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

Today's Trifecta

I'm not sure how this happened, but it did. I guess I was just feeling good today.

Lunch time swim - Warmed up with 4 x 50s which were slow going because the water was cold today, I'm guessing it was 78° or colder than that. I got cold shock when I jumped in so the first 25 yards, I swam without putting my face in the water. Then my 400 TT which was 8:30, not bad and already significant improvement since January when it was above 10 minutes. Then 4 x 75 on TT pace with 20" rest. 200 steady and 100 cool down. Overall it was a great swim but with the water really cold, I felt a little sluggish at times.

Evening brick - 10 miles on the indoor bike at the YMCA which is way harder than riding outdoors. First you're always pedaling and there is no downhills to coast/recover on. I did set it on level 5 and on random mode to simulate hills. I was soaked with sweat by the time I finished in 43:50.

Then I decided to try out the 1/16th mile indoor track in the gym. OMG, it was so hot in there, it had to be close to 90°. It felt like a sauna but I still ran anyways. I could only manage a mile with it being so hot in there and finished in 10:40. I walked lap 4, 8 and 12 and ran the rest.

Lunch Swim

Today was my first visit to the new Thomas E. Hannah YMCA! The facility is nice but being that it just opened up 3 days ago, it was a bit crowded. The pool is 6 lanes, 25 yards and felt somewhat small after swimming in a 50 meter pool the last few times.

Since I forgot my workout card, I decided to just keep it simple. Started out with 4 x 50 warm up focusing on form and body position. Then I did 8 x 100 yard at 2 min pace with 30" rest. I didn't really need the 30" rest but it was just easier to keep time and track of my laps this way. I felt really good and was dead on consistent for all eight 100s! Then did 6 x 50 as a cool down with bilateral breathing every other lap.

It felt great to be back in the water again and I got in a solid 1,300 yard swim in 35 mins. My goal is to swim at lunch (30-35 mins) 2-3 days a week and that way I won't have to worry about trying to fit it in on my super busy weekends!

But one thing I love about this new YMCA is they have everything you need. Towels, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion and plenty of hair dryers so all I need to bring is my swimsuit, swim cap, googles and flip flops! Starting May 1st they will have food delivery service where you can place your order when you arrive and it will be waiting for you when you leave. Lunch time workouts can't get any easier than that!

Swim at Westside Aquatic

Today's Workout

• 4 x 100m warm up (2:30, 2:28, 2:20, 2:18)


• 300m of 50m 3-stroke breathing / 50m catch up / 50m swim


• 200m of 25m corkscrew kick drills / 25m swim


• 100m at moderate pace (2:19)


• 4 x 100 at last pace in warm up with 10-20" rest (2:14, 2:16, 2:20, 2:20)


• 300m bilateral breathing cool down

The water temp was around 80 degrees and to help deal with cold shock during my triathlon (the Middle Tyger YMCA pool is between 76-78 degrees), I decided to just jump in instead of slowly ease into the water as I normally do. It worked, it didn't take nearly as long to get used to the water as it normally takes so progress there.

I felt sluggish during the warm up being I haven't been in the pool in nearly 2 months but after about 200m, it all started coming back to me again.

The 3-stroke breathing was interesting. It felt so awkward to breathe on my left side and I notice I lift my head up further out of the water when breathing to my left so that's definitively something I need to work on more.

Then the corkscrew kicking drill which was extremely awkward at first. You start on your back kicking and then rotate 1/4th turn to kick for a few minutes. It was the breathing that was hardest.

Then 100m at moderate pace which was a slow 2:19 so I must of been getting tired at that point although I didn't feel tired. I think it was more from not getting much pool time in the last 2 months.

Then the 4 x 100s which were swam at a 2:14, 20" rest, 2:16, 15" rest, 2:20, 10" rest, 2:20. I felt stronger/faster the last 200 meters but my watch said differently. I guess I slowed down without realizing it but it had to be my arms getting tired because I felt like I could of swam another 400m at that pace from a stamina standpoint.

Then cool down which felt super easy.

Overall, I'm pretty surprised that I don't loose much time from not hitting the pool during the off-season and know that in just 4-6 weeks, I can get back down to a 2:00 / 100m pace fairly easy if I can get to the pool twice a week.