Mixed Outlook

OK, I’ve wrapped up my off season training plan and am on cruise control for my target half marathon on March 15. Very different results from the OS plan this year than last. In short, I had no patience for my bike trainer this year. I never found my cycling legs and I just sort of faked my way through. After two years of Ironman training, I’m finding myself fairly burned out on trainer workouts. The killer instinct is gone!

In contrast my running has never been stronger. Something just clicked this off season. My VDot has jumped to somewhere between 49 and 50. Considering my preseason goal was to reach a 50 VDot by mid-summer, I’m pretty happy! (I thought it was a “stretch” goal)

According to my metrics, I should be able to crush my half marathon PR by something like six minutes. Unfortunately that is not my target. In the cold & wind, there’s a very high probability that a race situation will induce my Afib if I push anywhere near threshold. The wind, especially, seems to be a trigger.

I still intend on toeing the line, but with the goal of simply finishing the stupid race. I haven’t finished a race since Ironman Lake Placid in July 2007! Last year was a total bust from a racing perspective.

So we’ll have to see what Mother Nature has in store for March 15 in Wilmington, DE. I’ll start out at long run pace and adapt on the fly. I need to check my ego that day and just be content with my fitness (and get the monkey off my back!). Hopefully the coming spring weather will allow my symptoms to disappear, just like last year.

American Heart Month

It’s Valentine’s Day and American Heart Month, so I’ve just got to write something about hearts today.

To all endurance athletes reading this blog, repeat after me… “I am not invincible. I know that I must still take care of my heart.”

About Eating…
If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a hundred times – Some geek endurance athlete says that all of their hard training gives them license to eat whatever they want. So wrong, my friend, so wrong!

Yes, you need more calories than the average person but, if anything, this makes eating even a little more complicated. You still need to make healthy choices, so you have to keep more healthy food around the house. Refueling with high saturated fats is a really bad idea for anyone – endurance athletes included. “You are what you eat” isn’t an old wives’ tale. It’s true. Seemingly perfectly healthy runners have heart attacks & strokes, too. I know of at least three.

Electrical Issues…
My problems are electrical in nature. There’s debate whether problems like mine are actually caused by high volume / high intensity training, or whether the training simply uncovers a genetic predisposition. My electro-physiologist believes it’s the former. In her opinion I have a case of “athlete’s heart,” in which my heart walls have thickened from training, causing electrical disturbances. I have to say that I disagree with my EP’s opinion. I think it’s the latter with me, that I am predisposed to atrial fibrillation.

Whichever is the case, there’s no denying that arrhythmias can be very dangerous. The American Heart Association says arrhythmias are the number one cause of sudden cardiac death. Many a runner is haunted by the thought of Ryan Shay’s sudden cardiac death at the 2008 Marathon Olympic trials in New York City.

Arrhythmias are also a leading cause of stroke. I am five times more likely to have a stroke than someone without my condition.

Freaked out yet? Good. Go get yourself checked out. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. (That’s not an old wives’ tale either…)

My Typical Week

'Tis the off season, but I'm still following the general framework of a speed-boosting plan. I'm in week 14 of 16. Here's the structure for week 14 (EN folks, I've modified the runs to suit a target half marathon):

Monday: Day off. Sweat out hangover from Steelers victory.
Tuesday: Bike - 2 x 20 minutes at functional threshold power (FTP)with a 4 minute recovery between. Run - 30 minutes easy with 3 x striders.
Wednesday: Run - 3 x 1.5 miles at 10k pace.
Thursday: Bike - 3 x 10 minutes at FTP with 4 minute recoveries.
Friday: Easy swim / goofing off session with tri club group.
Saturday: Run - 12 miles as 4 @ long run pace (LRP), 4 @ target half marathon pace (HMP), 4 @ LRP.
Sunday: Bike - Hopefully a 2-hour outdoor hill ride. If not, then a "30/30" VO2max session on the trainer, followed by a 30-minute brick run.

That's it... Running late for Colin's game. Gotta go!