Training Thoughts:
As I have ended the 4 week Hill Phase, well it ended up being 3 weeks due to calling it the last week due to what ended up being allergies and just being tired, I now head into the Anaerobic Phase of the Lydiard Pyramid. This is for sure a work in progress as while I can plan out what I would like to do I still need to work out how it all fits together. That includes seeing how to use cycling in all the phases of the plan, without doing too much. One issue I tend to have is I like a certain amount of time on the bike and running and will need to adjust that in the last weeks so as to be well rested for the 5K in November. On longer rides/races I can often get by with strength if I am tired but for a 5k there is little time for that.
This week I add in some form of intervals and will use fartlek again for the other speedier sessions. In my plan, which you can see below, I am using the bike for a couple interval sessions and will see how that works out. Then for the Fartlek I will focus on a little more speed to get ready for the anaerobic part of racing a 5K. The part I need to figure out and have not yet is the length of the intervals since I want one day to be longer and the other shorter so will adjust based on what I can get done. The goal, as this is for a 5K, is to keep the total of the intervals to be around 5K so on the bike will work to keep the total to around 15K.
One added part to this is that for the month of September I will be in So Cal for work and thus my schedule is a little tighter and less flexible than when working from home. Near where I am staying there is a dirt track that I can use for the intervals as it helps to be able to different length efforts with less interruption by lights and such.
The goal of the Anaerobic Phase, in preparing for a goal race, is to get the body ready to experience the oxygen deprivation so it is ready in a race and the 5K is just such a race. For longer races intervals are also important but as things like marathons and centuries when riding you tend to experience the oxygen deprivation less frequently – well that is in general as I have done quite a few bike races that when a break goes it is pretty anaerobic at that time. I have found in the past I can get some good speed with tempo runs but have found that there is for sure a need for anaerobic work to be ready for the efforts required for shorter races and for the ebb and flow in bike racing.
My goal in setting out a general pyramid plan is to take what I am doing now and seeing how it works and then revising the pyramid for my next goal race – whatever that may be.
Overview of Weeks Runs and Rides:
This was a good week of riding and running as got some miles in and did not overdo it - so rested up some. After the previous week of being tired and dealing with allergies I felt it was good just to dial it back a notch this week as I get ready to head off for travel for work. I had planned on about 130 miles of riding but ended up with 180+. Probably should have stayed closer to the 130 but I had not looked at my schedule and for some reason thought I was aiming for 160 so when I got 180 figured I was close. I had more as I rode more controlled rides so got less caught up in racing or riding hard. One good part about Zwift is that there are a number of rides that are run at a set W/Kg and that helps to keep things under control – which is what I did this week.
As far as running I ran all my runs at a controlled and relaxed pace with them feeling good. I made sure to avoid running hard so as to not overdo it. Even my run on Thursday which was right after a 35 mile run felt pretty good since considering it was right after a ride and I rarely do that. Another good thing is that I have not had any pain in my foot lately even though the ankle area was a little achy and have to keep an eye on it. I had planned on only running 24 miles this week but got a little more in and did one extra run in CA once I got there.
All-in-all a good week of running and riding as I move to a new phase.
Weekly Totals:
- Running Miles – 32.4 Miles
- Running Time – 4:37 Hours
- Riding Miles – 181.5 Miles
- Riding Time – 7:53 Hours
- Total Miles – 213.9 Miles
- Total Time – 12:30 Hours
Saturday Run
Diet Notes:
See below for Weekly ride fueling
Weekly Fueling – As usually my morning workouts are fasted with just water since I called off the previous Saturdays ride I had some water bottles with SFuels already so figured I would use them up this week.:
Monday: AM Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life – During Ride – 1 -24oz of Water with SFuels Train - After ride had SFuels Revival
Monday: PM Run – About 4 hours after lunch and no fueling on the run
Tuesday: AM Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life – During Ride – 1 -24oz of Water with SFuels Train - After ride had SFuels Revival
Tuesday: PM Run – About 4 hours after lunch and no fueling on the run
Wednesday: AM Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life – During Ride – 1 -24oz of Water with SFuels Train - After ride had SFuels Revival
Wednesday: PM Run – About 4 hours after lunch and no fueling on the run
Thursday: AM Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life – During Ride – 1 -24oz of Water with SFuels Train
Thursday: AM Run – Ran right after AM ride – after run had SFuels Revival
Saturday PM Run – Just what I had had for lunch 5 hours before
Sunday AM Run – Fasted after cup of coffee
The Week Ahead:
As I have mentioned I head of this coming week to So Cal for work so training may take some adjustments till I figure out my schedule and also how much light I have after work to ride. I have a goal of doing a century this weekend on Saturday and also, if all goes well, will do another one the following Monday as it is Labor Day. It is supposed to be pretty hot this weekend so will have to see how things go. Also, as I introduce some intervals and faster Fartlek workouts in I need to make sure I do not overdo it and get enough sleep as many of my runs are early before work so I can ride in the afternoon as cannot ride in the AM as I do at home on the trainer.
