Gonna fly now...

I had been looking forward to this test from the moment Mark had told me I'd be doing benchmark testing this week. As much as I enjoy cycling and running, I consider myself a runner first and foremost. Not a great one, but a runner nonetheless.

I wasn't entirely sure, going into the run test, what to hope for as far as a time or pace. I had been doing an 8:10 pace during fartleks without much in the way of trouble, but that was also with a 1'00" break after every 5 so I figured I'd use that as a starting point. What I probably should have done have done was ask Mark but that crusty independent streak we New Englanders have kept me from even thinking about asking him. D'oh!
Still, I was hoping to break 40'00", although now I wish I'd set the bar higher. A lot higher.

The Workout: in the evening…. 5 mile TT at the track… even pace it… ALL OUT for this distance… WU and CD properly… focus… kill it (get splits please 400's if you can)

The Approach: I took a modified fartlek approach, I didn't want to burn out early and worked in occasional half laps that were easier than my steady pace by about :30/mile. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't done that (should have asked Mark).

The Results:
Splits are per/400 with the net time after
1. 2'00" 2'00"
2. 2'07" 4'07"
3. 2'00" 6'08"
4. 2'00" 8'08"
5. 2'07" 10'15"
6. 2'00" 12'15"
7. 1'56" 14'12"
8. 1'52" 16'04"
9. 2'02" 18'07"
10. 1'56" 20'04"
11. 1'55" 21'59"
12. 1'56" 23'55"
13. 2'03" 25'59"
14. 1'55" 27'54"
15. 1'57" 29'52"
16. 2'05" 31'57"
17. 1'49" 33'46"
18. 1'49" 35'35"
19. 1'45" 37'21"
20. 1'35" 38'56

I'm pretty pleased with the results although, honestly, I think I could have done better, which is a shame. I started a little timid I think, reminding myself not to burn myself out early like I felt I did on the swim. As far as how i felt, my lungs never really got pumping until the last lap and a half though my legs were certainly feeling the burn throughout. I was very pleased with the finish and was stumbling pretty good after the finish but I think I underestimated myself early on.

*Edit: I was a little down on my results by the time I finished my post. Out of curiousity I decided to see how it compared to my last best 5k time. My best 5k was 23'46" a 7'40" pace. The last 5k of my 5 mile run was 23'48"... just under a 7'41" pace. This was after putting in almost 2 miles in front of it. maybe I shouldn't be quite so dissatisfied...

Swim TT... Take 2

let's cut right to the chase shall we?
2000 FOR TIME (4x500 with :05… get your splits)
Splits (not counting the :05 breaks)
1. 9'22"
2. 9'41"
3. 9'46"
4. 9'42"
T. 38'31"
For a total time of 38'48" counting the :05 breaks

This felt so much better. Not just the time, but as soon as I started warming up I really felt like I was much looser, more relaxed and freer in the water. I started out too fast (which is pretty obvious) but my other times were pretty close to what I was hoping for, so I'm not sweating it too much. It wasn't a personal best, but it was close and I'm pretty pleased.

Aauuuuuuugh!

I was really excited about my swim test... and it did not go well at all.
I got to the rec this evening and realized that I didn't have either pairs of my shorts. I had running pants and two shirt (one short sleeve one long) and no shorts. I usually have two pairs of shorts i can swim in and i quickly realized I had left both at home in the dryer. Ugh.
Not only that, but because I had put off the swim until the end of the evening when I knew I'd be able to get the lane I wanted, I didn't have time to run home and get those shorts and get back in time to do the workout. In fact, I'd have gotten back in time to see them close the pool. Bad decision on my part. My next thought was my underwear, could I wear that? I have a couple pairs that could pass for speedo type swim wear. Unfortunately, this was not one of those days. I then remembered I had one pair of running shorts in studio. A twelve minute trip later I was changing into some very baggy shorts. I normally wear clingy bicycle type shorts on my swims, I was a little skeptical about these shorts, I kept them in studio for spur of the moment runs, not swims. Still they were all I had.
I did a quick warm-up and I knew right away this was going to be tough. I felt like I was swimming through thick seaweed. Still, I told myself to relax, the shorts aren't going to affect my time very much, they're just shorts after all. I centered myself a bit, floating on my back in the water, then started the TT.
I started out way too strong and realized it after a couple laps, partly a result of my earlier frustration and partly, I think, a reaction against starting the bike TT too slow. I told myself to relax, calm down and focus on maintaining a steady pace... no point exhausting myself on the first 500. I was halfway through the first 500 at that point and looked at my watch... 4'59"! Not what I had been expecting at all. based on how hard I had been swimming I would have expected a much, much faster time at that point. 4'59" was, honestly, devastating.
I finished the 500 in 10'02", collected myself a bit in the 5 second break, then headed into my next 500, trying to salvage the TT. I tried focusing on my form, making it as clean and perfect as I could, making my strong long and trying to maximize every movement without pushing too hard, knowing I had another two 500s after this one. I finished in 10'08".
I started the third 500 and immediately my mind shifted to whether I was making the right decision. This was possibly the worst I had felt during a swim in a long time. I felt like each stroke was getting me nowhere and it was driving me bonkers, alternately angry, frustrated and miserable.
Within the first 100 yards of the third set, I made a decision. I stopped. I wasn't getting anything out of this workout except anger and I doubt it would tell Mark much about my progress. So I decided to stop and get up early tomorrow to do the workout properly. I don't know how much the shorts actually slowed me down, but I can be pretty sure that my anger and frustration was certainly ruining the workout. I usually find swimming to be very peaceful and relaxing, even when I swim hard, but this was just horrible and angry.
So tomorrow I'm going to get up early and tackle the swim. in fact, i think i'm going to head home now and make sure I get enough sleep before I do it. Less than twelve hours from now I will have a new post about how I rocked the swim and how glad I am that I didn't try to power through a bad workout. I can and I will.

