posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on Ironman

In a nut shell, I will say that week one went well.  I am glad to have the first week of training under my belt and look to the progressions I will be making over the coming months.  The big lesson I learned this week is to find a balance of commitment and flexibility.  One of the main reasons I say this can be summed up in the photo below:

I had my plan laid out for the week.  However, the plan did not allow for weather related issues!   So, by Monday night when it was predicted that snow would be falling in our area Wednesday evening (the same time I would be leaving to go to the pool for a swim workout), I decided to move my swim ahead to Tuesday evening.  In hindsight, that was the perfect decision.  I don’t love going to the pool two evenings in a row, but I must do what I must do to get my training in!  By Wednesday evening, we had approximately 3 inches of snow and sleet was falling.

So the week looked like this:

Monday (overall I felt good about both sessions)

* Bright and Early morning (it was still very dark outside) = 50 minute bike workout focusing on strength (big gears).

*Evening = 1600 yard swim session with the main set focusing on speed.  (So far, all the swims have a standard 500 yard warm-up mixed with easy effort/drills/pull buoy and an easy 200 cool down.)

Tuesday (swim again – with a training partner!)

*Evening = 1500 yard swim session with the main set focusing on speed again.  Overall a good session, but I need to concentrate more on my form on the fast intervals and not get “frantic”.

Wednesday (learning session)

Wednesday was a run day.  I ran an hour on the treadmill with the goal being “target race pace”.  After much consideration, Tony and I decided what this “target” pace would be.  I have never run a full marathon, so it is rather difficult to nail this down and still have a session that is beneficial.  I checked a few resources on-line to calculate the target pace and I started with this and adjusted it based on my runs over the past couple of months.  This training session was a learning session.  As noted in my last post, I understand the importance of good nutrition and today I failed in this area.  Basically, I did not eat timely or enough to sustain an hour run.  It basically was because of the snow hitting and me trying to leave the office before the roads got too bad (which was after my normal lunch time but before I actually ate lunch) and my 35 minute commute turning into a 2+ hour drive home.   Bottom line is that I made it through the run, but felt lethargic and my heart rate was higher that it should have been given my pace and effort level.  Improvement opportunities noted!

Thursday (overall I felt good about both sessions)

* Morning = 50 minute bike trainer session with a mix of low and high cadence work.

*Evening = 37 minute run with hill repeats on the treadmill (hill work totaled 12 minutes of the run).  I have actually never done hill repeats on the treadmill.  I have done some hill workouts, but not what would be called “hill repeats”.  I think I chose the settings well on the treadmill and had a good session.

Friday – REST DAY!

Saturday – I had originally “hoped” that the weather would cooperate and allow for an outdoor ride.  The forecast looked too cold and windy to venture out for a long ride.  Therefore a 2.5 hour session on the trainer was in order.  Tony was awesome and did the ride with me!  We moved our trainers down to the living room (we usually keep them set up in my office upstairs), but the long session required some extreme entertainment.  We were able to watch the USA vs. Russia Olympic hockey game while we completed our workout.  It was perfect timing and helped the time pass (plus it was a totally awesome and memorable game!!).    The session alternated between easy spinning and target race pace.  It was challenging during the race pace sessions, but even better was getting that much time in the saddle…it has been a while since I was on the bike for that length of time.

Sunday (I had a training partner again today!!)

*Recovery Run – 20 minutes

*Swim – 2500-yard endurance swim with main set including 6×200 with 20-second rest and 6×200 with 15-second rest.  The 200s I focused on an easy effort with the 100s I focused on a moderate effort.  The very short rest periods are what make this set challenging.  I really tried to stick to the allotted rest times.  I was pleased with this swim session.

Week One Snapshot:

Swimming: 5600 yards

Biking: 4.5 hours on the trainer

Running: 12 miles

I will leave you with these two photos of our girl, Jovi, enjoying playtime in the snow!

 

 

Tags: Ironman, Lake Placid, Training