posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on Fun, Triathlon

This was my first week back to a training plan.  Ever since last summer after completing IMLP, I have been using the “no plan” training route and while I have been fitting regular sessions (5 to 6/week), it has been more of a variety with no particular goal or race in mind.  I did enjoy that time, but I am ready to get a bit more structure with some specific goals in mind.

Monday PM:
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 was a work-out from my IM plan that I decided to incorporate.  I always liked this session because the time seemed to pass quickly with the one minute changes in the initial main set.  I felt good during this workout and I liked bringing back something from last year’s plan.

Tuesday PM:
To be honest, I have only done a handful of swims since IMLP.  While swimming is something that I really can’t afford to take long breaks from, it ended up happening.  Initially, I allowed myself the break.  As time passed, I could not find the motivation to get back to the pool.  I think I used all my swim motivation last spring/summer, when I had those days that I absolutely DID NOT want to swim.  But, I never allowed myself to succumb to that, since I needed to put in all the time required to be prepared.  Well, the mental break happened, and I think I just really needed it.  Getting back to the pool has been pretty good so far…
 
2400-yard swim:  W/U: 400; Main: 1×500; 2×400; 1×300; 1×200; 1×100; C/D: 100
I did not push too hard, but was pleasantly surprised that my times were not as slow as I expected.  I had put in a few swims in just the last couple of weeks to try to start working out some of the cobwebs before the plan kicked in.        

Wednesday AM:
4 mile tempo run on the treadmill.  My goal was to maintain an average pace of 8:30 and that is exactly what I did.  I felt pretty good on the run; definitely tough to maintain my pace, but I was able to complete as planned.

Thursday AM:
45 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: 4×3 minutes in big gear with low RPMs (55-65 RPMs)
5 minute recovery between intervals but maintaining 90 RPMs
C/D: 10 minutes easy spinning

This was another workout from my IM plan that I decided to incorporate.  There were some solid sessions in that plan, so I plan to frequent several of them.  
 
Thursday PM:
I planned to do 1-hour yoga that is offered by Trilife, a great local triathlon shop.  I got there, checked out their new store location and chatted with the owner a bit.  I changed and was ready for yoga, but the instructor never arrived.  Apparently there was a miscommunication, so no yoga.  Oh well, after chatting some more I then headed home.  At least I had gotten in a morning training session!

Friday PM:
This was originally planned to be my rest day.  However, with a beautiful weekend in the weather forecast, I was thinking that the swim planned for Sunday would turn into an outdoor ride, so I opted to get in the swim Friday instead.  
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

Wow!  I have not done speed work in the pool since last summer!  I was not aiming to push too hard with this workout, hence the 50 sets for speed.  However, I found that I was pushing my 100 pace a bit over “moderate”, but it felt good.  I was feeling the fatigue about mid way through, but I was able to hold a fairly consistent pace of 1:52-1:54 for the 100s and :53-:55 for the 50s.  This was another workout from my IM plan that I had done early on.  I was able to compare my times to last February when I first swam it.  I am probably “about” 4 seconds off that pace.  However, I swam consistently all the winter prior to that, so overall, I feel ok about where I am currently.        

Saturday AM:
We had a day full of plans, so I got up early and jumped on the treadmill before we headed out for the day.  I completed a 6-mile run at target race pace.  My goal was to average just below 9:00/mile pace and I actually averaged 8:56, so I was pleased.  My legs were happy when I hit the 6 mile mark, because they were definitely feeling a week’s worth of training.  

I have included a few fun photos from our day trip to Beaufort, NC, which is located in the eastern part of NC.  We had a great day!

Sunday PM:  
As I mentioned earlier, the forecast was for a warm February day (sorry to you all that are surrounded by snow), so I planned to ride with my bike friend Susanne.  We rode a 30 mile route and battled some VERY windy conditions, but it is hard to complain since the temperature was in the low 70s on February 8!  It was a great feeling to be out on the road riding.  Spring can’t come soon enough!

Total training time: 6 hours 45 minutes
Swim: 4,300 yards
Bike: 54 miles
Run: 10 miles
   

Tags: Training