End of Cycle 1

Last week’s workouts:

Mon:  Bike 40 minutes – main set = 6x20 sprints

Tue:  Swim 1,300 yards – main set = 10x25 sprints

Wed:  Run 5 miles (easy pace – 10:04/mile)

Thu:  Swim 1,300 yards – main set = 6x100 yards; Bike 45 min, easy pace (11.5 miles)

Fri:  Swim 1,300 yards (endurance swim); Bike 30 miles

Sat:  Run 40 minutes – main set = 6x20 sprints (9:53/mile)

Sun:  Run 6 miles (long run pace, 10:21/mile)

Total miles = 69.57

Last week's Try Tri

My wife was out of town from Tuesday-Sunday cavorting around Germany, so my schedule was all over the place.  I moved a bike workout to my rest day, moved my long swim/ride to Friday (took the day off from work), and switched Friday’s run to Saturday.  Add that to the other things that go on in our lives, such as volleyball tournaments, school ceremonies, baseball games, and air shows.  The result of all of the above was a crazy recovery week.

Boo - 4,800 miles is too far away!

Ready for the Gold N ceremony at school 

 

Emily's first volleyball tournament 

The Blue Angels! 

Last week marked the 4^th week of formal training, which means I am 20% of my way through the schedule.  So far, I have logged 8.7 swim miles, 194.3 bike miles, and 60 run miles – not that anyone’s counting.  The way the training calendar works is that you build up mileage in weeks 1-3, and then the 4^th week is a recovery week where the distances drop down to allow your body to recover and heal.  This cycle repeats itself 5 times.

So the good news is that I am through the first training cycle.  The bad news is that it’s about to get real.  By the end of the next cycle, my long workouts will include a 2,300 yard swim, 50 mile bike (+ 10 min. run brick), and 11 mile long run.  After that, my recovery week will exceed the demands of any of weeks I’ve had to date.

The only “new” things in my training routine this week were the addition of PowerBar Perform and Bonk Breaker bars to my long ride.  These are the drinks/nutrition that will be on the race course.  I have been able to tolerate changes in this area fairly well, so I will keep experimenting over the course of training to find out what gives me the best results.

Found another STL 250th birthday cake

My bike is purring these days

I also added arm coolers from CEP to my long ride and long run this week.  These are non-compression arm sleeves that are designed to protect from the sun, and to cool your skin.  These felt weird as soon as I put them on - you can immediately feel the cooling effect.  They feature 50+ UPF and they react with water/sweat to cool your skin by up to 6 degrees.  I am certainly planning on using these for Louisville, and I'm looking for an under-helmet head wrap with the same technology.

110 days to go