Q1 daily workout time: frequency distribution

 Thought it would be interesting to put together the daily workout time frequency distribution for the 91 days of Q1--not surprisingly, it looks like a Bell curve:

The mean, mode and median are all pretty similar:

Mean: 4:02

Median: 4:00

Mode: 4:00-4:29

Further, about 75% of my daily workout time falls between 3-5 hours.  My shortest daily training was 1:18 on January 14th (a pre-dawn 5.2-mile (15 below) walk in Minnesota before flying to Philadelphia.  My longest was 6:04 on March 3rd, which was not that unusual of a day except I rode 48 miles that day and walked 5.8 miles.....

Week 13/March/Q1-2024

 The highlight of week 13 was trip down to Shenandoah National Park and a couple days of hiking.  This led to a bunch of relatively slow "walking" as we navigated the terrain and all the vertical (plus backpack weight).  As a consequence, week 13 had the highest total training time of any of my weeks this year so far:

Swim: 4,500 yards

Bike: 203 miles

Walk/Run: 26 miles

Weights/PT/Stretch: 5:00

Total Training Time: 31:14

Here is a look back at the first quarter of 2024:

Swim

My principal objective with my swimming is to ramp my volume enough that by the time open water swimming starts (around Memorial Day) I want to be comfortable with 10,000+ yards/week.  MY biggest week to date was 9,000 yards (week 10) and have been steadily increasing the monthly and average daily volume as well as increasing the frequency of my swimming workouts.  I'm well on track to being ready for open water swimming in May:

Bike

My approach to the bike during the first three months has been to put a bunch of steady Z1/Z2 miles in without a lot of concern about either intensity or the length of my long rides.  Most of my rides are around 30 miles or so and are indoors on my trainer.  My volume has generally been flat over the first three months as I've put my bike training into basic, easy base/foundation setting mode. In April, I plan to migrate some of my rides outside, add some intensity, and begin to push a longer ride (50+ miles) every 7-10 days or so.  

Walk/Run

I'm very pleased with the progress here, especially given my total knee replacement on 11/30/22.  I've been slowly ramping the frequency of my walk/runs, my average length of these efforts, my total walk/run volume, and in March, beginning to run more and to migrate upwards to high Z2/low Z3 intervals.

PT/Stretch/Weights

I've put a lot of effort into this component of my fitness since last October.  As I've begun to add SBR volume/training time I've found that my time in this category has begun to modestly decline.  My expectations are for this to continue in April/May and then to fall off pretty dramatically as summer arrives in June....

Total Training Time

I started the year hitting significant average training time each day, right from the get-go.  I expected that I might have to back off a bit but for the most part, my body seems to be comfortably absorb what is a historically high amount of weekly training.  My monthly, weekly, and daily training time averages have been slowly increasing and in march exceeded 4 hours/day for the first time.  I have yet to miss a day of training this year (not recommended).  I would expect my training volume to level off and perhaps decline as I add more intensity across the SBR disciplines and begin to ratchet back my PT/strength training.

Overall, I feel strong and I'm continuing to be quite motivated to keep on, keeping on....onwards and upwards!

Week 12/Further Review and Progress on Aerobic Threshold Intervals/New Max HR test

Week 12 was mostly BAU but I did take a "mostly rest day" on Saturday this week:

Swim: 7,500 yards

Bike: 221 miles

Run/Walk: 22.5 miles

PT/Weights: 5:45

Total Training Time: 27:42

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Yesterday (3/24) I completed my 5th AeT run interval session.  This time I increased my work/rest ratio from 1:1 to 3:1 by going to a 0.25-mile walk followed by a 0.75-mile run (trying to keep below my AeT, which turns out to be 145bpm--see below) and repeating three times.  I also found a flaw in my report on session 4 below but I was able to reconstruct my average HR/pace for the work sessions.

In session 4, I did 4X (0.5-mile walk/0.5-mile run).  Here are the corrected 4 run splits:

Session 4 (0.5-mile repeats)

1: 10:08@132bpm

2: 10:42@139 bpm

3: 10:52@ 136bpm

4. 9:58@ 136bpm

Based on this updated data and my new max HR test (see below), I concluded I could probably go faster and go longer for Session 5.  In session 5 I did 3X (0.25-mile walk/0.75-mile run):

Session 5 (0.75-mile repeats)

1: 9:20@ 127bpm

2: 9:51@ 138bpm

3: 11:08@ 144bpm

I think what the data from session 5 is telling me is:

--  I continue to get faster at my AeT (or below).  The first two intervals were my fastest and the fact that I was doing 3/4 mile repeats indicates that I'm getting better at buffering lactic acid at my AeT.

--  I lack some elements of endurance given the dramatic fall-off in interval 3.  I felt good during the interval but I just couldn't bring my HR down even with the much slower pace.  This really isn't a surprise as my cumulative running distance this year is around 12/13 miles, with 5 coming just in this week.

I was contemplating doing 4 intervals to push up to 3 miles of interval work but after the 3rd interval recognized I was done as far as AeT intervals go for this session.

