A Good Swim

I just got back from the YMCA where I had a very enjoyable swim. As part of my effort to build up to triathlon swim distances, I've been following the Zero to One Mile program. The program is designed to take you to swimming a mile without stopping for rest in six weeks. Since I wanted to get in more swimming in the first couple weeks, I've been doing the suggest program followed by some additional swimming with somewhat longer rest periods (hereafter, short commercial breaks).

Tonight was a very pleasant night for swimming. It's raining and cold which makes it a fairly lousy night for running and since I rode the bike last night, I didn't want to jump on the trainer. I swam a total of 2,500 yards in 55 minutes. Thus far it's both the longest distance I've done and the lowest average time per 100 yards. Overall it broke down as:
200x4 on 12 breath rest (in other words, swim 200 yards, stop to breathe for 12 breaths, then repeat three more times)
100x4 on 8 breath rest
50x4 on 4 breath rest
Short commercial break...
400x1
Short commercial break...
600x1
100x1

It was, overall, a very satisfying night of swimming. Tomorrow is the weekly rest day so I won't be doing anything (other than shooting pool in the Thursday night league). Friday I should be back to running, probably in the morning or at lunch given other commitments. Good times...

New Bike & Training

I bought a new road bike right around a month ago. I have a nice mountain bike which is great for riding trails, dirt roads, etc. but it isn't really designed for high speed travel on roads and paved trails. This is my new Cannondale Synapse Carbon 5. It's an all Carbon frame with a Shimano 105 component set. It's a triple crank with a 10 gear cassette, theoretically making it a 30 speed. That said, one of the fun facts that isn't often advertised is that while many bikes will have 21, 27, or 30 speeds, not all of those are advisable for use... generally crossing from the big ring on the front to the big ring on the back is a bad idea, it stretches the chain.


It's an outstanding ride and I've been having quite a good time on it. I went out Saturday and had a great 17 mile ride in absolutely perfect weather. My hope is that by next summer I've built up enough endurance to ride it up to Grand Rapids on a weekend.

On a related note, the triathlon training continues and is going fairly well. I'm finally feeling the endurance gains and can notice a discernable increase in my ability to keep going without feeling like death warmed over. I went swimming tonight and completed a 2,100 yard swim in just under an hour (not all at once, the longest set was 500 yards). For those interested, and so I can come back and look at it again in the future, here's the current log of training volumes for the last few weeks. I was sick the week of 9/21 and part of 9/21 which is why the volumes there were so poor. Under my current plan I'll average between six and ten hours a week for the next twelve weeks or so. That should put me on target for a sprint and Olympic triathlon next year. Ironman, should I decide to pursue such insanity, would require a dramatically higher volume of training ;)

WMU Campus Classic

Last week Saturday I completed my first 5K race since childhood. The WMU Campus Classic is run Homecoming weekend every year on Western Michigan University's campus. The campus itself is what a PR person would call "rolling" and what a runner calls "really darn hilly".

A group of people from work were all running the race which was nice. My parents also came down to Kalamazoo to be the cheering section and provide run-side support (thank you both!). Running around campus was great though it was odd to see all the changes since graduation. Several buildings have been completely replaced and the student center has undergone some huge renovations. The old bowling alley is now the bookstore - Textbook Alley.

Since I've only recently started running I wasn't in the best shape for a race. In fact, I ran 5K in training, punctuated by some walking, for the first time two days before the race in 37:37. I definitely could have used a bit more time to prepare but I'm very glad I ran it. I managed to complete the race without walking, even on the terrible, terrible hill next to the Sindecuse Health Center. I'm thinking that it's not a coincidence that the health center is situated next to the killer hill...

I finished the race in 30:54, running just under ten minute miles. Since my goal was to finish, ideally under 34 minutes, I'm very happy with the result. It also gives me a good baseline that I can improve on. I'm hoping to run another 5K this fall and cut at least three minutes off that time. Online race results are available here.