Monday, November 30, 2015

Base training week 4

Another solid week of base training:

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 1400m swim, evening 60 minute trainer
Wednesday: 10k lunch run; TRX for triathletes (!)
Thursday: morning 60 minute trainer
Friday: 7k run,2k swim
Saturday: 60 minute trainer, 30 minute brick run
Sunday: 15.5k run, 1.5k swim

What's that? Some strength training snuck its way in there? Well I never. Yes, I dusted off the knock-off TRX and ran through a TRX for triathletes workout Wednesday night. My legs were not happy about it on Thursday morning, that's for sure. But it was a pretty solid full body workout, so I'll chuck it onto the schedule for Wednesday nights and see what happens.
Not actually a TRX, but it cost about 1/3 the price of the 'real' ones and is pretty much the exact same thing.
The workout is:

Lower body:
Single leg hip hinge
Single leg squat
Sprinter starts with hop

Upper body:
Swimmer's pull (duh)
Row
High back extension

Core:
Atomic pushups (HAHAHAHAHAHA OMG these are so stupidly hard and I can barely even do one before I need a break)
Assorted planks 'o pain


Kinda what my local pool looks like for Saturday lunch hour swim.
Swimming is getting interesting. There's the obvious 'when will Emma snap and punch someone at public lane swim' issue (place your bets!), but when I can manage to swim unobstructed, there's some good things going on.
Like this whole series of sub 2:00 100s. Last spring I could barely crack 2 minutes once or twice, much less repeat it 5 times. Some of the breaks in between were a little long, but it's nice to see I'm capable of this!
I am feeling good about my swimming, that's for sure. I'm not planning to do a swim focused training block or anything like that, since when the hell do I have the time for that sort of thing, but I think I can make some progress if I can continue to get to the pool 3 days a week. The only real drawback is that swimming makes me want to eat everything in the kitchen.


Not admitting how many slices of this gingerbread cake I ate over the weekend.
The husband and I got in a couple of trainer rides together (awwwwwww) although it's not exactly the most exciting date, what with the being too tired to talk thing. Can't wait to introduce him to his first FTP test this week. muahahahahahahahahaha.

TrainerRoad: successfully guilt tripping me into doing the form drills.

And I had company on my long run this week! Zindine came to Burlington for a run, since he's base building and happy to run slow right now, and it was great to have company for commiseration about all the stupid laundry that is the inevitable result of all this multisport stuff. Plus he brought candy. #winning Fitness friends are the best.


This totally makes up for my children failing to obtain enough peanut butter cups on Halloween, the slackers.

Hoping to rejoin the girls on their long run next weekend, if the timing works out!

So it was a good week. On to the next one, where things start to get super fun again...

Monday: rest day
Tuesday: morning swim, FTP test (aaaaaaaaah)
Wednesday: 8k easy, TRX strength workout
Thursday: morning swim, evening trainer
Friday: 8k easy
Saturday/Sunday: A long trainer ride + 30 minute brick run; long run (18k ish?), at least one swim. Exact details to be decided.

This plan is super tentative right now because I'm starting a new TrainerRoad plan this week and reaaaaaaally hoping the new tri specific plans will be out by Thursday so I can check those out and decide what plan to follow through the rest of base building!

YOU ARE KILLING ME OVER HERE, TRAINERROAD.

And I'm hoping to run with the girls on Saturday, but I'm not sure it'll work yet. So this could easily all switch around. We'll see!

Monday, November 23, 2015

Base training week....ummmm.... let's say 3. Sure, that sounds good.

Week 3 sounds good since it was week 3 of my Trainerroad plan. Why not!

Last week's workouts



Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: 1400m swim (morning)
Trainerroad - Virginia (evening)
Wednesday: 45 minute low heart rate run
Thursday: morning swim
Trainerroad - Virginia (evening)
Friday: low heart rate run easy 45 minutes run
Saturday: Trainerroad - Virginia
30 minute brick run
2k swim
Sunday: 90 minute low heart rate run, 15k easy run
2k swim

Total: 11 hours training, 165km


Random info of the week. Almost two hours on the trainer is kind of long. I mucked it up on Tuesday when I didn't eat enough at dinner and didn't consider that I might need some fueling during the workout, which led to me yelling at the kids halfway through to bring me some candy from whatever was left of their Halloween stashes. Not exactly ideal fuel but it did the job! And I was much better prepared when I repeated the workout on Thursday and Saturday. Although the power goal on this week's trainer workout was easy, I was pretty tired by the end each time. But at the same time, each time through got a little easier - progress!

Getting tips on how to relax from the master. Ginger is an expert sleeper.

Thursday morning I hauled myself out of bed and to the pool for lap swim, only to find the parking lot oddly empty and the pool dark. I mean, it's always pretty empty at 5:30 am, but no cars at all was definitely not right! A little googling and bingo.



Would have been nice to know that BEFORE I got up early...And by the time I figured it out it was too late to head to the Y for their lap swim, as I'd only have had about 20 minutes before I would have had to leave to come home. #swimfail

Then Friday things took a U-turn. I forgot* my heart rate monitor. But when I got ready to run, I was glad I had, since I was kind of dreading the low heart rate runs. Although I was working really hard to maintain a positive attitude about it...I was pretty much failing. So I went out and just ran what felt easy and I loved it.

*it was in my bag the whole time. Maybe I just chose not to see it?

So that's the end of that experiment. If I'm not enjoying running, then what is the point, really? This is my hobby, after all. I'll stick to easy paced runs for the next few weeks, but the easy pace will be by feel instead of heart rate. I don't regret trying the low heart rate experiment (it was a much needed mental break from training for intensity, and now I have a better handle on what 'easy pace' really means for me right now), but I'm much more excited about running now that I'm declaring it over!

