Training Week #3

Mar
2014
06

posted by on Ironman

Week Three Recap

Monday:

PM – 35-minute treadmill run at a “steady pace” (slower than tempo but faster than race pace).  Unfortunately, I had some right knee pain during this run.  I ran for a while before I felt any discomfort, but once I felt a twinge, I stopped and re-started to ensure my form was strong.  I have found that when I slow down when my knee is not happy, it often feels worse.  So, after stopping a couple of time and re-starting, I still felt the twinge. I actually sped up my pace for a short time and it felt better.  I then brought my pace back down to what I was targeting, and all was good.  This just re-affirms that I need to keep stretching a priority amongst all this training.

Average pace: 8:36 for 5.17 miles…this pace was in the range of what I was hoping for.  It is the same pace that I averaged for my 30-minute steady pace run last week.

Tuesday:

AM – 80 minutes on the bike trainer with the focus on cadence.  I rode various sets from low cadence to mid cadence to high cadence.  This was a challenging set, but the amount of times you have to change gears and keep an eye on the cadence reading, helps the time to pass.

PM – 1900 yard swim with the focus on speed!  The main set of this swim included 8x100s at a moderate pace with short 15 second rest and then 50 FAST followed by a 30 second rest.  This was a tough set and I really focused on maintaining the SHORT rest intervals.  I was happy that each of my 100s fell between 1:48-1:49.  Yay for consistency!

Wednesday:

PM – 70-minute run on the treadmill. I actually misread the instructions on my plan and instead of performing this run at target race pace, I ran it at steady pace, which is 30-sec/mile faster.  I had some issues on the run.  I started the run with some nutrition available, but it was not enough. I ended up having 2 Gus and 2 individual shot blocks and needing full calorie Gatorade (I usually drink G2 – the low cal version) to finish the run. Luckily, Tony was home and checked on me and brought me one of the GUs and the Gatorade, so I could finish up.  I was able to have a decent run, despite having a couple of times feeling “low on fuel”.  Obviously, I need to plan better next time.  I finished the run with 8.2 miles at 8:32 pace.

Thursday:

AM – 55 minutes on the bike trainer with the focus on big gears and low cadence.  I felt pretty good during the workout despite my legs feeling a bit fatigued from the run.

PM – 2200-yard swim – This was a hard one to get going.  I was VERY tired prior to starting workout, but I just told myself to go and get it done.  (Before leaving work, one of my co-workers actually commented “you look wiped”…well that says enough).  All in all, I was happy with my swim (I surprised myself!!!).  The main set focused on 3×10 minutes steady swim with only 1-minute rest between intervals. I was able to stay fairly consistent with the 3 sets timed at 9:55, 10:03 and 10:01.  I did not want to fall below 10:00 for the 500 sets (generally speaking, 10 minutes is about 500 yards for me), but given my low energy level, I felt like I pushed through. I was pleased that I was able to overcome my fatigue and have a decent swim. Maintaining a 2:00 overall pace for 1500 yards total (with very little rest) is a pretty good workout for me.

Friday:  REST DAY!!!

Saturday:

AM – 1800-yard swim with focus on speed work.  The main set included 200s, 100s and 25s.  I was most pleased with my 200 sets and maintaining a 1:52 pace (per 100 yards) for these sets.  The five 100s averaged 1:49.  Slowly making progress….

PM – 40-minute recovery run on the treadmill – 4.23 miles with average pace of 9:28, which is on point for this recovery run.  Heart rate averaged 148 and I was happy to keep the HR low.  The time passed fast because I watched an episode of the Bachelor on the laptop!

Sunday:  Group Ride

A couple of things that make me smile about this week:

1 – Even though I was battling low nutrition on my Wednesday run, I pushed through and finished strong.

2 – Flipping the mental switch to “get my swim done” Thursday when I was feeling very tired and unmotivated.

Totals:

Time: 10 hours 1 minute

Swim: 5,900 yards

Bike: 66.84 miles

Run: 17.6 miles

Stretching/foam rolling:  Some, but not enough!

Enough Said...

Enough Said…

 

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