posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on Ironman

Week #11 was probably the highlight week so far for my training. To date, I have had some good weeks, but usually they are good for the swim and run, but not the bike or good for the bike and run, but not the swim, etc…you get my drift. This week was spot on for all three disciplines. It was a tiring and challenging week, but I was pleased with how my body responded to the work.

Monday 4/21:

AM – Tempo run (speed work) on the treadmill. This run was a good start to the training week. I had pushed my pace for the last tempo run; however, those intervals were 4×5 minutes and this run was 2×10 minute intervals. While the total time was the same, it was a challenge keeping the pace for the longer intervals, but I pushed through and held it. My first 10-minute interval was 7:33 average pace and the second was 7:31 average pace. I was happy, but tired, at the end!

PM – 2500-yard swim with the main set focusing on speed sets including 3×300; 3×200; 12x25s (odds fast, evens easy). I find it very interesting how the body responds sometimes. I often experience those days where your body (and mind) are NOT into training. Whether it is tiredness or lack of motivation, you just do not want to push the workout that day. Then there are days when you are ready to get going AND feel good during the workout, but the results are just not what you expect (JUST like one of my swims from the prior week). Well, this swim was kind of a mix up between feelings. I felt fine to get started and during the warm-up, but when I started my first interval in the main set, I felt like I was swimming through concrete! Literally, it was taking all my effort to move, but it felt like I was at a snail’s pace. I felt like this even into my second interval, but did start to loosen up. Well, to my surprise, I had some solid times. I was kind of scared to check out the time when I completed the first interval, but I literally shook my head when I saw my time. I completed the main set of 1800 yards at an average pace of 1:53. Bottom line is that you should always push yourself through thoughts and feelings of self-doubt or lack of performance. Even if you end up having a “not so great” training session, you never know when you will end up having a great one if you JUST stick with the plan!

Tuesday 4/22:           

PM – 90 minutes on the bike trainer. This workout, I began with low RPMs and adjusted the effort and gearing as necessary every minute to end the 10-minute interval at 105 RPMs. This was performed four times with no rest between. It was then finished up with 4×5 minutes with high cadence on odd intervals and low cadence on even. This was a good workout for me. The first few minutes I was feeling some fatigue in my legs, but after I got really good and warmed up, I felt better (this is fairly typical for me). I felt like I was pushing my effort levels really well. After my session, I checked my average watts and I had improved my reading 13 points since the last time I did the exact same workout from about two weeks ago. I was happy with this longer trainer ride, but was hoping that I had something left in my legs for my long run the next evening!

Wednesday 4/23:

PM – 1 hour 50 minute run on the greenway – Wow! What an awesome run! I was hurting at the end, but I truly felt awesome for the majority of this run. I was pushing my pace pretty good…this was not a purposeful decision; I was just feeling good, so I thought it was appropriate. I definitely felt the results of my efforts during the last couple of miles. My glutes and hammies were burning! I was able to maintain a pace that I am super-duper proud of for 12.26 miles. I have never come close to maintaining this pace for a run this long. WOO HOO!!

I must give a high five to my hubbie. Once again, he joined me on this long run. I just have to reiterate that he is NOT training for anything…he chooses to go with me for support and safety. This is the same for my long bike rides. Even though he is a two-time Ironman, these distances are not easy for someone that is not consistently training/building up to longer mileage. He takes the hard way and participates on the long ones only! I could NOT ask for better support from him!!

Thursday 4/24:

AM – The morning after my long run, I tackled 65 minutes on the bike trainer where the focus was on big gears/low cadence (55-65 RPMs). Essentially the main set included 5×5 minute intervals with 5 minutes active recovery between intervals. I was definitely feeling my efforts from the night before, but tried to maintain my watts and not let the readings fall too low. It was a tough session, but I pushed through!

PM – 2200-yard swim with the main set focusing on speed with 10x(100 moderate/:15sec rest/50 FAST), :30sec rest between intervals. This was a solid speed set for me. I was able to improve my times a bit since the last time I swam these intervals. The 100 sets ranged between 1:47-1:49 (all below 1:50…YAY!!!) and the 50s 1:44/1:45 pace.

Friday 4/25:

REST DAY!!!

Saturday 4/26:

It was a beautiful morning for a bike ride. Tony and I headed out around 9am for a planned 4-hour ride. After 10 minutes into the ride, I had a flat!! I had just changed the tire that morning, so we knew it was a pinch flat. We were in a gas station parking lot, so at least we were in a safe location for bike maintenance. Tony immediately decided to ride back to the house (since we were so close) to grab a can of flat repair while I was changing my tire. I had a CO2 cartridge, but we wanted to be prepared in case something else happened during the ride. As I prepared to put my spare tube on the wheel, I immediately saw a hole in the spare tube! YIKES!

Fixing the Flat!!

A Hole In My Spare Tube!!

I quickly called Tony in hopes that he was still home. Luckily he was and he was able to bring back two tubes and the can of flat repair. I got the tire changed and we were finally back on the road! We had a good (UNEVENTFUL) rest of the ride.

