Biking the Rose Bowl

Today I thought I would try a different bike route for my "long" ride. I had heard that there were usually quite a few bikers up by the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. There is a road that circles the bowl which is around 3 miles. The Pasadena Triathlon Club has a weekly brick there on Wednesdays, so I thought I should check it out. I took Arroyo road up to the bowl, which was a nice choice. The route is mostly shaded, there is little cross traffic, and it is a nice shallow climb, which is good for a beginner like me.

When I got there at around 8:30AM I was surprised to see so many people. There were a few people on bikes, but mostly runners and walkers. There had to be a few hundred of them. It is really encouraging to see so many people getting into exercising. I did four laps around the bowl and then headed home. I was surprised that there were not that many bike out there, but perhaps it was not the right time. I did see few packs of bikers arriving as I was leaving. Total mileage: 26, time: 115 minutes.

I was excited to see that my speed and cadence sensors for my Polar S625x heart rate monitor were finally working, but then my speed sensor went out mid-route. I did find out what the problem was. The magnet that trips the sensor is mounted on a spoke and it is not very secure. When I would speed up, such as when I was going downhill the magnet would shift to the edge of the wheel, and move out of the range of the sensor, I need to tighten it, or try another magnet.

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Training and Fuel Prices

I skipped my swim workout this morning, because I overslept and hit traffic on the way to the gym. By the time I got there it was too late to workout. Heavy traffic does not usually occur that early like it did today. I have noticed that here in Los Angeles the traffic patterns shift when gas prices rise. When the price of gas is high, more people try to beat traffic and leave for work earlier. All this does of course is cause the traffic jams start earlier. It also means that traffic is lighter in the evening, because people are leaving work earlier. Used to be that the traffic on the Santa Monica freeway did not lighten up until at least 8:00pm. Now it is flowing pretty good at 7:30pm.

One of the side benefits of training has been saving at the pump. When I leave early, it means I spend less time on the freeway, and thus I burn less gas. It is spring now though, and I have probably made up the difference because I have been driving my BMW M Roadster exclusively. Not only does it take premium fuel, but it only gets around 20 miles to the gallon. When you spend a significant portion of your day commuting, you have to love what you drive. At the end of the month, when I see all the fuel charges I'll probably have to go back to driving my Sentra.

I got my USA Triathlon membership today. My plan is to do at least three triathlons this year, so the membership cost should be worth it. One cool thing is that if you complete at least three USAT sanctioned events in the year you get a national ranking at the end of the season. Sure, I may be the very last, but that is still cool!

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Inspiration from Samuel Johnson

"If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance." --Samuel Johnson

I had a tough run this morning. I had a killer spin class last night, where I pushed and pushed. It seemed like I was out of the saddle and doing sprints almost the whole hour. I burned a whopping 900 calories according to my heart rate monitor and was between 85% and 95% of my max heart rate for at least 30 minutes. The problem was that I wanted to rush home, so I could get home before my daughter goes to bed and read her a story, so I did not eat anything.

When I woke this morning, I was really sore. I headed out for a run, but I had very little energy. My glycogen stores were just shot from the day before and I did not even have breakfast. I was supposed to do interval, and I definitely tried, but I was really slow. I think the fastest I could go was only 7 mph, and I could only sustain that speed for about a minute. I did stick it out and just tried to go for as long as I could even if it was going to be slow. I actually lasted for an hour and went 4.5 miles, which is longer than I expected. I think the only reason I lasted that long is because I was a few miles out from home and still had to come back.

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Flipturn Madness

I had an appointment with an electrician this morning, so I decided to swim at my local gym and wait for traffic to die down before heading to work. When I arrived, I was literally stunned to see that the pool was empty. Totally empty. Awesome! The water was quite beautiful with a mist rising into the air. I think it was all a bit overwhelming, because I got this crazy idea to do just one long straight swim without stopping. My flipturn needs a lot of work, but you do not get better without practice, and without other people there I did not have to worry about running into someone or splashing them. So I decided to go for it.

The first 20 laps went quite well, I had a good pace, and it seemed that I was gliding through the water pretty well. One thing that I noticed is that when there is no one else around you really can hear yourself swim. There is the boom of the kick as the foot presses against the water and the rush of water as the arm goes through the catch. I think it really helped keep up my form.

