One Last Tri - Week 4
After last week’s debacle, I knew I needed to slow things down and remain intentional with my workouts. Athletes train with purpose, and it is important to remember the ultimate goal while training, otherwise it is incredibly easy to get carried away.
Sunday - Rest Day
Goals:
My body was still sore and broken down from the previous week and I definitely needed a rest day. Sunday was primarily about staying off my knee and resting my body to allow for regrowth.
Results:
I was able to stay off my legs and stretch out a decent amount. I had the day off work and ended up relaxing and being able to recover. I stayed under 5,000 steps and kept my heart rate at a moderate level all day.
Monday - Tri-day
Goals:
I wanted to do an indoor easy effort of swimming, biking,and running. The goal was not to push so hard that I end up hurting myself but to feel what a long bike after a swim effort felt like. After the bike, I did a short run, more so as a cool down workout but also to get used to feeling running after biking.
Results:
The swim felt strange, I have been forcing myself to get into the water and try to become more comfortable. I was feeling no difference in this swim versus any other. My breathing was irregular and uncontrolled, and I was still getting panicked in the water.
I changed as quickly as I was able to in the locker rooms, still allowing myself time to rinse off the chlorine and dry out my suit in the suit spinner. I went upstairs right away and hopped on the bike for an hour effort in zone 2. I did not sweat as much as a typical hour in zone 2 would have me, which was kind of strange. I am thinking about implementing some drinkable calories, I was able to get down 32 ounces of water in that hour and filled up after getting off the bike to drink a little more for my run.
After getting off the bike (and cleaning it for the next person) I jogged upstairs to the indoor running track and immediately started running. This was a really good and quick transition between the two exercises. I felt incredibly strong on the first part of the run and can see how I could easily smoke myself if I start out too fast on the run. I was able to jog the mile at zone 2, which was a much faster pace than I expected it to be, I finished it off with a zone 5 sprint effort in the 6:40 range. Spent a good amount of time stretching and rolling my legs post workout! Very happy with the results, they were feeling great. This should be a sign to continue stretching and rolling and recovering, but sometimes life just gets in the way.
Tuesday - Rest Day
Goals:
I was initially planning on doing a long bike for Tuesday’s workout and I was feeling strong enough for the ride, but I felt as if it would take away from the actually training I was trying to achieve. Last week I burnt myself out trying to push too much. So this week if I felt like I was questioning the workout I was just going to pull back and rest.
Results:
Work was a little busier than average, it is just that time of the year for us. I had around 16,500 steps and was on my feet a majority of the day. I felt good while walking around and that gave me the impression that I would be able to tackle a 2-hour ride without issue. I knew that pushing myself would take away from what I was trying to achieve with building good fitness. It is only Tuesday and there would be plenty of time to come for more work. When I got home I put my feet up and knew that I had made the right choice. If I was sitting at a desk all day I would have felt differently, but my job is a very active one and I made the right choice in resting.
Wednesday - Long Bike
Goals:
Wednesday’s ride was about repositioning my body on the bike. I adjusted a couple things with my bike fit and was hoping that would help alleviate the knee pain I was experiencing. I wanted to make sure I was staying to zone 2 and not push myself, so I mainly just wanted to stick to the backroads around where I live. This will help me not push myself to look like I am going “slow” to everyone around me.
Results:
Getting on my bike for a long ride around the city just brings me so much joy! I got to bike through some construction zones and road closures didn’t stop me like they would in a car. I was feeling great, cruising around the backroads, but they hills became very hard to keep my body in an easy effort zone 2. I took a long way around town that would allow myself a good fat section to keep my heart rate under control, and then one final climb home. I went super easy on the climb and was able to keep the heart rate down. Overall this ride was a success for training, but my position on the bike is still causing me some knee issues. I know that my bike is too small for me, but unfortunately money is an issue and I am doing the best that I can to make it work.
Thursday - Swim
Goals:
I wanted to focus on my down and back efforts. Trying to set myself a pace that I can begin to work off of. The goal was simply to practice swimming a lap touch the wall and swim back, therefore increasing the distance I was swimming without stopping.