Training Thoughts:
Last week I was going to write on “Gluconeogenesis (GNG)” which is in a nutshell a pretty cool function of what one’s body does in supplying the needed sugar from non-carbohydrate sources when required. But, in studying up on it I decided to do more research before writing on the subject.
So what was the good over the last two weeks – well the week before last I pretty much did as planned even though was tired and the weather was both warm and humid. That said and looking back that good week probably led to the Not-So-Good this week. Being that the week before last was the week after the Kentucky Gravel Championships (KGC) I should have probably been more focused on a week of rest. While I did cut back on riding miles I did have a few harder days and as far as running, as will be seen below, I did as planned but probably should have throttled back some.
Hind sight is, as they say, 20-20 and in my haste to do what I had planned I neglected to see what I had planned was not appropriate and should have been adjusted. While having a race in the midst of a training cycle is not wrong doing one with the effort require at the KGC required more rest than I took after it and on top of that the miles I had put in to get ready for KGC also required some down time. So I need to be better at adjusting my schedule and not let my OCD take over to follow a plan at all cost.
I say this as the cost was this past week I started feeling really tired and due to what seems like a mix of allergies and my sinus reacting to changing weather I had a stuffy nose and head ache. In these crazy times it seems a sniffle - to feelings of being off - makes one wonder if one has the dreaded you know what. That said I know my body and I just have a case of over doing it along with a touch of allergies and not enough sleep and needing to back off. Due to this after my usual morning tempo ride with the BMTR group Wednesday I decided to take the rest of the week off. This did two things: first I could sleep in some and as part of this started with three days of bad sleep I need to catch up on and second it gave me rest and reduced stress so my body could deal with the allergies.
As of writing this Sunday afternoon I am still a little tired but am for sure feeling better and will go for a run in the evening just to get some fresh air and see how I feel. The point of this thought is more to say a schedule is important but it must be tempered and weighed against other factors. To blindly follow a schedule, as I tend to do, is to ask for trouble and usually that trouble comes well after it could have been avoided.
I have over and over stressed the need for rest and I need to listen to myself as much as anyone. The trouble is my body seems to do great till it is not as I usually do not seem to get a lot of warning that things are going south so need to act sooner than later. When I am already seeing the affects of doing to much or resting too little it is too late. I, and would suggest you, need to be more aware of how I feel daily and adjust as needed. This is not about avoiding hard work when tired as that is part of training but discerning what is a good tired induced by hard work and the tired that is inflicted by overwork. Not always easy to see but if I , and again you, pay attention and do not get so tied to a plan I think the overwork side of things can be avoided for the most part.
I hope this thought helps you as it is an area I have had to work on and while getting better at it after 40+ years of riding and 47+ of running I still struggle with it. The hard part for me know is factoring in the aspect of growing older that creates a different aspect to deal with. Yes as we age we can usually do more than we think but seldom can we do more than we once did, especially if you were pretty active and competitive when younger. It is not that we cannot do more but that we need to do what is best for where we are at in life.
Overview of Weeks Runs and Rides:
Week of August 10 – 16, 2020
With regards to riding this week it was scheduled to be a down week mileage/time wise. While I had planned on about 140 miles riding I ended up with 162+ miles. At the end of the day the mileage and planned efforts were pretty much in line with my plan. The only sort of hard ride was the usual tempo ride I do on Wednesday on Zwift with the BMTR group and it was only harder due to the hills. Truth is almost got dropped, well did momentarily, when I was texting the group and looked up heading towards the last time up the hill. Fortunately while I had to push harder than I wanted to I got back on the group with a little time to rest up before the last hill and then got my PR on it. As for the other rides the Monday ride is with the DIRT group and is a good one as the pace is at 2.3 – 2.5 w/kg so encourages me to slow down but still have to be conscience of it as like most rides on Zwift usually someone or a group want to go faster. Then I have also added in a Thursday DIRT ride that is a little faster but still a good way to control my pace.