At lap 35 I ran into a snag. The flipturn dislodged my swim cap which moved my goggles enough to allow water to flow in, and it popped out one of my ear plugs. I tried to swim through it and get at least to the end of the pool, but then my cap came completely off. After readjusting everything, I did 5 more laps. So I did a total of 2000 meters in about 63 minutes. Definitely not fast, but I did 1750 meters straight through. That is 1.09 miles!

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Week 10 Progress Report

Week 10 was a rest week. I definitely rested. I probably had too much rest. I totally blew off the whole weekend. I justified it in my mind because my daughter was sick and I could feel some congestion in my chest and figured I should hold off on the exercise. The thing is the congestion comes and goes, and for most of the weekend I felt just fine. So I missed my weekly long bike ride and actually gained two pounds, but that is all the more reason to just get back into the game! So this week I am going to come back strong. But before I go into that I figured I would discuss some real measurement of progress.

The first is my weight. I am down past 250! Here is a chart that shows my progress so far.

I smoothed out the data a bit to make the graph more legible, but still the line follows the goal line quite closely. It is pretty amazing actually.

The second sign of progress is my projected VO2 Max. My heart rate monitor has a "fitness test" that measures basic data and projects VO2 Max, which is basically a measurement of how efficient your body is in converting oxygen into energy. The test is really easy, and basically involves lying down and getting a measurement. My projected VO2 Max is 34, which still is considered "poor" but is on the high end of poor rather than where I started, which was 29, the low end of "poor." That is a whole 5 points of improvement!

Lastly, my run is getting faster. That's right; I'm actually becoming a speed demon. Ok, maybe not. I'm still really slow, but there has been definite improvement. Here is a chart of my long runs over the last month. Each time I ran for over an hour.

You can see that my heart rate this morning was the same as the run I did back in March 25, but I am a whole .7 mph faster. Awesome! You can also see from the chart that on the weeks where I did not run faster, at least my heart rate was slower, meaning that I could go the same speed with less exertion. I love these numbers. This is the beauty of a heart rate monitor that gives you plenty of data and allows you to download it to a computer. I had not realized that I was making that kind of progress until I looked closely at the numbers.

Here is a rundown of my training last week (remember, it was a rest week):

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: Run 3.3 miles

Wednesday: Swam 1450 meters, 45 minutes.

Thursday: Spinning class 60 minutes, I actually pushed a little too much here. I did all the out of the saddle work the teacher was pushing and my heart rate probably got a little too high.

Friday: Swam 1800 meters, 45 minutes.

Saturday: Day off.

Sunday: Day off.

Here is my schedule for the new week:

Monday: Run 60 minutes
Tuesday: Morning Swim 60 minutes; Evening Spin class if work allows
Wednesday: Run Intervals 60 minutes
Thursday: Morning Swim 60 minutes; Evening Spin class
Friday: Run 60 minutes
Saturday: Morning Swim 60 minutes
Sunday: 2 hour bike ride

The posts have been few and far between, and that is because my internet connection is down at home. For the next couple weeks it will be a bit sparce, but will still be training!

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Inspiration from Aristotle

"I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self." –Aristotle

Physically, I am feeling rather good this week. I have lots of energy and a good mood. A rest week will have that effect on you. Mentally, it is harder because I have to restrain myself and keep the intensity of my workouts down. Yesterday, for example, I had a good swim for 45 minutes, 15 minutes shorter than my normal swim, but I really wanted to stay longer. I wasn’t tired at all, but then again for a rest week that really is the point. Instead of doing sprints or a long straight endurance set, I focused on my stroke form, breathing and hip rotation. I feel like my kicking is finally starting to gain a little traction.

In other news my weight is at a new low of 248.5 pounds. I need to take some of my suits to the tailor to have them taken in!

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Recovery, Recovery, Recovery

Today, I wanted to take a little more about my training plan. I do not have time to take about the entire plan, but I figured I would describe one element, namely recovery. As any physiologist will tell you, performance gains don't happen while training, but happen while recovering. Well, that is not exactly true. The you do develop skill and form while training, and these things do greatly affect performance, but your actually muscles only become quicker and stronger while recovering.