Then, and this may not have been the smartest thing to do, I decided after walking for 0.5-miles that I would do a max HR test by running a 1/2-mile run with the first part being at or near Z4 and then really push, especially over the last 100-200 yards to see how high I could get my HR.

I ended up doing the 1/2-mile test in 4:16 or about at a 8:33/mile pace.  My average HR lept up to 165bpm and I managed to peak out at a max HR of 179bpm, which I gather is unusual for a 66-yo, but hey if I'm anything, its unusual!

Anyways based on this new max HR, I now have my 5 training zones at:

Z1: 98-116bpm

Z2: 117-144

Z3: 145-157

Z4: 158-167

Z5: 168+

Onwards and upwards!

Week 11/Once a Runner...maybe again?

 Stayed on the path (in week 11) that I've been pursuing so far in 2024:

Swim: 6,000 yards

Bike: 236 miles

Walk/Run: 27.5 miles

PT (weights/stretching): 3:10

Total training time: 27:37

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The biggest news is the progress I've made as I've begun to pretend I'm a runner again ("Once a Runner"--best running book of all time!).  Specifically, I've begun doing 2 (in practice)-3 (goal) AeT threshold interval workouts/week.  By AeT, I mean Aerobic Threshold or "High Aerobic" workouts.  Typically, in a 5 level intensity structure, this means high Zone 2.

I've put in hours and hours of work in Zone 1--Low Aerobic.  I have a big endurance base now and am very fat adapted at that low intensity level.  I can go all day walking at 16-17 min/mile.  Now I'm trying to transition towards running again and see what my body can do post knee replacement.  I've concurrently built up the strength in my left leg and increased my range of motion in the new knee such that its very comparable to my natural, right knee.

So High Zone 2 means I need to try to keep my HR below 140bpm or so--this is about 80% of my max HR of 175.  So in practice, when I run my intervals, as I see my HR start to reach 140, I slow down.  Over time, I'm hoping to see my pace and the distance I can hold it both increase at this limit.  I'm basically trying to get better at keeping my lactic acid under control as I start to get faster.

I've now completed 4 of these workouts.  The first one was kinda a disaster as I couldn't keep my HR down but I've seen some relatively quick adaptations.  Below is how my 3rd and 4th sessions (these were 4 X (walk 0.5 miles/run 0.5 miles)) went:

The pace is my per mile speed for the 1/2-mile run intervals.  The average HR is for both the walk 1/2-mile and the run 1/2-mile in each interval.  Max is how high my HR got during the run.  I plan to set my Garmin to do 0.5-mile intervals so I can isolate my average HR while I'm running.

Obviously, this data is very encouraging (and also reenforces just how slow my running is right now).  I'm not sure if I really believe the 4th interval (yesterday).  It says I was running 1:30/mile faster at a considerably lower HR.  In reality, I don't think there was that much progress, but clearly I'm running faster at the same or lower HR--just what this training is supposed to cause!  Also, subjectively, I felt better/faster with each of the 4 intervals yesterday and could have definitely added at least one more.  So I'm both getting faster at threshold and beginning to build a little bit more muscular endurance.

Onwards and Upwards!

10 WEEKS IN!

 Hard to believe we are almost 20% of the way through 2024!  

Last week was unusual as Judy and I spent it in Turks and Caicos and then Naples, Florida enjoying a nice vacation.  Training wise, this led to some nice outdoor swimming, both in a pool and in open water--a real nice change of pace and this led to a 9,000 yard Swim week--my highest of the year.  I was able to string 8 swim days in a row and 11 out of 12.  Not long sessions yet, but the frequency is really helping With my technique and my 100 times are now starting to drop into the low 1:50s on my longer swim sets.  Not fast by any stretch of the imagination, but heading in the right direction.

My bike volume was low as I eased back a bit during this past week--214.5 miles, the second lowest week this year.  My run/walk was also similarly cur back a bit and came in at 23 miles.

The biggest change last week was no gym time and consequently no PT/weights for week 10.  

Here is a summary of how the first 10 weeks have unfolded:

The table above is conditionally formatted and the larger weeks in each column are shaded towards green and smaller weeks shaded towards red.

I started introducing some high Z2/lowZ3 running into what has predominately been walking as I begin to explore how far I can evolve my run with my new knee--more on that next week!

Week 9/February/Busy Building Base

 A bit belated but here is what happened last week (week 9), which was spent mostly in Minnesota:

Swim: 5,050 yards

Bike: 224 miles

Walk/Run: 32.6 miles

Other: 3 hours

Total Time: 27:55

Minny limited my swim/PT to 0 hours from Monday-Thursday.  When I returned to DE I jammed in 3 pretty big days (5:28/4:40/6:04).  That last day, Sunday the 3rd was my first 6+ hour training day of 2024.

