Week 2, Strength 1 + Bonus Bike

• Good idea:  Skip the time trial.  Too cold and wet for my taste.  Plus, I had time to get to the gym for both a spin class AND the strength training workout I missed this morning!
• Good idea:  Don't push yourself too hard in a spin class when you're not really scheduled to ride at all.
• Bad idea:  Spin BEFORE your priority strength training session.  Yep, a little too tired at that point to do it as well as I could/should have.
• Bad idea:  Ignore your core.  I rarely lift, and I haven't made ab-work a priority in a long time.  I realized tonight just how out of shape my core is!

Anyway, glad I got my workouts in, and even gladder that all I have to do now before bed is take a nice hot shower.  Or should I make that a bath...?

Need... More... Sleep...

Yeah, no way I was getting up at 5:45 to hit the gym this morning after the crazy long day I had yesterday.  And I'm still super tired!  So now I'm trying to decide if I should try to lift tonight after the time trial (assuming the weather cooperates and I actually go out to ride it), add a strength session on Thursday to make up for today, or just skip it altogether...  We'll see how tonight goes I guess, then decide.

Week 2, Swim 1

After a quick warm-up (300 swim, 200 pull, 200 kick), I started my main set of 8x200.  This was supposed to be an endurance workout with a controlled intensity, keeping my RPE (rate of perceived exertion) in Zones 1 to 2 (E2 is the code they use for this type of workout).  The example they gave was to follow a 3:20 interval, holding a 1:30-1:35 pace per 100 and taking less than 20 seconds between repetitions.  I thought I was a decent swimmer, but there's no way I can swim at that pace, especially if I want to keep my heart rate in zones 1 to 2!  I typically swim 1 lap (50m) per minute, so my 200s each took about 4 minutes.  Even though I felt like I was getting more tired and therefore slower the longer I swam, I actually managed to take a few seconds off each 200, so that I did the last one in 3:48.  I felt great about that, though I was definitely swimming harder than I think I was supposed to for an E2 workout.  Oh, well.  Got it done, and it felt good!  2600m total in 59 minutes.  My shoulder does hurt a lot right now, though, which is not at all uncommon for me after a swim but still annoying.  *sigh*

Week 2, Run 1

• LOVE that I had time for my morning run in between seeing Derek off and starting my shift.
• LOVE that I can just run out my front door and be in one of the city's most beautiful parks within minutes.
• HATE that I forgot to take water with me today...
• LOVE my new capri running pants, which were perfect for this perfect chilly spring morning.
• LOVE my new Timex Ironman watch with it's fancy interval timers and many other features I have yet to figure out.
• HATE that I accidentally set my run interval to 3 hours instead of 3 minutes so that I couldn't time my loop around the lake for the interval research I was hoping to get started on today.  D'oh!
• LOVE how good it feels to have a goal and stick to it. :-)

Here I Go!

So, I happened to open up my Training Plans for Multisport Athletes book today, and found a 26-week plan to an ironman.  Perfect!  Only I looked at a calendar and I only have 25 weeks till my race...  So tomorrow I start with week 2 of the plan.  I'm changing the days that I do the workout based on when I have various rides planned, but I'm going to try to stick to it as closely as possible.  This week's plan looks like this:

Monday - Run 45 minutes, swim 1 hour
Tuesday - Lift an hour and 15 minutes, and ride the time trial if it's not raining (I added this part)
Wednesday - Run 30 minutes, swim an hour and 15 minutes
Thursday - Ride 1 hour
Friday - Swim an hour, run an hour and a half
Saturday - Ride an hour and 15 minutes (this will be more like two to two and a half hours with my Lifetime peeps, if it's not raining)
Sunday - Lift an hour and 15 minutes, and maybe a yoga/pilates class while I'm at the gym (my idea, too)

I still have to figure out what all the intensity codes and things mean, but I'm excited!  Let's see how it goes with a real plan in place!

Not So Much Today

Well, I made it to yoga this morning, then ran a bunch of errands before coming home.  By then it was after noon, and close to 80 degrees out!  I didn't feel much like running, so I turned the A/C on and started getting the office ready to paint instead.  I told myself I could go swim later if it was too warm to run, but the house stuff ended up being my only other workout today.  Boo...  But I REALLY want to get this last room done so I can cross it off my list, and put all the painting supplies away, and get the dining room and kitchen back in working order (they are currently being used as a paint prep area).  So, I've decided that THAT will be my priority this week.  I'm still hoping to get a good swim in tomorrow, maybe between the two coats of paint, but I won't beat myself up if it doesn't happen.  The forecast is predicting lots of rain, so I'm not sure if another outdoor ride will happen this week, but maybe I can at least spin on Friday.  And I really do need to get at least one run in this week, though I have to work all weekend...  So, we'll see how this all plays out!

Long Ride

I rode on the bike trail today, which is flat, but I was able to get a good 50 miles in in just about 3 hours.  I averaged 16.4 mph on the way out and ended up at 16.7, so I averaged 17 mph on the second half.  Not bad!  I was working hard, and my legs (and tushy!) were really sore by the end, but I decided I should hop off the bike and run briefly, too, just to start getting used to that feeling of transition again.  I ran/walked 1.5 miles, and by the end of that, my legs actually felt better!  AND... I'm starting to feel like a real triathlete again. :-)

My plan for the coming weeks is to keep increasing my long rides by 10 miles, till I get up to a century.  I'll also try to ride 2 other times each week.  I want to run 3 times a week as well, and swim twice.  If I have time, I'd like to get some yoga and lifting in, but that might not happen every week.  I also want to get back to reading my Racing Weight and Going Long books to really nail down a training plan.

Eating-wise, I did great today, too!  Kind of hard to go wrong when you burn 3000+ calories during your workout, but still.  I weighed and measured everything, wrote everything down, and stuck to my goals.  I have a new nutrition and fitness tracker book, and I'm really excited to get my eating on track.  Hubby's helping me with accountability for that, too, so hopefully I'll have better luck checking in with him every night.  Wish me luck!