A young and healthy person's body can recover quite quickly from strenuous exercise, often within 24 hours. But the body's ability to recover can be overrun by repeated, lengthy, and strenuous training, requiring more recovery. If the body is not able to keep up you will suffer from "overtraining," a condition where your body is too weakened from prior training and is unable to recovery. Some symptoms of overtraining are poor performance, a high resting heart rate and even illness.

When I first started training I never added in rest periods because I figured that I would miss workouts, and those missed workouts would be my rest periods. I also thought that each of the three sports I was training for was sufficiently different in how it utilized my muscles that I would be able to recover from one sport while training in another. For example, if I swim day one, then day two when I am running, I am recovering from swimming. Now this is partially true, but what I did not consider is that the cardiovascular system it self is shared. So while my arms may get a break, my heart and lungs are not. I had a few days where my heart rate would not respond like it should to stress, a definite symptom of overtraining.

So now I have revised my plan to incorporate periodic recovery periods, or "periodization." Different plans use different forms of periodization, but generally they include weekly, monthly or annual periods. I will use all three. For weekly recovery I will have one day a week where I do not training. It will either be a day where I am unable to train for whatever reason, or if I make it through a whole week, I will just force myself to take a day off. The day will give my heart and lungs a weekly break, and a chance to fully recover. I also am incorporating monthly recovery periods, but instead of completely stopping training, I will take recovery weeks, every four weeks or so, where I will scale back on the duration, intensity and frequency of training. The current week is such a recovery week. This morning, I went for a swim, but instead of swimming for 60 minutes I went for 45, and I will not take a spinning class tonight. At the end of the week I should be well rested to go back into intense training the following week. And while it is far off now, you can incorporate annual recovery periods as well. It is usually a good idea for athletes in the off season to take at least a month off from training or at least do only easy training.

Now I have only started to incorporate these ideas into my training program, but I have seen results already. I haven't seen elevated resting heart rates and haven't gotten sick. (But I still do have this annoying cough!)

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Week 9 Progress Report

I had another good week of training. I was able to accomplish most of what I had planned, but I did miss a run and a swim. On the up side I had a really nice long bike ride. Here is a complete rundown of the past week:

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: I swam 2200 meters. 8x50 warm up, 12x50 pull buoy, 8x50 sprints, 400 straight, and 8x50 cool down. In the future I need to lengthen my straight set to at least 1000 meters, and I'll probably do it before the sprints as well. I also had a spin class for 60 minutes with my heart rate averaging 149 bpm.

Wednesday: I ran intervals for 60 minutes, totaling 4.4 miles. Maximum speed was 6.2 mph.

Thursday: Because of my shoe mix-up I lost a day of training. I also found out that the cleats I had on my bike shoes do not work with my new pedals.

Friday: Swam 2200 meters, and finished the day with another 60 minute spin class, with a heart rate average of 144 bpm.

Saturday: Ran 5.1 miles! I was really happy with this because I have never run that far before even though I felt really slow. It took me 70 minutes, with an average speed of 4.3 mph. I should have done a swim that night, but my cough was getting worse. I decided to get to bed early and have a good bike ride the next day.

Sunday: I rode for 2.5 hours. It took some neighborhood streets out to Arcadia, where I met the Upper Rio Hondo Bike Trail. The trail goes all the way down to the LA River, but I only went as far as Wittier Narrows Park. I tried out my new arm warmers. I cannot say I was actually warm, but I was not freezing cold. My speed sensor was not working so I do not know the exact mileage, but based on a Google maps estimate, I think it was around 28 miles. Not fast to be sure, but I was pedaling the whole way. Spin classes have really helped my legs learn to not stop.

In the weight department I have broken the 250 pound barrier:

Weight: 249.5 lbs. (down from 264)
Body Fat: 34% (down from 39%)

Next week will be a "rest week." I will cut back a little on duration and intensity, and start up strong again the following week.

Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: Morning swim 45 minutes
Wednesday: Spin class 60 minutes
Thursday: Run 45 minutes
Friday: Swim 45 minutes
Saturday: Run 60 minutes
Sunday: 2 hour bike ride

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Breaking the Weight Barrier

When I jumped on the scale this morning I was pleasantly surprised with a new low number. 251 pounds! That is the lowest I have weighed in many years. 250 is a huge psychological boundary for me. Several years back, after ballooning to 280 pounds I went on a few diets. One was a low fat diet using the DietPower software that I am using now, and another was a low-carb Atkins style diet. I lost nearly thirty pounds on each of those diets, getting close to 250 pounds, but I never could seem to break into the '40s. I can almost taste it now. I am on the cusp and it feels awesome.