During the ride, I really focused more on the timing of my nutrition and the system worked well. I have always tried to drink every 10 minutes and eat every 20 minutes. I basically did the same, but when I hit the 20 minute mark I would eat something and then again before 10 minutes passed. I don’t have a tendency to eat a lot at one time, so by having a planned “eating period” of 10 minutes every 20 minutes, I seemed to eat more and the timing was good. Tony also encouraged me to work on staying aero on the hills, as much as possible. I tried to push myself and hold to the aero position during times I would normally sit upright. It was a good challenge!

The weather was really awesome and just right for a long ride.  The wind was much kinder to us as it had been during the past few weeks.  We finished up the four hours at 71 miles and an average speed of 17.7mph.

After a long ride and a well-deserved afternoon relaxing on the couch, there would be no cooking dinner at home. We went out for Mexican food and margaritas!

Margaritas!!

Sunday 4/27:

Session #1 – 2950-yard swim…this was another endurance set. The main set was 3×750 with 1-minute rest between intervals. I felt good in the water and put in good times. I was happy to see some improvement from when I last did these intervals and that I was able to generally hold the same pace for the three sets. My times were 14:36, 14:41 and 14:40 for the 750s. This gave me an average pace of 1:57 for the 2250 main set.

Session #2 – After the long ride on Saturday and then having just finished a long swim, I was not sure how much in had in the tank for the planned steady run of 60 minutes. I was on the treadmill and for the first couple of miles, I was feeling plenty of fatigue in my legs. However, they did start to loosen and I felt good. I was hoping to keep my average pace from the last steady one-hour run I did the week before. I was happy that I improved my average pace (a little bit) over my last steady effort run. I got in 7.18 miles at an average pace of 8:21. What an awesome way to end this training week!

Totals:

Time: 13 hours 40 minutes

Swim: 7,650 yards

Bike: 101.92 miles

Run: 24.32 miles

Stretching/foam rolling: Some, but not enough!

posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on Ironman

Considering I am in currently in week #11, I guess I could say that I am finally caught up with posting my recaps.  Woo hoo!  Glad to be back on track and in the “now”!

Monday:

PM – 3100-yard swim – The main set focused on various distances from a 600 yard moderate effort interval to finishing up with several 100 yard intervals building speed during the 100 yards.  This was an unusual workout for me.  I felt good and it was like I gliding through the water and getting strong pulls; however, my times were not reflective of how I felt.  The paces were below the times I have been routinely averaging and I could not really understand why.  Even up until the end, I was a bit tired, but still felt pretty good and strong. I just did my best and tried to not let the slower times bother me.

Tuesday:

AM – 1 hour on the bike trainer with the main set consisting of hill repeats!  I performed three hill repeats of 10 minutes each with 5 minutes of recovery between sets.  The first & third hill repeats were around 60-65 cadence.  For the second hill repeat, I alternated between standing/sitting every 30-seconds and averaged around 55 cadence while seated. RPMs naturally increase when standing and I added one additional gear for the standing portion.  I felt pretty good during the workout.

PM – 60-minute “steady” run on the treadmill.  The target pace was 30 seconds faster than race pace.  This was a great run for me.  I maintained a pace that was a bit quicker than the plan outlined, but I felt strong.  I ran 7.17 miles at 8:23 pace. I was very pleased with this session.

Wednesday:

AM – 55 minutes on the bike trainer.  This is the intense session that is a plan repeat.  The focus is on multiple sets of “max effort” for varying periods of time.  This still continues to be a tough workout and I try to push each interval.  As always, I was a drippy, drippy mess after this!

PM – 2800-yard swim with the main set including a ladder.  This is a gradual increase in yardage with each set – 100/200/300/400/500 with (only) 15 seconds rest between intervals.  The main set finished off with 2×300 where I swam the first 100 at a slower pace, the next 100 at a moderate pace and the last 100 at a faster pace.  I liked the way those last sets came together.  Overall, this was a mediocre swim. I felt good, but my times (for about half of the workout) were not what I should be swimming.  This was better than Monday’s swim, but not where I should be.

Thursday:

AM – Tempo run (speed work) on the treadmill. After a good warm-up, I ran 4×5 minute speed sets. The targeted pace for these workouts in my plan have been 1 minute faster than targeted race pace.  For this session, I pushed the pace more than I have with these workouts in the past using this plan.  I pushed it about 30sec/mile faster.  The decision was made based on the progress I have made on my steady runs. I want to keep progressing and speed work has always helped me with that in the past!  I felt good on the run!!  The 5 minute speed intervals ranged from 7:31 – 7:36 pace.

PM – 3200-yard swim with the main set including 5×500 yards with 1 minute rest between intervals. Before heading to the pool, I was feeling very tired.  On my drive to the pool, I was feeling even MORE tired.  After two swims earlier in the week that were not great, the motivation for me to swim was completely non-existent.  I just wanted to go home and crash.  Well, I drove to the pool and after I parked I grabbed my phone and pulled up my “inspiration” board on Pinterest.  I remember a quote I had pinned and I needed to see it. Those words rang so true to me.

Well, I got going and had no expectations.  I just wanted to get the swim over with.  I have regularly experienced times when I don’t feel like training and because I had no harsh expectations for myself (other than just getting through it), I ended up having a good session.  I was skeptical that this day would be one of the days.  Well, I could not have been more wrong!  I had a fantastic swim!!  I have no clue where in my body it came from, but I really did it!  After finishing the warm-up I swam my first 500.  I touched the wall for my one minute rest and could not believe me eyes when I saw my time.  Second interval, same thing…I was totally shocked this time though. Well, I believed that I could not possibly have enough left in the tack to finish three more sets at this pace. Well, I did myself so, so, so proud!  I just kept at it, and SOMEHOW pulled out one of my best swims!

