week in training | 9.28 – 10.4

Our water heater saga FINALLY concluded! On Monday we received our new contraption and I enjoyed, for the first time, a hot, soothing soak rather than the chilly sprays I’ve dipped in and out of for the past couple weeks. Training-wise, I maintained pretty good running mileage and enjoyed some more autumnal conditions, making for comfy excursions even in the middle of the day. I’m realizing that I’m really not in a hurry to test my 10k fitness, and with my trip upcoming next week, I’ll probably take a big cutback, including with my 10k-specific workout.

Monday, 9/28: 20.02 miles, 16.8 mph cycling (1:11:41) + 45 minute strength + 4.05 miles, 9:55 pace

Acquainting myself more with the gear above my normal outdoor riding setting on Pittor to build strength and speed. Today I performed 10 sets of 3 minutes a gear above at a steady clip/2 minutes normal gear, and was pleasantly surprised at my final splits! Very neat progression.

Plumbers were in the garage most of the morning installing a new water heater – and breaking the existing piping, apparently – so I procrastinated in the gym with an unplanned progression run after my lift from 10:32-9:05 paces. I’m happy the weight room proved empty so I could haul the barbell in peace rather than masking up and contending with neighbors in the tiny space. I’m sure I can lift heavier but my resources are limited and I’m just fine with what I managed.

Strength:

Round one: 4 x 16

• Alternating curtsy lunge
• Alternating single leg jump
• Marching bridge

Main set:

• 4 x 8 front squat
• 3 x 20 calf raise
• 3 x 12 barbell side lunge
• 4 x 8 underhand barbell row

Core set: 3 x 20

• Plank knee to elbow
• Reverse tabletop toe taps
• Scissor kicks
• Burnout: bodyweight lunges for about 90 seconds

Tuesday, 9/29: 17.05 miles, 17.1 mph cycling (1:00:00) + 25.02 miles, 16.8 mph cycling (1:29:31)

Pittor Power Hour contained a brutal series from Triathlete Magazine called “Finish Line Sprints.” After 3 x 10 minutes tempo builds and a short recovery, I performed 2 x 3 min progressions from steady pace to full-gas, stomach-turning sprint. These hurt like the dickens! I hit 22.4 mph as my highest speed which is excellent for our trainer.

Afternoon ride again focused on climbing and was more aerobic in nature. After a 5 mile warmup, I repeated 3 sets of 3 miles at a steady effort in a gear above normal/2 miles at my normal gear. I squeezed in another pair of climbs during the final 5 miles. This ride was the first in which I averaged below 18:00 for each split!

Wednesday, 9/30: 10 miles, 9:03 pace + 1,600 yard swim (30:57) + 3.48 miles, 10:05 pace

AUTUMN ARRIVED! Windy morning but the temp read 64 and the dew point in the upper 50s somewhere. The breeze made my 8 x 1000m workout interesting when I turned around straight into the fray, but I still managed to keep my paces in my goal range of 7:50-8:00 (my slowest rep was 7:59) with a final 800m hammer at 7:43. I was a bit chilled afterwards and I actually leapt into the pool to warm up rather than the usual opposite! Swim was five sets of 200 yards/100 yards and I averaged 1:56/100y for the session.

My midday recovery run featured a pace over a minute/mile faster than my usual slow range and a heart rate about 5 bpm lower. Goes to show how much of an impact weather has on effort level and speed!

Thursday, 10/1: 7.13 miles, 10:31 pace + 45 minute strength + 2,000 yard swimming (38:32)

Another glorious morning run, 149 bpm average. My splits naturally fell as I went and I didn’t want my time by the water to end, despite standing in the bathroom in my underwear for several minutes trying to unravel whether I wanted to bike or run first thing. As I strode about I decided to whip up a random strength session that I intended to do in the gym but took to the home office instead since another person beat me to the punch.

After work swim went well! The water was chilly and I performed a simple ladder: 500 (9:28), 400 (7:47), 300 (5:49), 200 (3:51), 2 x 100 (1:51, 1:51), 2 x 200 (3:54, 3:56). I ended at a 1:56/100 yard average.

Strength: 4 rounds each exercise

• 10 single arm thrusters
• 12 single leg deadlifts
• 12 triceps kickbacks/skullcrushers superset
• 10 static lunge
• 12 pull-aparts to bicep curl
• 12 bent elbow fly
• 3 x 20 hover plank forward reach
• :45 side plank with lifted leg, per side

Friday, 10/2: 17.2 miles, 17.2 mph cycling (1:00:08) + 30 miles, 17 mph cycling (1:46:00)

During Power Hour in the AM I pedaled so fast the fan in our trainer pulled an Ironman VR flag hanging behind me into the path of the spinning wheel, making a horrid tearing noise that startled the crap out of me. Otherwise, the ride was very satisfying and sweaty. I jumped back on Pittor after work for an endurance session with a long tempo interval. Details on both follow.

Ride 1: 10 min warmup, 4 x 2:00 at 8/10 effort (17.9, 18.1, 18.2, 18.2) with 2 min recoveries, 4 x 1:30 at 8.5/10 effort (18.5, 18.7, 18.5, 18.6) with 1:30 min recoveries, 4 x 1 min at 9/10 effort (19, 19.2, 19.5, 19.4) with 1 min recoveries, 4 x :30 at 10/10 effort (20.6, 20 – the fan incident -, 20.8, 20.8) with :30 recoveries, cooldown to end

Ride 2: 5 mile warmup, 60 minute tempo ride (5-mile splits were 17.32, 17.27, 17.19, or 17.1-17.3 mph, with the final bit at 7:41/17.2 mph average), 3 mile steady, 3 x 1 mile 70-75 rpm/1 mile steady. Fueled with a pumpkin spice fig bar from Nature’s Bakery with 3 miles left in the tempo ride, about the hour mark.

Saturday, 10/3: 15.06 miles, 9:56 pace

Long run with a tempo twist! At first I wasn’t sure I’d include the tempo miles since my legs would not turnover at the beginning – I felt a bit sluggish and weighed down. Once I hit mile 5 I felt a tiny bit of hope that I could work in my faster paces, so I gave it a go and ended up doing quite well! 6 mile warmup, 4 mile tempo – 8:50, 8:39, 8:21, 8:09 – 5 miles easy to finish. I fueled with a Pumpkin Spice Fig Bar from Nature’s Bakery at miles 6 and 10. So yummy!

The sea looked too choppy for us to enjoy a swim, so we settled for a short morning stroll after my run. It was a gorgeous, breezy, overcast day.

Sunday, 10/4: 45 min strength + 3.64 miles, 11:00 pace

Slow, gentle, rainy run at 143ish BPM, just wanted to get the legs turning a bit to facilitate some waste flushing. I didn’t have the best time with my morning strength routine – felt tired and a bit uninspired, but I got it done to the best of my ability.

Strength:

Circuit 1: 3 rounds

• 15 pressups
• 12 hover kneeling press (I dropped the weight during one set before I figured out that following pressups with these was a bad idea)
• 10 TRX pistol squats
• 10 curl to press

Circuit 2: 3 rounds

• 10 one knee pushup to left lifts
• 10 squat punch
• 12 upright rows
• :30 plank, R leg lifted + :30 plank, L leg lifted

Core: 3 x 30

• Russian twists
• Side plank hip dips (15 per side)
• Sprinter crunch

Total running mileage: 43.4

Total cycling mileage: 109.3

Total swimming yardage: 3,600