I did not get to run last night. I rather spend the time with my two year old daughter. She had a big story to tell me about her day. Since she is just two, she doesn't know many words she makes them up, so I did not really understand what she was saying, but just from her facial expressions and arm motions it was obviously quite an adventure that she had. We played for a while, and then I tucked her into bed and then I crashed.

This morning I did my hour swim, but my form was pretty awful. I still was able to finish 2200 meter in 60 minutes, but I really had to work for it. I noticed that when I got out of my car as I headed to the office I could barely lift my arms. I am going to take a spin class tonight and then it is running and swimming tomorrow. Easter morning will be spent on the bike. Hopefully it will not rain.

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Inspiration from Winston Churchill

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." --Winston Churchill

Today has been a series of stupid screw ups which has just eliminated another day of training. Motivation is lagging, and I have been busy at the office. But what I have to remember is that I cannot let a failure today keep me from succeeding tomorrow. I have to just get back on the horse.

It is all pretty ridiculous. Last night I packed my gym bag and picked out a suit to wear to the office the next day, as I always do. I find it easier to get my ass out of the house and on the way to the gym by 5:45AM if I can put all my stuff in my car the night before. There is nothing more annoying than lugging my heavy gym bag, my work clothes (suit, tie, etc.), my food for the day (lunch and dinner) and my briefcase, all down three floors at 5 in the morning. But before going to bed I remembered that I forgot to pack dress shoes in my gym bag, and I repeated to myself that I had to remember to pack them before I left in the morning.

Of course I forgot. Thursdays are a big training day on my schedule with a swim in the morning and a spinning class at night. When I get to the gym, I have only my swim sandals and bike shoes. Neither goes very well with my suit. So I have a choice, either workout and then wait around until some shoe store opens around 10:00AM and then go to work, or go home and pick up my shoes and hopefully there will be time to jump in the pool at the gym near my house. I am busy at work so I cannot really wait that late, so I went home.

At home, I realize that I do not have time to go to the gym and take a shower and all that, so instead I putter for a few minutes in the garage with my bike. Then I went to work, but since I arrived late I will not be able to get to my normal spin class tonight. So the net effect of this shoe screw up is that I am missing too workouts. Maybe I can still get in a run tonight, and do the swim biking tomorrow.

At least I was able to accomplish something. While I was home I installed my new Profile Designs Tri-Strike Saddle, and a set of Profile Designs Century Aerobars that I had taken off the bike for cleaning. I put the bike on a trainer and figured I would try out the new Shimano PD-A520 pedals I had installed. No good. I tried adjusting them, but they just do not work with the cleats I have on my shoes. The pedals are very low profile and the pontoons on the cleats interfere with the engagement. I can put the old cleats back on, but I was starting to like these pontoons. They make it easy to walk and I can walk around in the exercise room at my local gym without making gashes in the hardwood floors. Either the pontoons have to go, or the pedals. I thought this might happen, but I had checked the compatibility chart on Shimano.com and it said they would work. Of course I have scratched the pedals in the process of trying them out, so they cannot be returned.

And on top of all that I am developing this weird dry cough. It has been bugging me for two days now. So, you see, I really need some inspiration!

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Week 8 Progress Report

I'm already well into week 9. I have wanted to post much more that I have been able to. I want to update everyone on how my DietPower software is working. I just got my bike back from the shop with some new brakes. I tried out my new bike shoes for the first time. There is just too much to mention right now. Hopefully I can get caught up this week.

I had an incredible week of training. I set an ambitious goal and for the most part completed it. The only areas I was not able to complete was a morning swim that was skipped because I had to pick up my car from the shop, and I only spent an hour on the bike on Saturday instead of the planned two hours. Here is a rundown of what I was able to do this past week:

Monday: Ran 60 minutes at mostly 5 mph, totaling 4.7 miles.

Tuesday: I had to skip the morning swim, but in the evening I took a spin class and road for 69 minutes, keeping my HR in the range of 140-150 bpm. It was very rough, but I surprised myself by sticking it out for the whole class.

I bought a second hand set of Shimano 600 dual pivot brakes for my bike off of eBay. I am very large, so I can really use the extra breaking power.