I last swam this workout in week #7 and my times for the 500s ranged from 9:47-10:02.  I could not wait to tell Tony about my progress!  He truly understands the struggles and frustrations I have felt over the years with my swimming.  I know I will never be the first swimmer out of my group, but all I have ever really wanted is to see progress after all my hours of training.  That has been the true source of frustrations.  While I have made such big strides with my bike and run, progression on the swim has been slower and much harder to grasp.   Progress makes me happy!

Friday:

REST DAY!!!

Saturday:

Saturday plans were all over the place. I had decided to deviate from my written training plan a bit and go for a longer ride with a tri friend that is training for IM Louisville.  The planned mileage was longer than I had worked up to, but decided to take advantage of someone wanting to ride long!  Well, the weather on Saturday was crummy.  It was rainy and cold, so we decided to scrap the plan.  I did not want to “waste” a training day in hopes that the weather would be decent enough on Sunday to get in the ride.  So, I went with my written plan for a trainer ride/run brick.  I did the Spinervals DVD entitled “Have Mercy”.  The online description for this trainer workout DVD is:

What word describes this DVD? Tortuous!! “Have Mercy” is a 2 hour compilation of the hardest intervals sets from other Spinervals DVD workouts! Remember the brutal acceleration sets?! The race simulation? The sprint sets? Well… do them one after the other and you have one of the toughest two hours you can spend on an indoor trainer!! You’ll be begging Coach Troy to “Have Mercy”.

Well, I have done this workout numerous times over the past couple of years and it always proves to give you the best bang for your buck!  This day was no different!  After the two hours on the bike, I quickly changed into my run gear and jumped on the treadmill for a 1 hour and 20 minutes.  I was able to put in 9 miles at an 8:58 pace. This pace was a bit better than what was targeted in my plan, so I felt great to get in a good run after a solid bike!!

Sunday:

The original plan was a 2.5 hour session on the bike trainer.  I heard from my tri friend that I was supposed to ride with on Saturday, that he had been contacted about a ride of 60 miles leaving from a school about 5 minutes from our house.  So, Tony and I decided to jump on.  I was a little concerned that I would have enough juice in my legs for 60 miles after solid training sessions on Saturday, but I went for it.  There was a group of six and we had a good ride.  I ended up feeling stronger than I anticipated.  It was BRUTALLY windy on the majority of the first part of the ride.  It did get a little better as we progressed.

—————

Weather conditions from Garmin Connect:

Weather 61°

Feels like 61°

16 mph NE wind

Humidity 36%

—————

The ride totaled 62.1 miles in 3 hours 38minutes with an average speed of 17.1 mph.

Some things that made me smile about my week:

*My third swim of the week!  I rocked it and felt so tired going in.  That goes to show that you never know what will happen when you just go for it!

*Good solid weekend sessions despite crappy weather.  I am a type A person and when my plans get changed, sometimes I don’t roll with the punches so well.  Saturday proved to be a challenge, but I ended up with great training sessions both Saturday and Sunday even though neither of them was what I originally planned!

Totals:

Time: 14 hours 43 minutes

Swim: 9,100 yards

Bike: 108.5 miles

Run: 22 miles

Stretching/foam rolling: Some, but not enough!

posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on Ironman

It has been less than a week since I posted my last weekly recap, but I got a bit behind with posting about my training, so I have to play catch up!  Week nine was the start to month three (of a six month plan) and I had good focus and effort this week.  I came back strong after (1). a sickness in the last part of week seven and (2). slowly (mentally) getting back into the training groove during week eight.

Monday:

AM – 1 hour on the bike trainer with the main set working on low cadence intervals using big gears.  This is a good workout on the plan and really gets the quads engaged.  Good start to a new training week!

PM – 2200-yard swim – The main set focused on speed work with 10 intervals of 100 at a “moderate plus” pace/15 seconds rest/50 FAST/30 seconds rest.  I was VERY consistent with the sets.   I had a good steady push to the sets to work on time. The main set totaled 1500 yards and I averaged 1:48 pace.  I still have work to do with my speed sets, but I was happy with the consistency I was able to maintain with a solid effort.

Tuesday:

PM – 1 hour 40 minute run on the greenway (again with my #1 supporter, Tony). Overall, this was a decent run.   I experienced the typical (for me) “feeling good/feeling not so good” for a long run.  I started a bit slow, but got into the groove and felt decent.  I started feeling the “long run fatigue” sooner that I had on my last long run.  I had to push harder to finish strong.  We extended the time a bit to round out at 11 miles even.

Wednesday:

AM – Though, not ideal, Wednesday morning was a tempo run (or what I would call speed work) on the treadmill.  After a solid warm-up, the main set was 3x5minutes at a targeted pace of 1 minute per mile faster than race pace.  I was able to hit the target paces even though my legs were very sore from the long run the evening before.  I had not originally planned to do this run the morning following the long run, but I decided to tackle the tempo run instead of the 1.5 hour bike originally planned.  I just switched up the two workouts. Overall, this run probably loosened up my legs a bit.  The averages for the three intervals were 8:00, 7:59 and 7:54.

