Training Log: 1/20 to 1/26 (Week 4)

As I've mentioned before, I usually train on a four week cycle--three working weeks, followed by one rest week.  But the year has started slow, so even though this week was theoretically a Rest Week, I just went ahead and worked through because I don't feel like I need the rest.  That said, it wasn't like a killer training week or anything.  I ran Monday, did squat Tuesday through Friday, and then tried my best to catch up on the weekend.  That isn't exactly good training practice.

Moreover, Connecticut has been a frozen wasteland all winter, which has been throwing me off big-time because I've been missing my commute-riding mileage.  But what can you do?

Swim
I didn't make it to the pool during the week this week because of family-stuff, but I swam both Saturday and Sunday, and that's the next best thing.  Saturday, I took it pretty easy, concentrating on doing base load conditioning.  Sunday, I turned it up a little, doing base load work but with more intensity, and closing out the workout with fartlek intervals.

Yes, you can do fartlek work in the pool.  I do it a lot when I get bored.

Saturday:
5 x 100 warm up @ 1:30
6 x 50 kick @ 1:05 (2 x fly/breast/free)
8 x 200 free @ 2:55 (aerobic pace)
 -- First 4 swim
 -- Next 4 pull

Sunday:
200 SKIPS*
10 x 100 free @ 1:25 (85% effort)
200 kick
5 x 100 free @ 1:30 (alternating tempo/aerobic pace)
200 pull
100 warm down

Sunday's workout was a zillion times more interesting than Saturday's.  I intended the 10 x 100 @ 1:25 to be 15 x 100 @ 1:25, but although I started the set under 1:10 and was under 1:15 for the first six, I fell way off after that, to the point where I was barely making the interval by the time number ten rolled around.  

So I stuck that kick set into the middle of the workout and decided to do the last five on a slower interval.  But even that didn't help me hold my stroke together for more than a hundred yards, which is why I switched it up to include the fartlek concept.  I managed to keep the three fast 100s at about 1:15, but after that I was cooked.  As I write this, it's Sunday night, and my neck and shoulders are both really sore.  Not in a bad way, but I'll probably be feeling it tomorrow.

Swimming Total: 2 x swim workouts (2400, 3000); 54 pts.

The best thing about swimming?  It's a zero-impact exercise, so you can totally overdo it without giving yourself a stress fracture.


Bike
I hate winter.  Can I just tell you that?

I totally need to get a trainer.  I don't know if I would use it, but having one might make me feel better.


Run
I ran a little more than five miles on Monday up at the Trumbull Trail.  Even aerobic pace, nothing special.  Then I ran on the treadmill Saturday after I got out of the water.  I'd planned to do more even-paced work Saturday, but running on a treadmill is boring as shit.  So I started doing 1:00 tempo/1:00 easy, doing the tempo work at between 8:15 and 8:30/mile and the easy work at 9:15/mile.  

That seems amazingly slow, but I've been running slow, so what can I say?  Unfortunately, running isn't a zero-impact activity, and the reality is, it already feels like I've completely destroyed the cartilidge in my right ankle.  I have this feeling that by the end of the season, I'm gonna be riding and swimming, and I'll look back on running as something I used to be able to do back before I hurt myself.

*sigh*

Running Total: 2 x runs (5.4, 3.4-miles); 35.3 pts.

Training Total: 89.3 pts.

That is not a lot of points, but it's not the end of the world, especially in the middle of January when I have absolutely nothing to train for.

I posted my Sunday swim workout on Facebook, and I found myself wondering if anybody was gonna ask me what I'm training for.  

Reality: I really don't feel like racing at all, and that, along with what has become a very prolonged ankle injury, is making me just not want to get out there.  Truth is, I'm tired of the ankle hurting, and lately, it feels like it hurts all the time, whether I run or not.  So swimming this week was an improvement, just because it was only painful in the traditional, muscular soreness sense, and not in the "oh my god, I think I need to get my ankle repaired surgically" sense.

Bottom line, I wanna finish my book, and when I get a chance, I want to work out enough to stay healthy.  If that means that I don't race until 2015, I can live with that.  Maybe I'll feel differently once I can get back on my bike, but right now, that's where my head is at.

*SKIPS: 200 x Swim, Kick, IM, Pull, Swim (Total: 1000 yds)

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