Good Start to the Block

“When the final came I had built myself up to withstand any set back. I no longer wanted to be wrapped in cotton wool. If my spikes had split now I should have run in bare feet. If I were knocked over I would not feel martyred, but would draw new impetus from my anger.”
-Roger Bannister

After a sloppy 1500m heat, where Bannister allowed a number of things to affect his race, (a split spike shoe, pushing and elbowing) he had only one day to change his frame of mind. And he did. This is a quote I am going to bring with me in my carry-0n when I travel to races. In a 2 hour race, especially in the sport of Triathlon, any number of small things can happen. And you can allow those things to defeat you. Simon was involved in a bike crash in the 2000 Olympic Games in which he won gold. No Cotton Wool.

Thursday was a tough tough day. Woke up early for Core now scheduled in for Tuesdays and Thursdays. Got pumped up and into the pool we went. Swim was a blast with a challenge 400. The Challenge was keeping my stroke count below 30 strokes per 50. add them all up and how many strokes below 240 equal push ups for both coach Craig and Neil. But it didn't end there. There had to be a limit on the time. mine was 5.20. Not a problem. I was pretty excited about this so I ended up giving both Craig and Neil 29 push ups. Kirsty topped that with 36 push ups. In the end Craig and Neil had 79 push ups to do at the end of the workout. Ouch. I had sympathy pains or maybe that was just the swim.

Anyway, off to campus for a run with the Vikes. I was warmed up and ready to go and Brent Fougner pointed and said you are running with them today. He said, "chase after them" So I did a set of 5-8x2min Tempo out on the trails with Zach Whitmarsh, Achraf Tadili and Kris Swanson. I can tell you now that I felt that for a couple of days. Although Hot/Cold helped a fair bit.

Friday was a day of preparation for the 1000m TT on Sat. Although in the pool a 400m TT was written up on the board. The time was descent pulling a 4.30. 5 sec off my LC PB. With a light 30min run in the afternoon I was set for the TT this morning.

My first ever 1000m TT on the track. It felt like the entire running community was out on the track Saturday morning, and the Tri. guys stopped by in the middle of their base ride. Thanks guys for the cheering. After a hectic warm up I refocused. With a relaxed first 400(64sec) I moved to the front of the pack on the corner of the second 400(not the best idea but i did it) I focused on a strong build in the next 400. The last 200 I just gave her while trying to stay relaxed. The final time was 2.39. I will take it considering the wind on the back stretch, but I know I can do better.




5min after we did 2x{300, 200, 100}
Set 1: 1.47, 30, 13
Set 2: 1.45, 30, 13

Well that is all,
Take Care and ciao for now,
Andrew McCartney

Todays Top 5

Top 5 Songs of the 80's:

1. Toto - Africa
2. Joy Division - Love will tear us apart
3. U2 - Pride in the name of love
4. The Cars - Drive (Scotty will kill me for saying this but both Scotty and I started to cry listening to this. I don't know about Scotty but I was going through a rough time...)
5. Duran Duran - Hungry like the wolf

If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds' worth of distance run

Quick Question:

The Earth's shape is which of the following:

a) A perfect Sphere
b) More Like an Eclips
c) More like a Potato
d) None of the Above

-see below for answer

I am studying for a Geography midterm, specifically GIS (Geographic Information System) Whenever I mentin that I am taking a lot of Geography classes, some one will inevitably ask, "So what's the capital of Peru?" But its really so much more than places and names. Its everything from the physical history of the world, the big bang, plate techtonics to the most current issues you read about in the paper everyday like managing our resources creating sustainable communities (Social geography) and climate change.

Anyway, in an effort to learn more about good sports nutrition, I went to the Health Expo. this past weekend while most of it deals with Bone Density and Weight Loss, I went especially to hear Dr. John Berardi, who has been the sports nutritionist to a lot of successful american Olympic teams. It would be great to have him come and speak at PacSport. Apparently athletes should eat evey 2-3 hours and at each of these meals there should be a protein along with a fruit or Vegetable (A 1:4 Ratio) Interesting guy (He isn't actually this buff in real life)



Ok and so for the highlights of the past 4 days or so:

Saturday...what a beautiful ride! Base ride along the shore around town along Dallas Road. It was delayed an hour due to ice on the road. Sat in a coffee shop for an hour and all was melted. Turned into a very sunny and very warm day out on the roads. I knew I'd overdressed!

Sunday the usual base run at the lake for the Vikes. The Lake waters are down. Everythings drying up.

