Training Log: 2/8 - 2/14 (Week 2)

It was tough to stay on schedule this week.  Between snow and wintry weather early in the week, training in the Bronx at mid-week, and extreme cold over the weekend, running outside was virtually impossible, and I never got a chance to get on my bike.  I managed to catch up a bit late in the week, but I'm still a little short of the point totals that I've managed over the last few weeks.

Swim, Bike, Run

I wound up working Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.  That's not too bad, but I put in almost half of the week's work on Saturday morning, and that's hardly ideal.

Swim

I swam Thursday and Saturday, both times as part of a swim/run brick.  Thursday's workout was a tempo swim and an easy run.  I reversed that on Saturday, going longer and slower in the water and running quarter-mile intervals on the treadmill.

I did the same warm-up both days:

Warm-Up

5 x 100 warm-up @ 1:30

200 kick

6 x 50 @ :45 aerobic pace

 -- Long, slow strokes

 -- Breathing every third stroke

Thursday Main Set

10 x 100 @ 1:25 (tempo, holding 1:15/100)

50 warm down

Saturday Main Set

3 x 300 @ 4:15
3 x 200 pull @ 2:50
3 x 100 @ 1:25

Swimming Total: 2 x swims (2050, 2800); 48.5 pts


Bike
Like I said, I didn't get on the bike this week.  That made it really hard to keep my total points up where I needed them to be.

Cycling Total: 0 pts


Run
I got out of the pool Thursday and ran an easy 3.1 miles on the treadmill.  I played with my pace a bit just to keep myself from going cross-eyed, but I never went faster than 8:30/mile pace.

Saturday was a little different.  I swam, hit the weight room, and then ran.  I'd been working for over two hours before I took my first step on the treadmill, which made it a lot easier to go fast.

Warm-Up
1/2 mile easy

Saturday Main Set
4 x 1/4-mile tempo / 1/4-mile easy

My tempo pace started at 8:30/mile and edged down to about 7:45/mile.  Easy pace was between 9:20 and 9:30/mile.

Sunday was my long slow distance (LSD) run, which at this point is all of 6 miles.  Our high temperature in Connecticut that day was 15-degrees, and at the point that Sally and I went to the gym, we'd almost reached zero.  Needless to say, Sally wasn't keen on me running outside.  I can't say that I particularly wanted to do it, either, though that left me with no choice but to hit the treadmill again.

Running on a treadmill for an hour is boring in the extreme.  After a hard workout Saturday, I don't feel like I ran particularly well Sunday morning.  Wound up averaging around 9:40/mile, which isn't terrible for this specific effort level, but it's nothing to brag about either.  I'm certainly not going to win any races like that.

Running Total: 3 x runs (3.1, 2.86, 6.1); 48.24 pts

Aerobic Total: 96.7 pts

I feel like I had to fight for every point this week.  It was a hard slog.


Weights

Hannah and I lifted together on Tuesday, but then she blew me off Saturday morning after a sleepover with her friends.  I can't say that I blame her.  At 12, she enjoys lifting, but it's hardly the center of her life.

Tuesday: Warm-Up
3 x Sunrise Salutes (Just me; while Hannah was in the locker room)
5 x Spider-Mans with Rotation
10 x Push-Ups
10 x Body-Weight Squats
General Stretching

Tuesday: Main Sets
4 x Lat Pull Downs / Crunches
1 set of 6 x Pull-Ups (weight assisted)
3 x Dumbbell (DB) Rows / Russian Twists
3 x Biceps Curls / Goblet Squats

Hannah doing Lat-Pull Downs with me spotting closely.

Saturday: Main Sets
4 x DB Incline Bench / Forward Lunges
3 x Reverse Flies / Incline Reverse Sit Ups
3 x Chin-Ups (weight-assisted) / Goblet Squats
3 x Side-Lateral Raises / Plank Twists
3 x Bench Dips

Two things to note here.  First, the four sets for each of our first main efforts are comprised of a warm-up set and three working sets.  We're all about warm-ups.  Second, you'll recall that Saturday's weight training session came after swimming, so I was already warmed-up when I hit the gym Saturday morning.  That helped a lot.


Looking Forward
It's supposed to warm up a bit this week, so I should be able to get back on my bike.  That's good.  It simplifies our workout planning considerably.  The coming week is also Week 3, which means we're only one week away from a Rest Week.

I'm super-excited about that.