posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life 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!

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:

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!

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!

 

Tags: Training