Ironman Week 7

2/13-2/19

Monday
rest

Tuesday
am: bike / 13 mi / 0:50 / avg 15.6 mph
Easy morning ride before work on a beautiful morning. Hard to believe that things are already blooming in February!

pm: swim / 1,350 yds / 0:40

• warm-up:
• 300
• 200 kick variety
• main:
• 8x25 @ 1:40 on 0:40
• 4x50 @ 1:40 on 1:05
• 2x75 @ 1:40 on 1:55
• 1x100 @1:40
• cool-down: 200

Had a hot Valentine's Day with the pool! This was a pretty short workout but had me pushing the paces. The idea was to keep up the same pace (1:40/100yds) for progressively longer sets, finishing with a full 100 yards. The 25s and 50s were pretty doable, the 75s a bit more challenging but then again, I only had to do two! When it came time for the 100 I wasn't sure if I could hit it but I pushed hard and clocked a 1:38 : ) It's workouts like these that are hopefully making me a faster swimmer!

Wednesday
am: conditioning / 1:00
I was running a little late this morning, but when I got there at 10 after to my surprise I was the only one! It looked like I might be getting a little one-on-one training sesh but someone else ended up showing up. It ended up being an awesome workout with a bit more special attention : )

[brick]
pm: bike / 20.4 mi / 1:15 / avg 16.3 mph
pm: run / 4.6 mi / 0:40 / avg 8:47
I had the day off and intended to get my brick out of the way in the early afternoon, but as soon as I got home from conditioning a nasty wind kicked up. This was a legit tree-bending, howling, gale-like wind and according to the forecast it was going to be here all day. I would rather train in any other conditions than wind - I loathe it. I kept hoping it would die down but eventually I just had to suck it up and brave the wind! Thankfully it ended up being mostly a crosswind for the bike ride. The trail had fallen branches and limbs all over though that required lots of attention and dodging. There was also a ton of deer out for some reason. I saw a cute little family of five and had to stop to take a pic : ) By the time I headed out for my run the wind actually had died down and I ended up having a great, quick run!

Thursday
am: swim / 2,600 yds / 1:00

• warm-up:
• 200
• 100 side kick
• 100 CU
• main:
• 1x600 [200(5), 200(3), 200(choice)] on 12:30
• 6x100 @ 1:55 on 2:05
• 1x400 [200(5), 100(3), 100(3)] on 8:30
• 4x100 @ 1:55 on 2:05
• cool-down: 200

This was my longest swim ever! I decided to swim in the morning since it was an hour-long workout and it was such a refreshing way to start my day. The workout consisted of longer sets that alternated between breathing drills and paced 100s. The (x) designates the number of strokes between each breath. I usually do every 3, so 5 was a little weird to get used to, but not too difficult. I felt pretty strong throughout but was definitely tired the rest of the day!

 gorgeous flowered trees outside the gym

I had a short half hour run with hill repeats on the schedule that I was planning on doing after work, but I wasn't feeling too hot during the day and I ended up having to work an extra hour. I didn't get home til 8:30pm and with a long ride planned for the next morning, I thought the smart thing to do was skip the run. I felt pretty guilty for some reason, although I know I did the right thing.

Friday
am: bike / 50 mi / 3:09 / avg 15.8 mph
Thursday evening Facebook informed me that a couple of folks in my training group were planning on doing a 3 hour ride the following morning. I had 3 on deck as well and a late start at work so I was excited to do my first group ride! I knew going into it that these guys were faster than me, but they assured me that it was cool for me to tag along and that they'd be taking it "easy". So I meet them in Natomas and as we set out, I couldn't help but laugh. The three of them on their fancy Cervelo tri bikes and me on my dinky little road bike made for quite the sight!

