This is a big statement that I haven’t made in a while, but this week I executed all planned workouts—and felt great.
Trying to be artsy in Central Park for work/‘Gram purposes. It didn’t work.
It finally feels like I’m on the post-bike crash upswing—woohoo!
General training notes: This is the first time in ages where I feel like I’m back across the disciplines. I feel smooth in the water. I feel strong in the saddle. (And I got a bike refit last Sunday, which means more watts! #letstalkwatts) And I feel—dare I say it?—smooth and strong on the run. Time to do work!
Since I’m always honest, I’ll note here I did not start the Stamford KIC It Triathlon. I hoped to take on this Olympic-distance event as a pre-Nationals tune-up, but I pulled the plug. (Er, did not even plug in? How does that work?) Although I lost some fitness with my bike crash, my swim and bike have come back relatively quickly, but my run has taken more time. No speedwork (and no bricks) in a month has given my body time to recover, but that is not the ideal way to train for a race that demands running off the bike. Basically, I made this decision in Placid and ran it by my coaching/advising board. Everyone was in agreement that not doing the race was the smart move. For what it’s worth, the swim was cancelled due to thunder/lightning, so it wouldn’t have functioned as an effective tune-up anyway.
Monday – off
Tuesday – a.m. run and strength training; p.m. swim with Bearcat masters
Six easy humid miles outside with 5x200m strides, plus upper-body strength training and corework. Fueled with an afternoon cup of coffee, I attacked the masters workout, even though the pool was a complete zoo. (For the swimmers: there were eight people in each lane. Wowza!) In total, we logged 2,900m that consisted of shorter distances (50 and 100m) due to the zoo situation.
Wednesday – a.m. CompuTrainer class at Tailwind Endurance
When your coach says you made some “big-a** watts,” you know you crushed the workout. At first glance, the 5×4-min. block didn’t look too daunting, but the gearing progressions, cadence shifts, and power output targets made for a serious leg-buster.
Thursday – a.m. CompuTrainer class at Tailwind Endurance
Woof: Fifteen by one-minute efforts at VO2 max with one minute of recovery between. And then there was a “surprise” sixteenth one.
Friday – a.m. swim with Bearcat masters; p.m. run
Solid 4,350m swim (my longest ever?) with lots of descending 200s, 100s, and 50s. I’m really happy with how I’m feeling in the water these days, and it’s always a good thing when the coach comments on how strong you’re swimming too. That afternoon, I hit Central Park for an easy eight miles. Woohoo for no humidity and no sunburn!
Saturday – p.m. bike
My plans to ride outside with one of my Tailwind buds fell through, and since it rained later in the day, I hopped on my indoor trainer for 70 minutes. Not as long as I would’ve liked, but the ride went by quickly because one of my friends called. That’s a great way to make sure you’re riding in endurance mode—staying in aero while having a phone conversation!
Sunday – a.m. run and strength training
Hands down, this is the best, most effortless run I’ve had post-bike crash. During those steady and blissful 45 minutes in my rain, my legs simply took over. I settled in to my target pace, it felt sustainable, and my legs turned over without a problem. Does this mean I’m officially back? I hope so!
Have you ever “DNS” (did not start) a race?
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