Half Ironman Chattanooga - Week 20 Recap

Hey guys!  Happy Sunday evening! I am curled up on my couch under a blanket with sweatpants, sweatshirt, warmest socks, slippers, and fuzzy bathrobe as if I live in a tundra and am here to recap my workouts for you this past week. I'm wondering if this will be a regular thing to do a week recap of my workouts rather than one by one, because I want to be able to recap my training for the Half Ironman.  As I mentioned, I also know that I am going to need to deviate from the "plan" that I have throughout this cycle, so I thought it would be interesting to compare what I do to what I have planned. This week we are 20 weeks out from Half Ironman Chattanooga and especially with how poorly the week started, I feel really good about the workouts I was able to get in.

As I mentioned last Monday, I was feeling like crap.  A week later, I am feeling like I am back in a routine and into a groove quite a bit although my paces are there for my runs. Let me recap my week:

Monday:

Planned - AM swim class and PM yoga

Actual - AM swim class (total 2400 meters) and PM yoga

As I mentioned last Monday, everything felt sluggish but I did stick to the plan and get in the workouts that I intended for the day. The yoga class was a bit of a bummer since the normal teacher that we usually have (and love!) was out.  The sub's style was a little different than I normally like, but I am still glad that I went.  The morning swim workout consisted of:

600 warmup

300 easy

3 x 100 (2:15)

300 easy

6 x 50 (1:15 - alternating hard/easy)

300 easy

12 x 25 (:40 - sprinting every 3rd)

Here's a selfie I took after class because the lighting was nice.

Tuesday:

Planned - 4 mile speed workout and bike ride

Actual - My workout in the morning was a bit of a more relaxed speed workout, which was great as I was just getting into the groove of maxing out my body and because I have been feeling crappy.  I modified a speed workout I had found online that was supposed to be full mile repeats, but turned it into a shorter treadmill work.  I also didn't cut the time as much as the workout recommended because I was still worried about how crappy I had felt running and during my workouts the past couple days.

1 mile warmup @ easy pace (for me I did a 10:00 minute/mile)

1/2 mile @ Half Marathon Pace (8:49 minute/mile)

1/4 mile easy (10:00)

1/2 mile @ HMP - :10 (8:41)

1/4 mile easy (10:00)

1/2 mile @ HMP - :20 (8:34)

1/4 mile easy (10:00)

1/2 mile @ HMP - :30 (8:27)

1/4 mile easy (10:00)

Total: 4 miles

In the evening, I set up my trainer and rode my bike at home for 40 minutes, there was no set workout or anything, right now I am just working on time on bike.  My friend Kristin who is a triathlon coach told me that I should really focus on building a base and getting into a routine for the month of January so that is what I am trying to do, which is why my planned workout wasn't even too specific.

Wednesday:

Planned - AM swim workout and 35 minute tempo run

Actual - AM upper body workout and PM 25 minute run with 15 minutes at tempo & boxing class

I slept in on Wednesday morning and unable to get out of bed to the start of swim class at 6:00 a.m.  Instead, I managed to get to the gym around 6:45 a.m. and did a 30-40 minute upper body workout.

 In the evening I returned to the gym to get my run in, which I actually sacrificed a little bit of because I really wanted to try out a new class at my gym, of boxing.  It's been something my friends at the gym have been recommending and I thought it would be a fun way to mix something up (a goal for this year!)  I loved boxing because it made me feel totally badass and was also a great workout.  The hardest part was that I was sweating so much and with those gloves on, couldn't wipe the sweat off my face!

Thursday:

Planned - AM 3.5 mile run and PM 20 mile bike ride

Actual - 3 mile run and PM 30 minute bike ride

Another sort of vague day.  I had originally started to map out  my bike rides based on distance, but knowing that I have a trainer now and can't track distance I am doing it all based off of time.  I also had originally planned the 3.5 mile runs in the mornings because that was the scheduled Movers + Pacers morning run.  However, now I am fine with just planning for a 3-4 mile run.

I met Janet in the morning for our first morning workout of the day and it was great to see her and catch up over the past month!  She was visiting her family, so it was awesome to hear about that, catch up on boy stuff, and talk about our running goals for the year.  These chilly mornings are going to make the motivation to get out of bed and into the cold hard,so it is 100 times easier to have a friend to meet for the runs!

Friday:

Planned - AM swim workout

Actual -  AM swim workout (total 2400)

300 swim and 100 kick warmup

Main Set (4x):

200 (on 5:00 minutes... 2 swim/2 kick)

8 x 25 (on :45, :40, :35, :30)

100 easy

Saturday: 

Planned - 25 mile bike ride

Actual - Leg day weights and boxing class and 75 minute bike ride

So I didn't originally intend to do so much this day!  I didn't know honestly what I was going to do with my day when I woke up on Saturday. My friends were doing their long run this day so I could have joined them, but want to get into a habit of biking big before running big.  And I also wanted to sleep in.  So I ended up getting up when I woke up, then decided to do this boxing class again at the gym.  I really loved it when I did it on Wednesday and wanted to try and get another one in this weekend.  I thought the class was at 10:00 a.m. so I arrived at the gym around 9:30 since I wanted to sign up for this "60 day challenge" that the gym was having.  However, I realized when I got there that the class didn't start until 11:00 a.m. 

Which led me to kill time by doing a lower body workout (squats, dead lifts, good mornings, etc.) before boxing class.  The class I love yet again.  I am going to have to keep this up!

Then came home to jump on my trainer for a 75 minute ride.  I tried to break up the ride a bit by calling the first 15 minutes an easy warm up and the last 15 minutes a cool down.  The 45 minutes in between, I tried to push things a bit harder and mix up different things that I've seen and done in spin classes.  Pedaling hard, pedaling fast, etc.

Sunday:

Planned - 11 mile run

Actual - 10 mile run @ 10:30 pace

To be totally honest, another reason that I pushed my run to Sunday rather than running on Saturday with my friends was because I was really nervous for it.  I felt so poorly the week before and I sort of wanted to run alone to be able to get into the mental zone and I also wanted to push it out as much as possible.  I had written on my plan 11 miles, but after how poorly last week went, I made the decision last Sunday to only run 10 miles this weekend.  So even though it says planned 11, mentally, I did exactly what I wanted to do today.  I went back and forth about whether or not I should call the "planned" 10 since it is what I had in mind all week, but I guess I originally thought it would be 11 so whatever.

It was chilly and the wind was brutal today!  I mapped out a course that was not an out and back and that also brought in some places familiar for me to run and also some of the neighborhoods that I used to run through last winter.  I have been lazy and doing all my runs on the Silver Comet Trail but  I actually really enjoy a run where I map a route ahead of time.  Today I ran through Midtown, Virginia Highlands, Little Five Points, Old Fourth Ward, and Inman Park and it was great to have that diversity on a run. I really enjoyed that rather than doing a boring route! 

It helped keep me going despite the cold and wind.  My pace isn't where I want it to be, but I am wondering if I am just not a cold weather runner?  I don't know, but we'll continue to work on it in the future.  Mostly, I am proud I was able to get myself mentally in the game and do this run.

Total Hours: Monday-Sunday 12 hours (ish) 

And now we move into next week!  Goal: take less selfies and more interesting photos related to my workouts.  Oh yeah, and crush the week.  Happy Sunday!