There was a high chance of rain on Monday (for the 4th time in the last 5 planned swims!) so I hopped on my bike and did intervals instead. This proved to be a good decision, as it started thundering a few minutes into the ride. Did one loop warm-up, then 5x2:00 intervals up in Z4. I usually do a full loop as a cool-down, but the wind was picking up and it was sprinkling so I went straight home.
First time averaging over 18 mph! I can feel myself getting stronger. Next week I do intervals again, and then the week after that I'm doing a brick speed test to simulate my sprint triathlon: 12 miles on the bike followed by a 5K, both as fast as possible. Because I've felt so good while doing bricks I want to see how fine my legs feel after KILLING it on the bike. This will let me know if I need to hold back on the bike at all to save for the run, or if I should go all-out the entire race.
On Tuesday I went to the pool after work, and had probably the worst workout I've ever had. The warm-up felt fine, and even the 400m long swim wasn't terrible, but after that it fell apart. Instead of 6 sets of 100m, I did two. No problem, I thought, I'm just extra tired today. I'll switch to 50's earlier. So I switched to 50's... and could only do 7. I stayed winded, couldn't take a deep-enough breath in between sets, and could tell that my heart rate was too high the whole time. I switched to sets of 25's, did four of those, and reevaluated everything.
Sometimes you have to power through the pain and push yourself during a workout, and sometimes you have to call it quits. Today was the latter.
I went home and encouraged my wife to go for a run (she was debating it because the sky looked like it was going to rain), but the heavens dumped on her. After 2.5 miles of rainy running she called me to come pick her up since there was lightning. We both felt pretty pathetic, but hey, not all days are rainbows and gumdrops. I'm planning on swimming again on Wed and Fri, which would allow me to focus on the long bike on Sat and the long run on Sun.
First time averaging over 18 mph! I can feel myself getting stronger. Next week I do intervals again, and then the week after that I'm doing a brick speed test to simulate my sprint triathlon: 12 miles on the bike followed by a 5K, both as fast as possible. Because I've felt so good while doing bricks I want to see how fine my legs feel after KILLING it on the bike. This will let me know if I need to hold back on the bike at all to save for the run, or if I should go all-out the entire race.
On Tuesday I went to the pool after work, and had probably the worst workout I've ever had. The warm-up felt fine, and even the 400m long swim wasn't terrible, but after that it fell apart. Instead of 6 sets of 100m, I did two. No problem, I thought, I'm just extra tired today. I'll switch to 50's earlier. So I switched to 50's... and could only do 7. I stayed winded, couldn't take a deep-enough breath in between sets, and could tell that my heart rate was too high the whole time. I switched to sets of 25's, did four of those, and reevaluated everything.
Sometimes you have to power through the pain and push yourself during a workout, and sometimes you have to call it quits. Today was the latter.
I went home and encouraged my wife to go for a run (she was debating it because the sky looked like it was going to rain), but the heavens dumped on her. After 2.5 miles of rainy running she called me to come pick her up since there was lightning. We both felt pretty pathetic, but hey, not all days are rainbows and gumdrops. I'm planning on swimming again on Wed and Fri, which would allow me to focus on the long bike on Sat and the long run on Sun.
That's quite the statement. Hang in there, maybe all you needed was a rest day and the rain was on your side. You've been pushing pretty hard, so every few weeks it's recommended to have an "easy" one. You are ready, now relax :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've heard that from several people... I figured that since I only had ~8 weeks to train for my sprint tri that I wouldn't need an "off" week until my taper, but it looks like I may be wrong and it's catching up to me.
ReplyDeleteI did go back to the pool yesterday and had a great workout though! Funny how some days your body can just feel wrong.