Week 6 Complete! 123 days and 13 hours to start.

Another week done!

Monday

Bike - 37.2 km done outside!

Tuesday

Run - 6.4km done on the indoor track as 4 laps easy 1 lap moderate until 40 minutes

Swim - 2450m including 20 x 50m

Wednesday

Bike - 1:05 on spin bike done before and after  group fitness class

Thursday

Swim - 1550m done in 200m and 300m easy paced intervals

Friday

Walk - 8km in 1:30 in lieu of a long run

Saturday 

Bike - 1:30 teaching a spin class

Run - 5.3km done as a brick style run after

Total training time 8:30:10

Swim - 4000m

Bike - 4:05:00 including 37.2km outside

Run - 11.9km + 8km walking

I'm including the walking time as training time as I know without a doubt that I will be walking during the race and time on the feet counts!

 

Week 5 Complete! 130 days 22 hours to start

The teacher becomes the participant.

This summary is delayed because of Easter weekend. Life happens!

After the joy of getting outside for a couple of rides and enjoying everything a taper had to offer I was back inside this week. I am not hardcore enough to cycle when I need to layer up, and even in the summer I am a bit of a delicate flower in the morning. 

The cut back week was nice to get a bit more sleep and some rest. I had some openings in my one on one schedule, and an extra cycle class to teach,  so I shifted my workouts. The big change was moving my long run from a day off Friday to a Monday where I am on my feet teaching classes and training clients. That one was hard to get through, and because of the weather I ran it inside on the track.

Survived 1:20 around the track.
That's 53 laps.

Monday

Run - 12.5km on the indoor track. I felt like I could have done better with fuel and electrolytes as my legs were quite cramped towards the end

Tuesday

Swim - 2400m total with this workout:

200 warm up

3 x 100 fins torpedo, 6/1/6, broken arrow

2 x 100 javelin

4 x 150 build pace

4 x 200 pull scull/dog paddle, paddles, fists, paddles

4 x 50 easy/fast

100 cool down

Bike - 1:25 total between two cycle classes

Wednesday 

Bike - 53:00

Thursday

Swim - 200m done as 5 x 400 with the first being done as drills and the rest as continuous swim

Friday

Run - 6.4km done on the treadmill with some speed bursts

Saturday

Bike - 2:20 on my bike on the trainer

Run - 1.6km on the treadmill as a brick run

Totals 8:44 training time

Swim - 4400m

Bike - 4:38

Run - 20.5 km 

Week 4 Complete! 140 days, 13 hours until start.

The final week of the first block of the base training mesocycle is complete. Every 4th week is a cutback week, and even though it is similar in time and volume to week 3, I decided to follow the plan and not treat last week like a cutback week. The only adjustment I made this week was on Saturday's run. The original workout was to be a 45 min bike then 15 min brick run, but I opted for a longer recovery run as I had already accumulated the weekly time on the bike in the three rides. 

Happy to be outside for the second 
day in a row!

 

Monday 

Run - 5.1km moderate push

Tuesday

Swim - 2100m total as 500m continuous warm up, 10 x 50m, 5 x 200m @CSS, 100m cooldown

Bike - 47 min total including 28 min spin class

Wednesday

Run - 4.1 recovery paced run outside

Thursday

Bike - 21.2km outside

Friday

Swim - 1600m total as 600m in assorted drills and the 1000m continuous

Bike - 32 km outside 

Saturday 

Run - 5.1km recovery paced run on treadmill

Totals

Swim - 3700m

Bike - 3:02:15 including 53km of outdoor riding

Run - 14.5km

The next 4 weeks have more volume in all disciplines and I hope that I am able to get more riding outside sooner rather than later. There are short bursts of intensity but nothing will dominate a workout yet. I am still building a base and getting used to 8 workouts a week, plus teaching fitness classes and balancing family needs.

It's Great to be Outside! 141 days, 11 hours to start.

It's April in Alberta! And it's the time of year where weather is unpredictable from one day to the next. We have had a couple of days of warm weather so it was nice to get off the spin bike in to the actual outdoors. I went both today and yesterday and it was amazing.

Yesterday was really windy and one thing about the wind, is that it is hard on my body. My joints tend to ache, especially the ones in my hand, and my right thumb is the worst of it all. However I put on a few layers and some fuzzy mittens and rode some quiet roads close to home. You can tell by the map which way the wind was blowing. My mittens did well protecting me from the cold and my hands were able to grip the bars quite well. 

Today was more pleasant as it was warmer and less windy. I went from being bundled in layers, to one long sleeve shirt and shorts! Yesterday I made the mistake of not taking water, but today I did drink a full bottle of Nuun. I had a salty face and my muscles were starting to feel a bit of cramping, so I need to remember to bring and ingest salt tablets.  I was also getting a bit sore in the upper back from being on my own bike. 

Either way it was nice to be outside and I covered almost 53km in these rides. This was a good ride and I am looking forward to more!

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Week 3 Complete! 145 days, 16 hours until start.

 This post is a day behind because things got in the way from posting on time. The funeral for the family friend was on Friday and I felt a bit low leading up to it and after as well. Here is a summary of the week:

Monday

Run - 6.4 km on the treadmill  keeping effort low

Tuesday 

Swim - 1500m total including 200m and 400m time trials for CSS testing

Bike - 1:00 total including 30 min spin class

Wednesday

Run - 10km on the treadmill at easy effort

Thursday

Bike - 1:00 at a recovery effort

Friday

Bonus rest day

Saturday 

Bike -1:30 including some moderate intensity intervals

Totals

Swim - 1500m

Bike - 3:30

Run - 16.3km

The week ahead is a cutback week in terms of intensity, but I see it being in similar volume. Weeks 5-8 will have an increase in intensity and volume so I am looking forward to backing off a bit this week.

Aside from the sadness, I am feeling good. My body is tired towards the end of the week so I am always looking forward to the rest day. I am unsure if I am eating enough so I am being mindful of that.