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)

Month in training

Numbers are similar to last month.  Lost 2 weekends to classes and a day to an agility trial plus hamstring injury and a G.I. bug.  

Swimming is in as good a place as it's going to be.  Swam 2 miles in the Rez on Thursday morning and that's the farthest I've ever swum in one workout, a milestone of sorts.  And I took the dogs for a run afterwards.  My goal is to do the 2 masters workouts at the Rez each week as well as one day of regular masters at the pool.  This gives me the required time for the training program I'm following and makes sense to me.

Biking could be better.  My bike handling skills and climbing ability felt a bit hampered with the hamstring injury.  It's more a mental thing than a physical thing, I'm riding conservatively to protect the injury.  Next month I'll start riding more aggressively and push on the climbs.

Running is getting better I think.  The hamstring strain is nearly healed and I'm getting better with the new stride mechanics.  I thought it would be more of a struggle.  I'll have to shoot some video to be sure.  Looking at my agility videos from the weekend it looks like I'm doing a mixture of forefoot and heel striking which is probably due to the different speeds I run on course as well as turns, etc.  Not too much heel striking overall though.  This photo shows great form (knee bent, mid-foot strike), if only I could do that all the time.

 
Swim: 24,700 yards/10 hours, 15 mins.

Mountain Bike: 77 miles/10 hours, 13 mins.


Road Bike:  30.87 miles/2 hours, 16 mins.


Run: 18.92 miles/4 hours, 52 mins.


Hike:  6 miles/3 hours, 15 mins.

Total Training Hours: 29 hours, 51 mins. (26 hours, 36 mins. without the hike)

Month in training

Despite the classes and scaling back due to hamstring/piriformis issues I managed 2 hours more of total training time this month over last.  Swim and bike numbers are close, run numbers are down and no power hiking so the increase in total time is probably due to taking on some more technical bike rides.  I'm still down 5 hours from last April though.  I think more than anything the weather was the biggest issue.  One of the rainiest Mays on record kept me inside a lot more than I would have liked but on the other hand I was forced to rest my injuries so maybe not the worst thing in the world.

Swim: 24,950 yards/10 hours, 5 mins.

Mountain Bike: 107 miles/13 hours, 16 mins.

Run: 16.5 miles/4 hours, 2 mins.

Total Training Hours: 27 hours, 23 mins.

The last weight number I had was at 119 lbs. a week ago which is -1.5 lbs for the month.  However I didn't have access to my regular scale at the Rec. Center this week and I suspect I'm down at least another lb but I don't care enough about it to make a special trip to the Rec. Center.  It's possible I won't make it back there until September so I may not have numbers until then.

Month in training

Numbers are a bit down from last month except for running and that's in large part why the other numbers are down. But running is feeling much better, piriformis is better, and I feel confident both will continue to improve this month.

Was surprised to see I'd lost only .8 lb for the whole month. Somehow it felt like more than that. Those final 4 lbs will be the goal for this month. I'm busy with either a class or agility trial for every single weekend this month (and on into June) so I'm going to have to get creative with getting enough training in since another goal is to increase biking and running volume.

Swim: 25,050 yards/10 hours, 30 mins.

Mountain Bike: 108.8 miles/12 hours, 9 mins.

Run: 21.85 miles/5 hours, 47 mins.

Power Hike: 3.5 miles/1 hour, 53 mins.

Total Training Hours: 25 hours, 19 mins.

120.5 lbs (-.8 lbs)

Month in Training

You can never have too many numbers, yes?  Low on the running/power hiking but that's because I'm following a rehab program and I've been strict about keeping to it.  Can't rush that.  Swim numbers are too high relative to bike numbers but that'll change once the weather is more bike friendly.  I'm not a fan of the bike trainer. 

March totals:

Swim:  28,650 yards/12 hours

Mountain Bike:  129.9 miles/15 hours, 23 mins.

Run:  9.9 miles/2 hours, 40 mins.

Power Hike:  7.0 miles/2 hours

Total Training Hours:  32 hours, 20 mins. (I know this doesn't add up, something got lost somewhere)

Walk:  39.6 miles

Hike:  5.3 miles

121.3 lbs (-5.1 lbs., was hoping for -8 but I'll take it)