Muskoka 70.3 build week 1

It's a new phase of training this week - time to start the build plan. I'm again using a Trainerroad plan (high volume half ironman) for the bike, while kind of doing my own thing for the run and the swim.

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 1800m swim; TR - Mont Albert (1 hour)
Wednesday: EZ 8k run
Thursday: 2000m swim; TR - Cumberland (1:15)
Friday: EZ 8k run; TR - Petit (1 hour)
Saturday: TR Appalachian (3:30) + 9k brick run
Sunday: 26k run; 1350m swim

Whew. Big week to kick things off! I took it day by day, knowing I would still be recovering from the Chilly half. Tuesday's workouts were really good, but Wednesday's run felt pretty lousy in exactly the way I expected after the half. But then Friday's run was great, so I didn't cut back at all in my planned workouts.

I also discovered this week that these are really good. Crap. And I just remembered I have another bag of them hidden away. Now how to get them out without the candy police (also known as the kids) realizing they exist.

And yes, I for real spent 3 and a half hours on the trainer. And to be honest? I didn't hate it. I think these long aerobic rides have been really beneficial. And it's hard to do that kind of a ride outside. There's always going to be hills or wind or something that inevitably leads to you moving out of that aerobic zone. On the trainer the biggest danger is something exciting will happen in the movie you are watching and you'll find your power suddenly a little higher than it should be.

Pancakes make excellent long ride fuel. (I didn't take many pictures this week, so it's pretty much all food here today).

Overall, I was somewhat surprised how good I felt all week, other than that Wednesday run. And the Sunday swim was pretty meh - I could easily have kept going, but my form was shitty and it seemed like a better idea to just call it a day at that point.

Mmmmmmm, carbs and crappy canned parmesan. Don't deny it, some days that's better than the real stuff.

So far so good on the build plan!

The upcoming week continues the fun. Although I'll be doing almost two hours less cycling, the training stress score for the week is almost the same. That's a little worrying, since it means the same amount of work is crammed into significantly less time...

But hey, gotta love a challenge!

Monday: rest
Tuesday: swim; TR - Shortoff +1* (1 hour)
Wednesday: EZ run
Thursday: swim; TR - McAdle (1:30) + very short brick run maybe
Friday: EZ run; TR - Petit (1 hour)
Saturday: long run; swim?
Sunday: TR - Phoenix (1:30) + brick run; swim?


*any time Trainerroad suggests a '+1' workout, you should pretty much just flee in terror.