New to my schedule, "a Monday". Due to a busy Wed school schedule my day off has been moved from Monday to Wednesday. So a swim and a rollers for Monday. Rollers was a blast once again I realized after I was riding with a flat. Fixed it and it became quite a bit easier. I was back to my old tricks with the addition of "One hand, One Leg."

All this brings us to today. Break point set in the morning. The set was this:
3x{4x50 3x100}
I hit my number of 32sec with 31 strokes for the 50's and 1.06 with 32 strokes/50 for the 100's. Solid set and finished it all off with about a km of kick.

Off to the Track in the afternoon for a very joyful run with the Vikes. Boy, It doesn't matter what troubles or stresses await you out in the world these guys can make you laugh. But as for the workout the set goes as follows:

2X{ 400m 300m 200m 100m} Awsome set! I rounded the track at what was to be percieved 1km pace here are the times: 1.01(400) .44(300) .29(200) 12(100) The second set was similar.

Well Tomorow is day off and I need this one. Umph.
Ciao for now,
Andrew McCartney

Todays Top 5

Top 5 songs I want you to "legally" download right now!(trust me)

1. Silversun Pickups - Lazy eye (My new Favourite song)
2. Patrick Watson - Drifters (I love this Music Video)
3. Rob Szabo - Breaking even (Feel good song)
4. KT Tunstall - Suddenly I see (A Fun song)
5. Nouvelle Vague - Guns of Brixton (Cover of Clash)
   
   
   
   
   

mmm potato Answer= c

Taking Care of the Details

At the first sign of a cold this past week, I threw everything I could at it; Echinaecia, Cold FX, Emergen-C and Hot Lemon with Ginger. I will never know which one worked but things are looking up. I have been swimming just 3km most mornings, testing the aerobic system, spinning on rollers and sticking mostly to treadmill. Just returned from a workout on the track with some encouraging results. I did a simple set of 8x200m. And my splits were as follows: 32, 32, 32, 31, 31, 31, 30, 30. All feeling very in control and springy (You have to love that feeling) and better yet, not a sniffle. I think (With the approval of Coach CT of course) that I am ready for another build.

As for a catch up...wow "January 03"...I am sorry. Computer problems...and Craig I have heard enough I give in, you are a Mac, I'm a PC and I''m still waiting for a new Hard Drive... no comment. (I apologize for the nerd-speak)

But TRAINING! :)
January 1-8th was quite the swim build. Most of the Tri. group was doing double swims, for example 6km in the morning and 3km or so in the afternoon. Because I am on a run focus I did the 6km swim and I just continued with my running in the afternoon. Here are some of the highlights of the past 2 weeks:

The Vikes first workout of the new year was a good start to the new years resolution with a workout of 2x {4x 400m} Darren and I circled the track at a 1500m pace, holding 1.05's +/- 1 sec

The usual Steady state workout with surges up and down the hills at Lambrick Park.

Due to poor weather our usual Friday workout was delayed to a very sunny Saturday morning. The set was 4x 800m on the "wind tunnel" aka the track. Logan Burke, Zack W. and I worked together holding 2:18's.

In my last blog, I mentioned my New Years Resolution, "To get everything I can out of every single workout" This does not just mean swimming, biking and running all out at every workout. I already know how to do this. So Craig and I have put to work a plan to ensure I get the most I can get out of the time I have leading up to Hamburg, Germany and the season to come. It means resting heart rates each morning to monitor my health. It means examining every detail of my daily nutrition as well as pre-workout and recovery intake. I need to keep my Training Peaks Log up to date, and take advantage of the resources at pacificsport - including nutrition advice, massage, and sports psychology. If I want to reach my goals, I need to become a more complete athlete. On race day , I will be confident that I have done everything.

Well there you have it, some strong training, a tough past week and the beginning of what will be a grande training block.

That is all,
Ciao for now,
Andrew McCartney

Todays Top 5

Top 5 Superfoods I'm going to start eating more of:

1. Green Stuff
2. Yams (Simon was right)
3. Pomegranates
4. Gregor Robinson's Happy Planet Drinks
5. Blueberries

Let Indoor Season Begin!

"The Possibilities in racing tactics are almost unlimited, as in a game of chess, for every move there is a counter, for every attack there is a defense.... The runner's greatest asset, apart from essential fitness of body, is a cool and calculating brain allied to confidence and courage. Above all, he must have a will to win."

-Franz Stampfl (Franz Stampfl on Running 1955)

Franz Stampfl was the coach of Roger Bannister and I hope it holds you over till my next post. These days have been quite busy and with my personal computer in for repairs, I will update you later on my training.

Ciao For Now,
Andrew

PS. My New Years Resolution:
To get everything I can out of every single workout I do!