posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on General

With this being week eight, this recap is from another recovery week.  I will mention again, that my general training plan is three weeks of build followed by one week of recovery (lighter volume with a bit less intensity).  I was actually pleased that my recovery week fell the week after I was sick, so I could work back into being 100%.

Monday:

PM – 2100-yard swim – At a swim one week ago, I mentioned that my Garmin was not charged when I got to the pool.  Well, for this workout, I had my Garmin and it was charged, but I decided to go without it.  This workout was a skills focus that incorporated more drills than normal, a longer set focusing on form, and a few speed intervals.  This was a good workout to not think about time and just focus on form and drills.  It was a good workout to ease into the new week.

Tuesday:

AM – 55 minutes on the bike trainer.  This is one higher intensity workout that falls during the recovery week.  The same workout seems to fall about every other week in the plan.  Despite performing this workout numerous times so far, it continues to challenge me.  It is an intense session with the focus on multiple sets of “max effort” for varying periods of time.  It is always nice when this workout is done!!

PM – 45-minute “steady” run.  The target pace was 30 seconds faster than race pace. Prior to the run, I was not feeling ready to run at all.  I could not tell if I was tired/sleepy, hungry, fatigued (muscles/body) or still getting back to 100% from being sick.  The weather outside was gorgeous and usually that is enough to get me motivated to run, after sitting inside at a desk all day.  Unfortunately, that was not doing the trick though; I had a good pre-run snack and just ran.  Mentally it was hard to get out the door and I thought physically I would have a bad run.  Well, it was not the best, but pretty good.  I did not maintain the pace that I needed/wanted, but I was not worried.  I just tried to get through the run and focus on breathing and staying strong.  It was a rolling course and I just ran it!  I finished the run of 45 minutes with 4.94 miles at 9:07 pace.  My first mile was the slowest at 9:23 pace and the last mile was the fastest at 8:53 pace.

Wednesday:

AM – 55 minutes on the bike trainer with hill repeats.  The workout included three 10-minute hill repeats with 5 minutes recovery between intervals. The first and third repeat was seated and the second repeat alternated sitting/standing every 30 seconds. Good early morning workout.

PM – 2950-yard swim with the main workout including three 750-yard sets with one-minute recovery between sets.  This was the first time for these longer intervals.

Interval	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
1	14:39.3	750	1:57
2	14:36.2	750	1:56
3	14:52.5	750	1:59
Summary	47:03.6	2,250	1:57

I was pleased with my times, especially the first and second intervals.  I will work to try to bring the third interval time down.  Overall, I was happy with the average pace of 1:57 for 2,250 yards.

Thursday:

AM – 40-minute recovery run on the treadmill. This run on the treadmill was fine and pace was on point as planned.  However, I was feeling bored on the treadmill.  Usually I don’t feel like that and can run on the treadmill just fine, but this morning I could not wait to be off!  I finished the 40 minutes with 4.21 miles at 9:30 pace.

PM – MASSAGE!!!!   Another great massage that was very much needed.  I highly recommend that anyone doing regular, intense training work regular massage into the recovery week.  I have found that it is key to keeping the muscles happy!  For anyone in the Raleigh area looking for a good masseuse, call Julie White on Six Forks Road.

Friday: REST DAY!!!

Saturday: The plan was a long brick with two hours on the bike followed by a 50-minute run at a pace of 30 seconds per mile slower than target race pace.   I had planned to ride outside with Tony, but he woke up that morning sick.  SO, I did an aero-base Spinervals DVD workout on the trainer.  Like on the treadmill just a few days earlier, I felt antsy to finish and get off the trainer!  The ride was fine, I was just mentally ready to finish up. After the ride, I immediately switched into my run gear.

This brick run was good.  During the run, I was not very concerned about pace.  I ran based on feel.  I ended up being quicker than my goal per the training plan, but because my steady run earlier in the week was slower than target, I thought this ended up being a good trade off.  I finished up the 50 minutes with 5.47 miles at 9:08 pace.

Sunday: 3100-yard swim where the main set included 2400 yards starting off with a longer set and working down to short sets, building speed.  I was pleased with the times for my longer sets, but need to work on bringing down the times for the shorter sets.

The highlight of the week was getting back to 100% after my short sickness. Even though I was actually “sick” a short time, it really took a toll on my  body.  I felt that I really needed a bit of time to get back into my training groove…but I did.  There is really nothing better than being healthy!

Totals:

Time: 9 hours 45 minutes

Swim: 8,150 yards

Bike: 46.89 miles

Run: 14.62 miles

Stretching/foam rolling: Some, but not enough!