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

Week 6: Indoor Tri & Half Marathon Training

Indoor Triathlon Race Week!

Monday - Treadmill Run

5 min warm up on stationary bike. 20 minute run on the treadmill at comfortably hard pace. 5 min cool down walk on indoor track.

 

Tuesday - Rest Day

Rest day.

 

Wednesday - Spin Express Class at the Y

Being race week, I decided to take it a little easier than usual today in order to save my legs for Saturday's indoor triathlon.

 

Thursday - Group Run

Cold and windy run. Low 40s with wind chill in the mid 30s. It was only really bad at the beginning, going down hill and against the wind. My body was generating little heat and the wind cut through all 3 layers I had on and my gloves didn't seem to be helping keeping my fingers from getting cold. After we made the turn against the wind and started going up hill, I quickly warmed up and even shed my gloves. It was a good run but I was also happy to get it over with.

 

Friday - Rest Day

The day before the indoor triathlon. Taking it easy, hydrating and clean eating (meaning no fried foods, junk food, or soft drinks).

 

Saturday - Indoor Triathlon!

You can read the race report here.

 

Sunday - Easy Run

Plan called for 4 miles but 3 miles is all I had in my tired and heavy legs.

 

Week 5: Indoor Tri & Half Marathon Training

Monday - Treadmill Run

1/4 mile warm up. 1.5 mile continuous run held at comfortably hard pace. 1/4 mile cool down.

 

Tuesday - Rest Day

Rest day. Did some strength training with the free weights and medicine ball.

 

Wednesday - Spin Express Class at the Y

We had a fill-in instructor who loved hill intervals. This class kicked my butt but instead of getting out of the saddle during every hill interval, I stayed seated during a few of them or chose to do a full out sprint instead. Also learned that this class may get cancelled if we don't average at least 3-4 more people.

 

Thursday - Treadmill Run

Treadmill hill intervals - 3.25 miles. 5 min warm up, then 2 minute hill intervals at  6.3 mph with 3 to 4% incline. Did those until I hit the 3 mile mark. Then 1/4 mile cool down. This was a tough workout but one of the best treadmill workouts I've done. Really got the heart rate up and the hills got tough at the faster speed.

 

Friday - Lunch Swim

50 yard warm up. 10 minute time trial (475 yards). 4 x 100 on 2:15 pace. These were tough but I averaged 2:00 - 2:05 per 100 yards which gave me 10-15 seconds of rest. With the indoor triathlon next week, I'm hoping I can get to 500 yards but we shall see. Then 2 x 25 fast / 25 easy. 50 yard cool down.

 

Saturday - Long Run

8 miles down and finished pain free! I chose to stay on the conservative side and do run 3 minute / walk 2 minute intervals thinking I would average around a 13+ min pace but  I actually averaged 12:26. Not bad considering I walked 33% of the time!

 

Sunday - Rest Day

Much needed rest day!

 

Week 4: Indoor Tri & Half Marathon Training

Monday - Treadmill Run

Started with a 4 lap warm up jog on the indoor track before hitting the treadmill for 20 mins of intervals. Decided to do 7 min at steady pace (5.8 - 6.0 mph) then two 3 minute intervals at a faster pace (6.5 + mph) with 1 minute sprints (7.0+ mph) at the end. 1-2 min recovery in-between intervals. Overall it was a tough but good workout.

 

Tuesday - Lazy River Running Class at the Y

The YMCA now offers a lazy river running class with this description:

"Don't let the name fool you, this class is packed with cardio! Varying levels of intensity combined with water resistance make this class perfect for cross training or just a really great workout. Come run with us!"

So of course I had to try it out. It was somewhat boring and way too easy for me. The only time I enjoyed it was when we were actually running against the current but I could of cared less about the drills with the current as they did absolutely nothing for me. Let's just say I won't be going back to the class.

