 2004 with my family with the intention of only staying 2 years. My husband was transferred by his company from Sydney to Spokane but after the 2 years were up we decided to stay.  I think that explains a lot about my open water swim issues actually.  I’m not rough and rugged like all these other native Pacific Northwesteners.  My open water swim experience is in nice warm water.

9.    How much triathlon experience do you have?

I started doing triathlon about 3 years ago so I still consider myself a tri toddler. IMAZ will be my first ironman distance race.

10. Are you using a coach this season?

Yes, I am part of a triathlon team started by my Coach and his wife, so it was natural for me to have him coach me too.  His name is Scott Roy.  http://www.teamblazespokane.com/scotts_site/index.html

 He is racing in Arizona as well along with 10 other people so I am really looking forward to having him along with me on this crazy journey.

11. How many hours are you planning on for an average training week?

I’m expecting to be training between 12 -16 hours a week.

Coach Lisa Ranked 5th Best Marathoner of All Time:

From Globetrotting by Phillip Hersch of the Chicago Tribune

5. Lisa Larsen Weidenbach Rainsberger: She is the last U.S. winner of the Boston Marathon (1985). The only U.S. woman to win two Chicago Marathons (1988-89). One of seven U.S. women with three or more marathons under 2:30. (When she did it the final time, in 1990, only Benoit had three or more sub-2:30s.) She also was the heartbreak kid, finishing fourth in three straight Olympic trials, thereby missing the Summer Games by one place each time. “This kind of bittersweet,” Weidenbach said of her first Chicago victory, which came a month after the 1988 Seoul Games. “Nothing can make up for not making the Olympics.”

For entire article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/globetrotting/chi-benoit-samuelson-top-list-of-us-women-marathoners-20120111,0,2497480.column

Weekly Report: Week Starting January 9th, 2012

Team Alex:

                We have raised over $300.00 so far for the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation, web page was launched over the weekend and we sent out the information to our address books. HD Supply-Facilities Maintenance led the way with 3 donors the first two days. Alex is out of the hospital after an infection caused him to spend three days there. PPWR Series was the first race for Team Alex. Please go to www.Razoo.com/Teamalex to help heroes like Alex fight brain tumors.

Training:

Week Totals
Type	Distance	Duration
Bike	27.5 mi	02:10
Run	17.0 mi	02:40
Swim	5468.1 yd	01:57
Total Duration:		06:47

Overall pretty light week for recovery.

Monday: Swam 6 x 200s with 1 minute rest for main set. Times between 3:19 and 3:34 for benchmark.

                Bicycle Village Progressive Spin Class. Technique and 1 Leg Drills

Tuesday: So-So on the 20 minute tempo run for the main set. No HR data but ran 1:53s per 400m

Wednesday: 50 minute run: VERRRY COLDDD!!! BRRR! and windy. But I am starting to really love embracing the suck. It is kind of cool to be the only goofball I see running in the elements some mornings. Need more to cover my face in the wind though.  

                Bicycle Village Progressive Spin Class. Technique and 1 Leg Drills

Thursday: Swim Main Set 3 x 500 (8:54, 8:44, and 8:32)

Friday: Recovery

Saturday: Pikes Peak Winter Series Trail Run. Lots of uphill and went out too hard and paid for it later. Finished 22/24 in my newer, harder age group. Lots of ice on trail too. 1:04:58. Hope to run better in two weeks.

Sunday: Recover Some More!!!

Some funny Videos to Watch

What your loved ones, friends, and co-workers really think about you....Ironman.

Team Alex has Kicked Off!!! Help fight Childhood Brain Tumors

In September of 2011, Alex was diagnosed with an extremely rare and aggressive brain tumor. He underwent brain surgery and is currently going through an aggressive chemo and radiation treatment program that will last 12 months. Through all of this, he maintains a positive outlook and is continuing to progress through High School.

Alex's father is a good friend of mine and every time I ask how the family is doing, I am almost brought to tears by listening to their outlook and resolve. I was already planning on running Ironman Arizona 2012 on November 18, 2012 when I read an article about athletes raising money for charities. I immediately asked Alejandro if I could raise money for the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation in Alex's name. I am honored that I will cover my 140.6 miles as Team Alex.

With a small contribution, you can stand beside heroes like Alex in their fight against childhood brain tumors. Please pass this along to anyone you know that might support the cause.
If you want to join the team and raise money for this charity leading up to your race, please email me at russell.mckelvey@yahoo.com

Please visit http://www.razoo.com/story/Teamalex to make a donation and track Alex's progress!

Christine is Taking on IMAZ 2012!

I met my friend Christine while waiting in the volunteer registration line. We had lots of fun talking about training and racing. Here is her early season report and we will check in with her from time to time this season. If you are racing, please answer the questionnaire and I will post you.

Q: Tell us about what you do and who you are.

1) I am a physician and take care of cancer patients. I also am a mom to a seven year old daughter and an eleven year-old son.

Q: What was the best part of volunteering for IMAZ 2011?

2) The best part was making some new friends (Nina, Carlos, Russ, Curt) and catching up with some old ones (Jeff, Chris) who were racing.

Q: When are you going to start training for the race?

3) I am starting now, but it's hard to get back into the swing of things!

Q: What training races do you have scheduled this year?

4) The Portland Rev3 1/2 IM, The Black Diamond 1/2 IM in Enumclaw, WA and finally IM AZ.