PM – 2000-yard swim where the main set included some speed work.  I started with 3- 200 sets at moderate pace, then moved to 5×100 building into a sprint for last 25 yards followed by 8×25 with evens at easy effort and odds at fast effort.   This was a decent session, but as I mentioned for Monday’s swim workout, I need to continue pushing my speed efforts for improvement.

Thursday:

AM – 1 hour 25 minutes on the bike trainer.  This required a SUPER early start to get the full workout in.  This was the earliest alarm for morning training so far. 4:50am…ouch! This is a good session that includes lots of cadence and gear changes throughout with very minimal rest.  For a longer session, it goes by pretty quickly…it also helps that I watched an episode of Scandal to help the time pass!

Friday:

REST DAY!!!

Saturday:

Outdoor ride with Tony and another tri friend.  I had not biked with her yet this season, so it was great that she could join us for part of the ride!  We had 3 hours 45 minutes planned and we got in 64 miles. I felt pretty good overall on the ride and after the ride, my legs felt decent.

Sunday:

Session #1 – 2900-yard swim with the main set including 3×750 sets with one minute rest between intervals.  I was surprised at how different my times were for the three sets. Obviously, I was very happy at my time for the first interval.  Going forward, I need to work to keep my pace quicker for the third set to keep my average pace down.

Session #2 – Hill Repeats!  This was the first time I have been able to perform these outside, so we picked a good hill at the top of our street that I always hate to run.  The training plan called for a hill of moderate steepness (4-8% grade) and sufficient length so that the grade can be experienced for at least two minutes in duration.  I am not sure of the grade of the hill, but it is a good steady climb.  I determined the point in the hill that would give me about a 2 minute climb (the distance was .22 miles).  I ran it eight times and ran back down at an easy jog pace, while trying to lengthen my stride.  This was definitely a worthy challenge!  My average pace for the hill climbs ranged from 9:24 to 9:58.

Totals:

Time: 12 hours 28 minutes

Swim: 7,125 yards

Bike: 92.7 miles

Run: 18.5 miles

Stretching/foam rolling: Some, but not enough!

posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on Ironman

As the weather gets nicer (warmer!!), there will be more and more cyclists on the road.  As someone that spends time trying to be super safe while biking, I want to encourage all drivers to watch out for cyclists.  As a driver, it can only take one second of being distracted to end up hitting someone that is out for a ride.

I 100% believe that maintaining safety is the responsibility of both the cyclist and the driver.  The cyclist must be aware of their surroundings, monitor traffic and RESPECT the automobiles.   In the end, in a meeting between car and cyclist, the car is always going to win.  However, there is also responsibility to be had by the driver.  Keep an eye out and even if it takes an additional few seconds to pass a cyclist SAFELY, please allow the extra few seconds of time.  It is worth it!

Since I have not always been a lover of cycling, I DO understand the frustrations that motorist sometimes feel when they happen upon a group of cyclists.  Whether you are approaching one, three or thirty, please take the time to be safe.  If you feel a bit of frustration, put it aside and make the smart decision…it only impacts a moment of your life.  In the end, a bad decision may impact the REST of your life.

There are frequent stories about cyclists that have been hit causing severe injuries and in many cases, death.  The most recent was a few days ago, just two days before Ironman 70.3 New Orleans, where one athlete was killed and another critically injured while out on a training ride on a section of the race course.  While one can’t fully understand all the circumstances surrounding terrible accidents, it seems likely that if one of the two parties was more aware and cautious, tragic events could be avoided.

Bottom line…I encourage all cyclists to practice sound judgment, use caution and good safety measures when taking to the road.  I also urge all motorists to be alert and patient when approaching cyclists.  At the end of the day, everyone just wants to go home safe and sound!!

posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on Ironman

It has been a while since I posted a weekly recap.  The “balance” that I strive for, has become a bit off kilter.  The amount of time I have had with nothing planned or having some time to blog, has become slim.  I am getting in all my training, with the exception of a “speed bump” encountered during this week which I am recapping.  I will get caught up on my weekly recaps soon and I have lots of ideas of topics I want to blog about.  I hope to get some of those worked in before long!

Monday:

PM – 1900-yard swim – I started the week with a speed workout in the pool.  The main set included 8 x (100 moderate/:15 sec rest/50 fast/:30 sec rest).  When I started my swim, I realized that my Garmin was not charged.  Oh well.  Not the best workout to go untimed, but what do you do?  I still felt like I pushed the pace to have an effective workout, even though I don’t have the data to support it. 

Tuesday:

AM – 30-minute run on the treadmill with the main set including a tempo effort.  The main set was short being 1x10minutes with the pace being 1 minute per mile faster than target race pace.  I averaged 8:00 pace for the main set.  I felt strong on the run. 

PM – 3200-yard swim – The main set included 5×10-minute steady efforts (one minute rest between intervals), which equate approximately 500 yards per 10-minute effort.  My times were 9:47, 9:48, 9:56, 10:02, and 9:59.  I was super pleased with sets one and two and would have liked to keep them all below the 10 minute mark, but for the 2500 main set, I averaged 1:59/pace.     

