The week after the TriGirl Duathlon was not a good week. Base 2 week 1 was supposed to start off with a swim, but when I went to 24Hr, the pool was closed! Boo! Then the next two days as work were insane. I ended up working about 29 hours in those two days alone. So needless to say, no workouts on those two days.
Thursday 8/18
Swim -
wu: 200 free 200 kick
main: 1 x 1750 - medium effort
cd: 4 x 50
Total: 2350 yards
Run - 30 minutes on treadmill
Saturday 8/20 - reverse tri workout
Run - 30 min easy
Bike - 60 min spin class
Swim - 30 min
This week was focused on swimming, which lately has been going very well for me, so missing a few of those swim workouts I don't think was too detrimental.
Base 2 Week 2
This week is focused on running, which we all know is my weakest sport right now. So this week is more important than ever to get in all my workouts. And for that reason, I decided not to do the Clear Lake International Triathlon this upcoming weekend. That was a sad decision, since I love doing that race, but I think getting in my run workouts this week is more important. My next race will be the Houston Olympic Triathlon in September.
Monday 8/22
Bike - 75 min on trainer
Tuesday 8/23
Run - 60 min solid endurance
For this run, I decided to start wearing my heart rate monitor again. I used my HR monitor during my marathon training in 2009. Using it was a great way to judge how my much my body is exerting itself based on how fast my heart rate is. During my marathon training, my average HR was in the mid 160s. When I started this run yesterday at my normal slow pace, my HR was in mid 140s. Being cautious for the hour that layed ahead, I thought I'd try to get my HR back in the zone I had for my previous training. So, I increased my speed slightly and got my HR in the 150s. Towards the end of the hour run, my HR was in the 160s. This was a great motivator for me, since my average HR for the run was 158, and my pace was 10:33! This is definitely an improvement!
Wednesday 8/24
Swim - 2 x 1200 medium effort
Run - 30 min treadmill run
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
TriGirl Sprint Triathlon Race Report
Umm...I mean TriGirl Duathlon Race Report. Unfortunately, due to Lake Houston's water level being 7 feet below "normal", the swim leg of the race was cancelled, and replaced with a 1 mile run. A bit disappointed about that since my swimming lately has been going very well. More on that in a bit.
My previous post talked about this week being a Recovery Week. Well, thankfully it was just that. Wednesday I woke up not feeling well at all. My glands felt swollen, my body ached, just felt like I was in the first stages of getting sick. So I spent the rest of the week getting some good nights rest and no workouts. Luckily this helped, and I did not get sick. So Saturday, I did a 45 min ride on my trainer, just to get my legs conditioned for the race.
Last night, as I was getting my transition bag ready with all my race gear, I kept getting frazzled about not doing the swim. It was just throwing me off mentally when I was trying to get all my stuff together. You are probably thinking: Really, Lisa, the fact that you didn't have to pack a swim cap and goggles makes you frazzled? My response - Hell yes. I can't explain it, but when I am in the zone of getting prepared for each leg of the race, not doing one of those legs just threw me off. Once I finally got my gear all ready, I set my alarm for 4 am, and finally got to bed around 10:30. Feeling a little antsy, I woke up twice in the middle of the night, looked at the clock and was relieved to be able to go back to sleep. Then, I turned over once again, and saw my clock said 4:30. 4:30? Hu? Then it hit me, I forgot to turn the alarm ON! F! I jumped out of bed, practically knocking my lamp over turning it on, and started getting dressed. And oh by the way, my friend Erin was picking me up at 4:30! Thankfully, she was a few minutes late. When she did get there, she helped get my water boiling for my oatmeal, as I was getting my stuff together to leave. I thought I was frazzled the night before?! This was 100 times worse. Thankfully I had my bag all packed up, and didn't forget anything. We were on the road by 4:50. Once we got there, we got body marked and set up in transition. I then started doing my pre-race mental routine -- making sure I knew which row my bike was racked on, and where I had to enter and exit transition during the bike and runs.
Once Erin and I got set up, we walked down to the water, and noticed just how low the lake really was. Definitely not swimmable. As you can see from the pictures, the water is about 30 feet away from the bottom of the boat dock - where we normal run in for the swim start. Not this year!
My previous post talked about this week being a Recovery Week. Well, thankfully it was just that. Wednesday I woke up not feeling well at all. My glands felt swollen, my body ached, just felt like I was in the first stages of getting sick. So I spent the rest of the week getting some good nights rest and no workouts. Luckily this helped, and I did not get sick. So Saturday, I did a 45 min ride on my trainer, just to get my legs conditioned for the race.