For running it was week two of Hill Repeats and Fartlek. This week I did the Hill workout on Wednesday afternoon which made for a harder day as in the morning I did the tempo ride on Zwift. I had put off the hills till Wednesday so as to get a little more rest after the KGC race the past Saturday so just went with a harder day after more rest. This week I did a harder hill and the length run was longer at about 0.22 miles up and pretty steep in places. Basic workout was to warmup 5+ miles then run 8 repeats by running up at a controlled pace then waling and running back to start. After all 8 I then ran about 2 mile cool down for a little over 11 miles. Then did not run Thursday and decided on running my Fartlek, as planned on Friday but did it in the morning. One thing with faster workouts in the AM is just getting moving and it was no difference on this workout. While it was cooler it was indeed very humid. Ran about 1 mile easy warmup, is a slow mile as it is up the hill I did repeats on, then ran the first section hardish for a half mile then alternated lengths once again finishing with 7 roughly 10 second strides over about 3.4 miles with a 1 mile cool down. Considering the start was up hill and easy and also took the downhill to finish easy the fact I finished at around8:08/mile is pretty good – well I thought it was.
While I did cut back on riding miles my running miles were back up to where they were before last week. I was still a little tired from KGC and the miles leading up to it so this was a good week of getting in the needed workouts as well as some rest. Now to move on to week 3 of the hill phase as well as upping my riding miles this coming week
Weekly Totals:
- Running Miles – 27.8 Miles
- Running Time – 4:08 Hours
- Riding Miles – 162.7 Miles
- Riding Time – 7:14 Hours
- Total Miles – 190.5 Miles
- Total Time – 11:22 Hours
Week of August 17 – 23, 2020
Well not a great week and not lots of riding and running this week. Monday I did an easy 55 miles on Zwift and felt tired but a little better after the ride. Then in the afternoon I did a hill workout on Monday in what was not all that hot at 85F but was a little humid such that it made the run harder. This his workout was the one I did two weeks ago where I focused on form using two different hills so the effort was not hard but, again, the heat made it harder. Then on Tuesday I rode another easy 45 keeping my HR at under 115 and mostly under that as well. Then in the afternoon I ran 6 miles and while not humid it again was warm out but run felt fine but did notice a little bit of a stuffy nose but as I have mentioned with the weather changes and the seasonal allergies seemed about par for the course. Wednesday I did the usual BMTR ride with a warmup then doing the ride at a tempo pace and while having some computer issues still got in a good ride but for sure as feeling tired as did not sleep well the last few nights.
As I spoke of above, after the Wednesday morning ride I decided to put off the afternoon run and see how I felt on Thursday. Then I woke up Thursday morning for a planned easy ride but was very tired and decided was best to not run and then this extended to not running that afternoon or Friday. I had a long ride planned, outside if the weather was good and on Zwift if not so good, for my birthday but when Saturday came I got up and just was not feeling it so went back to bed and slept for quite awhile so guess I needed it. I did feel much better on Sunday so went for a run in the afternoon and while my nose was still stuffy and had a slight sinus headache I did feel fine on an easy 5,5+ mile run. Not the week I wanted but as I often say “it was the week I got.”
So, now to regroup for the next week as will probably redo my schedule, see below and shorten my rides and make all my runs easy. I did have a TT planned for this coming Tuesday but just to make sure I get the rest I need will end up passing on it even though I would really like to do it and probably could, but it would not be the best for me at this time. I will also see how I feel with regards to Wednesday’s tempo ride and ride easy and shorter on Thursday. Then as I head off to CA for work for some time will get ready for that.
Weekly Totals:
- Running Miles – 22.1 Miles
- Running Time – 3:11 Hours
- Riding Miles – 164 Miles
- Riding Time – 7:13 Hours
- Total Miles – 186.1 Miles
- Total Time – 10:24 Hours
Diet Notes:
See below for Weekly ride fueling
Weekly Fueling – August 10-16:
Monday: AM Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life – During Ride – 2 -24oz of plain water - After ride had SFuels Revival
Monday: PM Run – About 4 hours after lunch and no fueling on the run
Tuesday: AM: Run – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life
Wednesday: AM Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream W/ 1 Scoop SFuels Life During Ride - 24oz of Water - After ride had SFuels Revival
Wednesday: PM Run - About 4 hours after lunch and no fueling on the run
Thursday: AM Ride: Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life – During Ride - 48oz of Water - After ride had SFuels Revival
Friday: AM Run – Ate lunch about 4 hours before run – nothing during run
Weekly Fueling - August 17-23:
Monday: AM Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life – During Ride – 1 -24oz of plain water - After ride had SFuels Revival
Monday: PM Run – About 4 hours after lunch and no fueling on the run
Tuesday: AM Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life – During AM Ride – 1 -24oz of plain water - After ride had SFuels Revival
Tuesday: PM Run – About 4 hours after lunch and no fueling on the run
Wednesday: AM Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream W/ 1 Scoop SFuels Life During Ride - 24oz of Water and 24oz of water with SFuels Train - After ride had SFuels Revival
The Week Ahead:
See revised plan below for the coming week as other than maybe the TT on Tuesday I am cutting back for this week and all workouts will be at an easier pace.