 

Wednesday - Spin Express Class at the Y

Week 2 of this lunch time spin class and now knowing what to expect, it went much better than last week. I enjoyed it more and was able to get in a better quality workout knowing how to pace myself for the 45 minute workout.

 

Thursday - Rest Day

Had a dentist appointment at 3 pm and I knew I would of felt like running afterwords so scheduled rest day.

 

Friday - Lunch Swim Rest Day

I was suppose to swim today but work sort of got in the way and I missed my window.

 

Saturday - 5K Race + 3 Miles Easy

Today was a two-part long run, first half was the Race for the Grasshopper 5K which for the first 2 miles went exceptionally well. The last 1.1 miles however did not. I thought I would switch from slow continous running to run/walk breaks for the last mile in order to save my legs for a strong finish but that completely back-fired and I ended up struggling the final 1/4th mile. Next time, I'll just stick to what is working.

Second 3 miles was a complete struggle from start to end. My legs were so fatigued that running for more than 2 minutes a time was difficult so I ended up taking lots of walk breaks but at least I got my 6 miles in for the day!

 

Sunday - Rest Day

Much needed and appreciated rest day! It was also my neice's birthday party. She turned 3 on Friday.

 

Week 3: Indoor Tri & Half Marathon Training

Monday - Rest Day

Rest day. It was New Year's Eve and we still needed to go grocery shopping so I regretably skipped today's 3 mile easy run.

 

Tuesday - New Year's Day

Rest Day. Would of made up for yesterday's run but it turned out to be a rainy lazy day instead.

 

Wednesday - Spin Express Class at the Y

The Y now offers a lunch time Spin Express class from 12:15 pm - 1:00 pm which I decided to try. It was my first ever spin class so I was somewhat hestiate on what to expect. I knew it would be tough but I didn't know just how tough. The instructor had us get out of our seat more than I'm used to and my quads burned like they never burned before! I just couldn't keep up but even then, I enjoyed it and will try to make it a weekly habit for as long as they offer the class.

 

Thursday - Easy Run

Group Run - 3 miles. Legs were still sore from spin class so I opted to run just 3 instead of our normal 4 miles. It's a good thing I did because I was hurting after 3 miles, especially on the hills.

 

Friday - Lunch Swim

1,200 yards. 4 x 50 warm up, 6 x 100 yd, 4 x 25 fast / 25 easy, 4 x 50 cool down all with 15" rest intervals and 60" between sets. Felt pretty good today.

 

Saturday - Long Run

 7 miles. 4 miles. Because of afternoon obligations, I had to run earlier than usual which meant running in mid 30s and I just wasn't used to the chillier temps. It was a struggle from the start and it only got harder the longer I ran so I called it quits after 4 miles.

 

Sunday - Rest Day

Much needed and appreciated rest day!

 

Week 2: Indoor Tri & Half Marathon Training

Monday - Christmas Eve

Rest day. It's Christmas Eve and my ankle still hurts a little so playing it smart and trying to stay off of it as much as I can.

 

Tuesday - Christmas

Easy Run - 2 miles. I decided to test the ankle with an easy 2 miles. On the flat sections it felt find but the hills reminded me it's still not 100%. So one more rest day and I should be good to go on Thursday.

 

Wednesday

Indoor Brick - Bike 20 mins, run 8 minutes. Rest day.

 

Thursday

Group Run - 4 miles. Indoor Brick - Bike 20 mins, run 8 minutes. Felt really good on the bike and had the resistance level between 6-8 and kept RPMs between 90 -110 and went a tenth of a mile further than last week. Felt really good on the treadmill although still much slower than I would of liked. I'm  not a big fan of the treadmill and definitely can't run as fast on it as I can outside. I like to be in full control and on a treadmill, I'm just scared of falling off the thing.

 

Friday

Lunch Swim - 30 mins. They  did repairs on the lap pool last week and the water was a chilly 72° so I decided not to swim (I hate cold water).