Wednesday:

AM – 90 minutes on the bike trainer with the focus on cadence.  I rode various sets from low cadence to mid cadence to high cadence.  This is another repeat workout from the plan and is a tough workout, but the amount of times you have to change gears and keeping an eye on the cadence reading, helps the time to pass.

PM – 90-minute run on the greenway (with my #1 supporter, Tony) – First few miles were just ok…had to find my groove. After that, I felt good and really finished strong.  I ran slightly past the planned 90 minutes in order to finish out with 10 miles even.   Pace was right on point to plan. Overall, this was a great run for me!!

Thursday: 

Well, after a great run on Wednesday, it all went downhill from there.   I went to bed and a few hours later, I woke up sick.  It was terrible and needless to say, this was the “speed bump” in my training week.  I had a swim planned for Thursday evening and obviously that did not happen.

Friday:

 REST DAY!!!  This was my planned rest day.  I still was feeling very weak and did not have an appetite, so it was good that I did not have training planned for the day.      

Saturday:

I had my long ride planned for Saturday, but we decided that I would push those plans to Sunday and move the Sunday planned workout to Saturday.  I tackled a 58-minute bike workout on the trainer with the main set focused on big gears and low cadence.  I felt “ok” and did not push too hard, but was working at the same point.  I had a run planned as well (not a brick) and after a short break from the bike, I decided to go for the run on the treadmill.  I was scheduled for a 45-minute steady run (pace 30 seconds faster than target race pace) and I decided to give it a try, but had to listen to my body.  I finished up three miles at the desired pace range in 25 minutes.  I felt like I needed to stop, given my level of fatigue.  My average pace was 8:31 for the 3 miles.    

Sunday: 

A 3.5 hour ride was planned.  I did not want to miss my long ride.  However, Saturday night I was feeling very, very tired.  It was obvious that I pushed too hard on Saturday.  Sunday I was not feeling as good as I had Saturday morning, so the decision to take another rest day, was a given. 

With my sickness during the week, there was not a lot to smile about; however, my long run was the highlight of the training week.  I will look for every silver lining… 

Totals:

Time: 7 hours 10 minutes

Swim: 5,100 yards

Bike: 28.95 miles

Run: 15.25 miles

Stretching/foam rolling:  Some, but not enough!  

posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on Ironman

Monday:

AM – I planned the week to not have a training session Monday morning.  The weekend was very tiring, so I thought it was a good idea to not plan a session first thing.  I think that was a good idea (at the time AND in hindsight)!

PM – 3200-yard swim – This was a true test for me as the first training session of the week.  It was the longest swim of my training plan so far, plus my last swim was a challenging session, mentally and physically.  That set was 4×10 minute steady swim and this set was 5×10 minute steady swim (with 1-minute rest intervals).  Well, I ended up being very pleased with my workout.  I was able to hold the pace for 5 sets of 500 and average less than 2:00/pace (1:59/pace woo hoo!!) for the 2500 yards.  My sets timed out at 9:56, 9:58, 10:02, 9:56, 9:57.

Tuesday:

AM – 60-minute bike trainer workout with hill repeats.  The main set included three hill repeats at 10 minutes each in length with a combination of seated and standing climbs.  This (or a variation of) has become a fairly regular workout in the plan.  It is a good one and I certainly need to work the hills frequently to prepare for the notorious hills of Lake Placid!

PM – “Steady” run on the treadmill – 45 minutes at a pace faster that target race pace, but slower than tempo.  I completed 5.32 miles at 8:28 pace.  I maintained a pace a bit faster than planned and felt good on this run.

Wednesday:

AM – 55-minutes on the bike trainer.  This is another session that has become a fairly regular workout in the plan.  It is an intense session with the focus on multiple sets of “max effort” for varying periods of time.  This is always a tiring workout, but this one seemed to leave me feeling a bit more worn out than the others.

PM – 2500-yard swim – The main set included 6×100 at moderate tempo with 15 seconds rest and 6×200 at moderate tempo with 20 seconds rest.  I was pleased with my swim and happy to maintain a 1:54 pace for the 1800 main set, with very minimal rest.  It is amazing HOW QUICKLY 15 or 20 seconds fly by!

Thursday:

AM – 30-minute run on the treadmill with the main set including tempo efforts.  These sets were short being 2x5minutes with desired pace being 1 minute per mile faster than target race pace.  This included 2 minutes easy jogging between intervals.   I averaged 8:00 pace for each of the two sets.  I felt fine during the run, but despite being a short effort, I was feeling fatigue in legs, which is certainly from the intense bike session the day before.

PM – 2800-yard swim – The main set included sets of 100/200/300/400/500 with 15 seconds rest followed by 2×300 easy/moderate/fast.  Performed all sets at “easy” effort due to feeling very tired. It ended up being a good workout though.  I was not highly concerned about time and therefore, focused a bit more on form.  I know that good form is so important and sets like this really reinforce that point!

Friday: REST DAY!!!  This was even more appreciated than normal.  Since last week’s rest day was Thursday, there was one extra day between rest days, and I could tell the difference!