So now we are seeing races for 2021 canceled - Big Sur Marathon canceled until at least 2022. I am thinking some of this comes from the uncertainty states have with their rules and people are now fearful of promoting races they have to spend money on then may have to cancel or postpone and people then want refunds.
Interesting - how many are wearing Nike's when sponsored by other companies - hard to blame some people when you are talking seconds
Once again an article that conflates Keto and LCHF. While Keto is LCHF, LCHF is not necessarily Keto. Also, this does not deal with the fact that most who race that are LCHF use carbs, to some extent, to race as the goal is metabolic flexibility. These study's also fall short as usual, by testing at shorter distances. Also, as is alluded to the move to LCHF is not only done as a boost to endurance performances but for ones overall health which should be the most important.
The Pre Chronicles - Part 17 on 75' Indoors. Links to past parts of this series at the end of this article
Sondre Moen breaks the European Hour Record on the track only to lose it as his shoes did not meet the new shoe rules which made the height of the shoe less for track races than road
Local, to Kentucky, Races and Events
(If you have a race in the area, including surrounding states, let me know and I will post about it)
Running groups are a great way to get to know people but also a great way to help you progress and get out and run. If you are in the Elizabethtown KY area check out the Running Soles Group and if you are closer to Campbellsville check out the Campbellsville Running Club. Have another local running group in KY let me know and I will list it.
The Lake Cumberland 1/2 Marathon (Somerset, KY) has gone virtual and thus you have from August 1st till Sept 12th to complete the distance
The 45(ish) mile Breaks Ultra will take place Sept 12th DATE CHANGED TO NOV 8th - as of now the race has permission to take place
If you want to check out a great trail but do not want to do an ultra try the Rugged Red Half Marathon in the Red River Gorge, KY on Sept 26, 2020 - Register here - No registration yet - decision to be made after July 15th. - NOTE, as of 6/30/20 this race has been canceled and made a virtual race
Training Thoughts:
I want to focus more on the Kentucky Gravel Championships (KGC) here and then add some thoughts on my first week of focused work as I moved to the Hill Phase of my training.
To say I am underprepared for gravel racing, especially what might be called “Enhanced Gravel, is an understatement. The reason for the term “Enhanced” is simply to say that while some sections of the course are your standard gravel roads like you might find elsewhere there are those sections that really made more for mountain bikes and not gravel bikes even though were a number of us that went that route. Not sure about others but my reason for my choice is that it is the only off-road bike I have. As far as my preparedness for gravel, of any kind, other than a couple rides where there were maybe 2-3 miles of gravel the last time I rode gravel of any real measure was at last years KGC.
Funny part is there are parts of this course that I obsessed on knowing the technical aspects they had. The first was the Indian Ridge Descent as it gets rutted due to the rain and makes for some changing of lines and with skinnier tires for me, maybe not for others, is a challenge. Then there is the end of the downhill that gets pretty washed out and last year I bailed on it. Well, I did much better this year being about 2:30 faster but still bailed near the end allowing quite a few people to pass me but all in all better. The second area was one I had not ridden before in the direction we went this year as last year we went up Carpenter Ridge, so I knew the section as I had to walk up it last year was going to be a pretty steep downhill, and so it was. Once again I bailed and walked down as was not sure I was ready to let loose on it as once you get going it is hard to slow down. Once again got passed by many I had caught up with on the previous climb and those I had put some time on so when turned on the new section, Raccoon Creek Rd, I had to work hard to make up some time. The third area that is hard not to forget is Horse Lick road and all its mud. I mean lots of mud and a haven for 4 wheelers and side by sides of which there were many out this year. Funny part is when I got to this section I realized it is not just the mud that is an issue but also the rocks on the parts that are not muddy. This year I got there and shaved about 7 minutes off but was way slower than many others so again had to make up time I had gained on the roads and the less technical part of the course.
