Happy Monday! I hope you all had an awesome weekend and made time to watch the Ironman World Championships. I know I did and it’s got be PUMPED!
Week two of training is in the books! This was a good week despite a few mishaps. I’m still struggling a bit to find consistency and get into the swing of things, My home gym was STILL closed this past week and I was commuting to the pool some days. Other days I only had 30 minutes of a workout planned and slept in. All in all, week 2 went well! Here’s the breakdown:
Tuesday – 1600m swim, 30 minute run
Ah two-a-day Tuesday! I’m sure I’ll hate this day at some point, but it’s nice to have right now with my training being so slow. I slept in a bit this Tuesday. I didn’t wake up until about 5:30 am. I’ve had to commute to the gym over by my office since my home gym (pool) has been closed the last two weeks for renovations. The drive there isn’t bad at all, maybe 10-15 minutes max. The drive home is what I need to worry about! I’m fighting rush hour traffic and it creates double drive time. I could have easily showered at the gym and dressed for work there, but apparently I like to make things difficult and drove all the way back to the house. Either way, I sucked it up and got it done. The swim went well. I’m seeing improvements with every swim which makes me feel hopeful. The plan I’m following has swim technique drills worked into every swim workout and I really think it’s making a difference, especially since I took so much time off in my off-season. My Garmin was giving me hell on Monday and for some reason that particular swim won’t sync with Garmin Connect. So annoying! I feel like it didn’t really happen if it’s not logged on Garmin Connect. Last week’s swim average was 2:30 min/100m, today’s swim was 2:25 min/100m so it was nice to see a bit of improvement!
My second workout of the day: 30 minute run. I can’t decide if I want to continue to do these runs in the afternoons on my lunch break or the mornings. I really enjoy getting out there in the sun to break up the monotony of the work day, but it’s still a bit warm outside and I hate being sweaty and looking a mess on hair-washing day…….wait, you don’t have a designated “hair-washing” day?! Ha Ha Ha Welcome to wonderful world of Triathlon!
So as you can see above, the run went SLOW. I spent a ton of time running in Z2 this summer so that I would have an aerobic base to work with this fall. I was averaging 12:30ish in the dead heat of summer so please tell me why, in these cooler temperatures, I’m averaging 13:42 per mile in Z2? Running has definitely become a problem area since training with heart rate zones. Every single run is a struggle. I keep hoping for a small sliver of improvement, but with this kind of regression I’m feeling pretty hopeless as I enter this training plan. I’ve run 9 minute/mile splits in the past (before adopting HR zone training), but I just don’t know if I can get back there while maintaining a low Z2 heart rate. Hopefully, I will look back at this post in another 196 days and think, “Wow, I’ve come a long way!” but for now, I just feel disappointed with my running.
Wednesday – 30 minute bike
I’ve quickly learned to love my bike rides! Running has become depressing for me, but riding has become a favorite. I can maintain a 14-16 mph pace while in Z2 while on the trainer. I’ll be taking my weekend rides outdoors as soon as my weekend hours pick up so we’ll see how it goes! For now, I love sweating it out in the pain cave first thing in the morning. I woke up at 5:30am again to complete this ride even though I could have done it at the gym on my lunch break. I want to spend as much time as I can on MY bike. I know it makes a big difference when you spend time in your own saddle.
Friday – 1600m swim, 30 min run
Ok, Friday was a real test. So, when I was at the gym by my office on Monday running, I noticed that there was a sign up regarding their pool.
Apparently, every freaking LA fitness in DFW was closing for either maintenance or renovations. I called in advance on Thursday to confirm the LA fitness pool to the east of me (Grapevine) would be open. It was about the same distance from the house as the one by work, but in the opposite direction (away from work). I woke up Friday to the sound of pouring rain and the thought of fighting rush hour traffic, in the rain, after my workout didn’t sound like the best idea. So, I opted to do my swim after work.
Originally, I’d planned to do my run on lunch, as I had on Monday however, I learned that the locker rooms were CLOSED. Which meant no-post run shower. So again, I held off.
Now, there is ANOTHER LA Fitness about 15 minutes west of my office in Down town Fort Worth. When I got off work I thought it would be easier to head down town rather than fight rush hour traffic to drive back east PAST my house to get the gym I’d planned to go to earlier that morning. As luck would have it, I called the down town LA fitness and they had just re-opened their pool that day. HAZAA! I headed straight there after work only to realize I’d forgotten all my gear at home.
At this point I developed an eye-twitch. No joke. I had my gym bag and suit, but none of my swim gear (goggles, paddles, etc). I’ll be dammed if I was going to skip this swim with an open pool (finally) right at my finger tips. Luckily, I’m a hoarder and found an unopened swim cap that I’d shoved in my gym bag months ago. I also had a pair of broken kids goggles shoved in there for some reason. So, I tied the broken goggles strap together, put on my new swim cap and suited up! The swim was awesome! I was even faster than Monday too. Average: 2:22 min/100m. It was pretty late at this point and my family was already home waiting on me. I opted to forego the run and skip this workout. I’m a bit sad that I missed it, but I’m proud of myself for getting that swim in despite all the hurdles I had to jump!
Saturday – 30 min bike
There was a new trail I wanted to test out Saturday, but it was also Kona Day. There was no way I was going the miss the live coverage so I set up my bike in the living room and knocked out the ride before the race started.
How about that finish by Daniela Ryf though! She had a 20 minute lead, incredible! I streamed the race most of the day and just kept thinking about IMTX and how awesome this will be. It’s all so inspiring.
Sunday – 30 min run
I woke up feeling super dry on Sunday. I’m not sure if it’s just my body adapting to a training schedule or if I’m in the early stages of weight loss. My stomach was flatter, I felt a bit leaner, and things looked great! I took everything I had not to step on the scale. I have decided to monitor my weight, but I’m only checking it once every two weeks. It’s so easy to become obsessed with that number. Anyway, Sundays ride went well. I’m not seeing any improvements like I am with swimming, but I hope to very soon. I think as soon as I start doing those rides outdoors things will improve. So, here’s hoping!
Well, that wraps up another week of training. I’ve got another couple of weeks before my schedule becomes a bit intense. Again, the first 10 weeks are base phase so there are no really long rides or swims. I don’t even think I will get over 1 and half hours on the bike at any given point before week 11. I’m enjoying this part of my training for the most part. I’m very surprised at my areas of improvements and areas of hardships.
Until next week babes! Happy running,
Priscilla