Wednesday: I ran intervals for 60 minutes, totaling 4.17 miles. Maximum speed was 6.2 mph.

Thursday: Swam an incredible 2000 meters. 400 meter warm-up, 400 meter slow and straight through, 8x50 meter sprints, another 400 meter slow and straight and a 400 meter cool down. In the evening I took another spin class for 60 minutes.

Friday: Slow run for 60 minutes, totaling 4.2 miles. I received my order from Tri-Sports.com which includes a new saddle and a pair of bike shoes. I cannot wait to try out the new saddle. Perhaps I will this Saturday.

I also ordered some SPD cleats from bikeparts.com that have rubber pontoons on the side. As you can see from the photo, they attach to the cleat and allow you to walk on the cleat without putting holes in the floor or destroying your cleats. I also tried my hand at installing the new brakes I got off of eBay, but I just made a mess of things. Time to take the bike to the shop!

Saturday: Since my bike was not operational, I took a spin class. I went for 60 minutes even though the class was only 50 minutes long, but I couldn't go for two whole hours like I originally planned. I justify that by the fact that the spin class is actually harder than riding a bike on the street, because I push myself harder and do not coast.

Another reason to take a spin class is that I could practice using my new bike shoes. I purchased a pair of Louis Garneau Tri-Airs. They seem to fit really well, because I have wide feet. Engaging the pedals was easy enough and everything was going fine. I noticed that the shoes help you to distribute the load over more of the pedal spin and they were very comfortable. Usually when taking a spin class in sneakers I get numb feet. I did have a problem getting off the bike at the end of the class. One of the screws attaching the cleat to my right shoe came off. I guess I did not have it torqued down enough. With only one other screw holding the cleat on to the shoe, it could rotate fully and wouldn't let me disengage from the pedal. It was pretty embarrassing. I had to strap out of the shoe and then try to find some tools to wrench open the pedal to get my shoe off. Well, I learned my lesson. Thank goodness i was not on a real bike, or I could have had a bad tumble.

Sunday: Did another 2000 meters in the morning using the same routine as on Thursday. In the evening I ran around the neighborhood for 4.2 miles.

Here are my other stats:

Weight: 251.5 lbs. (down from 264)
Body Fat: 34% (down from 39%)

For next week, I will have the same schedule planned, except that I took a rest on Monday.

Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: Morning swim 60 minutes, Evening Spin Class 60 minutes
Wednesday: Run Intervals 60 minutes
Thursday: Morning swim intervals 40 minutes, Evening Spin Class 60 minutes
Friday: Run 60 minutes
Saturday: Bike ride, 120 minutes
Sunday: Morning Swim, 60 minutes, Evening Run Intervals 60 minutes

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Over Already?

So I went to spinning class last night after having already swam for an hour in the morning. This is probably only the second time I have done two workouts in a single day, and admittedly I was a bit apprehensive. I wanted to be sure to not run out of fuel, so I ate a bit more yesterday, but I was also concerned about overdoing it and breaking my calorie budget. I was concerned that I would not be able to finish the spin class, which would have meant that I overate for the day. But really I was scared that I was going to be too exhausted, and I would fail in meeting my goals for the week.

I have to say nothing quite kicks my butt like a spin class. To others thinking about taking such classes, I would definitely recommend bringing a heart rate monitor. Most spin instructors emphasize out of the saddle work with lots of resistance and only moderate cadence. This type of workout is not really the best workout to prepare for a triathlon in which you need to develope more endurance and more work in the saddle, but it certainly will get your heart rate up near its maximum. Getting your heart rate up will burn more calories, but for the sake of developing fitness and improving your health you really do not want your heart rate to be that high. So take a monitor with you and cut back a bit when your heart rate is going over 90% of maximum. Set a goal and stick to it.

I was a bit tired before even starting the class, but I just took this as a personal challenge. The whole way from work, I was telling myself, "You can do just 30 minutes. You don't have to do the whole hour. That would be ok." Then while spinning my heart out I thought, "I have to do at least 45." My legs were burning at 50, but I figured that I made it this far, I should do the whole hour. Next thing you know at 55, the teacher stops the class for stretching. "Damn! I want a whole hour. I dragged my ass over here for this class, I've got to do the whole hour." So I kept on going while the class left. It's funny how your mind works tricks on you. Honestly, I think I could have gone for another 30 minutes, because at that point I was totally zoned out, and lost most of the feeling in my legs.

