It's been a while

It's about 5:15 a.m. on Saturday morning and it's been a while since I've blogged about my IMLP journey. My training continues to be solid. Overall I haven't had any major set backs, just some bumps in the road. A few annoying aches have shown up, but I'm doing my best to manage them. Sara Thatcher, my PT specialist, has been awesome. We are using more of a preventative approach to my sessions which, I think, has kept more aches and pains at bay. So what's new on my end?

Swim:
Still working with Craig Lewin of the North Shore Swim Club. He says that my stroke is finally coming together. I'm staying long and the catch is developing. One of things I really like about working with Craig is that our sessions aren't all yards and no instruction. Each and every class he constantly monitors us and reminds us of the proper way to do something. I feel the most comfortable I ever have in the water. Am I faster? I certainly will be, but if I'm not, I know it will have taken a lot less energy.

Bike:
The bike is coming together really well. I'm finally back outside, except for today because I have a 2 hour ride and don't want to do it in the rain. I'm very happy with my increase in sustainable power. My 3 x 40 minutes at 80% of my FTP intervals has shown that I'm holding more power for a longer period of time than I ever have. I'm looking forward to my first race on May 16th so I can compare to last year.
In addition, I've experimented with a smaller crank length and I'm going with a 167.5 instead of a 172.5. This allows me to still put out power, but I'm not limited at the top of my pedal stroke. Back to power... if you aren't training and racing with a power meter, you are not training or racing to your potential. Get a power meter!

Run:
My 20 minute Eastern States race was tough. A nasty IT Band "injury" showed up and by mile 12 I knew the last 8 was going to be dreadful. It was run/walk the rest of the way. I got it down, but it was frustrating. I spent the following week with Sara working it out and it's fine now. Just frustrating because it hadn't shown up since last Summer. I've committed to doing a lot more strengthening and stretching of the hips so I know that will help. Overall the run is going well. I'm always working on the run.

Key Workouts:
Swim - Quality stroke work mixed with longer distance sets with some intensity mixed in. A pretty "fun" one was 300 pull set right into 2 x 100 on 1:45, right into 2 x 50 on 1 minute. Run this 3 times through.

Bike: 15 minute easy warm up and then 3 x 40 minutes at 80% of FTP with 5 minutes in between...cool down 20 minutes

Well, that's it for now. I have to go ride my bike for two hours. Happy Spring. -Marty