Week/Month in Training

Another week of playing in the sun and warm weather.  2 hours of swimming, 5 of biking and 3 of running is close to what I'll be doing during the peak weeks of my training program so it's good to know I can nearly pull it off this early in the season.  I backed off the swimming this week because I felt like I needed a break from it and because I was tired from the biking and running which is harder on my body.  I used my 2 workouts more as recovery, took it easy and focused on drills and good form and other strokes, mainly butterfly.

The nearly 3 hour mountain bike ride the day after a longish run knocked the stuffing out of me though.  The trails weren't super hard - Blue Sky, Indian Summer and a short loop over at Lory - but it's a long time for me to concentrate on the trail.  My big endurance workout in the peak of training will require 3 hours of biking then an hour of running once a week and it's apparent I'll need to spend the next month working up to that.

I was at about 32 hours for the month at this time last year, 2 of which were a power hike,  and only 2 hours, 40 minutes of running for the whole month and 10 miles of running vs 54 miles for this month.  SO happy to have those running numbers up at this point.  Bike numbers are about the same and swim numbers are down by 3 hours/7000 yards which I find surprising but not alarming.  The swim is the shortest part and this time distribution between swim/bike/run is actually better.

Last year I was tracking walking miles as well but I see I've given it up this year.  Oh well, there was a lot of walking thanks to dogs.

I do need a rest this week though, will have to force myself to take it easy.  I've got a slight pain beneath my bad knee that is more in my lower leg but could be originating from the knee.  In any case I'll have to back off the running this week to let it heal up a bit.

This next month I'm going to start going to more of the harder masters workouts rather than all drills workouts.  I'm also going to introduce some running and biking drills.  I should put together a strength training routine too, ugh, my least favorite thing but it's important, especially for off-road triathlons.

Toying with the idea of a little sprint road triathlon at the end of May.  Could be a good warm-up for my first race in June even if it is short and on road.  I keep hoping I'll see a discounted entry for it.  I've wanted to do it since they first started it years ago but it always seemed to fall on an agility weekend.  But I'm not doing the May DOCNA trial this year due to 2 USDAA trials already in May so this would be a good year.  Not sure why it appeals, it doesn't look particularly scenic or interesting but something about it makes me want to do it.  Must be the pelicans.


WEEKLY TOTALS

Swim: 3,900 yards/2 hours

Mountain Bike: 21.26 miles/2 hours, 52 mins.

Road Bike:  28 miles/2 hours, 4 mins.

Run: 13.11 miles/3 hours, 4 mins.

Total Training Hours: 10 hours


MONTHLY TOTALS

Swim: 21,550 yards/9 hours, 48 mins.

Mountain Bike: 120.77 miles/14 hours, 34 mins.

Run: 53.93 miles/13 hours, 19 mins.

Hike:  8.7 miles/3 hours, 15 mins.

Total Training Hours: 40 hours, 56 mins. (37 hours, 41 mins. without the hike)