My 2009 Mini-Training Camp is in the books, and boy was it a good one! This month was a banner training month for me. Once I wrapped up my exams and my work died down a bit I was really able to hit up VQ hard. It was like a winter break from school and work, except I didn't go anywhere, ha. It helped to clear out my brain of all the stressful stuff I've been dealing with and it was a nice change of pace.
Still, as my training camp wraps up, I know I won’t be able to train as much next month when school and work kick up again. I’m still looking for that consistency in my training. It’s just hard to get my training in when there are more urgent issues (like work and school) breathing down my neck.
Anyways, overall I’m pretty pleased with all the training I've done this month. I’m off to Tampa soon for the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day (Go NU!) so I’ll be taking a couple days off of training. Happy New Years!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tri Toys Wish List
Being the big tech geek that I am, I like to have technology in every aspect of my life, including my active life. I'm a big fan of fitness gadgets and own several high tech devices that help me train better and race faster. As with any other type of electronic gadgets, every year there are new models introduced into the market that are more advanced and sophisticated than the previous models. In the spirit of Christmas I thought I would put together a wish list of some cool new tri toys that I'm hoping someone will put under my Christmas tree this year.
Swim
I like to listen to my iPod while I train on the bike or on the run; music motivates me and helps me push my workout just a little bit harder. Unfortunately I can't take my iPod into the pool with me. But, with Finis's SwiMP3 player my boring pool workout days are done! The SwiMP3 is an MP3 player that works underwater! This fall Finis just released the SwiMP3.1G, their latest player with an increased memory capacity of 1GB. I can load it up with my favorite tunes and swim for hours! (Note: I can't actually swim for hours.)
Bike
Right now for my bike I have a Saris PowerTap SL. This little device sits on the rear wheel hub of my bike and measures the power output as I pedal. It lets me know exactly how much energy I'm exerting as I ride. This information is relayed up to a display unit on my handle bars so I can see it as I'm riding. During training I establish a baseline number that I then use to measure how hard I want to push myself during a race. It really lets me dial in my effort accurately and lets me know exactly where I'm at performance wise. Well, just this year they announced new advancements in power meter technology with the introduction of the Metrigear Vector Power Meter. This new meter not only measures your power, but it also measures the force vectors in every direction of your pedal stroke. This allows you to analyze your pedaling technique and find weak angles where you can improve your stroke. I personally have a weak upward pull in my stroke that I need to work on so this device would be perfect for me! Plus it's lighter and smaller than a PowerTap so it won't weight my bike down as much during a ride.
Run
For the run I definitely want Garmin's Forerunner 310XT. This GPS enabled watch collects distance, pace, heart rate and more. It's waterproof and can be worn throughout your entire race (unlike previous Forerunner models that could not be taken into the water). It's a bit on the big side for a sports watch, but it collects so much data that I think it will be worth it. Right now I have a Garmin Forerunner 50 but it doesn't have GPS and uses an accelerometer to determine distance. It's fairly accurate and is a good watch for casual runners but I have definitely outgrown it. It's GPS or nothing for me now!
I'll probably end up buying something like the SwiMP3 player this winter to get me through the boring pool workouts, and this spring I'll probably buy the Forerunner 310XT when it warms up enough to run outside consistently. The Metrigear power meter will probably have to wait a while... it's pretty expensive and I don't think I can justify the expense just yet. PowerTaps are pretty expensive too but I bought mine used from a friend so it wasn't that bad. I would probably buy a new bike first before I bought a new power meter, but that's a whole 'nother post!
Swim
I like to listen to my iPod while I train on the bike or on the run; music motivates me and helps me push my workout just a little bit harder. Unfortunately I can't take my iPod into the pool with me. But, with Finis's SwiMP3 player my boring pool workout days are done! The SwiMP3 is an MP3 player that works underwater! This fall Finis just released the SwiMP3.1G, their latest player with an increased memory capacity of 1GB. I can load it up with my favorite tunes and swim for hours! (Note: I can't actually swim for hours.)
Bike
Right now for my bike I have a Saris PowerTap SL. This little device sits on the rear wheel hub of my bike and measures the power output as I pedal. It lets me know exactly how much energy I'm exerting as I ride. This information is relayed up to a display unit on my handle bars so I can see it as I'm riding. During training I establish a baseline number that I then use to measure how hard I want to push myself during a race. It really lets me dial in my effort accurately and lets me know exactly where I'm at performance wise. Well, just this year they announced new advancements in power meter technology with the introduction of the Metrigear Vector Power Meter. This new meter not only measures your power, but it also measures the force vectors in every direction of your pedal stroke. This allows you to analyze your pedaling technique and find weak angles where you can improve your stroke. I personally have a weak upward pull in my stroke that I need to work on so this device would be perfect for me! Plus it's lighter and smaller than a PowerTap so it won't weight my bike down as much during a ride.
