IMWI training....going strong

I recently heard a great saying when it comes to training. 

Every workout should help you be more prepared for the next workout. 

I couldn't agree more. 

With our "train smart" approach to training, our goal is never to destroy the body. This is not limited to just putting training stress on the body with specific workouts but also with nutrition. No workout is performed without proper nutrition before, during and after workouts. Just to make myself clear, Karel and I never perform a workout without a snack before, sport nutrition during (powder in a bottle of water each hour) and some type of recovery snack or meal post workout. I just see no point in sabotaging a workout by not fueling properly to support the immune system, postpone fatigue and to enhance recovery. 

  Additionally, we never create a workout that is so "epic" that the human body can not recover within a short time frame. As an age group triathlete, time is not unlimited. It is important that in order to make consistent performance gains that we are not overstressing the body in one workout that we can not be equipped for another workout the next day. Certainly, there's exceptions to this rule such as well- designed training camps that place an intentional heavy load on the body to stress the body in a certain time frame. However, it would be a waste of time, money and energy if an athlete accomplished a big load, let's say, at a camp, and did not properly recover to make long lasting fitness gains. 

After Karel was finished with his 14 RETUL fits on Mon evening, we continued our trip just a bit more south to visit with my mom. 

Campy was SO happy at his resort, although it was a little different without my dad being present. This was the first time that Campy was in the house without both of his grandparents being there but not to worry, my mom gave Campy extra love. 

Weekly training update:

On Tues morning, we woke up without an alarm and had a good 90 minute spin.....in the pouring rain. We didn't plan for the rain but around 1:15 into our ride, the sky opened up so we turned around. It was a planned EZ spin as Karel's legs were completely toasted after being on his feet for 4 days with the fits. 

On Wed morning we had 10 hours of driving ahead of us so we didn't want to exhaust ourselves before our trip. We had an early bedtime on Tuesday so that we could get a solid 8 hours of sleep and we woke up with an alarm around 5:45am so that by 6:45am (enough time to digest a pre training snack and get the body going after dynamic stretching/campy walk) we were both out the door for a run (Karel and I do not run together because he is too fast for me). 

My set:
1 mile warm-up. Then stop and stretch it out.
2 miles steady running w/ 20 sec walk in between each mile. 

MS:
3 x 8 minutes (4 min @ ~6:50-7 min/mile, 4 min @ ~7:45-8 min/mile - under/overs, my fav). 1 min walk in between. 

Then cool down

Total: 6.5 miles

When we got back to SC, I made sure to spend a good 20 minutes stretching out my hips and back as I was getting a bit stiff in the car (especially with a chihuahua sitting on my lap when I wasn't driving)

On Thurs I sat an alarm at 5:45am and was at the Y (2 miles down the road) at 7am for a swim/strength workout. Although I can choose my own schedule as a small business owner, I typically need a good 60-90 minutes to answer emails in the morning (most from my west coast athletes) and I do not like to push my workouts back past 8am because I need a good 7-10 hours most days (weekends included) to get to all of my Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition to-do's. 

I started my morning with a great swim which I shared in a previous post and followed it with 30 min of full body strength (primarily legs and core). With IMWI being a challenging course, it requires a lot of power, not necessarily speed. Therefore, Karel and I are making sure our bodies are as strong as possible to take the 140.6 miles of stress on the body. I absolutely love being in the weight room even though most of my strength work is body assisted work (not machines). 

Karel and I wanted to do an EZ spin on the Swamp Rabbit Trail in the evening but it was raining so it was a good excuse to eat an early dinner at 5:30pm and get to bed before 9:30pm. 

On Friday morning, it was a cooler morning and the rain had stopped by the time we got to the Y at 7am. We did a great 3200 yard swim (the outdoor pool was chilly!):

500 swim warm-up
Pre set:
4 x 200's w/ fins (50 drill, 50 swim)
MS: 

3  x 100's (50 steady, 50 strong)
50 EZ
2 x 100's (25 steady, 75 strong)
50 EZ
1 x 100 (strong)
50 EZ
2 x 100's (25 steady, 75 strong)
50 EZ
3 x 100's (50 steady, 50 strong)

400 pull
8 x 25's - 10 strokes no breath, then EZ into the wall w/ 10 sec rest

After our swim, we did 30 min of strength work and we added in some plyo's as well as good core work. It was a great morning workout!

In the evening, Karel went for a bike ride and I went to the Y for a nice form focused run on the treadmill (4 miles) w/ 30 sec rest each mile) for the first two miles and then 10 minutes of 1 min "fast" w/ 30 sec rest. Then cool down. 

This morning we were SO excited to ride as there was no rain on the radar! 

However, it's been a while since we rode our normal routes and wow, did those hills grow since last week!!!

We did 75 miles and just over 4 hours with 5000 feet of climbing. It was another beautiful ride but I was super excited to be off my bike when I got home. 

Off the bike, 4 miles w/ 30 sec walk each mile. It was a fast run for me with just under 7:45 min/miles but it felt good as I was not going by pace but just RPE. 

So, there you have it - lots of progress, feeling strong and the countdown continues for IMWI!!

Happy training!

Thank you body!