Triathlon Training Log: 3/30 to 4/3 (Week 3)

Not a bad week overall, but we had a lot of rain, so my triumphant return to the bike didn’t go quite as planned.  I still think I got most of what I needed done, however, and given that we’re barely into April, and I’m not even registered for any races this season, I’ll take it.

Swim
As usual, I swam with my buddy Ben twice this week, Tuesday and Saturday.  I can’t for the life of me remember what we did Tuesday, but Saturday we went long.

Warm-Up
5 x 100 easy @ 1:30
200 kick
2 x 50 drill (fly)

5 x 50 fly @ 1:15 (85% effort)

Inverted ladder
1 x 400 @ 6:00
2 x 300 @ 4:30
3 x 200 @ 3:00
4 x 100 @ 1:30

50 warm down

I ended up wishing that we’d done the 50s fly on a slightly faster interval.  At 1:15, these would have made more sense at a higher tempo, but the purpose of the set was simple aerobic fitness and muscular endurance.  I want to improve my buddy's 20 fly and the back half of his 100, and that takes a bit of grunt work.  That being the case, we’d have been better served by going on 1:00.

For sets like the Reverse Ladder, I personally usually use a base of 1:25/100, but I think we were both tired after the butterfly on Saturday, and although I started strong, I popped about midway through.  The whole back half was like swimming through an zombie haze, and while I’m sure that has its aerobic benefits, I hate it when that happens.  I feel like I spent half my time at the Academy swimming in that state.

Swimming Total: 2 x swims (2000, 3350); 53.5 pts


Bike
I had to swim a lot this week in order to compensate for the fact that I barely rode at all.  I rode my commute exactly once, early in the week.  It rained every other day except Wednesday, and I didn't even go into the office on Wednesday.

I contemplated riding to the pool on Saturday morning, but given that we wound up putting in 3000+ yards, it’s just as well that I decided not to.  Similarly, I had grandiose visions of putting in a regular exercise ride on Easter, but those holidays are always so busy.  As it was, I was lucky that I managed to run.

Cycling Total: 1 x commute ride (10.3) 10.3 pts

This is not the way to build good bike fitness.


Run
I ran three times--Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.  My knee seems to be doing a little better, although it got sore maybe halfway through my Sunday run.  I stopped and stretched, and then it was better, so it's probably just a little issue in my quad, but it's annoying as Hell.  It seems to be improving, though, so that's something.  Unfortunately, it’s been too sore to contemplate anything like pace- or speed-work, and I'm afraid to go further than about five miles on it at any one time.

Anyway, Wednesday and Friday were standard mid-week runs.  Wednesday I put in a little more than three miles, and Friday I managed a little less.  Still, Friday was good because I ran just a touch faster, and my knee wasn’t sore at all until I tried to sprint to the line.

Stupid, I know.

Easter Sunday was a nice.  We went to early service, and then I came back, stretched, and hit the road, putting in just over four.  It was sunny and warm but nowhere near hot, and I think I ran well.  I wound up averaging 9:15/mile all the way, which isn’t bad.  Granted, it’s not blazing fast, but I’m down :30/ to :45/mile at aerobic pace, so something's going right.

Running Total: 3 x runs (3.25, 2.75, 4.3); 41.2 pts

Triathlong Training Total: 104.9 pts

I had 110 points last week and would liked to have gotten 115 or 120 this week, but I don’t want to put in more running mileage, and I already swam as far as seems reasonable.  That means I need better cycling weather in order to get over the hump.  A couple of weeks of solid bike-commuting would put me right where I want to be, but then again, I could always ride on a weekend, too.  I've not even given that a try.