In all of this the general flow of the race was I would ride good on the flats and hills but when it went downhill significantly or got technical or overly muddy I lost all the time I made up. So it went for the day. I was glad I had gotten stronger with all the riding i had been doing lately as it sure did help when I was not wimping out on the sections I did not feel comfortable on. Also, the strength helped on the climbs as many are pretty steep and with gravel it is harder to ride with my gearing (34/50 X 11-32) which is a little steep and to keep it going you have to stay on top of the gear otherwise the wheel just start spinning. For example on Daughtry there is a really steep section and I was able to make it up without walking where I did not last year but actually had to walk a bit on the earlier part of the climb as I hit some gravel and just came to a stop and once stopped you have to walk/run it till you can get back on. The strength I have worked on riding thus did translate well to climbing since power is power and you need it when your gearing is not optimal.
I ended up with a time of 5:06 & 17th overall and 2nd in the 60+ category and then only by 4 minutes. Well over 4 minutes were lost on the downhills I had to walk but one thing I now regret was the last aid station at about 51 miles. I was not sure I had enough water so stopped to top things off but then realized I had plenty but spent about 5 minutes there let alone getting started again was slow. All that said my time for the course was about 24 minutes faster than last year and I think, and others seemed to agree, that the course was a little harder with more climbing and for me the trip down Carpenter was harder and slower.
Overall I am very happy with the race as it did show my training is working in that my strength was good and what failed me was my trail skills. That said I think I am a road racer at heart and the kind of gravel I think I would do better on is on the more tame roads that KGC did have, but not enough, and roads like at many other gravel races. I think gravel may end up with two distinct types of races, well I hope so, with some being simply road races on gravel roads and then the races that are a mix, or bridge, with MTB races like KGC. I say I would like to see it this way as I just like the idea of racing without the concern for cars, even though this year we did have to watch out for all the off-road vehicles that were out, and the less technical sections to deal with so falling on descents is not as likely to happen. Hope to get in some more rides before next years race but we shall see.
Equipment wise things held up great for all the rocks and rough downhills on the course. My Orbea Terra that I got from Mike Carrol at Grit Cycling worked great again. It is a little harsh on some really rough stuff but held up well. I used the Donnelly X'Plor MSO 700 X 40 tyres with 35PSI front and 36PSI rear mounted tubeless on Enve G23 wheels and no flats. I hit some rocks a few times that I was sure I would flat on and did not - thank you Lord. If I could I might like 42's but they will not fit my frame so 40's it is. So, other than lots of noises coming from the drive train and brakes near the end with all the mud on the bike it held up well. Might look to put on a 34 in the eyarfor next year but we shall see. While many have singe rings up front I know what I have is good for me right now as I need all I can on the more tame sections of the course.
See below for fueling for this 5 hour ride.
I also want to add that Keith of Boondoggle Events (FB Page) and Boondoggle Events (Web Site) did a great job on the race. I appreciate the work he did to make sure everyone was OK with the race going on with all the craziness around. We ended up doing a sort of TT start with groups of 5 being one minute apart. It worked well but was hard to tell where you were - the guy who won the 60+ started well behind me so never saw him so just had to ride hard, but I guess not hard enough. The riding hard at the end due to the unknown might be why, according to Strava, I was able to get into the top 3 for the last 5.6 mile segment that also included a sizable hill. Again a great ride and next years race is tentatively set for August 14th so join in the fun - Type 2 fun that is.
Now on to more running related thoughts. This week I moved into the Hill Phase of my Lydiard plan for running a good 5K the beginning of November. Probably should have started a week later with the KGC this week as a Hill Repeat and Fartlek sessions in the same week as a race was probably not the best taper plan. Oh, well it is what it is and other than my legs being a little tired it did not affect the race all that negatively. The hill work went well and as I will mention below was all done aerobically, even if at the top end of being aerobic. The Fartlek session was a little harder than planned but went well. I did not try to keep any particular pace but just worked to feel faster than normal and keep my form. The Fartlek session did show I have some work to do and the good part is that in the next 3 week I am hoping this will bring things together. The beauty is that hill work, due to it being more about form and strength, and Fartlek, which introduces some speed, all works to build towards the next phase where intervals are introduced.
As a whole this was a great week and does show my training is going the right way. The coming week is to be a little lower on riding miles, if I do not do a long ride Saturday. As I am heading to CA for work for the month of September my riding mileage will drop some that month due to time and not having my trainer with me but most likely my running will be a little more and just have to be careful how I increase it. I will also need to work when I am there on where to do my intervals but will work that out when I get there.
