Wk 4 - Sprint Triathlon Training

Monday - Endurance Swim &  Group Ride

Lunch Swim (35 min): Warm Up: 4 x 50 w/ 15" rest; 6 x 100 on 2:20 pace, 200 (alternating 50 kick / 50 pull), 2 x fast 50 w/ 60" rest; Cool Down: 200. This was a solid swim and the 100s were pretty even with just a 3 second difference between all of them (2:01, 2:01, 2:02, 1:59, 2:00).

Evening Group Ride (90 min): What a difference a week makes! Last week was a struggle and I averaged 13.1 mph and 142 average heart rate. This week felt so much easier and yet I averaged 13.8 mph and 134 average heart rate. The only thing I did different was really focus on keeping a high cadence throughout the ride and well, it paid off! I just hope it isn't a fluke.



Tuesday - Hill Repeats (30 min)

Started off with a 10 minute warm up jog the did 6 x 45 strides up a 3% grade hill then jogged down as recovery. The hill repeats were at 8:12, 8:20, 8:21, 7:47, 7:24, and 7:22 pace but they only lasted 30 seconds and my recoveries were between 1½ to 2 minutes long. At the half way point, I did stop and grabbed some water which is probably why the last 3 were much faster. The last one I gave it everything I had. Then did a 10 minute warm down jog.

 

Wednesday - Rest Day

Left for Myrtle Beach right after work.

 

Thursday - Easy Run (15 mins)

I don't know what it is but I simply do not run well while I'm on vacation. My legs felt heavy and after 15 minutes, I already had enough!

 

Friday - Easy Bike (30 mins)

About 30 minutes on the very cheap Walmart bike but at least there are no hills!

 

Saturday - Bike/Run Brick. Par 3 Golf (2 hours)

My husband and I played 18 rounds on a par 3 golf course. I'm not much of a golfer as I only play on vacation so that is maybe twice a year so I do good just to hit the ball straight...if at all!

 

Sunday - Rest Day - Interval Run (36 mins)

A strong cold front came through Friday night and temps dropped 15-20 degrees so I woke up to low 50s...great weather for a HIIT (high intensity interval training) run! 10 minute warm up then 4 x 90 sec "fast" intervals at 8:28, 7:48, 7:53, and 7:34 pace with full recovery (3-4 mins). 10 minute cool down.

Wk 3 - Sprint Triathlon Training

Monday - Endurance Swim & Group Ride
Lunch Swim (35 min) - Warm Up: 4 x 50 with 15 second rest. Main Set #1: 4 x 100 on 2:15 pace. Main Set #2: 400 steady. Cool Down: 4 x 50. The 100s were tough and the last two I barely had 5 seconds to rest. By the time I got to the second main set, I was tired and hungry and didn't have much energy left.

Group Ride (1 hr, 45 min) - This ride was really hard. My quads fatigued early on just 6 miles in and I can only guess it had to do something with walking up 500+ steps at Chimney Rock on Saturday. Still, I somehow managed to push through the remaining 17 miles but every hill took every ounce of energy I had.



Tuesday - Interval Run (45 min)
10 min warm up then 6 x 2 minutes at moderate effort with 3 minute recovery plus cool down. I had two things going against me. One, it was in the low 80s and while I'm not complaining about the warmer temps, I simply forgot how much more energy it takes to run when it's warmer, and two, my legs were fatigued from yesterday's group ride so they felt heavy the entire run. I ended the run completely exhausted and will more than likely end up taking a rest day tomorrow.

Wednesday - Lunch Bike. Rest Day
My body is telling me I need a rest so rest it is!

Thursday - Easy Run
What a difference a rest day makes! Legs felt great and kept the pace nice and easy.

Friday - Lunch Swim Rest Day
Well technically I didn't really rest. Ended up cleaning the house instead which can be a workout!

Saturday - SDS Cross Country 5K
This was my "birthday" race and since I needed to get in an easy 3-4 mile run, I decided, why not try a cross country 5K for charity. No time goal, no expectations, just have fun and absolutely under no circumstance treat this as a race. I've done so many 5Ks that I no longer have race day adrenaline for these low-key charity runs and they often feel more like group runs to me now. I can start off at any easy pace for the first half of the race then turn it up slightly for the second half. Still I had no idea how tough running on grass would be or where the hills were so the last mile was a bit of a struggle. I definitely need to start adding hill repeats to my training schedule! But at least now I know the course for future races there.

