Training Update: Week of February 16

Feb
2015
24

posted by on Triathlon

This week ended up being interesting with winter precipitation and very cold temperatures in play.  Monday evening into Tuesday morning, we received a bit of snow and then lots of sleet.  Needless to say, life was affected!  I ended up working from home on Tuesday and Wednesday and did not leave the house at all.  This southern girl does not drive on ice!  Training wise, I can do alot of things at home, but swimming is not one of them!

Monday PM:
1 hour core workout

Tuesday PM:  
1 hour tempo run on the treadmill
I was able to knock out 6.75 miles on this run.  With one of my goals focused on a faster run, these tempo sessions are going to really gain extra importance.  This was a smart session in that I had a good solid effort.  Maybe even a bit better than what I thought I could do at this point.

Wednesday AM:
65 minutes on the bike trainer:
W/U: 10-minute easy spin followed by 4×30-second one-legged drills, focusing on smooth circles.
Main set: 2×10 minutes beginning at 60 RPM and increasing RPM by 5 every 1 minute to max out at 105.  No rest between sets.
4×5 minutes with cadence for odd intervals being 95 and even is 70.  2-minute rest between intervals.
C/D: 10 minutes easy spinning.

This will be a regular workout in my plan.  It was a staple from my IM training plan and I find it very effective.  It is easy to increase the total time by throwing in an additional 10 minute working set in the main set.  I especially like it because the time seems to pass quickly during this workout.

Thursday AM:
30 minute yoga and 15 minutes abs

Thursday PM:
Here in Raleigh, the HIGH temperature was in the teens.  I know for some of  you throughout the country, that is not too bad.  But for us here in NC, that is COLD!  I knew I had to get in a swim though, since I had been home bound earlier in the week.  Generally, I hate swimming during the winter because I don’t like the cold.  But, I just do it because I need to.  So, getting to pool when it was roughly 17 degrees outside (and was getting colder and colder) was harder than normal. After I changed and got to the pool deck, ugh!!!!!!!!  Man, it was cold.  I could not believe I was standing here in a bathing suit ready to get in the water.  Well, the first 25 yards was much faster than normal.  I just had to start getting warm!

pool in winter

Luckily, I had planned a speed workout for the day.  That ended up being perfect since I was able to keep my body warm and had very short rest intervals at the wall.

1900-yard swim with speed intervals:
W/U: 500 easy mix with swim/drills/pull/kick incorporated throughout
Main set: 8x (100 moderate/:15sec rest/50 FAST), :30 sec rest between intervals.
C/D: 200 easy

I was so glad to get this workout done and get in the HOT shower.  I was proud of myself that I did not succumb to the extreme desire to go home and not go to the pool on this cold evening.  However, I unfortunately have not made any improvement in my times over the past two weeks, as this was a repeat session.

FRIDAY:

Rest

SATURDAY AM:
4.5 mile run on the treadmill with the focus on speed intervals.
W/U: 1/2 mile easy run
MAIN SET: 5x (1/2 mile at speed pace; 1/4 mile at recovery pace)
C/D: 1/2 mile easy run

This workout was definitely a tough one.  I had to keep  my focus to get through all 5 speed sets at the pace I wanted to maintain.  I was glad that I was able to do just that!

SATURDAY PM:
1 hour focused stretching and foam rolling

SUNDAY PM:
1 hour on the bike trainer – For this workout, I wanted to mix it up a bit.  I knew I needed something with a good amount of intensity, so the plan was to follow a trainer DVD.  We have a pretty good collection of various spin workout DVDs and I decided to follow the “CTS Train Right Time Trial” DVD.  This session focuses on lots of high cadence work.  It gives a BIG bang for the buck!  I worked hard and it was great!  It was always a great feeling when you get done with a workout and you know you didn’t hold back!

pretty sweat

SUNDAY PM:
2500-yard endurance swim
W/U: 500 easy mix with swim/drills/pull/kick incorporated throughout
MAIN SET: 3×100 easy with :15sec rest; 3×100 moderate with :15sec rest
3×200 easy with :20 sec rest; 3×200 moderate with :20sec rest
C/D: 200 easy

The pool was fairly quiet this Sunday afternoon as I worked in a swim that I missed due to rearranging my schedule because of the inclement weather.

Total training time: 8 hours 13 minutes

Swim: 4,400 yards

Bike: 27.13 (all on trainer)

Run: 11.25 miles

Other: 2 hour45 minutes

I also incorporate twice daily PT exercises that are meant to strengthen/stretch my glutes, hamstrings and hips. This probably averages about 25 minutes a day and I have not included that in the above totals. However, this is probably one of the smartest things I am doing daily!

 

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