Saturday: BRICK!!  For this workout, Tony joined me and we biked outside for two hours.  I really focused a lot on working my gears in the big ring and the small ring, especially on the hills.  As a result, I had a really good ride.  I maintained a strong pace on a rolling course and once again, we had windy conditions to deal with.  As soon as we got home, we changed into run gear and headed out for a 50-minute run.  Tony joined me on the run as well, and I was SOOO glad he did.  I was really dragging when we started out on the run and got a VERY short second wind about half way in and really died out at the end.  Tony did a good job of helping me through the first few miles where I was really struggling.  All in all, I was happy to maintain a pace of 9:09 for 5.46 miles.  (BIG kudos to my hubbie…yes, he bikes with me, but WHO does brick workouts when they are not really training for something specific?  Majorly supportive people do!!)

I want to share some additional results from this brick.  As I have written about before, I truly believe that nutrition is the “fourth” leg of triathlon.  A huge part of this is recovery.  However, the best plans don’t always result in actuality.  My nutrition was fine during the bike and I had enough to sustain me for the run.  I did run with my fuel belt so I could continue my hydration.  After the run, I did not really want to eat anything.  I had a little bit of chocolate milk (one of my very favorite recovery drinks) and took a bath.  By the time I finished my bath, I was feeling a little icky on my stomach.  I KNEW I had to eat, but nothing appealed to me.  I opened a diet Pepsi and had a few crackers.  I looked around the kitchen and I spotted waffle fries in the freezer, which sounded good.  While those were cooking, I ate a fun size snickers bar.  I am sharing this, because I want to be honest with my stories on the blog.  I think my body was craving sugar and salt, but these were NOT the best decisions for recovery.  I obviously won’t always make the best decisions.  It is what it is.  We DID have a great dinner that night with steak, asparagus, mushrooms and salad when we visited with friends.  That did not make up for my poor recovery, but it sure was tasty!

Sunday: 2.5 hours on the bike trainer with sessions alternating between easy spinning and target race pace.  This session WAS BRUTAL!!!  I tried to pass the time by watching several different shows from the laptop, but my legs did not have a lot of juice in them after Saturday’s brick.  Also, my poor choice for recovery may have affected how I felt.  For the target race pace sets where I really focus on watts, I was not able to maintain the averages that I was aiming for.  However, I put it all in and that’s all I can do.  I was THRILLED to get off the bike after 2.5 hours.  I had absolutely nothing left in the tank!

I know that this training will include a bunch of “firsts” for me and I have two to share that make me smile about this week’s training:

1 – 12 hours & 20 minutes of training for one week…I am certain that this is my highest volume week ever!

2 – 8,500 yards in the pool…yikes!  That equates to 4.83 miles of swimming!  That’s a lot and the highest volume for me in one training week so far!

Totals:

Time: 12 hours 20 minutes

Swim: 8,500 yards

Bike: 88.05 miles

Run: 12.24 miles

Stretching/foam rolling:  Some, but not enough!

posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on Ironman

This was a tough week for fitting everything in.  I can’t complain as one of the drivers was two Carolina Hurricanes games during the week, and this is something we really enjoy.  The games were on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, so I had to plan accordingly.  The biggest impact was that I moved my rest day from Friday to Thursday.  I was able to make alterations in the week otherwise.

Monday:

AM – 35-minute run with the main set incorporating hill repeats.  Performed 7×2 minute hill repeats with 1 minute recovery between intervals.  Incline settings on the treadmill were 4%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 7.5%, 8%, 8% (adjusted for each of the hill repeats and dropped down to 1% for the recovery interval).  My pace ranged from high 9s to low 10s…adjusted pace as needed as incline got steeper.  I felt good on this run!

PM – 1800 yard swim – The main set included a couple of 200 sets, several 100 sets (which involved building up to a fast pace for last 25 yards of the 100), followed by a bunch of 25s with evens being easy effort and odds being fast effort.  All included short rest breaks between intervals, which I adhered to.  I felt good about the workout and I pushed my pace, but tired out at the end of the 25s as evidenced by the declining times.

Tuesday:

AM – 78 minutes on the bike trainer.  The main set included three 10-minute sets starting at low cadence and shifting every minute to end with high cadence.  No rest between the 10-minute sets…ugh!!  After the 30 minute effort, I had four 5-minute sets with odd intervals having low cadence and even intervals having high cadence.   (I had 2 minutes rest between these intervals…woo hoo!!)

PM – Training not planned since scheduled hockey game.

Wednesday:

AM – 50 minutes on the bike trainer with high gearing (so low cadence).  Another focus on the main set was to not let the heart rate jump too high.  I kept an eye on my Garmin and adjusted my effort as needed to keep the heart rate within range.

PM – 1900 yard swim –The main set included 8×100 at moderate tempo/15 seconds rest/50 fast/30 second rest between intervals. While I was swimming and monitored my times, I was not particularly pleased with the times for the 100 moderate intervals.  After I completed the entire workout, I reviewed the results and considered how I was consistent for all eight sets.  I was happy that the average pace was 1:50 for the 1200 yard main set.  Looking at the workout from the big picture, I felt better about the results.

Thursday:  REST DAY!  I really prefer Fridays as my rest day, but had to switch up some things in order to fit in all the training this week!