Sunday - Rest Day

Wk 2 - Sprint Triathlon Training

Monday - Evening Group Ride - Rest Day
I went home for lunch to check on my dog and he just wasn't doing good. He wouldn't eat, he would barely move, and his tail was tucked between his legs so it was obvious he didn't feel good and something wasn't right. (For those that don't know, he has heart disease and a possible brain tumor.)  We thought for sure this was it and went on to take him to the vet. After about 3 hours later, we learned that his symptoms were probably due to his seizure medication as all his blood work results came back normal. Needless to say, my nerves were a mess and I just wasn't in the mood to go for a bike ride, especially since the winds had picked up.

Tuesday - Run: Intervals (45 min)
Spring has finally arrived and I got to run in shorts and a tank top! Started off with a 10 minute warm up walk/jog. Then did five two-minute intervals at moderate effort (70-80%) with one minute recovery jog and two minutes of brisk walking. I felt pretty good during the intervals although the last two were a bit tough going slightly up hill and into the wind.

Wednesday - Easy Bike - Rest Day
When I got home from work it was overcast, cloudy and too chilly for a ride and I didn't feel like spending 15 minutes setting up my bike on the trainer in the garage (yes it takes me that long) so I skipped today's bike workout. Already developing bad habits, ugh!

Thursday - Easy Run - NTC Workout (30 min)
Not sure where spring went! On Tuesday it was in the high 60s, today in the high 30s and rainy! But since the gym is really crowded in the evenings and I don't have a treadmill at home, I decided to just do a 30 minute Nike Training Club workout instead. Going to be feeling this workout tomorrow!

Friday - Intensity Swim - Indoor Bike (40 min)
I just wasn't in the mood to swim so I did the spin bike at the YMCA instead. They actually have this new spin bike in the cardio area with a display that tells you want to do (seated flat, seated climb, standing climb, high intensity, easy, etc) which is pretty cool. It's like having a virtual spin instructor and you can select what type of workout you want to do; endurance, strength (hills), or intervals. Then based on your workout, it has levels on where to keep your heart rate and cadence. Goes to red if you are over or under and reminds you to adjust tension in order to stay where you need to be.

Saturday - Chimney Rock State Park (2 hours)
My husband and I went to Chimney Rock for our postponed anniversary weekend. We started off with shopping at the stores and walking along the River Walk but decided we wanted to get more of a workout so we went into Chimney Rock State Park. There are two options on getting to the "Chimney" from the parking lot, take the elevator or climb the stairs on the Outcroppings Trail (it's 26 stories, 491 stairs) and we chose the stairs! What a great workout! Once we hung out on the "Chimney" for a few minutes, we decided to do some more stair climbing on the Skyline Trail which took you up Exclamation Point (the highest point you can go).

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Sunday - Easy Run (30 min)
I wanted to start running based on heart rate but my Garmin Forerunner 10 doesn't have heart rate so I went out and bought a Polar RS300x. Well, I had problems with it within the first 5 minutes when the chest strap kept loosing signal with the watch. Not to mention the user's manual isn't even included (just a useless Quick Start Guide) so I had to go on Polar's website to find in-depth instructors how to operate it and it still it didn't work as expected (and I'm pretty good with technology). In the end, I realized just how much I love Garmin watches and will end up returning the Polar and continuing to train based on effort rather than heart rate. Anyway, I still managed a 30 min easy run but quickly realized just how much I hate running without knowing how far or how long I've been running. Pace I can do without, but distance/duration, I just have to have.

Update on our dog
We decided to stop feeding him dog food as we noticed his symptoms got worse when he ate the dog food but subsided when we fed him a home cooked meal. After 4 days, he's doing so much better on the home cooked meals which is basically a mixture of grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and carrots. Seriously, what's not to love! Of course nothing is seasoned and it's pretty bland but he gobbles it up like it's a gourmet meal and happy dog = happy pet parents.