Overview of Weeks Runs and Rides:
As I moved into the Hill Phase of my training that aims for a good 5K the beginning of November the one conflict was with doing the KGC this week. While I should probably have just tapered and put off the hill repeats and fartlek till next week, I did not. I do think it may have affected me some as I did have some deadness in my legs in that while my energy levels were pretty good considering the course my legs were a little less peppy.
For the week I did a Hill session on Monday, did a 50 mile ride in the AM, that entailed a 4 mile warmup then using two shorter hills of about 0.1 miles each. I did each hill 3 times by going up one hill and doing more of a high knee form run up the hill. Then rested by running to the bottom of the next hill, about .33 miles from bottom of first hill, and then turning around and doing more of a bounding workout up that hill then rested by going back to where I started. I then cooled down 2 miles for a little over 8 miles for this workout. The repeats were, again, more to focus on strength and from so were not anaerobic at all. Was a good workout and sort of fun getting back to more intentional workouts.
The next change in training was to do a Fartlek (Swedish for Speed Play) workout on Thursday. For this the plan was a 1 mile warmup and cooldown with the middle section having a mix of short and longer speedier sections. The faster sections were not to be all out but at the higher range of aerobic work. The mix of sections was as follows: 0.5 mile, 0.25 mile, 0.4 mile, 0.4 miles and then finished up with 7 strides of about 10 seconds each. All in all a good start as did see some speed but also see the need to work on it more but within the context of the plan. The other run of the week was an easy 5 miler in the morning.
Riding wise I did lower the mileage for the mid-week in preparation for the KGC on Saturday and while having a couple faster paced group rides on Zwift they were controlled and felt good. I shared above about the KGC this week but would add that I want to look at ways to integrate bike riding into not just endurance work but for hill workouts, fartlek and intervals. While I think since I am focusing on a 5K in November most of those workouts need to be done running I do think I can get some benefit from a session or two on the bike.
All in all, a good week and a good race at the end of the week. If I did it again without a focus on an upcoming running 5K I would have delayed the Fartlek and hills till after the race but that was not how things landed so there you have it. So, next year if I do the KGC I will make sure to be a little more rested.
Weekly Totals:
- Running Miles – 19.1 Miles
- Running Time – 2:42 Hours
- Riding Miles – 214.7 Miles
- Riding Time – 11.18 Hours
- Total Miles – 233.28 Miles
- Total Time – 14:53 Hours
Diet Notes:
See below for Weekly ride fueling
Weekly Fueling:
Monday: AM Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life – During Ride – 2 -24oz of plain water - After ride had SFuels Revival
Monday: PM Run – About 4 hours after lunch and no fueling on the run
Tuesday: AM: Run – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life –
Wednesday: AM Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream W/ 1 Scoop SFuels Life During Ride - 24oz of Water and one banana - After ride had SFuels Revival
Thursday: AM Ride: Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life – During Ride - 48oz of Water
Thursday: PM Run – Ate lunch about 5 ours before run – nothing during run
Saturday’s Ride Fueling
Started out with a vest with a 70oz bladder with a mix of SFuels Train and Race+ and also two 24 oz water bottles. I did carry some extra SFuels Race+ on packets as well as a Vespa, Salt capsules, and a couple gels. As the start was cooler at 65F did not even need to drink for the first 10 miles. I passed on the first aid station at 24 miles and then at about 35 I topped off my water bottles but needed very little. Coming to the last aid station at 51 miles I contemplated not stopping, as stated above I should have passed on it, but did stop to make sure I was good for the last 11 miles but also found I needed very little water and with the lay of the land did not take in much in the last 11 miles. I did take a gel at the last stop just to be ready for the last two climbs. Looking back I did make a couple mistakes in that I forgot to take my Altred, salt capsules, but as it was not as hot as usual was probably not an issue, and the Vespa at about half way which I wish I had not forgotten as the Vespa and Altred does seem to help. With all this I did pretty well and finished strong and based on the Strava segment stats I was the 3rd fastest in the last 5.6 miles what I was pleased with. I do think I was a little dehydrated based on my urine color but not as bad as it has been in the past in races when I tend to either forget to drink or drink too much. As my HR was at an avg of 138 with a high of 155 by not using a lot of carbs - but did use them - I can say fat was the main fuel.