Friday:

AM – 30-minute run on the treadmill with the main set including tempo efforts.  These sets were relatively short being 2x5minutes with pace being 1 minute per mile faster than target race pace.  This included 2 minutes easy jogging between intervals.  Generally speaking, I do tempo runs fairly often.  Even in the off season, these are workouts I would incorporate regularly.  However, this was the first tempo set from the plan, so I had not run tempo sets in a long time.  I thought it would be tough to get this workout going in the early morning, but in reality, it felt really good to push the pace.  The pace that I ran was a bit faster than what I had planned at 1 minute faster than target race pace.  I averaged 8:03 and 7:58 for the two sets, which is slower that the tempo sets I had worked up to in the past. However, I tried to follow the plan and not push the pace too much. This was a pretty short set and my legs felt a bit fatigued, but otherwise not overly challenging.

PM – 2700 yard swim – The main set focused on 4×10 minute steady swim with 1-minute rest between intervals.  This set was identical to one recently where I had a great swim.  WELL, this swim was a tough one to get through.  After I saw the time for the first set, I felt a little deflated.  I was also feeling very tired and mentally I did not want to be swimming.  The second set was a “feel sorry for myself” set and then the third and fourth I pulled it back together and tried to get through with what I knew I could do.  My last lap was the fastest, and that made me happy that I turned things around a bit mentally.  Overall I did finish was an average pace of less than 2:00 for the 2000 yards.  I saw this as a little mental victory after a very rocky start.  I was pretty wiped after I finished!

My sets timed out at 9:59, 10:01, 9:58, 9:54 in comparison to 9:50, 9:50, 9:54, and 9:55 for the 500 yard sets the previous week.

Saturday:  Outside ride!  The plan called for 3 hours 15 minutes and we pulled into the driveway after completing 3 hours 14 minutes.  We covered 55 miles with an average pace of 17 mph.  Tony and I rode with a friend who is also IM training.  It was a good ride, except the wind was BRUTAL!  We had winds from every direction, so it made things more challenging.  We rode a very familiar, rolling route.  I tried a new product for hydration called Osmo.  They have a line that is formulated for women only.  It is Mango flavored and the taste was pretty mild.  I carried one bottle of Osmo and the rest water.  The Osmo seemed fine, so next long ride I will try two bottles.

Sunday: Long run of 80 minutes at target race pace.  I had an adventure on the greenway!!  This was indeed a run and NOT a swim, despite all the water in this view!

I felt lots of fatigue in my legs early on. After the first few miles, the legs seemed to loosen a bit. I was not really pushing the pace…just let the legs dictate the pace and not my head.

Overall, I felt the pace was not bad…a bit slower than plan directed, but felt this is what my legs had and so I was happy with that.  I did the run alone; however, I knew that a friend of mine was going to be biking the greenway over the weekend.  So, we planned to meet and leave at the same time.  Even though we did not train together, it was nice knowing she was out there and we did get to chat a bit before!

A couple of things that make me smile about this week:

1 – This was ANOTHER week where I successfully woke up early on four mornings and trained before work.  For this girl (I am not a morning person), I am proud that I was able to conquer the early morning yet again!

2 – I fit everything in, despite a crazy week!

Totals:

Time: 10 hours 52 minutes

Swim: 6,400 yards

Bike: 80.33 miles

Run: 13.28 miles

Stretching/foam rolling:  Some, but not enough!

posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on Ironman

With one month of training down, I took a look back and have a few take-aways that are key.  First, I feel pleased with the first month.  As I had explained in an earlier post, I stayed very active since the “end of last season” and while I did not have a specific plan over the few months leading to the start of IM training, I feel that I did a good job in preparing myself to have a solid base to start this 24-week plan.  I am pleased that I stayed diligent to routine training and I have felt it pay off in these early weeks.

Secondly, while the training is tough, another challenge is balancing training with everything else in life.  My workday typically includes a version of this:

• An early morning training session (generally three days/week), so the alarm goes off between 5:00-5:15 on those training days.
• Getting showered and ready for work.
• Cooking breakfast (always oatmeal), prepping lunch and all snacks for the day.
• Commute to the office (approximately 40 minutes, but sometimes longer)…I try to leave home by 7:30.
• Full workday…try to head out of the office by 5:00.
• To the pool or home for run/bike.
• Shower
• Dinner = Tony or I (or collectively) cook dinner or even better we have leftovers!  Generally, we eat between 8:00-8:30 (depending on the length of training session).
• Clean up kitchen/try to stay on top of a few chores.
• Relax/watch TV.
• Lay out all my needed gear for the morning workout and packing pool bag for the following evening if swim is scheduled.
• Bed = this time has varied and I have tried to be in bed by 10:00, especially on nights where I have early training the next morning.

Needless to say, these are full days.  Often times I feel there is not enough time in the day. The key thing I have not fully discussed is getting enough sleep.  I have never functioned well on little sleep and that is even more apparent as the training gets more and more intense.  Frequently, by the time I sit down to relax, it is almost time to think about bed.  I enjoy this relaxing time with Tony and it is hard to call it a night when I am enjoying our time.

The workweek is by far the hardest, but there is plenty that has to get done on the weekends to have a less stressful week.  Apart from the longer training days, on the weekends I try to organize for the upcoming week.  I try to plan out a few meals and ensure we have all the ingredients.  I generally plan dishes that include leftovers to minimize the number of meals we have to prepare (leftovers are wonderful!!!).  I also like to make sure I have good lunches planned (hearty & healthy) to take to work with snacks as well.  Getting laundry done is also key, because I am generating more dirty workout gear than ever before!  If I get the majority of these things done on the weekend, the week goes a little smoother.