iRock...

Heard back from MarkyV on the testing and based on the information I provided he puts my LT on the bike at around 195-200 Watts. That's up from 175 Watts in August.
He seemed a little shocked by the 219 I put up over the last 10 minutes of the ride and I was concerned about how I had started out too easy and maybe a retest was necessary...
His response:

I don't think we'll need a retest. Taking the last 30 minutes of the test gives me ~193. Given that you CRUSHED the last 10 minute segment I'd venture that we could start using 195-200 as our new number. If there are indications in the training of that being too high then we can back it down but I think we should be all right.

See underlined below… you nailed the workout! Awesome job! That's the way a TT is meant to be ridden… like you are going to die when it is done.

The underlined portion he was referring to was when I told him: "The last 10 was brutal, don't get me wrong, I needed the first 10 minutes of the cool down just to recover and make sure I could get off the bike safely."
I don't think I could have even unclipped properly when I first finished, I was wiped.
From 175 to 195-200, that's an 11-14% increase. Nice progress...

Testing time.... Day One

I spoke to mark a few days ago about the tests. The Swim and Run benchmark tests seem pretty straightforward but I had some questions about what he wanted as far as information on the bike
Here's the workout: in the morning… on trainer… 40 minute all out TT grab avg wattage at 10 15 20 30 and 40 minute marks… WU and CD properly
Because the power meter for my bike trainer is somewhat simplistic, I had to reset the timer for each period and I wasn't sure if Mark wanted the Power Averages from 0-10, 10-15, 15-20 etc. or just total averages at 10, 15, 20, etc. He decided on the first method, with sections from 0-10, 10-20, 20-30 and 30-40. That data leaves the ability to figure out overall averages anyway. he also gave me some advice on how to approach the test...
"start out at your perceived current threshold wattage and after awhile gradually step it up from there; let the fatigue and pain come to you... let it build slowly... don't go looking for it; still feeling good with 10 minutes to go.... start churning"

Well, now the test is done and the results are in:
0-10'00": 167 Watts
10'00" - 20'00": 177 Watts (172 overall average)
20'00" - 30'00": 182 Watts (175.3 overall average)
30'00" - 40'00": 219 Watts (184.75 total average)

I have to say, i'm pretty disappointed with how the test started out. I feel like I should have been at 177 for the first 10'00" and stepping up from there. I had some trouble warming up, I think partly because I'm not used to riding in the morning, I usually ride in the evening. I did some laundry and other chores to try to wake up and loosen up a bit before hopping on the bike to warm up. I thought I was warm and loose enough when i started but when it was over, I didn't feel that way. I think I should have tossed a quick 10 second interval into the middle of the warmup to really loosen up.
The last 10 really was fun and hard and I feel like I gave it everything I had left at that point, which was quite a lot more than I expected to have at that point.
Lesson learned I suppose.
But, now it's done and I get to sit and wait to see what Mark says (hint, hint... I know you read these!) I'm not even sure what to compare the result to. I had my LT test in August and my LT at the time was 175.
Anyhow, swim test tomorrow!

Eat my dust...

I rocked my run tonight. Rocked it. I kept trying to slow myself down, trying to ease back to the 8:10 pace I'm supposed to keep up... but that isn't what happened. I'll have to check the workout tomorrow when i upload it but I know I rocked it.

More on the good news front, Mark has me scheduled for some time trial testing to set some new benchmarks. He's been very pleased with the progress so far and I've been thrilled. I can't wait for the tests...