One of the differences between the spin bikes at my gym and a real bike, is that on a spin bike you cannot coast. There is a direct connection between the flywheel and your pedal. If you try to stop the pedals will just force your feet to move until you either disengage you feet from the pedals or overcome the force with your legs. I think this what makes spinning such a workout, because I know if I'm on my bike I have a really difficult time keeping from coasting. pI just pedal and coast and then pedal some more. It is one of the many things I really need to work on.

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Inspiration from Calvin Coolidge

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan, 'press on' has solved, and always will solve, the problems of the human race."
--Calvin Coolidge

I have another spin class tonight. After the long swim this morning, I don't know if I can do the whole thing. I will just have to keep telling my self to "press on" . . .

I swam 2000 meters this morning. That is one and a quarter miles! Incredible. It started out pretty rocky. It has been over a week since I last did laps, and I could really feel my legs sinking, so the whole time I was focusing on my balance. When I started the pool was empty, but about 20 minutes into the swim the pool started to get crowded and two dog-paddlers joined the lane I was sharing with another lap swimmer. That is such a pain. There are three lanes in the pool. The far right lane is filled (and I mean filled) with old ladies supposedly doing aqua jogging, but mostly just socializing. The middle lane is supposed to be for slower swimmers doing a slow breast stroke or dogpaddling. And the last lane would theoretically be left for lap swimmers. Instead the left two lanes get a mixture of folks doing all kinds of things, and I spend most of the time trying to dodge other swimmers. But I did stay for an hour and things started to thin out. I got in about 8 laps of sprints. I would just go as fast as I could for a lap, rest for thirty seconds and then repeat. While sprinting, I was faster than expected, but I also got incredibly winded. Part of the problem, is that I forget to breathe and just hold my breath most of the way. Not a good idea.

I tried my new Speedo Vanquisher goggles, and I have got to say I love them. These are the first goggles I have tried that do not leak. Go Speedo!

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New Pedals

I finally decided on what pedals to buy. Last night I purchased some Shimano PD-A520 SPD pedals. I have always disliked the clips on my bike, but never road the bike enough to justify the purchase of bike shoes. Since challenging myself to do a triathlon, I decided to take the plunge. I had not, however, realized how many different options were available. There are Looks and SPDs, of course, but there are also Time, SpeedPlay, Eggbeaters, SPD-R, SPD-SL, and even more variants within each type. They all work in a similar fashion. The front of the cleat is pushed into the pedal and the back snaps into place. The shoe is then locked to the pedal. When you want to disengage the cleat, you slide your heal out to the side.

Road bike people tend to go for Look pedals or SPD-SLs which have a wide cleat which is supposed to provide more transfer of power and a more solid feel. They also offer lighter weight pedals and tend to cause less “hot spots” on the sole of the foot. These road style pedals are always single sided, which means that the pedal has to be flipped in the right position for you to engage the cleat, but they are also weighted so that the rear of the pedal hangs down, helping to ensure they are in the right position. Most, if not all road and or triathlon shoes will accommodate Look or Look style cleats, so that is a definite plus. I like look pedals, and they can be very reasonably priced.

SpeedPlays are totally different, and in many ways superior to traditional road pedals. They have a ton of “float,” which is important for some people. “Float” is the ability of the foot to rotate left or right without disengaging the cleat. It can be good to have float if your knees or legs naturally tend to rotate during your pedal spin, but it also forces you to move you heal farther out when you want to disengage from the pedals. Speedplays are also dual-sided which means that the pedal is more likely to be in a position to properly engage the cleat without having to move it into position. They are also very light weight. The problem with SpeedPlays in my opinion is the high price. They are very expensive at around twice the cost of Look or SPD pedals.

