Shipped off both the computrainer and one of my roller drums to their manufacturers for repair last week.

The computrainer has been behaving spuriously: pressing or removing power randomly in ergometer mode, or giving me random (and crazy) power readings in PC mode. We've fooled with it for a few weeks--Jen has the same issues when she rides it--but I finally bit the bullet, boxed it up and shipped it to the factory in Seattle. Hope I see it again in a few weeks.

I just plain broke one of the drums on my rollers ... popped the drum right off its bearing. The set is about eight years old, but Saris/Cyclops warranties them for life. So I called, and they were indeed generous about it. Told me to ship them the broken drum and they'd ship me a new one. So, I'm waiting on that, and hoping to see it this week.

Fortunately, we have a plan C for indoor cycling--our old fluid trainer. That means measuring perceived exertion instead of watts, counting cadence manually, and no SpinScan feedback. But I managed (I thought) a decent 2-hour ride Saturday with that. Still miss my computrainer, though.

Otherwise, this week was a lot like last. I even got sick again--Jen and I "shared" a stomach bug that put me out of commission on Thursday (she was down, unfortunately, for a couple of days).

Have a long way to go, but, I'm slowly but surely getting the hay in the barn.

Sunday: Run 9.3 miles @ 9:58/mile / zone 1-2

Monday: Morning weights. Afternoon run 45 minutes (treadmill)--15 w/u + 30 tempo @ 8:00 mile / 151 av HR (same workout in January @158, in early February @ 157)

Tuesday: Morning 60 minutes on computrainer; tempo ride / work sets in CP90 & zone 3-4

Wednesday: Morning swim @ 2900 yards; Afternoon run ... Mushy trails and Garmin battery died after a mile. Guessing I covered 5 miles in about 50 minutes.

Thursday: Off

Friday: Morning swim @ 2700 yards / ME work (lots of 75s of varying intensities); Afternoon run @ 4.25 miles in 40 minutes, zone 1-2

Saturday: 120 minutes on the fluid trainer. Work sets ranging from zone 1 - 3.

Kind of a tough week. Jen and I both fought through colds this week, and that seemed to make everything a struggle. Two two of us nearly polished off a bottle of NyQuil. Fortunately, William was pretty healthy.

Made it through, though, and actually had a couple of notable training sessions.

Sun: Run 7.5 mi @ zone 1/2

Mon: Weights a.m; run 5 mi @ zone 1/2 p.m.

Tue: Bike, 1 hour Computrainer (ergo meter mode), main set of 4x6 @ CP 90 (260 watts). Solid ride, but the cold was wearing me down by the last set.

Wed: Swim a.m., 100 yard pace test (cut pace by 1 sec); run p.m., 5 mi @ zone 1/2

Thu: weights a.m.

Fri: Swim a.m. @ endurance sets, 3000 yd (first time more than 3000 since 2010). Run p.m. 4.5 mi/hills @ zone 1-3. Second week adding in a fourth run. Working on the running base for the off season (or early season or whatever this is).

Sat: Bike, 1-1/2 hr Computrainer 3D, various courses,

I'm pretty happy with my current progress. I've also lost about 11 pounds since December, and am below 200 for the first time since 2009.

Just getting started

The initial mystery that attends each journey is: how did the traveler reach his starting point in the first place?

--Louise Bogan

Goal 1: Finish REV3 ironman-distance race(Sep 9) in 13 hours. If that fails ... finish it in 17.

February

Opportunities

• Swim: work on stroke efficiency, continue regular workouts
• Bike: build overall fitness & efficiency
• Run: biggest opportunity area; build overall fitness; half marathon in the spring?

Train efficiently

• Swim 2x/wk, bike 2x/wk, run 3-4x/wk, weights 2x/wk
• Workout in a binder for bike / swim ... make these count
• Computrainer / use power and heartrate to track fitness. Roller workouts for efficiency. Max length ~ 2hr. aerobic zones with pickups). Test (monthly?)
• Run workouts; building aerobic base. Treadmill for testing (monthly?) Outside as much as possible. Max length ~1:15 (ish). Aerobic zones with pickups / (some) hills / fartleks.
• Document everything

Stay healthy

• Stretch daily
• Powerlifting workouts for power and strength (Mon and Thurs)
• Sleep / nutrition
• Keep body weight at or below 200 lb.

Start 26-week plan on March 11.