Muskoka 70.3 specialization plan: week 1

Why am I so startled every week by how little time is left before the race? Yikes. 7 weeks to go.

Monday: rest
Tuesday: FTP test
Wednesday: 10k interval run; 2000m open water swim
Thursday: TR Gibraltar (1:45 tempo); 2000m pool swim
Friday: EZ run, TR Townsend (90 min aerobic)
Saturday: 2000m swim; 16k long run
Sunday: 85k bike

Really, really great week this week, on multiple fronts.

Tuesday night I did the FTP test to set the difficulty of the next 8 weeks of trainer rides.

I believe my exact words were 'oh shit'. I was expecting an increase (the tempo rides in particular were feeling far too easy by the end of the build plan), but I wasn't expecting a 19 watt increase. That left me a little worried about how the Thursday night tempo would go at my new target power, but it was good! It was challenging in exactly the right way.

Running by the bay

Wednesday I ran with Christina at lunch - or rather, chased her for a bit while she did speed work. The good news is my hamstring was cool with some 400m repeats. The bad news is that leaves me no more excuses not to do speedwork. Damn. I will likely do some 1k repeats or something on the easier weeks of the trainer plan (lulz hahahah none of the weeks are really easy, although some could be described as easier...)

Wednesday night we had the first tri club swim of the year at Gullivers! The water was a balmy 16C!

One of my teammates braving the cold

Really, once my feet went numb, it was actually fine. HA. Seriously, though, I actually enjoyed it! No panic, and the wetsuit still fits (whew). Getting it over my cycling thighs was a bit of a production (yay new muscles).

I did two loops of the lake for about 2k, in under 40 minutes - this is really awesome because last year to do two loops in 40 minutes I had to really focus and be trying to swim fast. I wasn't trying for any speed this week, just stayed relaxed and easy. And was faster than last year already. That put me in a fantastic mood! I'm so glad I went, because now I know even if I can't do many open water swims before the races start, I'll be fine. I'm going to keep swimming at the pool at least twice a week to work on technique and such, and likely limit the open water swims to once a week at the most. At this point I think I'll get more overall benefit from the pool, even if open water is a lot more fun!

The other two runs this week were alright. Running at noon is getting a little more uncomfortable but is probably better for me at this time of year to try and get used to it. Ugh. Stupid sun.

The long run didn't feel great. Also I forgot to put on sunscreen like a giant idiot. Getting started on the weird tanlines for the summer.

Great turn out for the pre-ride for the charity ride next weekend!

Sunday a ride with the tri club, which was great. We tackled the 50 road hill, which features a short but steep initial climb, a tiny little break where the the grade levels a bit, and then a longer final climb to top the escarpment. It's a leg and lung buster for sure.

I was both excited and nervous about tackling it - I've climbed lots of hills on Bad Wolf this spring, but I've been avoiding all the really steep ones. I almost chickened out and took the road bike instead, but I'm glad I didn't because:

Hell yeah. 46 seconds faster going up that beast this year, even though it felt a lot harder on the tri bike than it did on the road bike last year.

Group ride not long after climbing 50 road. I'm in the purple. Photo via John.

I didn't have time for a brick run (one of the club members broke 6 spokes early in the ride, so the delay while we waited for the sag wagon to pick him up ate up some time), but I'm overall really, really happy with the week. A little light on the run mileage, but the bike was awesome and swimming was great. I'll take 2 out of three!

Another big week coming up. Holiday Monday here and my husband is traveling for work later in the week, so I'm rearranging my schedule a bit to make sure I can get in three swims. And since I'm pretty sure I won't be able to do a brick this weekend, I'm going to add a short transition run after Tuesday's interval ride.

Monday: swim, easy run
Tuesday: TR Washington -2 (60 min threshold intervals) + 15 minute brick run
Wednesday: interval run; open water swim
Thursday: TR White +2 (90 min tempo/sweetspot); swim
Friday: TR Townsend (90 min aerobic)
Saturday: Sulphur Springs trail run (25k)
Sunday: Brian Smith ride (20k there + 80k ride + 20k home). tempo run later in the day if I have time

My mantra for this training cycle. Need to make a new bracelet, though, this one is getting a little icky.