Endurance Nations OS November Intermediate

Well I have joined endurance nation for my next tri season to try and take me to the next level.  We are in week one and WOW it is for sure a new style of training for me and difficult.  I am learning how to train with power and a power meter.  I knew going into this program that my bike was weak and required a great deal of neuromuscular reprogramming and I was right.  This program is a 20 week program but the beauty of it is we don't train over 8 hours in a week.   My FTP (functional threshold) for my bike was 171.  Goal is 225-230.  This was found after going all out for 42 minutes and then finding my average power overall.  My vDOT for my run is starting at 45.   Goal vDOT is 50 +.  My OS starting weight is 160 and my racing goal weight will be 150.  My starting wt/kg on the bike is 2.8 and my goal is 3.5.

This last year brought me training after training and race after race which = lots of injuries this year.  ITB nagged me the entire year and I got to be on prednisone 5 x and don't want to experience that again.  Goal is training smarter and learning to listen to my body.

My AA race this year is Ironman Wisconsin on Sept 11, 2011.  This will be a very emotional race for me for several reasons.  Number one it is my first IM.  All the heart, soul, and traning that goes into this will shine on 9/11/11.  My family will be there at the finish line and this is always emotional.  I am sure I will be exhausted beyond all means and seeing my family and hearing my name will be the best in the world and seeing My wife, children, and family members will just top this off.  # 2.  I am a career firefighter for the city of Des Moines, IA.  I am running this race for the 343 brothers and sisters that lost their lives on 9/11/2001 during the collapse of the Twin Towers.  So every time I say I can't I am going to close my eyes and remember those 343 brothers, sisters, and their families.  When I cross that finish line which I will no matter what I will see my family and hear their voices which keep driving me on daily, point to the sky and thank the LORD above, throw out the EN gangster sign, and remember 9/11/2001.....WE WILL NEVER FORGET!!!!!!

Also in this blog I want to throw out some important messages.....I need to thank my wife, Alison JC Noftsger.  I can't start telling you how much time and dedication she has had to give up and endure for me during my training and races.  All but two of them were out of the state of Iowa and one out of this Country (Jamaica) this year.  Those are long days and with both of the kids makes it harder and sometimes hard for her to really soak in and enjoy.  On the other hand she is the first one to cheer and yell at me in and out of transition!!  She is the first one to ask how I am feeling and to much me that much harder in the "pain cave".  She brings me water, food, towels.  I just can't tell you how much I appreciate and need her in my life.  My two little one's-Keegan 13 and Olivia 8.  Love to travel and see them at my races.  Love when they see me and try to run along when they can and yell at me.  Keegan started doing tri's and races about three years ago and continues to improve.  Keegan went out for Cross Country this year and really liked it.  Lots of form improvement and race time improvement.

Thanks go out to aTc (Altoona Tri Club).  Again we push and prod each other in each of our workouts, call on each other with questions, and bark at each other when needed.

Well enough for now back to the Iowa Hawkeye game.

Rest easy my friends.

The day

Well woke up with some right ITB pain and snapping over the knee.  Taking the day off from cardio.  I did however make it to the gym and did some weights on the legs as shown by my physical therapist.  Funny thing is the left leg is weaker than the right but it is the right giving me all the trouble.  Hmmmm

Physical Therapy today so we will see what he says.  Will try and run 5 miles in the am before work.  Then no running until this weekend where we will log 22.  No more run over 12 miles then until Chicago.

Keegan has his second cross country meet at Valley at 4 pm today.  His goal is to number one finish and number two beat his time from last week.

Well time to head to therapy.

Monday Training

Today was a 5 mile recovery run after a 12 mile fast paced run on Saturday at 0400.  I then went to work for 24 hours and had minimal sleep at Des Moines Fire.  Sunday brought the CyMan Sprint Triathlon which consisted of a 500 yard swim, 15 mile bike, and a 5K run.  This was the best race of my season.  i took over 8 minutes off of my fastest sprint tri ever.  Still not able to find the results anywhere.  Poor website provided by whomever their web master is.

Mike Morrison whom I train with most of the time during the week came over and he was also sore from his long run over the weekend.  He is preparing for a Marathon in November in Arkansas.  Well after rolling out the ITB (lots of issues this year), strapping on the heart rate monitor and the GPS out we went on a so called controlled run.  Well damn heart rate decided to start at 150.  That is where I wanted to keep it for the whole race.  That went out the window for most of the run.  Developed some right ITB pain from the beginning but whatever......nothing new.  We ended up running 4.32 miles and called it a day.

The rest of this week brings:

Tuesday: 8x800's- I will do these on the tredmill.  I do this at a 1.5% grade.  I do them on the tredmill cause I know if I slow down I am getting thrown off the back of it.

Wednesday: 5 mile run

Thursday: 40 minute Tempo run

Friday : OFF

Saturday: 10 mile run

Sunday: 22 mile run.  This is the last LONG run of the season.  I then get to start my slow taper in preparation for Chicago.

*****  We got our Hotel reserved in Madison for the IRONMAN in 2011.  We actually got one right at the site of the start and finish.  Went back into look 5 minutes after making my reservation and the Hotel was booked.  Got lucky.  Now I need to get lucky and get into the race.  I was all done with the online registration and only had to pay.....them BOOM the site closed.  Tried to get back in several times but it is now closed and still closed due to technical difficulty.  *****

End of the Season Tri

Well today marked the end of my 2010 triathlon season.  Today was the CyMan Tri which consisted of a 500 yard swim, 15 mile bike, and a 5K run.  PR was accomplished and by over 8 minutes.  All the training, blood, sweat, tears, paid off to a bitter sweet ending.  A big thanks to my beautiful wife, Alison, my children, Keegan and Olivia for allowing dad the time to train and for coming to my events and bringing me home everytime.  You endured the heat, rain, and cold on more than one occasion.  We seen many places this season to include, Jamaica, South Dakota, Kansas, and many different cities in Iowa.  We finish the running season with the running of the Chicago Marathon on 10/10/10.

Tomorrow starts a new adventure in my life.  As a friend of mine is finishing the Ironman Wisconsin I sign up for the Ironman for Sept of 2011.