Results:
I started my swim off wearing flippers from the very beginning. I felt great in the water right away, I was feeling more comfortable and could tell that my anxiety was overall lower about being in the pool. I was able to swim laps down and back without tiring much at first, but as time passed the laps became harder and harder. Towards the end of my swim I placed a kick board between my legs and found that it was much easier to swim with that. I am assuming because it was helping with my buoyancy. For the last 2 laps I removed the flippers and tried swimming without an assists. Holy cow, I did not realize how big of a difference flippers made. I made it to the end of my first lap and was so tired I had to side stroke back. I got a little intimidated being that tired in the water and I admit that I got out after that instead of finishing the second lap. This was not the best way to end my workout, but I was very happy with myself for feeling better in the water at first.
Friday - Long Run
Goals:
I was originally hoping to hit about 80 minutes in zone 2 running, but I met up with a friend and ran as part of a group. I wanted to stay at a pace that I was able to talk the entire run. I also wanted to run without socks, as this is something I am going to be implementing in the triathlon.
Results:
I was able to stay in a low zone 3 (which I know is the terrible grey zone of no growth) But there was no way I was walking, I was able to keep my pace slower and the only time my heart rate spiked was around the 42-minute mark. I forced myself to slow and my friend didn’t give me grief which helped my mentality. Overall goals kept me in check from pushing myself too hard. Ideally, I would have benefitted more from slowing it down and keeping myself in zone 2, but running with friends and meeting up with someone to motivate and inspire is a beautiful part of running.
Saturday - Swim
Goals:
I wanted to try an actual workout in the water today. My plan was to do 3 sets of 3 x 50 meter efforts with whatever rest I needed in between to keep my heart rate under control. The first getting comfortable in the water, the second using a pull buoy to help my form, and the third using flippers to push myself to get farther in the water than I was maybe comfortable with.
Results:
I swam strong at first, focusing mainly on my breathing and trying to force myself to place my face in the water. I have found that I really do not like getting water in my nose, and that causes instant panic, where as just placing my face under the water is beginning to not be quite as scary. Water up the nose makes me feel like I am going to drown, it’s possible I am just being over dramatic, but small steps to get rid of a very big fear!
After 3 50 meter efforts I was still feeling great and had completed them in a shorter amount of time than I thought it would take me. I decided to change the workout to 4x50 efforts, and completed another lap. Next up was the pull buoy, this was a great reminder to keep my butt high and engage the core to maintain good swimming posture. Currently, my main focus is on getting comfortable in the water, but I also am very aware of other aspects of swimming that make swimming easier or harder. Form, how you catch the water, minimizing drag, etc… So I am doing my best to also keep those things in mind.
The final four laps were completed with flippers on and although the first two felt great, the second two were brutal. I was a considerably worn down, but with the flippers to aid me through the end of the swim I was able to push myself and complete the workout that I set out it. And this made me feel great!
Conclusion:
A fantastic week of lower effort work, I was very pleased with my swimming efforts this week and am starting to understand that I have already camea long way with becoming more comfortable in the water. I ordered a swim nose plug and hopefully that will help with overcoming my fear of the water. I am looking forward to swimming next week with that! This upcoming week I want to try and accomplish a long run of around 120 minutes, all of which staying in zone 2. I understand that this will probably be more of a hike than a run, but I think it’ll be good to work on my form after breaking down.
The continuous pain in my knee I believe is coming from an improper bike fit, so I possibly will be staying off my bike and doing some long effort elliptical effort, or maybe just sticking to a stationary bike. I think it is also a good time to work in some strength work if I am doing long ellipticals for my heart. Seeing that I have not worked in any upper body in a very long time it might be a good idea to get those muscles working and allow the legs to rest. We still have a long ways to go before the triathlon and I want to make sure I am healthy and healed up when the time comes. It will be a good idea to see how long my knee takes to heal back to full strength.
Thanks for tuning in and I will see you next week!
