Happy 2020! Wow, I can't believe we are a week into the start of a New Year. The weather here has been unseasonably warmer than the past few years, although we have had a few days of steady rain. Nevertheless, training is going well and we are in good health.
On Monday last week, I welcomed a recovery day. When I have a recovery day, I take full advantage of it by getting a lot of work done in advance, catching up with to-do's around the house, enjoying a little extra time in the kitchen, taking Campy for extra long walks and not thinking at all about training. I sure do love my recovery days.
On Thursday, I recruited my swim partner Kristen to join me (and Karel) in a tough interval-focused swim. Kristen is extremely fast in the water so she is the perfect training partner for me to ensure that I don't slack in the water. She isn't training for any events (just training for life) so she keeps training fun for me. Plus, we have managed to find ways to have conversations in our rest intervals of 10-15 seconds. It must be a swimmer thing ;)
Thursday Swim (4400)
WU:
400swim/100 kick/300 pull/200 drill
400swim/100 kick/300 pull/200 drill
6x25's odds build free, evens fly on :30
MS:
30x100's
5/1
4/2
3/3
2/4
1/5
Alternating intervals aerobic base pace with threshold pace interval. We did a 1:30 cycle for the aerobic and 1:25 for threshold.
CD: 250 easy
We did this workout shortly after Karel and I did our morning run workout so I was a bit tired going into this but somehow found a way to enjoy this tough set. Karel had a bit of cramping in his feet (from running shortly before the swim) so he had to adjust the set a little (he also did his own intervals).
We did this workout shortly after Karel and I did our morning run workout so I was a bit tired going into this but somehow found a way to enjoy this tough set. Karel had a bit of cramping in his feet (from running shortly before the swim) so he had to adjust the set a little (he also did his own intervals).
As for the furry crew, Ella had a string of diarrhea on Sat and Sun so it was back to the vet for our little kitten. Luckily, all is ok and we just need to change her kitten food and keep her away from nibbling on Madison and Campy's food.
I can't believe how much our little Ella Bella has grown over the past few months. She was such a little malnourished birdy when we got her and now she pretty much rules our house with confidence, energy and cuteness.
Campy received his first rain jacket as a holiday gift from our friend/athlete Eedee. I thought he'd enjoy this gift so that he could comfortably go outside in the rain but we tried it out one day and Campy is still not a fan of water - in any form.
As for the changes he made:
-155 crank arms (from 165)
-Slightly higher front end position
-Narrow and forward elbows locked in the Wattshop ergo cups.
-High hand grip which allows him to drop the head down and rotate shoulders forward and be more narrow.
Thankfully, I didn't have to run off the bike and Bike + strength was my only workout of the day. My legs were toast trying to stay on Karel's wheel!
Karel had two bike fits throughout the week (one athlete from Massachusetts and one from Charlotte) so it was a bit of a busy first week of the year for Karel.
Also, we received a notification from Ironman that our Tri Club placed 3rd in Div IV in the World. We are so proud of our athletes for this accomplishment!!
To finish off the week, Karel joined me for my long run on the Green Valley Road Race course. While a very easy run for him, it was a bit challenging for me. We are planning to participate in the Green Valley 10-mile Road Race on Feb 8th. We have been wanting to run in this event for the past few years but we have always had something going on during the event weekend. The race course is extremely hilly (~1000+ feet of elevation gain) but it's also on the roads that we train on all the time. It'll be more like a training day for us with a little push from other runners. It is certainly a running race that rewards strong and resilient athletes and not so much about being "fast" - just my type of race!
Not only did we run the entire course but we also did a bit extra to make this my longest training run in a very long time! 13.9 miles an one hour and 50 minutes of running! There were some stops and reset breaks along the way but it was a challenging but great workout for me. And I loved having Karel as my rabbit to chase. After the run, we got a little work done on the computer and then went to the pool for one last swim workout for the week.
Sunday Swim (3600)
(we both wore our buoyancy shorts for this entire workout)
(we both wore our buoyancy shorts for this entire workout)
WU:
600 choice
600 choice
PS: 3x
w/ snorkel
4 x 25 sculling
into 100 smooth swim
Rest 5-10 sec.
MS:
600 snorkel, strap at 80%
4 x 25 strap strong
400 strap at 80%
6 x 25 strap strong
200 paddles at 85%
8 x 25 strap and paddles strong
10-15 sec rest.
PS:
3 x 200 at 85% and breathing every 3 strokes.
Rest 10 sec
CD:
150 EZ
150 EZ