MARIO STOCCO

CHALLENGE ROTH TRAINING - 2023

Week beginning Sunday, February 5, 2023

20 weeks out from race day.

WEEKLY GOAL

Pay attention because I still have a weird cough.

SUMMARY

Total Time: 8.75 Hours

I feel like I was STILL COUGHING

My watch recorded my resting heart rate higher on average this week and its GPS tracking is acting up too.

I looked back on 20 weeks out from last year and that was the second of two +13 hour weeks. I can't help but think about how COVID has me behind schedule this year.

Regardless, I did have a couple of wins. I was back in the pool on Friday and I had a really solid mountain bike ride on Saturday.

I averaged 77.1 Kg on the scale this week too.

SUNDAY FEB 5 🌦

Sleep 4 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7   1=best 7=worst   +5 is a warning

PLANNED WORKOUT

Swim 2000: 5x 100 easy swimming to warm up. Rest as needed. 4 rounds (50 Shark-fin drill. R :20, 100 swim w/ eggagerated rotation. R :20) 4x 200 w/ bouy. Aerobic/steady w/ focus on rotation. R :30. 2x 50 easy to cool down.

Stretching 33 minutes

NOTES

Total Time: 0 Minutes

A low motivation day, all day.

Once I finally got myself out the door and to Crystal Pool, I found that the pool was closed due to a broken filter. It should be fixed tomorrow.

MONDAY FEB 6 🌤

Sleep 4 | Fatigue 2 | Stress 3 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7   1=best 7=worst   +5 is a warning

PLANNED WORKOUT

Dead bugs, breathing, glute bridges.
Ride 75 minutes. Ideally this is outside on the MTB. But a ride on the trainer is certainly ok as well.

Stretching 15 minutes

NOTES

Total Time: 115 Mins   Normalized Power: 147W

I installed Rouvy on the Apple TV in the suite.

After a short, 8 minute warmup spin, I rode the simulated Challenge Roth bike course from T1, over the hill at Gredding and down into the hamlet of Obermässing. Easy effort, just like it was an Ironman.

I tried Rouvey on my iPad earlier this winter but having it displayed on a television is a lot more engaging.

SOME TAKEAWAYS

  • This is not ERG mode. I am shifting gears with the simulated terrain.
  • If this is correct, I am an 1:18:00 to Gredding and 1:40:00 to the highest point on the course.
  • Lots of very open farmland, if it is windy on race day, there won't be much hiding.
  • The big hill at Gredding starts at 10%, then eases back to 6% for the majority of the climb.
  • In real life, there are 90° corners on the course where speed will have to be scrubbed.
  • This was fun and I recognize landmarks from previous race videos on YouTube.

Bike

TUESDAY FEB 7 🌧

Sleep 4 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 4 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7   1=best 7=worst   +5 is a warning

PLANNED WORKOUT

Dead bugs, breathing, glute bridges.
1st: Swim 2300: 200 easy swim, 100 swim w/ buoy, 2x 50 steady kick. 8x 50 Descend 1-4, 5-8 1: Easy, 2: steady, 3: ½ IM effort, 4: 1500 effort. R :15 after each. 4 rounds (50 as 25 FAST/25 cruise, 50 Steady. R :15 after each) 3x 300 aerobic/steady/smooth w/ focus on relaxed breathing. R 1:00 after each. 4x 50 easy to cool down.

2nd: Run 30 minutes EASY

NOTES

Run Time: 34 Mins   Trainer: 42 Mins

Finished work at 1430 but Crystal Pool is still closed due to maintenance, lanes at Commonwealth and Esquimalt Rec are filled with programs, West Shore has some lanes until 1600 but I won't be able to get out there in time.

I ran in between rain showers, staying on the bike path to the end of the Selkirk Trestle. It crossed my mind to run a bit further but my weather window was closing fast. I picked up the pace for the final 5 minutes to get home before the rain.

The balance of the evening was on the trainer, pedalling "easish" and exploring the next 19 kilometres of the Roth bike course.

From Untermässing, it is net uphill going north parallelling the Autobahn and a kicker of a hill before leaving the Naturpark Altmühltal section. The road will be fast through Eysölden to the village of Zell.

BIke

One good thing about today is that my cough is (might be) getting better.

WEDNESDAY FEB 8 🌤

Sleep 4 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7   1=best 7=worst   +5 is a warning

PLANNED WORKOUT

Ride 90 minutes: 20 minutes easy spinning to warm up. 8x :45 high cadence/stable hips, 1:15 easy spinning afte reach. 4 minutes easy riding. 5x 5 minutes @ HR 128-138...give yourself at least a minute to get your HR up on each rep. 3 minutes easy spinning between reps. 13 minutes easy spinning to cool down

NOTES

Total Time: 0 Minutes

Crystal Pool will be closed until the middle of the month.

Work had me tied up this afternoon then life took over my evening.

No training, I am tired, grumpy, disappointed with myself and going to bed early tonight.

