a hard week so far

Monday morning I did some strength which was a quick workout of maybe 20-25 mins. I was wiped Monday night, so no swim, which I bumped till Tuesday AM.

So Tuesday AM with a ton of sleep, I had zero motivation to get to the pool, but I went anyways and had to share a lane until one opened up. I moved over, swam a bit, until grandma, who was loaded with stinky, perfume hopped in (without asking!). I hopped out quickly and called my swim done early.

Then last night we were put through the ringer again on the bike through these 7, 30 second increasing intensity intervals. We started out @ threshold pace for 30 seconds, then increased the intensity over 7 notches until the 7th interval was all out. We were almost puking by the end. Then he threw 2 more 15 second all out intervals on top of that! Then we did 6 min @ threshold pace with 30 second ups and 15 second all outs.

I felt like I had been climbing for 3 hours after that workout.

Finally, this morning I got outside for a 3.35 mile recovery run. I felt sore @ first which was expected, but it never went away. I actually felt the worst and most sore by the end of it. Now my hamstrings are totally shot.

Tonight I have my next swim clinic starts. Hopefully swimming will loosen my legs back up.

Then tomorrow AM first thing I have kettles and bells class. "Its paaaaaarty time!"

long(er) outdoor ride and a suprise long week

Did 2 hours or a 30 mile ride this morning in some really nice 50 degree weather. I was riding with 2 others who were on their first ride of the season, so we went easier. I did hit a hill where I put out a max of 809 watts. haha!

Here is my graph:

and route with elevation:


And for the week I put in over 9 hours of work, with that being 3400 yards (not great), 80 miles of riding (improving) and 20 miles of running (new record). Things are ramping up, finally, and I can already feel myself going longer, except in the pool, which is a different matter and I think is more mental than physical. I am starting my next swim workshop this Wednesday, so that will hopefully get the motivational juices flowing in the pool.

3rd longest run ever

I squeaked out 8.56 miles this morning during a run. That would be my 3rd longest run ever to data, and my longest this year. I did it in about 1:20 and change, so around a 9:30 min/mile average. The beginning of the run hurt a lot as my hamstrings were complaining. I knew that as soon as I went up one hill that things would even out. Well that one first big hill kicked my ass and I was moving VERY slow up it, or a 12 min/mile pace, with my HR getting up to around 180 bpm. Overall my HR was in the zone 2/low zone 3 range, except for those hills where my HR would get up into zone 4.

A very successful run!

long swim, weights, and bike

Last night I did a 1 hour tortuous swim. Have I mentioned that swimming is boring?

Then this morning it was back up and @ it with a 30 min strength workout then onto the stationary for 30 mins.

Blah.....just a whatever day.....same with tomorrow. Maybe I will run outdoors tomorrow morning, if it is higher than 15 degrees.

all time best @ spin class

Oh man tonight was brutal. We did a descending set of intervals, starting out @ 6 mins @ time trial pace then decreasing the time by 1 min but increasing resistance. You can see on the graph below what happened. I had a hard time maintaining each interval but I went all out on the last interval of 1 min. The data shows that I put in an all time best on the trainer by putting up 800 Kj of work.



After that 1 min all out effort my legs just felt stupid. Easy spinning was a chore for a few minutes until my senses started to come back. I was beat!

Then this morning I hopped onto the dreadmill for 30 mins. Blah!

went outdoors today!

It hit 48 degrees today and it was sunny with little wind, which means......

I went outside today! I did a slow paced 24 miler over 90 something mins. My legs were pretty trashed from yesterday's race. Wait, I did a race yesterday? It already feels a week ago....wow!

My power graph for today's ride is nuts:

I did hit a peak power of 801 watts going up the hill to work. I stood up and cranked it pretty hard....745 watts is one horsepower, so I am proud to say that I put out 1.0751677852348993288590604026846 horsepower!

Then tonight I hopped into the pool for 38 mins. I was doing mostly kick on my back drills and I used my paddles for some 50's. Man they make a HUGE difference!

my fastest run pace EVER

This morning's chilly 4 mile race around central park was a fast one for me. I did 32:40 over 4.05 miles, or an 8:04 min/mile pace average. That is the fastest I have EVER gone by 25 seconds. The run hurt like heck, but at least that hurting turned into some speed!

I started a bit smarter this morning by picking up my bib early but then hunkering down in a Starbucks up on 96th street. Then with 40 mins till race time I ran from 96th to the start on 72nd street, or a 1.4 mile warmup. I felt suuuuuuper slow during the warmup, but it was enough to get the blood going.

I started this race in a faster corral to avoid the slow people getting in the way. Even in the faster corral it was the same story all over again, except it was WORSE this time! WTF!?!? I might start in an ever FASTER corral next race. Why do people who run 10 to 11 min/mile paces say that they run 8:30 min/mile paces? It doesnt make sense!

After the race I walked across the park then ran from 76th street to 86th street to cool down. My warmdown was at a faster pace than my warmup and my heart race was slower. Amazing what happens when your muscles are greased and ready to go.

My mile splits went as follows:
8:14
7:52
8:06
8:06



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