Last night, as I was getting my transition bag ready with all my race gear, I kept getting frazzled about not doing the swim. It was just throwing me off mentally when I was trying to get all my stuff together. You are probably thinking: Really, Lisa, the fact that you didn't have to pack a swim cap and goggles makes you frazzled? My response - Hell yes. I can't explain it, but when I am in the zone of getting prepared for each leg of the race, not doing one of those legs just threw me off. Once I finally got my gear all ready, I set my alarm for 4 am, and finally got to bed around 10:30. Feeling a little antsy, I woke up twice in the middle of the night, looked at the clock and was relieved to be able to go back to sleep. Then, I turned over once again, and saw my clock said 4:30. 4:30? Hu? Then it hit me, I forgot to turn the alarm ON! F! I jumped out of bed, practically knocking my lamp over turning it on, and started getting dressed. And oh by the way, my friend Erin was picking me up at 4:30! Thankfully, she was a few minutes late. When she did get there, she helped get my water boiling for my oatmeal, as I was getting my stuff together to leave. I thought I was frazzled the night before?! This was 100 times worse. Thankfully I had my bag all packed up, and didn't forget anything. We were on the road by 4:50. Once we got there, we got body marked and set up in transition. I then started doing my pre-race mental routine -- making sure I knew which row my bike was racked on, and where I had to enter and exit transition during the bike and runs.
Erin and I pre-race.
Once Erin and I got set up, we walked down to the water, and noticed just how low the lake really was. Definitely not swimmable. As you can see from the pictures, the water is about 30 feet away from the bottom of the boat dock - where we normal run in for the swim start. Not this year!
1 Mile Run - 08:40
I think for the first time ever, I was in the first wave start. Meaning, my age group, women 30-34 was the first group to start the race. This was a pretty cool feeling, not sure I can explain why, it just was. Luckily, I started with my friend Erin, who is a great runner, so my goal was to try to keep up with her for this 1 mile shootout. When the gun went off, I started out at a pretty fast pace, and after a few minutes as expected, Erin made her way in front of me, so I did my best to keep up. This run ended up being one of the fastest miles I've ever ran. Nice.
T1 - 01:07
The first transition was much easier this time then after a normal swim race. I pulled off my visor and put on my bike shoes and helmet and was off. Probably my quickest T1 ever.
My transition spot.
11 Mile Bike - 36:15
I was pumped for this bike ride. I've been training hard, and getting alot of good rides in for my Half Ironman training. So after the first mile, and getting in my groove, mile 2 averaged 19.5 mph! Mile 3 was even better - 20.6 mph! Mile 4 - 20.1 mph! I was stoked and feeling great. Unlike previous races on this route, instead of coasting down the hills, I pedalled through getting up to 25 mph a few times! Towards the end of the 11 miles, I made sure to gear up and keep my cadence high to give my legs a little bit of rest before the run. I was very happy with this bike ride.
T2 - 00:43
Once I got into transition, I racked my bike and got my running shoes and visor back on and headed out for the 3 mile run. Still being excited about my bike, I felt my heartrate skyrocket as I was running out of transition. Not a good sign.
3 Mile Run - 33:30
I started out this run too fast with too high of a heart rate. I had to slow up and make sure I didn't over do it. By the time I got to the water station at mile 1, I needed to walk. And from then on I knew I was in bad shape. By this time of the morning, the heat was brutal, and I ended up walking several times. Very reminiscent of my previous brick (bike then run) workouts. This is something I will definitely need to work on. Although, as I was running to the finish, I was able to sprint it out, making me feel slightly better.
Total Time - 1 hr 20 min.
Overall, I was pretty satisfied with my performance. I wish the 3 mile run went better, but I can't complain since I ran at 8 min 40 sec mile at the beginning, and averaged 18.3 mph on my bike ride. That is the quickest bike race I've ever done. Next week starts Base 2 of my 70.3 training. I'm ready to get back in training after my Recovery week, and I am more focused on what I need to work on. 82 days to go until the big day. Today was a good milestone.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Goal to beat
I just signed up for the TriGirl Sprint Triathlon for this upcoming Sunday. I've done this race two other times, in 2008 (2nd ever triathlon) and last summer. So for me, I have something to prove...my goal is to, obviously, beat my times from last year. Here are my stats from last year:
300 yard Swim - 7:23
T1 - 2:36
11 mile Bike - 39:26
T2 - 1:02
3 mile Run - 31:14
Total Time: 1:21:43
Overall Place: 146 (out of 354)
Age Group Place: 28 (out of 58)
Sunday, August 7, 2011
End to a long week.
89 days to go. This week was brutal. Not only did I have to work in Mission Control all week (7am-4pm), this week was week 3 in Base 1 of training. The first 3 months of my training program has 3 Bases of training, each equally 4 weeks. Each week builds up, with the forth week ending in a Recovery week. Since I had to be at work at 7am each day, all my workouts were after work. Blah. Not my usual plan. Here was the rest of my week:
Thursday 8/4:
Swim - Speed day
Run - 90 minute long run. Easy/Medium effort. Since my workout was in the evening, I opted to run on the treadmill after my swim. I picked a treadmill in front of a TV, and watched an hour of Wipeout and half of Expedition Impossible, all while sweating away on the treadmill. That made it somewhat bearable. Although afterwards, my calves were killing me. I may need to pull out my compression calf sleeves for my next long run. Oh...memories of my marathon training are all coming back to me. I came home, showered, and pretty much passed out on my bed.