Pre-Ride Fueling:
- Coffee with Coconut Oil and Butter, Collagen, Heavy Cream (399.5/3.6) & 1 Scoop SFuels-Life
- 1 SFuels Bar
-1ea Vespa
-1ea Altred
- Also use AMPHuman PR Lotion - Total: 647.5 Cals & 23.6 gr Carbs
Ride Fueling;
- 1ea of 70oz Bladder with 4 scoops of SFuels Train and 2 SFuels Race+, drank about 75%
- 2ea of 24oz of SFuels Race+ (100/15) – Drank 75% of it
- 1 Maurten 100 Gel - Totals: 550 Calories – 73 gr Carbs
-Totals for Pre and During Ride: 1197.5 Calories – 96.6 gr Carbs
The Week Ahead:
This week the initial plan per my Hill Phase schedule is less riding mileage, at around 150 miles, and a little more running, at 25 miles. As I found out this week that I will be heading back to CA for work the end of the month I may do a longer ride on Saturday when I had non e scheduled and then take the weekend off next week to leave time to get things done before I leave. As with this past week I will have one hill workout and one fartlek workout similar to this week. One difference is the hill I may use it a little steeper and will do ¼ mile repeats on it, 8 total. For the Fartlek I will use basically the same course as it seem to work. For riding it will be similar to this week less the race on Saturday, but may ride longer.
There is a connection between Optimized Fat Metabolism (OFM) and dealing with our health in general to be the best we can be in these wacky times - Peter shares some ideas about what we can do NOW
Local, to Kentucky, Races and Events
(If you have a race in the area, including surrounding states, let me know and I will post about it)
Running groups are a great way to get to know people but also a great way to help you progress and get out and run. If you are in the Elizabethtown KY area check out the Running Soles Group and if you are closer to Campbellsville check out the Campbellsville Running Club. Have another local running group in KY let me know and I will list it.
The Lake Cumberland 1/2 Marathon (Somerset, KY) has gone virtual and thus you have from August 1st till Sept 12th to complete the distance
The 45(ish) mile Breaks Ultra will take place Sept 12th - as of now the race has permission to take place
If you want to check out a great trail but do not want to do an ultra try the Rugged Red Half Marathon in the Red River Gorge, KY on Sept 26, 2020 - Register here - No registration yet - decision to be made after July 15th. - NOTE, as of 6/30/20 this race has been canceled and made a virtual race
Training Thoughts:
Before I get into where I will be going training wise I want to share a little on the last month. My riding mileage was well above anything I have done in quite some time, see below for the totals, and at one point in the month was over 1500 miles for the previous 30 days. While I know I used to do much more, but that was many-many years ago, this was still a good amount especially since I also ran 120 miles. Best of all I came out of this with no injuries and while tired still feeling good. We shall see how this translates with regards to my base but I figure it can do nothing but help it. I am more convinced than ever that the mix of riding and running for me, and would be for many, is a great way to get fit and stay healthy. As I allude to some below I still need to work out some specifics with regards to hard days and alternating riding and running so that I get the best benefit from both. The danger of thinking of the two disciplines separately is that you can fall into, and I have, the trap of doing too many hard days by not seeing the interaction of the two disciplines. So that needs to be worked out but so far so good.
As I move into the Hill Phase of my preparation for a 5K in November I have laid out the next 4 weeks. Usually I would not have a race like the Kentucky Gravel Championships tucked in the mix but that is just how it works out so will work it in. I guess in some way it will just be my long ride for the day with lots of hills as well. Below I will put up the rough draft of the workouts for the next 4 weeks and the mileage will for sure be less than the last 5-6 weeks. Also, as I head to the end of the month I am not sure if I have to travel yet for work as it is planned but with al that is going on not sure it will happen.
Basically I will have 2 hardish runs a week with one being a hill workout of some sort and the other being a Fartlek workout. With regards to riding most will be easy with the one sort of tempo ride being the BMTR Mid-Week ride I do on Wednesday’s. It can be a hard ride depending on the course but usually not all out. The rest of the rides and runs are to be easy and just to keep the legs moving.
The idea with the hill work is not so much like doing intervals uphill but more like plyometrics with a focus on form and strength. Basic idea for this round will be to do a 3 mile warmup then a number of repeats of bounding and strides uphill with the focus on lifting the knees and staying relaxed. This will be followed by a 3 mile cool down.
For the Fartlek, Swedish for s"peed play", the idea is to run a regular route but factor in some speed section so that they are a mix of long and short efforts where some may come close to anaerobic but more for the shorter ones and others closer to tempo pace on longer efforts. The idea here is to simply change it up and have fun while getting in a less stressful form of interval – as intervals are to come later.