THURSDAY FEB 9 🌧

Sleep 4 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 4 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7   1=best 7=worst   +5 is a warning

PLANNED WORKOUT

Swim 2500: 2 rounds (100 easy swim, 100 w/ buoy, 50 steady kick. Rest as needed) 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400 all aerobic w/ a strong final 25 on each rep. Making sure you were staying aerobic and comfortable for the first part of each rep. R :45 after each. 4x 50 super easy to cool down.
Stretching 17 minutes

NOTES

Total Time: 57 Minutes   Run: 9 km

Another so-so sleep. My best choice to find a lane this afternoon is Westshore (12:15-4PM lanes, water walking & leisure pool).

Bike parts arrived this afternoon and I hung around until they were delivered. That put me on the back foot for getting out to Westshore for the swim. So... the run scheduled for tomorrow was done before dinner.

Second run in a row where the watch failed to record a GPS track until 20 minutes after pressing start. Hrmm...

The run was done at an easy effort mostly on the close-by gravel with a trip up to Marigold, a couple of trips out to Admirals Road and 5 times up The Berm.

HEARTRATE/ELEVATION CHART

Run

My heartrate was recorded higher than my RPE. Maybe its just the day. I am paying attention regardless.

FRIDAY FEB 10 🌤

Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7   1=best 7=worst   +5 is a warning

PLANNED WORKOUT

Dead bugs, breathing, glute bridges.

Run 50 minutes. Longest run in a bit.
EASY effort. A few rollers or longer hills would be great, but not necessary.

Stretching 27 minutes

NOTES

Total Time: 100 Minutes   Swim: 2150m

I felt rested upon rising this morning; its been awhile. The cough is more bothersome today though.

I rode up to the pool in Colwood for my first swim there. The facility was clean, the water was a bit warm, not a hint of chlorine and a bit salty. I did have a full lane to myself though.

Drop-in fee was a dollar more than Crystal Pool.

If this was summer, I couldn't picture myself riding my bike 10 minutes past Thetis Lake just to go for a swim in a 25m pool. On the otherhand, I did have an hour of easy bike commute time...

I swam the 2000m workout from Sunday.

Everything felt okay, like I'd missed a week of swimming; nothing more. I thought I'd get a some extra lengths in after the workout, but after an additional 150m, honesty trumped ego and I hopped out of the pool.

2000M SWAIM PACE CHART

Swim Yes, the last 50m was with some pep. The bonus cooldown was recorded at 1:52/100m.

SATURDAY FEB 11 ☁️

Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 2 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7   1=best 7=worst   +5 is a warning

PLANNED WORKOUT

Dead bugs, breathing, glute bridges.
Mountain bike ~ 2:00-2:15. Get outside. Stay warm. Have fun. Easy to steady effort. Remember to fuel and hydrate.

NOTES

Total Time: 160 Minutes   Ride: 38 km

Originally, I thought I'd avoid the hills and pedal the Galloping Goose out to Matheson Lake and back but I felt good from the start and chose ride up some hills.

I saw a guy on Highlands Road with a gravel bike who had stopped on the shoulder to fix something. As I rode bym I asked if he needed help and he said, "Nope, all good".

Not a minute later, he went flying by me, up and over a hill and I thought about how much extra energy this mountain bike needs to pedal...

Around a corner and over a hill, I spot the guy just up the road. Up the next rise, I pull even with him and the truth is now known. He tried to tell me something but he can barely muster a word. He'd blown himself to smithereens.

I pressed on to the park entrance at Westoby Road, looking back a few time but never to see the guy again. I made it to the gate in 27:45.

The Highlands-Barker-Westoby segment was 16 seconds slower than Jan 14th but still a good ride up the hill for me (thanks gravel dude).

I rode past the entrance to my typical single track trail. Through the trees, there looked to be 3 or 4 mountain bikers on the trail coming from the opposite direction. No biggie because...

Up ahead is a Strava Segment called "Scafe Hill More Suffering". It is a fireroad that starts off Bellamy Trail and heads up past a lookout point.

In my head, I remind myself a few time over,
"Smooth is fast and fast is smooth."

Near the top I was huffing and puffing pretty good but I smashed my previous time from a similiar ride last February by over 3 minutes!

After a water/gel break, I continued north up Bellamy for the single track of Kallie's Korner ●;
a trail that had me pushing my bike on many points in the past.

It wasn't clean but I rode way more of the tricky parts then I ever had previously.

Kallie's Korner heading north pops out near the very top of Munn Road. I was not interesting in going that far and started to make my way back to Thetis Park via Frank's Trail. I got turned around and ended up on Munn anyway.

Before starting the cold descent down Munn Road, I stopped to address the "Gees":

  • Gloves and Glasses
  • Gilet (really nice to have today)
  • and a Gel (Gu Salted Caramel)

Passing Westridge Place with 1:38:00 on the clock, I decided to spin around and made my way to the southend of Hartland.

I bested my time on the road up into the park and then down Bottom Feeder ●.

Making my way home, I started to feel the ride in my legs on the final kms at Panama Flats.

This was a fun ride and without intension, a very similar route (minus a couple single track excursions) to the ride on Feb 26, 2022 referenced earlier.

A post-COVID confidence booster.