My post-run selfies were even more disastrous than usual, so here's some rocks.
The other big news was we got a second trainer for the #paincave courtesy one of my husband's coworkers. This means we can go on date rides in the basement! Which sounds kind of sad, now that I type it out, but honestly it's nice to be able to do indoor rides together, if only because it makes the logistics simpler. So yay to that!

His 'n hers trainers. Awwwww, aren't we adorable.

All in all, it was a great week. I'm feeling super energized and like I'm on the right track with things right now. Keeping it rolling! I'll probably talk a bit more about my swimming next week since things are getting interesting there - but I want to get in a few more solid workouts before I get too excited.

Next week's workouts. Last week of my Trainerroad plan, so a reduction in volume which will be enjoyable. Run will stay about the same. And the whole family is home on Friday for a PD day so I can hopefully sneak out for a swim!

Monday: rest
Tuesday: morning swim, evening 60 minute trainer
Wednesday: Lunch run, 8-10k
Thursday: morning 60 minute trainer
Friday: 7k run, lunch hour swim
Saturday: 60 minute trainer, 30 minute brick run
Sunday: long run, 2k swim


Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Base training time!

I'm feeling the urge to do weekly training updates again, so I'm going with it. Really, I need to do something with all the pictures I've been taking that I don't feel like putting on Instagram. And Nicole is inspiring me!

Pictures like these random grassy things that were fascinating me on one of my long runs. 
Last week's workouts:
Monday: rest day
Tuesday: 1600m swim (morning)
90 minutes on the trainer (evening)
Wednesday: 45 minute low heart rate run
Thursday: 90 minutes on the trainer
Friday: 45 minute low heart rate run
Saturday: 30 minute low heart rate run
90 minutes on the trainer
2400m swim
Sunday: Egg Nog jog route training run (NOT low heart rate!)

Running with my husband on the Egg Nog Jog route. Plus brunch after with Zindine and Irina and other FMCT members - I forgot to take a picture of my eggs Benedict before I inhaled it. Also I would seriously go back to that diner just for the potatoes. 

Total training time: 9 hours

My race schedule for next year is starting to come together, with the biggies being Muskoka 70.3 and Barrelman. Other than that, there are still a lot of question marks. On the running front, I may take another run (HA) at a half PB at the Chilly, or maybe Ottawa in May. I am somewhat undecided/ambivalent right now about the thought of hard run training, though. Sticking with my slow low heart rate stuff for the next four weeks, then I will revisit and decide how I want to proceed. The general idea right now is to be running 35k or so a week by 16 weeks before Around the Bay, so that I have some base miles to work off for the actual training - whatever form that training ends up taking!

First run in a vest for this fall! Found it at Marshalls, and I love it. Even if the odds of me keeping it white are slim.
For the bike, it's Trainerroad. Outdoor riding may be about done for the year - not even so much because of the cold, really, but because it's so dark! It's so much easier to schedule in outside rides when I have the option of starting at 6 am. If I can't even safely get out the door until 7:30 (or later if waiting for the temp to go up a bit), it really screws up the weekend plans. So the trainer it is. Right now I'm on week three of the traditional base building plan, but I'm eagerly anticipating the new triathlon-specific base plans that are supposed to be released any time now. I may finish up Base I or switch to the tri plan, depending on the timing and what the new plans look like. At any rate, I'm on the trainer at least three times a week right now, laying down that aerobic base that will hopefully see me rocking the Muskoka course in July! And the best part is we've managed to suck Sam and Nicole and Ivanka and my husband into Trainerroad too, which means other people who will actually understand the incomprehensible graphs and the pain of over-unders and VO2 max intervals! YAY for suffering on the bike!

Watching Daredevil, hitting the power targets. 

Trainer selfies are awkward.
I've been to the pool a bunch of times over the last couple of weeks, and hooray, I remember how to swim! And also I remember how much I like to swim. So that's been super motivating. The first few times I was really missing open water (damn walls), but I've found my groove again and remembered how nicely meditative lap swimming can be, when you are aren't having to dodge the various weirdos who show up at lap swim (oh god, what if I am one of the weirdos?). Right now the goal is to swim at least twice a week, preferably three times, just to maintain my feel for the water. At some point I'll start adding in some sprint sets and such, but right now I'm content to just swim and enjoy it.

swim caps are dead sexy.

Sooooooooo, I learned something after Barrelman, which is that you can't keep eating like you are in peak training for a half ironman after the race and not face some consequences. I don't weigh myself very often or worry about my weight much, but certain clothing items were starting to feel a little, uh, tight. And I blew the dust off the scale and yikes. Consequences. So I've been tracking my diet for the last two weeks with My Fitness Pal and getting my portion sizes sorted out and I think I've got that situation under control. It turns out when you do as much exercise as I do you really have to eat a lot to support it, which is awesome, because man do I love food. But it helps to think about the macro nutrients and making those calories good ones. And, of course, more than a few treats mixed in there too.

The 2 kilo bag of chocolate chips from Costco may not have been the best idea.
So, base building continues! The plan for this week:

Monday: rest day
Tuesday: 30 minute swim in the morning, 1:45 on the trainer in the evening
Wednesday: 45 minute low heart rate run at lunch
Thursday: 30 minute swim in the morning, 1:45 on the trainer in the evening
Friday: 45 minute low heart rate run at lunch
Saturday: 1:45 on the trainer; 30 minute brick run after.
Sunday: 90 minute low heart rate run, 1 hour swim

(man, if this is base building, what's actual training going to be like??!! eeek.)