Friday 8/5:
Swim
Saturday 8/6:
Bike - 2 hour long ride. Today's workout was supposed to be easy effort, and also include a 30 minute run afterwards. Although, my friend Scott picked a route that took us up and over Kemah bridge twice, some speed work, and over another smaller bridge. So needless to say, my legs were shot after that ride. So no running for me. I wasn't too upset, since I finally got my Kemah bridge workout in.
Sunday 8/7:
Bike - 52 min ride. Nice ride this morning with friends Erin and Melissa. We actually felt somewhat of a cool breeze, which complete disappeared during my run afterwards.
Run - 30 min easy effort. I was pleasantly surprised with my run, still slow, but was able to keep the running up, and walked much less than previous transition runs.
So ends a tough week of training. Looking forward to a nice recovery week, starting off with me getting to sleep in past 5:30 am! In other news, I've decided to sign up for the TriGirl Sprint Triathlon next weekend. A lot of my friends are doing it and it fit in nicely with my recovery week. I'm excited to compare this year's times with last year's. More on that this week.
Thursday 8/4:
Swim - Speed day
- wu: 400 continuous. Last 50 in each 100 is kick.
- main: 10 x 100 EBEH (25 Easy, 25 Build, 25 Easy, 25 Hard)
- cd: 6 x 25, each slower than last
Run - 90 minute long run. Easy/Medium effort. Since my workout was in the evening, I opted to run on the treadmill after my swim. I picked a treadmill in front of a TV, and watched an hour of Wipeout and half of Expedition Impossible, all while sweating away on the treadmill. That made it somewhat bearable. Although afterwards, my calves were killing me. I may need to pull out my compression calf sleeves for my next long run. Oh...memories of my marathon training are all coming back to me. I came home, showered, and pretty much passed out on my bed.
Friday 8/5:
Swim
- wu: 2 x 150
- main: 3 x 500, 1 is easy effort, 2 is medium effort, 3 is medium/hard effort
- cd: 150 easy
Saturday 8/6:
Bike - 2 hour long ride. Today's workout was supposed to be easy effort, and also include a 30 minute run afterwards. Although, my friend Scott picked a route that took us up and over Kemah bridge twice, some speed work, and over another smaller bridge. So needless to say, my legs were shot after that ride. So no running for me. I wasn't too upset, since I finally got my Kemah bridge workout in.
Sunday 8/7:
Bike - 52 min ride. Nice ride this morning with friends Erin and Melissa. We actually felt somewhat of a cool breeze, which complete disappeared during my run afterwards.
Run - 30 min easy effort. I was pleasantly surprised with my run, still slow, but was able to keep the running up, and walked much less than previous transition runs.
So ends a tough week of training. Looking forward to a nice recovery week, starting off with me getting to sleep in past 5:30 am! In other news, I've decided to sign up for the TriGirl Sprint Triathlon next weekend. A lot of my friends are doing it and it fit in nicely with my recovery week. I'm excited to compare this year's times with last year's. More on that this week.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Hard work really does pay off!
I know that is such a cliché, but I honestly believe it now! After last Thursday's difficult speed swim session, I have seen a definite improvement in my swim. Last Friday's swim was a long swim session, the main set was 1500 yards. That is 30 laps in the pool. The last few months, my lap times have been averaging just over a minute a lap. I was a little apprehensive for my long swim, thinking my arms would be tired from the difficult swim the day before. Although, after I started my long swim, I noticed my lap times were below a minute, lap after lap after lap! So about a quarter of the way into my swim, I made a goal for myself to finish under 30 minutes. And how did I do? Total time: 29 min 45 sec! Yay!
Friday 7/29 workout;
Swim - Long swim
- wu: 200 swim, 200 kick, 200 pull, 200 swim
- main: 1 x 1500 (medium effort)
- cd: 4 x 50
Saturday 7/30 workout:
Bike ride rained out...got to sleep in!
Sunday 7/31 workout:
Bike - 2 hour long ride
Run - 30 min -- this run was extremely difficult, by the time I ran, it was 9:30 am and 100 degrees. I had to walk quite a bit. Hopefully as I do more of these transition runs after my bike rides, they will get better.
Monday 8/1 workout:
Swim - Long swim
- wu: 4 x 75
- main: 500 swim, 500 kick, 500 pull, 500 swim
- cd: 100 swim, 100 back
This swim was an amazing workout. My first 500 swim (10 laps) was 9:33! I think this is the quickest 500 I've ever done! And even my last 500 swim, after the kick and pull session, I finished in 9:45!
Tuesday 8/2 workout:
Bike - 1 hour ride (small chain ring) -- Used my new trainer for this ride! I got a great set up in front of my TV, just put on the Bachelorette Finale from last night and I was on may way! Great way to get a ride in!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)