Run
For the run I definitely want Garmin's Forerunner 310XT. This GPS enabled watch collects distance, pace, heart rate and more. It's waterproof and can be worn throughout your entire race (unlike previous Forerunner models that could not be taken into the water). It's a bit on the big side for a sports watch, but it collects so much data that I think it will be worth it. Right now I have a Garmin Forerunner 50 but it doesn't have GPS and uses an accelerometer to determine distance. It's fairly accurate and is a good watch for casual runners but I have definitely outgrown it. It's GPS or nothing for me now!
I'll probably end up buying something like the SwiMP3 player this winter to get me through the boring pool workouts, and this spring I'll probably buy the Forerunner 310XT when it warms up enough to run outside consistently. The Metrigear power meter will probably have to wait a while... it's pretty expensive and I don't think I can justify the expense just yet. PowerTaps are pretty expensive too but I bought mine used from a friend so it wasn't that bad. I would probably buy a new bike first before I bought a new power meter, but that's a whole 'nother post!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Ironman on NBC
Just watched the Ironman Championship special on NBC. Always inspiring to watch the images and hear the inspiring stories behind the people who participate in the event. This year I actually followed the race live (online) during the actual race, so I already knew who won and how the race unfolded, but it was still amazing to watch the helicopter coverage on the front runners as they ran down the . What a great race by Chris Lieto and Craig Alexander. Chris, next year man, you’re so close!
A lot of people say the TV special inspired them to sign up for an Ironman themselves. I can’t say that I didn't get a rousing feeling within me that made me want to go out and swim/bike/run, but I don’t plan on signing up for an Ironman anytime soon. To be quite honest, I think some newer triathletes rush into the Ironman distance a bit too soon. Some people do it just to say they did it and check it off their list. I don’t know, I don’t want to do it just to do it, I want to do it because I know I’m ready for it and my triathlon progression has led to it. To me the sport of triathlon is a lifestyle that I plan on living for a long time, and I can definitely see myself taking on the challenge of an Ironman down the road. But right now I'm just not ready.
Also, I feel that there are so many holes in my short game right now that they would only get worse the longer I went! So to that end I’m trying to improve my speed and skills on the short course and then I plan on extending out the distance later on when I've accomplished my short course goals. Once I feel ready to move on to longer distances then I will sign up for my first of hopefully many Ironman races.
Oh yeah, also, there’s no way I would be able to find enough time right now with school. So that rules out an Ironman for at least the next couple of years.
A lot of people say the TV special inspired them to sign up for an Ironman themselves. I can’t say that I didn't get a rousing feeling within me that made me want to go out and swim/bike/run, but I don’t plan on signing up for an Ironman anytime soon. To be quite honest, I think some newer triathletes rush into the Ironman distance a bit too soon. Some people do it just to say they did it and check it off their list. I don’t know, I don’t want to do it just to do it, I want to do it because I know I’m ready for it and my triathlon progression has led to it. To me the sport of triathlon is a lifestyle that I plan on living for a long time, and I can definitely see myself taking on the challenge of an Ironman down the road. But right now I'm just not ready.
Also, I feel that there are so many holes in my short game right now that they would only get worse the longer I went! So to that end I’m trying to improve my speed and skills on the short course and then I plan on extending out the distance later on when I've accomplished my short course goals. Once I feel ready to move on to longer distances then I will sign up for my first of hopefully many Ironman races.
Oh yeah, also, there’s no way I would be able to find enough time right now with school. So that rules out an Ironman for at least the next couple of years.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Checking in at Vision Quest
My 3-week school break/mini training camp is going really well. I've been to VQ pretty much every day this past week and plan on keeping this up for the rest of the month.A semi-nerdy thing I started doing recently is checking into Foursquare every time I'm at VQ. I actually put the Chicago facility location into the Foursquare system a couple weeks ago. Within a matter of visits I quickly became mayor of VQ. And now I've been there so many times that I picked up my 'Gym Rat' badge. You get a Gym Rat
badge for checking in 10 times to venues tagged 'gym' in 30 days (I just added the 'gym' tag to the VQ location on Foursquare last week).
Anyways, here's my 'Gym Rat' badge (or as I'm calling it, my 2009 Mini-Training Camp badge):
Saturday, December 12, 2009
New member orientation
VQ had a new member orientation session the other day for recent new members. It was a pretty basic introduction to the spirit and approach that Vision Quest takes with its training. Nothing too earth shattering was revealed during the presentation but it was cool meeting other new members who are just as eager and excited as I am about training. I met a couple cool guys that train at the Chicago facility so it should be fun to train alongside them this winter.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Rest of December
School is almost done for the year, my work project is done (for now, the second phase of the project starts next month), so pretty soon I can kick off my December mini training camp! I will have a semi-break after this Wednesday until the end of the month, and I plan on taking full advantage of all my free time by putting in serious efforts at VQ. That means lots of indoor bike trainer sessions, strength and conditioning training, and some steady running to get my form back on track. I'm excited to get started!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
First week of December
This first week of December is going to be a bit rough with school and work. I have finals at school and a work project due next week, but once I get past those thing I'll have around 3 weeks to relax and recharge before the cycle starts all over again in January. Hopefully I'll be able to pack in a lot of training in those 3 weeks, kinda like a mini training camp of sorts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)