Training Week #9

Apr
2014
21

posted by on Ironman

Week Nine Recap Header

It has been less than a week since I posted my last weekly recap, but I got a bit behind with posting about my training, so I have to play catch up!  Week nine was the start to month three (of a six month plan) and I had good focus and effort this week.  I came back strong after (1). a sickness in the last part of week seven and (2). slowly (mentally) getting back into the training groove during week eight.

Monday:

AM – 1 hour on the bike trainer with the main set working on low cadence intervals using big gears.  This is a good workout on the plan and really gets the quads engaged.  Good start to a new training week!

PM – 2200-yard swim – The main set focused on speed work with 10 intervals of 100 at a “moderate plus” pace/15 seconds rest/50 FAST/30 seconds rest.  I was VERY consistent with the sets.   I had a good steady push to the sets to work on time. The main set totaled 1500 yards and I averaged 1:48 pace.  I still have work to do with my speed sets, but I was happy with the consistency I was able to maintain with a solid effort.

Tuesday:

PM – 1 hour 40 minute run on the greenway (again with my #1 supporter, Tony). Overall, this was a decent run.   I experienced the typical (for me) “feeling good/feeling not so good” for a long run.  I started a bit slow, but got into the groove and felt decent.  I started feeling the “long run fatigue” sooner that I had on my last long run.  I had to push harder to finish strong.  We extended the time a bit to round out at 11 miles even.

Split Time Distance Avg Pace
Summary 1:41:53.8 11.00 9:16
1 9:47.6 1.00 9:48
2 9:17.5 1.00 9:17
3 9:25.7 1.00 9:26
4 9:08.9 1.00 9:09
5 9:06.6 1.00 9:06
6 9:31.7 1.00 9:32
7 9:05.1 1.00 9:05
8 9:10.4 1.00 9:10
9 9:04.9 1.00 9:05
10 9:02.3 1.00 9:02
11 9:11.1 1.00 9:11
12 :02.0 0.00 6:49

Wednesday:

AM – Though, not ideal, Wednesday morning was a tempo run (or what I would call speed work) on the treadmill.  After a solid warm-up, the main set was 3x5minutes at a targeted pace of 1 minute per mile faster than race pace.  I was able to hit the target paces even though my legs were very sore from the long run the evening before.  I had not originally planned to do this run the morning following the long run, but I decided to tackle the tempo run instead of the 1.5 hour bike originally planned.  I just switched up the two workouts. Overall, this run probably loosened up my legs a bit.  The averages for the three intervals were 8:00, 7:59 and 7:54.

PM – 2000-yard swim where the main set included some speed work.  I started with 3- 200 sets at moderate pace, then moved to 5×100 building into a sprint for last 25 yards followed by 8×25 with evens at easy effort and odds at fast effort.   This was a decent session, but as I mentioned for Monday’s swim workout, I need to continue pushing my speed efforts for improvement.

Thursday:

AM – 1 hour 25 minutes on the bike trainer.  This required a SUPER early start to get the full workout in.  This was the earliest alarm for morning training so far. 4:50am…ouch! This is a good session that includes lots of cadence and gear changes throughout with very minimal rest.  For a longer session, it goes by pretty quickly…it also helps that I watched an episode of Scandal to help the time pass!

Friday:

REST DAY!!!

Saturday:

Outdoor ride with Tony and another tri friend.  I had not biked with her yet this season, so it was great that she could join us for part of the ride!  We had 3 hours 45 minutes planned and we got in 64 miles. I felt pretty good overall on the ride and after the ride, my legs felt decent.

Sunday:

Session #1 – 2900-yard swim with the main set including 3×750 sets with one minute rest between intervals.  I was surprised at how different my times were for the three sets. Obviously, I was very happy at my time for the first interval.  Going forward, I need to work to keep my pace quicker for the third set to keep my average pace down.

Interval Time Distance    Avg Pace
Summary 47:25.9 2,250 1:57
1 14:31.7 750 1:56
2 14:43.9 750 1:57
3 14:55.1 750 1:59

Session #2 – Hill Repeats!  This was the first time I have been able to perform these outside, so we picked a good hill at the top of our street that I always hate to run.  The training plan called for a hill of moderate steepness (4-8% grade) and sufficient length so that the grade can be experienced for at least two minutes in duration.  I am not sure of the grade of the hill, but it is a good steady climb.  I determined the point in the hill that would give me about a 2 minute climb (the distance was .22 miles).  I ran it eight times and ran back down at an easy jog pace, while trying to lengthen my stride.  This was definitely a worthy challenge!  My average pace for the hill climbs ranged from 9:24 to 9:58.

Totals:

Time: 12 hours 28 minutes

Swim: 7,125 yards

Bike: 92.7 miles

Run: 18.5 miles

Stretching/foam rolling: Some, but not enough!

I may not be the strongest

 

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