With all this, I have gradually started to figure out what makes things easier during these time-crunched days.  I will continue to try things that may help or make life easier.  Bottom line is that I knew these days would come and would be challenging.  With many things in life, sacrifice is something that comes into play.  I accept this, as I want to do all that is necessary to be prepared to reach my goal.  I know that it will all be worth it!  As I do with my training plan, I just take one day at a time and do the best that I can do.  At the end of the day, we will eat dinner (even if it is scrambled eggs and toast) and life does go on with dirty dishes in the kitchen sink!  I know this from lots of experience….

posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on Ironman

I will first explain the high level structure of my training plan.  It includes three weeks of building and then a fourth week of lighter volume and training time.  This gives the body a recovery period from the previous three weeks of build and prepares it for the upcoming three-week block.  This is typically how my training plans have been structured…even from my first sprint tri.  It seems to be a good format that by body (generally) responds to well.

Monday:

PM – Started the training week off with a 60-minute bike trainer workout with hill repeats!!  The main set included three hill repeats at 10 minutes each in length with a combination of seated and standing climbs.  Legs felt a bit fatigued from the bike ride on the previous day, but not too bad.

Tuesday:

AM – “Steady” run on the treadmill – 30 minutes at a pace faster that target race pace, but slower than tempo.  I completed 3.49 miles at 8:36 pace.  My quads still felt fatigued, but maintained pace as planned.

PM – Had to shuffle training plan due to a late meeting at work.  Rescheduled swim for Saturday.

Wednesday:

AM – 50 minutes on the bike trainer with varying levels of work effort.  Nothing like a morning sweat fest to go the day started!

PM – 2700-yard swim – The main set focused on 4×10 minute steady efforts with 1-minute rest between intervals.  This set was similar to a set I performed in the prior weeks’ plan, but it was 3×10 minute efforts.  I saw some improvement with this 4×10 minute workout.  My sets timed out at 9:50, 9:50, 9:54, and 9:55 for the 500 yard sets.  I was very excited to maintain an overall pace of 1:58 for the 2000 yards total (with very little rest).  The prior weeks’ sets were 9:55, 10:03 and 10:01 with 2:00 overall pace for 1500 yards total.  I love to see progress!

Thursday:

AM – 30-minute recovery run on the treadmill – 3.16 miles with average pace of 9:31, which is on point for this recovery run.  My heart rate averaged 141 and I was happy to keep the HR super low.

PM – The best part about the recovery weeks – MASSAGE!!  I tried a new therapist that was recommended.  I had a great one hour massage and she was able to work out some kinks and soreness.  I find this to be a very important part of training…both physically and mentally!!

Friday:  REST DAY!!!

Saturday:

AM – Swim – This was the swim that had to be rescheduled from earlier in the week due to work conflicts.  This swim focused on drills and form.  It was a total of 2100 yards and I did not even use my Garmin!  (Not using a Garmin is kind of a big deal for me.  I guess I can be called a “data junkie” and like to know my stats.  However, especially in the pool, it is good to have sessions to not think about time/speed and focus on form and breathing.)

PM – BRICK!!  For this workout, Tony joined me and we biked on the trainer for 95 minutes.  There were many different intervals with varying cadences and intensities, which helps the time pass.  Before I started on the bike, I had all my run gear set out, so as soon as I finished the bike, I changed and started out on my 35-minute run at target race pace.  I am usually very consistent.  However, this run was a bit different.  I ran in/around my neighborhood (some rollers) and I averaged 9:10 pace for 3.81 miles.  The inconsistency came in my mile splits.

Mile 1 = 9:34

Mile 2 = 9:30

Mile 3 = 9:10

Mile .81 = 8:22 pace

I was happy to finish strong!  One positive take away to report, was regarding my fueling and how I felt on the run.  In the post from my last brick, I explained how I had not eaten enough on the bike (to sustain the run).  So early on in the run, I felt low on fuel.  I definitely made adjustments for this session and did a much better job! As a result, my average pace for the 35-minute brick run improved from 9:26 to 9:10.  It is all about learning and making adjustments for improvement!

Sunday:

2800 yard endurance swim – The main set of this swim was a challenge.  It included 100/200/300/400/500 easy-to-moderate pace intervals with only 15 seconds of rest between each interval.  I held pretty well, but slowed a bit during the 500 set.  The 15 seconds of rest is what makes this tricky.

The last sets before cool down were 2×300 easy/moderate/fast with 30 seconds rest between intervals.  Despite a good effort, there was not a whole lot of “FAST” going on at that point.  I was really feeling fatigued for these 300 sets, but I just did my best and was happy to reach cool down.

Reflections from the week:

This closes out my first 4-week block of training.  I am very proud of myself that I have not missed any of my scheduled training.  It has been hard at times and I KNOW that it will only get harder as the time passes and the training gets longer and more intense.  With a solid month in, I will just continue forward and do as I have done so far…take one day at a time and do the best I can do!

Totals:

Time: 8 hours 50 minutes

Swim: 7,600 yards

Bike: 42.43 miles (all on the trainer)

Run: 10.46 miles

Stretching/foam rolling:  Some, but not enough!