Saturday

Long Run - 7 miles. Impromptu indoor triathlon. This week I went so far off from my training plan mostly due to my ankle injury from last week. It's back to 100% but I just didn't feel like running 7 miles plus I knew I had to make up yesterday's swim session today. So I hit the pool for my first swim workout in nearly 4 months:

Warm Up 4 x 50 on 15" rest warm up
Set 1: 10 min TT, rest 2 mins
Set 2: 4-6 x 75 on 50 yd pace+5 sec
Cool Down: 100-300 easy

And was quite surprise to see that my 10 minute time trial was 462.2 yards. I really didn't expect to go further than 425 yards with all the time off from swimming,  but I felt great. So great that once I rinsed off in the shower and changed into my running clothes, I ended up jumping on the stationary bike for 20 minutes then the treadmill for 15 minutes. I felt great the entire time and once I came home and consumed a gel, I went out and ran another 2 miles. Best 90 minute workout ever and it went by so quickly. I'm so excited for the indoor triathlon now.

Sunday

Rest Day. Arms and shoulders are so sore today from yesterday's swim workout. Officially registered for the Race for the Grasshopper 5K on January 12th and the InYou Indoor Triathlon on January 26. Plus my new workout backpack arrived from Kiefer Swim Shop yesterday so I can't wait to try it out. I've been using the same backpack I had in high school and college and is well over a decade old so it was time for a change and since most gyms have vertical lockers, backpacks over standard gym duffle bags make better sense. I will do a full product review in late January after my indoor triathlon.

 

Week 1: Indoor Tri & Half Marathon Training

Monday - Treadmill Intervals

After last week's successful treadmill run, decided to incorporate intervals once again into my treadmill run. This time I did 2 x 4 minutes and 2 x 2 minutes with 2 minute recovery in between.

TIME	INTERVAL	SPEED (MPH)
0:00 - 5:00	Warm up	3.5 - 4.0
5:01 - 9:00	Run 4 mins	5.9
9:01 - 11:00	Walk 2 mins	3.5
11:01 - 15:00	Run 4 mins	6.0
15:01 - 17:00	Walk 2 mins	3.5
17:01 - 19:00	Run 2 mins	6.2 - 6.3
19:01 - 21:00	Walk 2 mins	3.5
21:01 - 23:00	Run 2 mins	6.3 - 6.4
23:01 - 28:00	Cool Down	5.5 - 2.5

 

Tuesday - Indoor Brick

Stationary bike for 20 minutes followed with a 5 min treadmill run. Felt extremely well on the bike, kept the RPM above 90 most of the time and kept it on level 4-5. Then ran on a treadmill for 5 minutes and manage to go just shy of 1/2 mile.

 

Wednesday - Easy Run

Scheduled rest day. Yoga and stretching. 4 mile easy run. With Thursday evening's forecast calling for an 80% chance of rain and breezy conditions, I decided to just run in my neighborhood tonight instead. I started out way too fast as I usually do when I run alone and with it being dark, it was a bit scary so I'm sure my heart rate was higher than normal. I'm just not a fan of solo night runs but with an 8 am - 5 pm job, evenings are my only option if I want to run longer than 25 minutes. Or hit the treadmill which I may have to do next Thursday since my running buddy won't be there.

 

Thursday - Rest Day (Yoga)

4 mile group run. Rainy, cold and windy = Rest day. Yoga and stretching. Glad I ran yesterday instead!

 

Friday - Strength & Core

Strength and core exercises. 5 sets of 10 pushups and 25 crunches.

 

Saturday - Long Run

6.2 miles. Used run 4 minutes / walk 90 seconds intervals. Felt good until about 5 miles in and then I started noticing a pain in my ankle that would come and go. By the time I was 1/2 mile from home, it got really bad to the point it hurt to run.

 

Sunday - Rest Day

Woke up and my ankle was really sore but after soaked in epsom salt, it helped a lot. I can at least walk without a limp but  going up and down stairs still hurts.