Q: Why an Ironman? Are you Crazy?!

5) It's hard to resist the ultimate triathlon challenge...Having been a volunteer for IM CDA and IM WFC (medical) and now IM AZ, want to experience it as a racer.

Q: What strengths are you bringing to the table?

6) Mental toughness and a willingness to work hard and learn as a beginner....

Q: Where do you hope to improve?

7) Swimming technique and making the endurance jump from half IM to full...

Q: Tell us something interesting about you:

8) I was a complete couch potato until 2009 and had to learn how to swim that year to do my first triathlon...In Seattle, I used to be the Medical Editor and on-air broadcaster for the CBS station evening news, three times a week. At the same time, I also had a regular Webcast, "CancerTalk with Dr. Christine Cha" on RealAudio. Luckily, my broadcast days are over... :)

Q: When did you start doing triathlons?

9) I started doing sprint triathlons in 2009. Since then I have also done 2 Olys and 3 Half IMs, the last being Wildflower LONG in 2010. What a fun experience! Every triathlete needs to do WF once... :)

Q: Are you hiring a coach this year?

10) Yes! My second - Chris Ramsey - DPT and a true rockstar! He's done 15 IM races and gone to Kona 7 times. I'm grateful that he has taken me on as someone who wants to do their first IM.

Q: How many hours will you be averaging a week this year?

11) If all goes well 8-10 until summer then, it's going to be very tight because my kids will be out of school 5-7/wk , then in the Fall 8-10/wk again to get ready for the big race.

Good luck Christine! You will do great.

Finishers Thoughts About Training for Ironman Arizona

I recieved an email from a co-worker who did Ironman Arizona in 2011 with some thoughts about preparation.

I am passing along as is so forgive him for being an Infantryman like me.

 

________________________________________________________________________

Just some thoughts. If you have any specific questions let me know. Good luck!

-get a coach or a plan. Have something in your hand ready for every workout.

 

-join a tri club like Altitude Multisport (Or Pikes Peak Tri Club) to ask questions and get workout partners.

 

-find a physical therapist that you can pay for services. You won't have time to stop training to wait for a referral. It's worth the $ to be able to get fixed fast.

 

-get a glute and core workout using your own body weight and do it at least weekly to keep them strong. You will not want to lift weights as you near the race.

 

-on your day(s) off, recover with stretching and yoga and hot tub. Use Tiger Balm on calves with compression socks to keep the heat in.

 

-Stay at Marriott Tempe it’s the closest and has good food onsite, request fridge and microwave.

 

-Start early with nutritionist. I waited until the last month before the race and wish I would have started earlier. Try a lot of different things on long rides and fast runs to see what works. I used Dina and she was great. http://www.fuel4mance.com/. All I used was UCAN, salt sticks and water the entire day. Less weight on the bike and didn’t have to stop. I passed so many people who had to stop for refuel...it was a good feeling.

 

-get two pairs of running shoes to train in and alternate them, you will feel the difference when you get to the end of training and match them with your race socks frequently to see if you get blisters.

 

-get a pair of comfy cycling shorts, not bibs or tri shorts to race in. The comfort is worth the transition time to change back into run kit -get a good pair of sunglasses and head phones -find a sunscreen you like enough to wear all day on your face and use the stuff they have at transition for legs, shoulders and calves. One of the best suggestions I got was to go to a tanning bed for the weeks prior so you don't burn if you are a white guy like me.

 

-get a music playlist that you like, include books.

 

-I wish I would have gotten the waterproof headphones...swimming was the most boring -If you don't want to get a tri bike, don’t. Stick with a good road bike and ride in the drops if it's windy. The biggest thing is to train on what you are going to race on.

 

-the water will be cold and there will be a lot of people. Plan on starting and stopping the first mile when you run into people. Be patient until the back stretch then turn it on.

 

-decide what your goals are for the race then train for it and stick to it. If you want a slow ride and a fast run then train that way. Don’t show up to the race and push the bike or run a faster pace that you trained for or have nutrition for. That’s when bad things happen.

 

-When you get tired of the road bike, try to get into mountain biking. It is a great variation and helps with pedal stroke and leg strength as well as your bike handling skills.

 

-triathletes cant ride so use caution on the turns when you head back to town.

 

-Fat chicks will beat you out of the water.

 

-go to swim labs at least twice to get your stroke checked for efficiency. Only get Michael Mann.

 

-try compression socks and see if they work for you.

 

-I have a deal with 2XU so if you need something let me know before you buy it.

 

-get a good set of wheels and tires as well as get fitted for a saddle if you haven't done so already. At least tires and look into renting a set of carbon wheels at the race.

 

-use a bike transport even if you are driving. I used Pro Bike Express http://www.probikeexpress.com/ because he can haul your kit bag and wheels down there and back. He is also your onsite mechanic and can pick up your bike and stuff after the race so you don't have to worry about it. That was worth it.

Happy New Year

I am so happy to be back in my routine. Eating right and sleeping in my own bed. Really had fun in Buffalo with my in-laws but it is time to get to work. Drank way too much on our party bus wine tasting and ate too many velveeta based appetizers all week. Had to cut workout short today after cramming in two yesterday due to lack of recovery. Returning to altitude, cumulative poor nutrition, and dehydration.

But I wish you all the best. I excited to get to work! 2012 is going to be awesome.