My first peak week of training saw a significant increase in the yardage of my swim workouts, my longest bike ride which finally got me up to the 70.3 bike distance, and my first double digit run since April! Overall I feel really good about this week. My legs felt a little fatigued on my rides, but other than that things went pretty well. Just 6 more weeks til the big day!
Monday
swim: 2,100 yds, 55 min.
- warm-up: 300 (100 w/ pb)
- 4x50 (on the 1:05)
- 200 easy w/ pb
- 2x100 (on the 2:20)
- 200 easy w/ pb
- ladder: 50 (10s), 100 (15s), 150 (20s), 200 (20s), 150 (15s), 100 (10s), 50
- cool-down: 200 (100 w/ pb)
Tuesday
swim: 2,200 yds, 55 min.
- warm-up: 400 (200 w/ pb)
- 4x50 (on the 1:05)
- 200 easy w/ pb
- 2x100 (on the 2:20)
- 200 easy w/ pb
- ladder: 50 (10s), 100 (15s), 150 (20s), 200 (20s), 150 (15s), 100 (10s), 50
- cool-down: 200 (100 w/ pb)
Wednesday
rest.
Thursday
[brick]
bike: 21.26 mi, avg 17.8 mph.
My legs felt a little fresher after taking several days off from riding and I was able to maintain a much faster speed than the previous week.
run: 3 mi, 8:28 avg pace.
I tried to slow myself down a bit on this run so I wouldn't feel so spent at the end, but my legs just want to move fast on these brick runs! I did slow a bit with each progressive mile, which means I probably need to be starting slower to begin with. Oh well!
Friday
bike: 55 mi, avg 17.0 mph.
Bumped up the long ride another 5 miles this week for a grand total of 55 miles. This distance is just one mile short of the race distance for a half Ironman, so I have a rough idea of how long it will take me come race day. It was definitely a challenge, but not quite as bad as last weeks miserable ride. I did a little out and back on a portion of the bike trail I've never been on before that was really winding and hilly, but also a nice change of scenery. It was a warm ride, too, well into the 80s, but thankfully it's cooler to ride in the heat than to run in it. I stopped a few times to stretch and refuel which really helped. My neck, shoulders, arms, and hands all get really tight and sore the longer I ride (which I can only assume is related to my bike fit) so stretching helps. I made sure to fuel more frequently this time, but I'm still not sure if it's enough. Never felt like I bonked, but I definitely felt tired toward the end. Overall it was a decent ride and I was glad to have the miles behind me, and especially to know that I'll be able to cover the race distance!
One weird thing I'll mention: during my long rides I've been getting cravings for certain drinks. For a few weeks it was lemonade, and I seriously couldn't get enough of it. After this week's ride, all I could think about during the last 10 miles was...root beer. So first thing I did when I finished was head out for some food and root beer. I bought two ice cold bottles and chugged the first before I even made it home. So.damn.good.
swim: 1,400 yds, 35 min.
- warm-up: 200 (100 w/ pb)
- 4x50 (on the 1:05)
- ladder: 50 (10s), 100 (15s), 150 (20s), 200 (20s), 150 (15s), 100 (10s), 50
- cool-down: 200 (100 w/ pb)
My coworkers and I had plans to go to an outdoor concert after work but I needed to fit in a swim. My friend Erin offered to work til close for me so I could get off an hour early and hit the pool for a short workout before meeting back up with them. I figured I would swim as much as I could, but considering that my other two swims this week were longer I was ok with cutting this one short. I was a little peeved when mid-swim another lap swimmer asked if he could borrow my pull buoy. I wasn't using it at the moment (I was still warming up) so I said ok, but then when I eventually did need it after my set of 50s, he was still using it. I was mostly annoyed because my swim club has plenty of buoys for swimmers' use, so why didn't he just get his own?! In the interest of time I didn't wait for him to finish his set and just went straight into a ladder. Between the time crunch and my lost buoy, it wasn't the greatest swim, but I got it done and headed out for a fun night with friends.
Sunday
run: 10.1 mi, 9:11 avg pace.
I was admittedly a little nervous about this run. I've sort of been avoiding running the past couple months, with the excuse that I needed to focus more on swimming and biking. While that was partly true, I also just felt like I'd lost some of my endurance and thus motivation. I was afraid of seeing how much fitness I'd lost, so I avoided running much, which only made me lose more fitness. Anyway, this would be the longest I've run since AR 50, and I was anxious to see how I would do. During my ultra training I did this 10 mile run to work in 1.5 hours, and while I knew I wouldn't be quite as fast this time, I was hoping I could at least finish the run feeling somewhat decent. Well, all my worry turned out to be for nothing and I had a great run. I was only about 10 sec off my usual pace for this run, and I felt strong throughout, even ending up with a negative split and a few sub-9 miles toward the end. It totally set the tone for my day and was just the thing I needed to get back into the swing of things with my running : )
Totals:
swim - 5,700 yards
bike - 76.26 miles
run - 13.1 miles
I love A&W Root Beer! Try putting a little vinilla ice cream in it next time. That. Rocks!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a strong week, especially for swimming! Do I see on your schedule that you're racing this weekend? Good luck!
ReplyDelete