Monday, March 30, 2015

Week 1 (of legitimate training and less aimless floundering)

First week completed with Coach T. Followed the week's plan to the letter, but made a slight addition to the weekend. Here's how it went down:

Monday: swim 2300y.
300S/200P/100K. 4 x 100, :20 RI (25 drill, 50 free, 25 drill). 3 x 200, :30 RI (pull buoy, did this strong, pushed somewhat). 4 x 150, :15 RI (50K on back, 100S). 100 CD. 40 min total.
this seemed too easy, thats why I was pushing the 200's. it was the only place to really increase the intensity a bit. i just felt like i wasn't swimming enough/trying hard enough to make the distance/time in the pool worthwhile.

Tuesday: track workout.
1 mile WU. 1600 x 2, 800 x 2, 400 x 1 (ran out of time), 1 mile CD.
This was FUN. I'm not a big fan of running fast (I think I'm better at long distances), but on the track is different. plus, its not sprinting per say. Though our first 400 of the first 1600 was under 1:30, thats quick for me. Coach T definitely had us to slow down after that first lap!
1600 - 7:10
1600 - 7:15 (I think? didn't stop the watch apparently)
800 - 3:32
800 - 3:28
400 - 1:36 (we were NOT supposed to run this faster than the 800s... so we chatted and ran)
I didn't feel like we were going all that fast, which I guess is a good sign. It was funny because after the first mile, she said something along the lines of, "usually I don't want you guys to talk during workouts, but I'll let it go because its the only thing thats going to slow you guys down." I have no concept of my pace, I can only sort of figure out the pace I can handle maintaining for a given length of time purely based on how I feel... Its obvious I have a long way to go in terms of training.

Wednesday: 1:15 trainer
20 min WU, 4 x (5' hard effort in aero, 5' easy spin recovery), steady spin until 1:15 time frame. 23.4 miles.
it was tough, but i pushed it pretty good. i *think* i can feel myself getting a bit stronger as the last couple months have passed. hopefully. lord knows this is where i need to improve.

Thursday: tempo run, 6 miles, 50 min
15 min EZ, 20 min STEADY pace (that you can hold for an hour and not much more), 15 min CD. maintained 7:40 pace for the middle 20 min.
weather was beautiful, set out at 5:30am when it was still pitch black outside and found myself enjoying the early morning quite a bit. looking back, i think i could have gone faster and still been able to hold that for an hour, but it was a good run. came home and took jazz out for another 2 mile easy run.

Friday: rest day

Saturday: not planned: 1:20 min spin (9 hammers sufferfest vid) in the morning. planned: 9 mile run in the afternoon.
bike: this is where i made a slight addition to "the plan". they've been doing this off-season-spin class for the past 2-3 months and I was curious to see what it was like. someone asked me if i wanted to go, I wasn't totally keen on it since I wanted to be fresh to run later, but curiosity won. it was tough, no doubt. legs were jello-like after spinning. went directly into a 20 minute run (like 2.6ish miles, garmin was unhappy at that point). easy run, felt good. then brunch. because really, food is just as important. and that crab eggs benedict and chai latte with soy milk were dynamite.

run: 5 mile EZ, 3 mile half-marathon pace, 1 mile EZ.
I debated on changing the distance because of the morning spin, I wasn't feeling 100%, felt a little tired overall, so I voted to do a 4 mile loop, stop for water and decide how much to do after. the 4 miles were cake and my legs weren't exhausted so I decided to go ahead with what I was supposed to do. we ran another easy mile and then picked it up for the next 3 miles. i had every intention of maintaining 7:45/mile pace (slightly faster than my PR half pace), but we played around with the time to try to make me figure out how fast i was running without staring at my watch. it was very helpful and time flew by. first 2 miles were 7:28 and pretty hilly. i was guessing i was doing 7:35-7:45, so i was definitely off. last one was 7:10, mostly downhill. 1 mile easy.
I have trouble with "easy". its something i know i need to learn to do. i just get out there and want to GO GO GO. and logically, i know thats not going to be helpful in the long run (quite literally). its an active thought process of "SLOW THE FUCK DOWN" (but i get distracted and speed up) combined with an occasionally helpful pull on my hood to physically SLOW DOWN.
the run really did fly by time-wise - it felt relaxed and comfortable - no complaints other than the brief gusts of wind. and hills. oh you damn hills. but again... its good for you.

Sunday: 2:20 spin at EL, 20 min run
the EL is fun... group of 8-9 girls, let by coach T. they're a funny group, i like them - its a new concept, training with people. i like it.
30 min steady spin warm up. 15 min progressive increase to strong race pace. 10 x :30 sprints, :30 sec EZ spin. 5 min EZ spin. russian ladder - 1/5, 2/4, 3/3, 4/2, 5/1, 4/2, 3/3, 2/4, 1/5. 1 min strong race pace, 5 EZ spin with high cadence - and so on - obviously the middle part sucks the most. 10 min progressive increase to strong race pace, last min balls to the wall. (there may have been something else in there, i can't remember).
it was a good workout, worked hard, sweat my ass off. got off the bike and threw warm clothes on and were off and running within 5 minutes of getting off the bike. 20 minute run through arlington, down to the Mount Vernon trail and back.

By noon on sunday when I left arlington, I myself was basically finished. I'd finally hit a spot where my legs said "no more for the rest of the day, we just can't do it anymore". its been a long time since i felt like that and IT. WAS. GOOD. i came home and even foam rolled and stretched (YEP, learning...). I took an incredibly amazing shower and popped a few ibuprofen and just SAT. okay, grocery shopped and THEN sat my ass on the floor for a couple hours and it was glorious.

It was a good week, I'm pretty satisfied with how I felt throughout. Hard to believe Monticelloman is in just under 5 weeks, pumped to race again! Excited to get a baseline idea of where I'm at right now.

Today is a rest day and a half work day. obviously im catching up on the legendary fast and furious movies (all 6 of them) before 7 comes out on friday...





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