From the start I knew my legs just hadn't showed up. We meandered though the neighborhood to the levy and immediately the guys took off. My friend Cris was nice enough to stay with me, assuring me that she hadn't been feeling very well so the slower pace was fine. I felt like I was pushing hard from the start, but was struggling to go faster than 15 mph. God it was frustrating! My heart rate was also way higher than it was supposed to be, but there was no way I was slowing down. We chatted to pass the time and riding through the fields was nice and peaceful. Before we knew it we were on familiar turf: the American River bike trail. We stopped a couple times to Gu and then cruised along til it was time to turn around. I tried out a new endurance drink (Gu Roctane - I'll be reviewing soon!) and tried to be more consistent with fueling. I also got some good feedback on my bike fit and why I may not be as efficient as I should be on my bike.

 

rural Natomas

For some reason we picked up some speed on the way back and I was feeling a little better. Although now 30+ miles in, my legs were tired for a different reason. My heart rate also dropped to a more appropriate zone and ended up averaging out to the prescribed zone 2. The second half of the ride ended up being much more enjoyable, but I won't lie, I was toast by the end. We got back with about 1.5 miles left to get to 50, so of course I made Cris circle the neighborhood til we hit the big 5-0! While I really enjoyed the company, I'm definitely not fast enough to be riding with these guys right now. Maybe with a new bike and more practice, but on such a long ride I know I shouldn't be pushing so hard. I just want to be faaaaasssst!

Saturday
pm: bike / 14.2 mi / 0:50 / avg 17.0 mph

I squeezed this in after work on the trainer. I set up my bike in the garage where it was cooler and set up my laptop on the washing machine in front of me to have some entertainment. After a 15 minute warm-up the workout called for 6x45" (15" build, 30" sprint) on 5:00. The sprints were definitely challenging, but what I hate the most about pedaling so fast is how much it makes you bounce around in the saddle. Maybe I'm doing it wrong? After a 10 minute cool-down I was ready to be done. I honestly don't know how people spend hours on a trainer!

sweet set-up, right?

Sunday 
am: swim / 2,050 yds / 1:00

• warm-up:
• 200
• 300 side kick (25 R/swim/25 L/swim)
• main:
• 12x25 w/ PB [3x 25(3), 25(5), 25(7), 25(9)]
• 225 drill (25 FT/25 swim)
• 12x25 (25 count stroke/25 hard)
• 225 drill (25 CU/25 swim)
• 12x25 (focus on "catch")
• cool-down:
• 100 hard
• 100 easy

Another MTC group workout! They've become quite popular and this week we actually took up the entire pool! It was a fun workout with lots of longer sets broken up, focusing on technique and breathing. One of the standouts from the workout was the set with breathing ladders. Breathing every 3 and 5 strokes was easy, but when we got to 9, we were swimming an entire length with only 2 breaths! Thankfully using a pull buoy made it a little easier - without it I think I may have drowned : )

am: run / 13 mi / 2:01 / avg 9:21
Since I had the day off (rare on the weekend!) I was able to join the group for my long run. I had 2 hours on deck which was one of the longest of the bunch so I expected to be alone for most of the run, but figured there would at least be friendly faces out there. We headed out from the gym toward Discovery Park where we hopped on the bike trail. I quickly fell in with a few others at an easy conversational pace and chatted about (what else?) triathlon. After a couple miles two turned back and I continued on with an awesome chick, A, also training with my coach for her first Ironman, Arizona. My legs were tired from the start, which I attributed to my long ride two days before and that morning's swim. We trudged along, chatting to make the miles pass. I haven't had company on a run in quite some time so it was a nice change.

It warmed up pretty quickly and I hadn't brought along water, which in hindsight was not the best move. I probably could have done more fueling both before and during as I was pretty hungry and parched by the end. Lesson learned for next time! I was ready to be done as we got closer to Discovery. I had 10 more minutes to add on solo while A headed back to the gym. I finished up with 13 miles and even managed to keep my heart rate in zone 2! After refueling I cleaned up and headed to Davis to do a little bike shopping!

Totals

swim: 6,000 yards

bike: 97.6 miles

run: 17.6 miles

other: 1 hour

total time: 12.4 hours