It's February - can you believe it? January feels both like a blur and like it took forever, all at the same time. Training this week was fine - the weather cooperated much more than it has in prior weeks. We got a little snow on Wednesday morning, but that did not interfere with my workout. Amy and I agreed that at this point, we are just slogging through the workouts and are not particularly pumped or inspired. We're not negative about it - we just view the workouts as something to do each day.
I should probably clarify a few things in my training recap post from last week. I reread it and it seemed a little whiney about the snow and weather. The issue isn't so much the snow or cold, per se, as I really don't mind the cold (even the polar-vortex-take-your-breath-away cold) and I have Yak Tracks (which are akin to snow tires for your sneakers) so I can run in the snow. The issue with the snow and ice is how it affects my ability to fit in my workouts. Between kids and work, fitting in my workouts each day requires a ton of advance planning. Everything is pretty tenuously balanced, but it works. So any change in schedule -- a snow day, a two hour delay, ice on the roads -- that shifts my already tenuously planned schedule throws everything off in a very bad way. Hard to explain, I guess, but I hope you will indulge me and allow me to freak out when that perfectly planned schedule sometimes goes awry. :)
Back to last week! Here's what I did.
Week 11:
Swam: 1:24 hours (4400 yards)
Biked: 4:02 hours (all on trainer)
Ran: 3:06 hours (21.12 miles)
Workouts:
Monday - swim
Tuesday - run with sprints
Wednesday - easy brick
Thursday - bike with intervals
Friday - easy run
Saturday - long swim & fast brick
Sunday - long bike and easy run
My workouts are following a pattern at this point. I pretty much know Monday is a swim day, Tuesday is a hard run, Wednesday is an easy brick, Thursday is a hard bike, Friday is a long easy run, Saturday is a two-a-day: swim and brick; Sunday is a two-a-day: run and bike. And repeat.
Tuesday's run was on the treadmill and believe it or not, it was a terrific run! I usually dread the tread but I guess I needed a good hard run that morning. My brick on Wednesday was not bad - the roads were a little snow covered and the air was absolutely freezing cold, but it was a good workout.
Friday - I love love loved Friday's run! I have been craving a "long" run lately so I asked my coach if I could do some longer endurance runs. He increased my weekly Friday runs by about 10 minutes each, on the condition that I run at my endurance pace and not too fast. So I had a 60 minute (which ended up being just shy of 7 miles) run on Friday at a very comfortable 9:03/mile pace. I absolutely needed that blissful 60 minutes of running. And it wasn't too cold, which was an added plus. See - look at my watch! And here I am. I love neon.
Saturday and Sunday were even better weather-wise. Sunday when I ran was a balmy 38 degrees! It felt like Spring. My 30 minute endurance run was way too short, so I pushed it to 35 minutes. I was so excited to lose a few layers - look at me here! Long sleeve tee, short sleeve tee over top, headband (no hat!!), and regular gloves. This was just the right mix for a very comfortable cool, but not cold, run. I literally just walked in the door so I am still shvitzing.
Looking ahead, my workouts are pretty similar to this week's with just more time added. More snow is predicted for today ... but luckily I have an early morning swim planned and can hopefully get it in before the weather gets really bad. Amy and Bill get a rest day ... I am incredibly jealous.
See you swoon,
The bright yellow sports wear rocks.
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