January and February look like this:

Swim: Jan: 17,500 yards;  Feb: 21,100 yards.  Beginning to ramp swim now.  Plan is to get to 30,000 yards or so in March.  My basic, overarching objective, swim-volume wise is to be able to comfortably handle 10,000+ yards/week by the time I pivot to predominately open-water swimming, which is usually around Memorial Day.  It doesn't seem like a big jump in February, but on a per day basis, Feb was up 29% vs. Jan.  Also compared to last year (post knee replacement) I'm way further ahead swim wise....

Bike: Jan: 1,046 miles;  Feb: 944 miles.  This is effectively the same volume/day (33.7 vs. 33.5 miles/day).  Last year I wasn't even able to tolerate biking until February so way ahead this year.  

RunWalk: Jan: 82.6 miles;  Feb: 100.2 miles.  Beginning to get my volume up where I want it to be.  Last year at this time I could only handle about 10 miles/week.  I plan to pivot to a bit more running as March rolls on by.

PT: Jan: 20:30;  Feb: 17:40. As I discussed in the previous post, I continue to invest a lot of time into flexibility/strength training--both months had a 5-day period in Minnesota where I couldn't do so.  Basically, most days I invest 1 hour or so into this Build Back project.

Total Time: Jan: 114:44; Feb: 111:46.  Pretty similar: 3:44/day in Jan and 3:51/day in Feb.

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All of this effort is predominately Zone 1--well below my Aerobic Threshold.  I clearly have a big Aerobic engine at this point as when I ride 17mph or so, my HR remains around 90bpm.  In March, I plan to climb up into Zone 2 for a portion of my training and try to get my speed up and then hopefully see my HR settle back down into relatively low numbers after the initial stress of introducing a bit more intensity.

Onwards and upwards!

Week 8/Back to Minny/The Build Back Project

Well, this morning finds me at the airport and heading back to Minnesota for the 5th time since last May.  Going to try help my brother sort out some of his medical issues.

From a training perspective it means a short day today and limited training resources for Mon-Thurs of the week coming up.  I'll walk (in what looks to be some pretty cold weather) and ride at a community rec center about 10 miles from our cabin.

The net of it will be a bit of a "rest" week next week, which arguably I could benefit from given my recent training load.  This past week, the 8th of the year, was probably the first week this year where I didn't have to travel for some or most of the week.  As a consequence, I put up the highest weekly totals (so far, this year) for my swim, PT/weights and total training time and my second biggest bike week:

Swim: 8,100 yards

Bike: 252 miles

Walk/Run: 20.4 miles

PT/Weights: 6:20

Total Training Time: 30:30

Admittedly, 30+ hours is considerably more training than I need/should do but I must admit I do feel very strong and with the very modest intensity of my training, I seem to be able to handle the volume I've been throwing at myself. 7 of the 8 weeks this year (and the last 6 in a row) have had at least 26 hours of training.

Now a big part of this is my Build Back Project.  This really started last October, when I came to the conclusion that my continuing post knee replacement limitations on my left leg were (at 10 months post-op) more a function of what happened to the leg before the surgery, rather than the surgery itself.  Over the 25+ years I've struggled with a deteriorating knee joint, my left leg atrophied and tightness and imbalances developed as a function of the mis-aligned nature of my knee joint--the later increasingly severe over the last 5-8 years.

In any event, I decided last October to begin specifically rebuilding my left leg and I took what I had learned when I was in post-op rehab and began working on strengthening (especially) my left leg and working very hard to increase its range of motion.  I also began working on a comprehensive weight-lifting/stretching routine that I really increased starting in January.  I put 20+ hours in the gym in January doing this focused rehab/strength work-outs and have continued aggressively into February.  This week, as I noted above, I went above 6 hours of this work.

I really think it's been a big success so far.  My range of motion on my left leg is probably 95% of my right at this point and I've greatly narrowed the relative strength differences between my two legs.  I look forward to measuring my actual L/R power output on my bike next month but am hoping to get my left to to 45-48% of my total power output (vs. 35% pre-surgery).  if I'm able to do this I should be a noticeably stronger/faster cyclist this year!

I just had my physical and over the last 2.5 years I've lost 1.5 pounds of muscle mass.  I was surprised by this as I know I've gained strength and added mass over the last 8 weeks--I can see it visually, in my left leg and my upper body and see the results as far as the weight/reps of the various weights I'm pushing.  I'm also up to 700+ sit-ups/week and 100+ push-ups.  I imagine my muscle mass loss prior to Build Back was actually a bit bigger than recorded here and is a reflection of the toll that the tail-end of my bad knee and then the replacement surgery placed on my body.  One the plus side, my body fat is now nearing 10% again so I actually feel reasonably fit from a body composition perspective--still need to work on high end speed of course.

Anyways, I do feel excellent, much stronger and more flexible than I've been in quite some time.  I do plan on continuing this Build Back Project through the end of May.  By then I would hope to have replaced my lost muscle mass and also dropped another few pounds to set me up for a robust athletic summer of swimming, biking, walking and running as well a bunch of fun races doing the same!

But for the week ahead, probably a good time to throttle back a bit....

Onwards and upwards!