Where in the World is Chuckie V

Chuckie V is, in my opinion, the best triathlon blogger IN THE WORLD!  He is a great writer, very interesting, and as far as I can tell probably a pretty awesome coach.  Also he won Ironman Canada in 1999.  His hiking journals are also pretty awesome, I spent many hours reading his PCT journal end to end.  However, last year his blog went offline/private.  I was devastated since I was slowly reading through his posts, but there was no clue where his online persona had gone too.  Until now!  The boys at Slow Twitch found a link to this blog.  Pretty cool, I guess he is hiking through some mountain range in England, and now there are tons of interesting Chuckie V adventures to read again!

Here are some links to Chuckie V's materials that are still kicking around the internet:

• Most Recent Chuckie V Blog
• Trail journal on the Pacific Crest Trail
• The Art of War
• Young Pro's Survival Guide on Slowtwitch
• What Would Tony Little Do
• Some guy talking about the Chuckie V Effect
• 20 Questions with Chuckie V

Update: new Chuckie V blog

Update update: Chuckie V's 2013 Appalachian Trail Journal

Am I in Better Shape This Year Than Last?

Last year I did a pretty good job of training, culminating in my best half marathon time ever, 1:53 something. This year I want to do better of course, since there is a still a 10 minute gap I have to close with Fast Alex.  So my question to myself is, am I in better shape this year than last?  Is there reason to think there will be an improvement?

I have run very consistently this year, 6 days a week every week but I think my pace is slower and probably overall mileage.  I think my heart rate might be better though.  So here is a comparison of my training week in the last week of January in 2012 and 2013!

Last Year

Tuesday - it looks like I swam, biked 10 minutes, and ran for 1/2 a mile?
Wednesday - looks like I ran just under 40 minutes, 4 miles, the first mile slow (~11:00 min/mile), the middle two miles fast (8:45 min/mile), and the last mile slow again (around 10:30 min/mile).  When fast heart rate was 182 or so, when slow it was 151 and then 165 after
Thursday - spin class
Friday - 2 miles, 10:00 min/mile, avg heart rate was 159
Saturday - 3 miles, 8:45 min/mile, avg heart rate was 175, seemed to settle out at 180 for the last part of the run, also did a spin it appears
Sunday - long outdoor run, 7.31 miles, 11:19 average pace, average heart rate was 157
Total mileage - 16.5 miles

This Year

Tuesday - 2 miles, 10:15 min/mile pace, 152 average heart rate
Wednesday - 2 miles, 9:40 min/mile pace, 158 average heart rate
Thursday - 3 miles, 9:45 min/mile pace, 164 average heart rate
Friday - 1 mile, 8:15 min/mile pace, 172 average heart rate (rose to 179/180 by the end)
Saturday - 4 miles, 10:30 min/mile pace, average heart rate 151
Sunday - 1 mile, 8:00 min/mile pace, transition run after spin, heart rate rose to 170 bpm by the end
Total mileage - 13 miles

The two mile workouts are probably the most comparable, and it seems from them that my heart rate is slightly ahead of where it was last year.  I think after this week last year I started to pick up my speed and my long run distance, so I may have to factor that in for future runs...

Training Update - One Month In

I've been going pretty hard and running 6 days a week every day since New Years, and I think I'm starting to see improvements.  Most runs have been around 9:30 to 10:30 min/mile pace which is too slow to get close to Fast Alex, but my heart rate has been quite a bit lower than years past, so I am still holding out very, very limited hope that I will see enough improvements to beat Fast Alex.

My hip has been pretty sore, especially in weeks 3 and 4 which led to me easing off on the mileage a fair touch.  However, this week it has felt a lot better.

In addition to running I've been pushing other exercises a fair bit, doing 3 X 1KM rowing every week and also core and weight training.  Maybe that will help too?

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Total
01-Jan-12	0	2	2	2	2	2	1	11
08-Jan-12	0	2	3	2	2	3	1	13
15-Jan-12	0	2	3	1	2	3	1	12
22-Jan-12	0	2	2	3	1	4	1	13
29-Jan-12	0	2	3	3	1