In looking at my schedule my riding is more of a supplement to the running in that it will be adding aerobic work that will be less stress on my foot. I think in the future I may look at alternating hill reps on the bike with running but not sure I will do it this time as need to look at that more. In this cycle I do have one long ride scheduled as it will complete my 16th 100 miler this year and will have to see how next month goes since I go to CA for work what I do will depend on the craziness going on there but we shall see. I know my mid-week mileage will drip if I am in CA as I do not have a trainer so will need to focus on longer weekend rides.
The following is a screen shot of the plan I have for the next 4 weeks and once done I will update the plan with what I actually did to see how well it worked out.
Overview of Weeks Runs and Rides:
This week was the start of a taper in that I did less riding miles but in that still had some hard workouts. Riding wise I simply rode less miles on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday than I had in the past weeks with Wednesday still being about a 70 mile morning with the usual BMTR Mid-Week ride. Monday was an easy 50 miler and then Tuesday was an easy warmup then a good paced climb in a Zwift race that took in a good climb in a 20 mile ride. Then on Thursday did an easy AM ride then did some intervals Thursday PM. Sunday afternoon just went out for an easy ride to do a few local gravel roads and then finished on a gravel climb that Strava shows having section at between 16-21% grade. Ended up with the KOM but actually stopped short of the top so can do better.
Running - I ran a 10+ miler on Tuesday afternoon and as it was cooler, yes 85F and cloudy this time of year is cooler, started out easy/relaxed then kept a pretty good pace. Ended up averaging 8:05/mile but last 7+ miles were all sub 8:00/mile and felt pretty good. The rest of the runs were slower as it was warm but did go a little faster on Thursday second run in the afternoon.
I had not done this in some time but Thursdays workouts ended up being a ride in the morning followed by a run and then repeated that in the afternoon. The afternoon workout felt good as did an interval workout on the bike by doing 6 X 4min @ 105% of FTP (used my Zwift Power est of 297 as a baseline so aimed for 304 watts but need to do a real FTP test some day) with 2 minutes rest while working to stay at 80-100 RPM, I was closer to the 80. After the ride whet out and did a 3.2 mile run relaxed and averaged 8:14/mile and felt good.
Weekly Totals:
- Running Miles – 26.8 Miles
- Running Time – 3:47 Hours
- Riding Miles – 235.5 Miles
- Riding Time – 11:05 Hours - Total Miles – 262.3 Miles - Total Time – 14:53 Hours
July Totals
- Running Miles – 120.7 Miles
- Running Time – 17:36:07 Hours
- Riding Miles – 1445.8 Miles
- Riding Time – 68:38:01 Hours - Total Miles – 1566.5 Miles - Total Time – 86:14:08 Hours
Diet Notes:
See below for Weekly ride fueling - as an aside if you want to try any of the SFuels products you can use this link or use the code TonyK5. I am have worked with SFuels for about 2 years and the products are great and to be up front am also an affiliate so not only do you get a discount I get a small amount which at the end of the day will just go back into running and riding supplies.
Weekly Fueling:
Monday: Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life – During Ride – 2 -24oz of plain water - After ride had SFuels Revival
Tuesday: AM: Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life – During Ride – 1 - 24oz of plain water - After ride had SFuels Revival
Tuesday: PM Run: Lunch 4 hours before run and nothing on run
Wednesday: Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream W/ 1 Scoop SFuels Life During Ride - 24oz of Water with SFuels Train & 1 24oz plain water - After ride had SFuels Revival
Wednesday: PM Run - Had Lunch about 4 hours before run and nothing on run
Thursday: AM Ride: Pre Ride – Cup of Coffee with Heavy Cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life – During Ride - 48oz of Water
Thursday AM Run: Ran right after ride - After run had SFuels Revival
Thursday: PM Ride – Ate lunch about 5 ours before ride – did have a piece of dried mango – 1ea 24 oz of water during ride
Thursday: PM Run – Right after ride and nothing on run
Sunday Ride: After lunch just before easy ride and just a little water on ride
The Week Ahead:
Will for sure be cutting miles riding this week as will probably end up at about 200 miles but 60+ of that will come from the Kentucky Gravel Championships on Saturday. With regards to running I will be adding in some hill work as I start the next phase in my progression towards a 5K in November but will be cutting miles some to make sure legs are fresh for Saturdays gravel rave. This week is a little strange as usually in the Hill Phase I would not be racing but that is just how things have worked out. Once through this week will have one more lower week on riding miles and then get into the flow of the phases I am going to get ready for the 5K
Training Thoughts:
