Now lets get you caught up. I really like my schedule this semester. I only have one class on Mon/Wed/Fri and it is from 10-12. This is great because it gives me plenty of time to get a workout in and still have an easy morning before class. I woke up Wednesday morning at my now normal time of 5:30. It was pretty cold Wednesday especially at 5:30 so I waited until 7 before getting a quick 3 mile run in. I'm not sure it warmed up at all but at least the sun was beginning to come up and I wasn't running in the dark. The cool weather was actually kind of nice once I got into the run. I ran it at my typical pace of 9 min/mile. Not great for a small 3 mile run but about average for me. Plus it was a hilly which I'm not used to (more on this later). I was planning to go for a bike ride later that day after class and lunch but the weather never warmed up much and I talked myself out of it. There it is. My first skipped workout. This is where you should be leaving commits calling me a slacker, etc. That being said, riding a bike in the cold is painful.
I've worked my training schedule out to not have any workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I teach class on those days from 8-5 and its just impossible to work anything else in on those days. Plus it's good to have a recovery day. I probably don't need two recovery days right now but I'm sure I'll appreciate it as the workouts intensify. Even though I wasn't working out Thursday, I still got up at 5:30. I'm scared that I'll relapse back into sleeping until 7:00.
Friday was a REALLY good day. I was at the pool at 6:30 and I was really looking forward to the swim. The main goal for the day was to swim three laps (150 yards) without stopping. I swam two warmup laps, took a small break and started my three continuos laps. I probably could have done four or even five but I was getting pretty tired and still wanted to be able to finish the workout. All total, I swam 14 laps (700 yards) which is more than the 1/3 mile I will need. My goal over the next nine weeks is to increase the number of continuous laps each week until I work up to twelve continuous laps.
The only workout on my schedule Friday was the swim but I wanted to get a run in just for good measure. Remember those hills that I mentioned? Well, I did a little research about the Traditions Triathlon and it appears that the bike and run courses are very hilly. Like I mentioned in a previous post, the Longleaf Trace is great and I love it but it is also flat. I decided I am going to have to do more hill work on my runs and bikes. The Friday run was CRAZY HILLY but it may be the best run I have ever had. A friend warned me to never say that because that statement is always followed a few days later with an injury or some type of setback. I guess I'll put it to the test. It was only a 4 mile run but like I said it was very hilly. It was one hill right after another and they were BIG too. My goal when I started out was to just keep my normal 9 minute pace. After all, this run wasn't even on the schedule. Once I got into the run I was feeling really good so I started pushing it a little harder. I finished the 4 miles with an average pace of 8 min 40 sec per mile! Ive raced faster than that before but never during a workout run and definitely not on hills like those. I'm really proud of that run today.
I've got another run tomorrow and then a big brick workout on Sunday. A brick is where you bike and then immediately run afterwards. Wish me luck and obviously, I'll let everyone know how it goes.
No comments:
Post a Comment