SPDs are not usually found on road bikes, but are more common on mountain bikes. They have a very small cleat, which is why some people think they tend to cause more “hot spots” than Look style cleats. This problem can be ameliorated by having a strong, stiff sole on your shoe to distribute the pressure. SPDs are very common on spin bikes, which is one of the reasons I went with SPDs. The bikes at my gym use SPDs and it is always a good option to have, when it is raining or cold, and you just cannot get out on the road with your regular bike. For example, it is difficult for me to get home from work at a reasonable hour because of LA traffic, so riding my bike during the week is a difficult proposition. So instead, I go to a gym near my work and use the spin bikes. I don’t want to buy two different sets of shoes, so I went with the SPDs. The model that I purchased is not dual sided, which is one of the possible advantages of SPDs. I decided to go with the one sided version because they were weighted like a traditional road pedal. It makes sense to me that this would actually make them more predictable than a dual sided pedal and easier to engage once I got used to them. Of course this is all theory, since I have not even tried them out yet. I am getting my shoes later this week, and will practice engaging the cleats on the spin bike first, where it is safer. After I have a little more practice I will be in a better position to know if I made the best decision.

I did have a good spin session last night. I was totally wiped out. I almost quit at 45 minutes, but somehow I convinced my self to give it one more minute and then another. Next thing you know I made my goal of 60 minutes. Whew! This morning I ran intervals for 60 minutes. I oscillated between walking at around 3.5 mph and jogging at 6.2 mph. That is very fast for me, but I felt comfortable. Total distance was 4.17 miles. I have been sticking to my schedule pretty much but I lost out on a swim, because I had to pick up my car from the shop on Tuesday morning.

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Week 7 Progress Report

Week 7 already! Wow, time is just flying by. I thought I had plenty of time to prepare for my first tri, and now I'm getting nervous. I have made progress, but I have also had nearly two weeks of training wiped out because of sickness and other health issues. Here is what I was able to salvage from this past week:

Monday: Rest day.

Tuesday through Friday: Sick!

Saturday: I was hoping to get in two workouts on Saturday, one in the morning and another in the evening, just to help makeup for the whole week of missed training. Unfortunately I was too busy with family stuff, and it was raining pretty hard. But I did get a short nap, which is helping me make it over the tail end of my sickness. Because it was raining, I decided to skip the outdoor pool and go for a run on the treadmill. I did intervals for an hour. One thing I was surprised at was that I could easily run 5.8 miles per hour. Before training, I do not think I could run that fast. Ok, "fast" is an overstatement, but you know what I mean. Next time I do intervals I am going to see if I can push it over 6.2 mph.

Sunday: I had a miserable ride on my bike for an hour and a half. Biking comfortably is all about having the right equipment. I still have not been able to get a decent bike pump. Part of it is indecision on what kind of pump I want to get, but mostly it is just lack of time. I have time to buy groceries for the week or get a bike pump. I chose to be able to eat. So my rear wheel was under inflated which was just miserable and caused me to cut he ride short. I was concerned that I might pinch a hole in the tire. I also was freezing cold. I don't have any leg or arm covers, and was just out there in a short sleeve jersey and cycling shorts. With the wind over my arms they get very, very cold.

I had some problems with my heart rate monitor too. For some reason the signal for my heart rate keeps going in and out. The speed sensor is working well, and the cadence sensor worked intermittently, which was better than last time. Supposedly, you can increase the signal for the speed and cadence sensors by moving a jumper on the cucuit board. When I got back I took the cadence sensor apart and moved the jumper, so we will see if that fixes the problem. To anyone else who tries this, a word of warning. Be careful to not strip the screws. They require a much smaller screwdriver than they appear that they should. As far as the heart rate sensor, I think I may need to try some heart rate monitor gel or replace the battery.

While I was sick I actually started to gain a few pounds, but the weekend exercise pushed my weight down again. Here are my other stats:

Weight: 252.5 lbs. (down from 264)
Body Fat: 35% (down from 39%)

For next week, I have a tough schedule planned. I guess I need to make up for lost time.

Monday: Run 60 minutes
Tuesday: Morning swim 60 minutes, Evening Spin Class 60 minutes
Wednesday: Run Intervals 60 minutes
Thursday: Morning swim intervals 40 minutes, Evening Spin Class 60 minutes
Friday: Run 60 minutes
Saturday: Bike ride, 120 minutes
Sunday: Morning Swim, 60 minutes, Evening Run Intervals 60 minutes

It looks tough folks, but I have a rest day to look forward to next Monday. Of course I ahve other things that I need to do, such as get a decent bike pump. I should also finally decide on what bike shoes and pedals to get, and firm up my race plans. I need to sign up soon, before they fill up.

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