Real Progress

Another chockfull week of training. I'm grateful that warm weather is around the corner. The indoor training has become a bit claustrophobic. Although I have to say, after all of this indoor training, I'm literally stunned by the progress Pacific has helped me achieve in just 2 short months. If you asked me to ride for 3 hours and then run for 30 minutes when I first started, I would've laughed and then probably passed out. Now I'm able to bang through these types of workouts with confidence and even ready for more in some cases (yes, I know, careful what you wish for). 

The drills are really starting to intensify. We're also starting to look at the science behind the data and where the training can be tweaked. More to come on this.

Just watched Ironman Kona 2012 - getting pumped!!!

- Mark

Swim Analysis and St. Patty's Day 5k!

This week I finally grabbed a swim lesson with Coach Jason. It was good and bad. Good because he was able to quickly point out my inefficiencies and give me drills to work on.  This is what you would expect and I know in the long term it will help me conserve energy for the bike and run. Now, the 'bad' part was that it totally messed with my psyche. Here I was thinking how efficient my swimming had become, and in reality it had come a long way in two months, however the harsh truth was that I have a tremendous amount of work to do. The really bad part was that my first swim following the lesson was rough. I had all of these thoughts flowing in my head. I felt like I had almost forgot how to swim. I only made it about 1000 yards of what should've been a 3000 yard workout. I was upset and immediately called Jason post workout. He was there for moral support, talked me off the ledge and walked me through a high-level plan to get back in the pool. In my book, these are the characteristics that separate the good coaches from the great ones. The way I see it my swimming can only improve from here.

I also ran in the Pacific Swim Bike Run St. Patty's Day 5k on Sunday. What a blast! I was able to get a PR - even after a brutal week of training. Which leads me to think that my running efficiency is already improving thanks to my run form analysis last month!

- Mark

 

Week 7 and St. Paddy's Day 5k

 

It is amazing how fast the time is flying by. Mark and I are already about to start week 8 and have just completed another packed week. Week 7 has been quiet the week along with a 3 hrs bike ride as well as our first race as Pacific Team members.

 

This week started off a little weird. I was supposed to head for an outdoor bike ride, which was unfortunately cut short since something went wrong with my back breaks. The good part was though that I was still close to Pacific and I was able to head out for a run with coach Jason instead. It was so nice to finally be able to run outside and also get some good advice from our coach. It is always nice to get feedback and things that you can change and work on for a better outcome in the end.

 

After coming back from our run my bike was already fixed and I was able to still get my bike ride in.

Otherwise this week has been quiet crazy. It felt like a long workweek and training has increased by about two hours. Personally I would have never thought two hours can make such a difference. Even though I am single and do not have children of my own yet it is not always easy to find the time for the full training schedule. Therefore I am always happy to have my schedule for the full week in order to make arrangements just in case if there is something that I will not be able to fit into my schedule.  

 

Other than trying to arrange my schedule each day we had our first 5km race Sunday morning with Team Pacific. It was a tad cold this St Paddy's morning but lots of fun.

 

It was nice running together with fellow pacific members as well as other who wanted to start their day off with a great run. Overall the run was a great way to start the morning and another chance to meet new people who like to run just as much as I do!!!

 

 

 

Looking forward to see what week 8 has to offer!!!!

 

- Jeannette

Week 7 here we come!

So things continue to increase. Longer workouts at greater speeds each week. The longest session so far was a 3 hour bike followed by a 30 minute run. The best part was that I not only survived but felt great doing it. I even came in first place out of the group I was riding with (well it was a small group...), but hey who's counting!  It's clear that the bike trainer at home is paying dividends in my ability to ride stronger, more comfortably and for longer periods of time. A few weeks ago it was painful, in many regards, to ride for 60 minutes...now I'm riding for 180 minutes followed by a 30 min 5k run. Wow - I'm thrilled with the progress I'm making!

Diet is becoming critical. Any days I indulge with unhealthy meals and/or booze, I pay for it during the next day's workout. Energy levels are usually down and I don't sleep well...It easily motivates me to only or mostly eat healthy stuff. The Girl Scout cookies came at a bad time this year...

Off to bed, 5am wake up for swim training with coach Jason!!

- Mark

Its only the beginning...

So week 6 is already finished and I am feeling better this week than last. This week we had a few workouts that were longer than the once before and I got my butt kicked a few times. It was the first time I was swimming 3400 yards in the pool and biked over 2:30 hours and ran right after the bike ride. Yet I know this is only the beginning of our journey and the hard part is still to come.

This week has not always been easy but I have been able to push myself a little more which has proved more positive results. I also started eating much healthier and have been to the store to make sure I have a larger variety of healthy food products and snacks available to myself.

I somehow have the feeling that our challenge is still in the starting steps and that it has not yet started to the fullest. Regardless I can already see a little change and I am excited what the next few weeks and months have in store for us.

Every new week and every Monday morning I am excited to see what Jason has in store for us this time and how our training schedule looks for the week. The past two weeks have already increased but two hours per week. And I have to say it is surprising to see what a difference two hours can make.

As to everything else…. I am so in love with my new bike that I cannot wait to hopefully be able to start riding outdoors with it!!!!! Lets get week 7 started!!!!!

- Jeannette

With The Support Of My Friends

Time seems to fly by. I cannot believe we already just finished week 5. This week has been a little crazy and I am realizing more and more what I got myself in to. And I mean this in a positive way. Even though it is not easy at times I am sticking to my training plan and routine and I am looking forward seeing more improvement. It is not always easy to say No to my friends especially if I have not seen them in a while. My training is coming first and I have to put my friends second at the moment. I am just very lucky that I have amazing friends. They are all very understanding and are there for me when I need them. They are the ones who tell me yes you can when I think I cannot. They are the ones who also tell me don’t worry about missing the brunch with the girls there will be many more but right now training comes first.

I have to say I already know if it weren’t for my friends I would not push myself to my limits.

This week I also started training with my new Tri Bike and I have to say it has been quite interesting. It seemed like I was pushed back to the beginning and I was getting frustrated about it. I wasn’t as strong on my bike, was recovering from a cold and also struggled with my saddle. But a few days later, some friend time, and a new saddle, things are looking better again. I had a great Sunday late afternoon ride and felt great during and after. It was my first ride over 2 hrs and I can say that I did well even better than I would have expected.

So yes with good friends, some patience and dedication I will be able to accomplish everything and I will be able to push my own limits.

I am looking forward to hopefully also see some change in my running, which I would say I am struggling the most. I cannot wait for better weather to come around the corner and start running outside on a regular basis.

- Jeannette

Week 5

I'm finishing up week #5 and feeling like I'm in the best shape that I've been in a long time. The amount of training time each day is already starting to increase. The longest session so far was close to 3 hours (swim/bike). I keep telling myself there aren't enough hours in the day, realizing this is just the beginning. The juggle between family, work and training is starting to become a challenge. Of course this was expected but its hard to plan for until your actually living it. I'm sure there will be more to come on this topic in future blogs.

I finally unwrapped my heart rate monitor (Christmas gift - thanks honey!) and it's very cool. One immediate observation was that my running HR is about 20 BPM more than my cycling HR. I presume, and hope, this is normal...? Also there's an abundance of HR data on my Garmin watch - I need to get with my coaches to understand it all.

I've started running outdoors again which has been awesome to get off the dread-mill...even with a little snow and wind chill it's far better than running indoors IMHO.

- Mark