Week One
Starting a new phase of training is not very daunting when you know all of the individual sessions for the first few weeks should be well within your capabilities. The last few months have shown I have been a bit to keen to up the intensity. The results have been covered before. Having my current goal simply being 'consistency' has taken a lot of pressure off. As a result, the first week came together like this:
DAY 1
Aerobic Swim: 1800m. Main 10x100 on 2:00 (1:55-1:50)
Hitting 1:55 felt ridiculously easy, surprisingly there was a very big difference in effort when taking off only 5 seconds. There isn't any problem with the engine, but the moving parts need better conditioning. Local muscular endurance is standing out as my key limiter in the water.
Easy Run: 9.75km pushing the pram. A friendly loop that has become a regular route of late. Plenty of action passing by to keep Jaya entertained. I left the heart rate monitor behind and just enjoyed a relaxing run.
DAY 2
Strength: The sun had finally got its act together and it was now relatively warm. For the most part the session felt quite easy, but the new approach on technique and stability means the mind is much more involved. I felt energised instead of hammered at the end.
Easy Run: 5.5km again pushing the pram. A course with a couple of long and steep hills pointed out how my daughter had grown. It was difficult keeping a lid on the intensity uphill.
DAY 3
Long Bike: 70km in 2:55. My central fitness is good from the last year of running, but my local muscular endurance is severely lacking on the bike. Unfortunately my body just wants to hit speeds it remembers from years ago. The ride didn't feel natural. Instead it was a battle to keep the intensity down to something that would allow me to be have sustained output for the entire ride instead of drastically dropping off in the second half. I just managed to achieve this. The pace was slow and was simply an exercise in surviving the terrain.
DAY 4
Hard Swim: 1500m, Main Set 5x100 on 1:55 (1:45). The first two repeats felt almost too easy. The last two on the other hand were a struggle to maintain my full stroke as my body tried to sneak its way out of full effort. These tricks included cutting the catch and pulling out early.
Long Run: 23.5km in 2:26. The difference between just running and triathlon training was clear today. The fatigue from yesterday's ride was heavy. My legs certainly aren't used to the combination, albeit a day apart.
DAY 5
Strength: With legs of lead, the body was aprreciating the focus of technique and total body integration. Still surprising what looks simple and easy can be very difficult to pull off flawlessly, especially when your 20 month old is trying to push you over.
Easy Run: 8.75km with pram. The strength session seems to enhance recovery at the moment. Gone was the lead from my legs, making it much easier to enjoy the familiar trail.
DAY 6
Hard Bike: WT 6x3:00 (1:00rec) L1 53-16 @ 80rpm. Felt too easy, and a low HR supported that. However, it is early days and sticking with the planned progression will get me where I want.
DAY 7
Hard Run: 6x5:00 (1:00rec). I could feel the changes my body is trying to make. Already there is more upper body mass and my legs are now carrying fatigue in a different way. So I ignored time and pace. The goal was to sit with a good running technique that I hoped would be a little difficult to hold over the last couple of repeats. I think this is what I ended up with.
The first week was completed successfully. On paper the plan looks like less, but if this week is an indication, then I will be completing a higher volume each month if I can keep to the consistency.
DAY 1
Aerobic Swim: 1800m. Main 10x100 on 2:00 (1:55-1:50)
Hitting 1:55 felt ridiculously easy, surprisingly there was a very big difference in effort when taking off only 5 seconds. There isn't any problem with the engine, but the moving parts need better conditioning. Local muscular endurance is standing out as my key limiter in the water.
Easy Run: 9.75km pushing the pram. A friendly loop that has become a regular route of late. Plenty of action passing by to keep Jaya entertained. I left the heart rate monitor behind and just enjoyed a relaxing run.
DAY 2
Strength: The sun had finally got its act together and it was now relatively warm. For the most part the session felt quite easy, but the new approach on technique and stability means the mind is much more involved. I felt energised instead of hammered at the end.
Easy Run: 5.5km again pushing the pram. A course with a couple of long and steep hills pointed out how my daughter had grown. It was difficult keeping a lid on the intensity uphill.
DAY 3
Long Bike: 70km in 2:55. My central fitness is good from the last year of running, but my local muscular endurance is severely lacking on the bike. Unfortunately my body just wants to hit speeds it remembers from years ago. The ride didn't feel natural. Instead it was a battle to keep the intensity down to something that would allow me to be have sustained output for the entire ride instead of drastically dropping off in the second half. I just managed to achieve this. The pace was slow and was simply an exercise in surviving the terrain.
DAY 4
Hard Swim: 1500m, Main Set 5x100 on 1:55 (1:45). The first two repeats felt almost too easy. The last two on the other hand were a struggle to maintain my full stroke as my body tried to sneak its way out of full effort. These tricks included cutting the catch and pulling out early.
Long Run: 23.5km in 2:26. The difference between just running and triathlon training was clear today. The fatigue from yesterday's ride was heavy. My legs certainly aren't used to the combination, albeit a day apart.
DAY 5
Strength: With legs of lead, the body was aprreciating the focus of technique and total body integration. Still surprising what looks simple and easy can be very difficult to pull off flawlessly, especially when your 20 month old is trying to push you over.
Easy Run: 8.75km with pram. The strength session seems to enhance recovery at the moment. Gone was the lead from my legs, making it much easier to enjoy the familiar trail.
DAY 6
Hard Bike: WT 6x3:00 (1:00rec) L1 53-16 @ 80rpm. Felt too easy, and a low HR supported that. However, it is early days and sticking with the planned progression will get me where I want.
DAY 7
Hard Run: 6x5:00 (1:00rec). I could feel the changes my body is trying to make. Already there is more upper body mass and my legs are now carrying fatigue in a different way. So I ignored time and pace. The goal was to sit with a good running technique that I hoped would be a little difficult to hold over the last couple of repeats. I think this is what I ended up with.
The first week was completed successfully. On paper the plan looks like less, but if this week is an indication, then I will be completing a higher volume each month if I can keep to the consistency.
Comments
Post a Comment