Last time around (with a different coach), I had a pretty set pattern. Mondays off, 2 weeks heavy, 1 week recovery. Wednesday was always a track workout, Tuesday was always a brick.
With Michelle, I have yet to find a true pattern. I don't have a set recovery day. I don't have a set build/recovery phase. I don't seem to have days where I consistantly do X workout, except for my Fridays off where it is swimbikerun day, typically involving a 3+ hour ride up Deer Creek and High Grade. Honestly, those Fridays are the only predictable part of my training.
Weirdly enough, I'm ok with it. I just put my head down and get work done. I don't really think about things, I just "do". And generally, I've been doing really well.
I knew I'd have at least one 20-hour week, somewhere about 4 weeks out from CDA. I didn't know that I'd have 2 consecutive 20 hour weeks and zero rest days.
My week last week was a 20 hour week, where 15 of those hours were on Fri-Sat-Sun. I was promised a recovery day on Monday (Memorial Day). I just had to survive Fri-Sat-Sun and I could get a day on the couch Monday.
Friday was hard but do-able. I had a 3700 m swim with my swim team in the morning. Then I headed over to Chatfield for trip up Deer Creek and High Grade on my bike. I made it up - it wasn't pretty. I had a headwind for pretty much the entire climb (1 hr 40 min) and it was hot. I was supposed to do additional climbing, but after 3 miles and a really high heart rate, I said screw it and did easy riding around the Reservoir. And then I ran 35 min (it was hot). Apparently I didn't drink enough on the ride, which contributed to my high heart rate on the bonus hill climb. Still, I made it up High Grade and I felt like I'd gotten the bulk of the work done.
Saturday was a relatively easy day. 1.5 hr OWS at Chatfield and a 1 hr run. This might be crazy, but I think I prefer pool swimming to OWS. There's just *nothing* to focus on in a lake. The previous week, I had 1 hour, and I was so bored I just swam the perimeter of the lake, exploring away. My notes this week were a bit more specific (work on sighting and pace). Boo. I ended up doing 2 full out and backs of the lake and then a bit of a smaller bonus out and back for a total of 2.77 miles. Ok. The run was fine (hot) and nothing crazy. Then I went home and drank water and Nuun for the rest of the day.
Sunday was my big 7 hour "easy" ride. I went with a friend and we did the Carter Lake loop, with some bonus miles through Gunbarrel and Niwot. That got me to 4:40 and 76 miles, so I did the old Boulder 70.3 loop to bring me to 7 hours total. Around 3 hrs into the ride it got sunny and hot, then around 4 hrs I got a heat headache so I started hitting the salt pills. Around 5 hrs my head still hurt so I had a bit more. Finally by 5:30 into the ride my head felt better. Nutrition felt pretty solid, I had good energy the whole time. The final hour of riding was pretty much solid headwind, which wasn't fun but it wasn't awful either. I just put my head down and pedalled. My new bike is solid. Usually, around 5 hours I have to negotiate things with myself, simply because things hurt. My arms/shoulders would hurt from being in aero, my lower back would need a stretch, my feet would develop hot spots, and my saddle area would become sore. I'd have to negotiate time, like "ride 15 min aero and then you can sit up and stretch for 5 min" to get me through the last few hours of the ride. With the new bike, I didn't have to negotiate anything, I just rode along for 7 hours. Sweet!
After the ride, I got an email from my coach, asking how I was feeling and what my plans were for Monday. I decided to give her a call. No suprise, she was taking away my day off and replacing it with a 1 hour easy spin on the bike, to give me more training time.
That means my last true rest day was May 15th. Boo.
So I spun on the bike for 1 hour yesterday. It was ok. Suprisingly enough, I didn't feel like I rode 113 miles the day before. (again, new bike is awesome!).
And then I got my plan last night and its just going to be another week of not thinking and just doing. 20 more hours. And a pretty big day on Saturday (2:45 run, 1:30 bike, 1 hr OWS) and then a organized century ride on Sunday with a 40 min run at the end.
Then - finally - I get a rest day on Monday, June 3.
So, for this "training block" (18 days)I will have done approximately the following:
- Swim 11.5 hours / 35,000 yards.
- Bike 21.7 hours / 431 miles
- Run 9.75 hours / 57 miles
And then I get to taper. :)
1 comment:
Your training makes me feel like a total wimp. That is all.
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