Epiphany?

Last night after posting my workouts I came to a realization.  I'm ignoring my strengths to focus on my weakness.

While on some level this might seem like the right thing to do, but on another... it seems a little backwards;  especially in triathlons.

Let me explain.  I'm a good swimmer.  Maybe even a little better then average.  The fact that I can go out and complete a 1/2 mile open water swim after not touching the water for eight months, and still manage to stay in the upper/middle of the pack, I believe, speaks to my swimming aptitude.  Because swimming is so easy for me, I've been completely ignoring it in my training.

Then last night I realized, that if I took a little extra time and actually focused just a little on my swimming, I could probably really kill the swim portion of the tri and give myself some additional breathing room when it came to the run.  By ignoring my strongest event I was losing out on a chance of making my weakest event less of a handicap.

So, I'm reworking my schedule to add in more swim workouts and committing myself to stop skipping them.

Maybe with a little work I can (as my husband put it)  catch 5 waves :D

Week One - Check

Week one of thirteen is in the books - managed to put in all my training except the one swim I had planned. I'm ok with that. Three runs and two bikes for a total of 56 miles for the week is a pretty big accomplishment.  and, I logged 5:46 in training time.

First day was a strength workout that included 'hill bounding'. Only there are no hills in Alameda - so I modified my workout to 'stair bounding'.

After a 15 minute warm-up run I did 8 sprints of the stairs, with a 10 second sprint after reaching the top. Then it was a recovery jog back to the bottom of the stairs to do it. It was a short, but intense workout. What was funny was that while I was pooped after doing the stairs, after a short recovery, I was hardly felt like I had run at all and was feeling like I should do more! That's a good sign that I'm starting out on the right foot.  2 miles for 26 minutes

Day two was hill repeats on the bike. We've already established that there are no hills worth speaking of here in Alameda, so I do simulated hills on the trainer... In some ways I think training on the trainer is harder because there's no coasting it's 35 minutes of spin spin spin... 2 minutes of hills with 3 minute recovery 5 times  8 miles for 35 minutes

So, Thursdays are going to be my 'hard' run day. I know, it sounds strange for a 2 mile run to be hard, but I have have a goal of doing the Bridge to Bridge 12K at a 11 min/mile pace. So, thursday is when I'm training at this pace and for me, right now, 2 miles at 11 min/mile is HARD! Hopefully this'll get easier as training goes on.

For the actual 2 miles of my run (the .4 was warm-up) I managed to average 11:16 min/mile. A little above goal, but I'll be doing this same run next week and maybe I'll be able hit that 11 then.  2.4 miles and 28 minutes

Saturday I decided to ride with the Oakland Yellow Jackets.  This ended up being my longest ride to date. I was really happy with how the ride went - enjoyed the team, and the ride itself was fantastic. Just enough of a challenge on the hills without being overwhelming. The pace was perfect for the distance because I ended feeling I could still go more. AND I didn't fall once!  41 miles 3 hours 45 minutes of training logged.

Today was my last workout of the week -- Hooray!

I was so tired today, my legs just didn't want to move! even after 10 minutes of warming up I didn't feel warmed up and when it came time to put on the gas just a little bit - the engine just didn't want to go. Still, I made it through even when I wanted to quit! and managed to log the final 2.8 miles in 34 minutes.

I am calling this week a complete success.

For next week the plan is:

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Leg/Abs and running hill repeats (Might stay and run in SF for this one)
Wednesday - Chest/Biceps and biking hill repeats (Probably on the trainer)
Thursday - Back/Traps and 3 mile run for pace
Friday - Shoulders/Triceps
Saturday - Endurance Bike - (probably try to catch up with the yellow jackets again)
Sunday - Run 45 minutes Fartlek and 1500y swim

Oli Training starts

Start of a new training cycle.  Planning on doing an Olympic Tri in October and that's the focus now, although I have a few fun races I plan to do along the way, including the Bridge to Bridge.  I also plan on doing a intense resistance training program, mostly because I like and enjoy lifting weights, and it's nice to spend time doing something I'm good at :D

This week's schedule

Tuesday:  Run - Hill Bounding
Wednesday:  Bike - Tempo Hill Climbs
Thursday - Run - 2 miles goal pace
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Bike - 20 miles steady
Sunday - Run - Fartlek  and Swim - 1500 Yards

Yes - my training is going to be run heavy - it's really what I need the most help with so I've decided to add an extra run day in there.

Next race is the third try at the tri for fun in Sacramento on August 8th.  Hopefully I'll be able to break the 2 hour mark this time.