I started this morning off on the bike prior to going to Physical Therapy.  Todays workout was supposed to be 3 x 10 minutes at a decreasing threshold effort (105%, 100%, 95%) with two anaerobic bursts of 20 seconds at 125% threshold.  The first set was tough but manageable.  After starting the second set I decided to throw in the towel as I didn't want to aggravate the knee before going to Physical Therapy.  Below is the outcome of this mornings ride.

My warm-up at Physical Therapy was a walk/run on the treadmill.  I was super excited to do this.  1 minute walk, 1 minute run.  I walked at 3.5 mph and ran at 5 mph.  I was able to set the speed and 3.5 was a little slow and I struggled to run at 5 mph.  I wasn't to crank the puppy up to 10 or 12 mph and really test out the knee, but against my desires I kept it at 5 mph.  Maybe Thursday when I go back I will go a little faster. I only did 3 sets, but hey that was three minutes of running.  More than I have run over the past 6-months combined.  After a few other exercises he wanted me to jump, long jump or short jump in this case.  It didn't matter how far.  I was a little hesitant at first because I couldn't do this before my surgery.  I had much success with no pain.  My knee is a little swollen now, but I feel very enthusiastic and energized as I move toward Ironman Maryland 2019.

I had a tough ride this morning.  I tried my best to stay with the workout but I think the anaerobic intervals was just a bit too much for me right now.  I did have pain in the knee and didn't want to push through it.  The workout included 4 x 30 seconds @ 130% FTP interval followed by a 2 minute increase to 150% FTP.  I wasn't able to stay sitting during the increase in power during the last two intervals and had to stand to make it through.  After completing these 4 intervals I had a 7 minute rest period at 50% power before starting the next set of four anaerobic intervals.  This set was set for 2 minutes each with a 2 minute recovery.  The intervals were set for 150%, 145%, 135%, and 135% FTP.  I wasn't able to make it through the seconds set of intervals.  Here is what power output looked like.  It wasn't worth the effort to push through the workout.
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I then headed out for my normal 2.5 mile walk.  It felt good however I did have a few twinges in the knee.  I listened to a podcast by triathlon taren interviewing Matt Chrabot.  I did end up walking a little faster than I intended at a 15:42 pace, but I don't really pay attention to pace.

Happy Training Everyone.

It has been a very busy week which led to a rough week with my knee being swollen most of the week.  I started off the week cutting down a huge bush in the front yard that was dead.  It took me several hour to cut it down and pull the stump/roots out of the ground.  It was brutally hot and it was hard to stay cool and hydrated.  Tuesday, I cut down as large tree on the corner of the house which again was not doing so great.  Again it took me several hour to cut it down and cut it up to manageable peaces.  I left part of it for the following day to finish up.  Wednesday, I did the Firecracker 4-Miler at a very quick pace.  That afternoon I finished up the remainder of the tree and then pulled a bunch of bushes out of the front of the house.  Thursday my legs were tight and knee swollen and a stiff so I took it easy most of the day.  Friday, I had Physical Therapy and that lead to a little bit more stress on the knee and then went to my mother-in-laws house to do some work around the house there.  The hamstrings are extremely tight which is leading to swollen knees and a tight back.  I gotta do a better job of stretching everyday.  

I did cut back or skipped several workouts this week.  My legs just were not feeling it and I didn't want to over do it more than I had already done.  I am looking forward to a new week and a new set of challenges through this journey.

Happy Training everyone.

 Wow!  My first "race" since my total knee replacement.  I couldn't have asked for a better day.  I decided the night prior I would do this race.  I woke up early and rode my bike to the start line, just over 5 miles.  I picked up my packet and then went for a walk to get the legs worked out and ready to "race".

I made my way over to the start line and lined up about half way back of the 1000 registered participants.  The gun wen off and off I went for my first races since last October.  I was want to finish in under and hour and stepped out on a pretty fast walk.  About a 1/4 mile into it we hit the first hill which is pretty steep and relatively long.  I felt great going up the hill passing everyone that took off at the start and couldn't run the entire way.  I just kept chugging away with a purposeful walk.

I hit the first mile at just over a 13-minute pace and then we started heading back down.  That was a little bit more difficult managing to go down a hill that steep.  I had a few twinges in the knee and had to adjust my stride accordingly and had no issues after that going down the hill.  I hit the second mile in 12:38.  My first thought was that was fast and probably the fastest I have walked a mile yet, probably the downhill helped the pace.  The remainder of the route was flat winding through downtown Fayetteville.  I picked up the cadence a little bit and managed a fast mile in 12:30.  

At this point I thought maybe I needed to slow down a bit, but the competitive personality kept me moving along.  At this point I picked up a passenger that was running the entire way and she was just trying to stay with me.  She couldn't figure out how I could walk that fast when she was running.  I encouraged her the remainder of the way and when we made the final turn I told her to run with everything she had left.  She pulled ahead and finished strong.  I had another faster mile in 12:14.  Not sure how I walked that fast but hey the watch doesn't lie.

I ended up walking 4.07 miles according to my Garmin at a 12:36 pace.  The chip time had me finish in 51:16 at a 12:48 pace for 4 miles.  Regardless which distance is accurate, I had a great time out there yesterday.  Happy Training and racing everyone.

I feel so blessed that I am able to get out and train virtually every day. Today I was able to walk my normal route and I hit a PR on Strava with a 13:23 pace for a 2 mile route.  I was feeling pretty good and just kept the feet moving while listening to a Triathlon Training Podcast.

I had a great month in June with a total of 18 days training on the bike, mostly on the trainer, for a total of 298 miles or 18 hours, 20 minutes.  I have a total of 19 days training "running" with several of those days were two runs.  I hit a total of 59.75 miles or 15 hours 24 minutes of training.  It is marginal gains for distance for the two disciplines over the month of May.  However, it was huge gains in speed and pace reducing my total training time from 42 hours in May to 34 hours in June.  This makes me happy!