Training Week 3: 12/31/07 - 1/6/08

Planned Training
Monday - 12/31/07:
AM - Run = 40 min done
PM - Swim = 1 hr Master's swim done
Tuesday - 1/1/08:
Rest day! Happy New Year! New Year's Resolution = stick to the training plan!
Wednesday - 1/2/08:
AM - Run = 1 hr done
PM - Swim = 1 hr Master's swim done
Thursday - 1/3/08:
AM - Bike = 1 hr 10 min done
PM - Swim = 1 hr Master's swim (make-up swim) done
Friday - 1/4/08:
AM - Swim = 1 hr Master's swim done
PM - Run = 1 hr 20 min done
Saturday - 1/5/08:
AM - Bike = 1 hr 30 min (minimum) ride. Will do the 24 Hrs in the Old Pueblo MTB course. done
PM - Strength = core workout
Sunday - 1/6/08:
AM - Bike = 3 hrs done

Weekly S/B/R/ Compliance (based on BT training plan):
Swim = 231 min/190 min = 121%
Bike = 355 min/340 min = 104%
Run = 217 min/180 min = 120%

Total SBR training time for Week #3 = 13.4 hrs

Monday, 12/31/07 Update:
Every week I look at the plan and think "it's not that bad." But when you stick to the plan and do every single workout it wears you down. I think that's the toughest part...sticking to the plan and not bailing out on any swim, bike, or run workouts. I used to bag at least one workout a week. Not anymore! That one workout could mean the difference in 6 minutes on the course. I also run and bike if it's terribly windy out. I figure that gives me lots of practice for race day no matter what the weather throws at me.

Today there was ICE on the pool deck at NOON. What the hell? I thought this was Tucson, dang it! I got in and swam anyways, like an idiot. Speaking of swimming, I'm adding an extra day of swimming on Saturday. The training plan calls for a 2300 yd swim on Monday (I did 2800 yds), then 3250 yds and 4200 yds later in the week. You can tell this plan was written by a swimmer. But I know my swim volume isn't up there yet after only being back in the pool after 2 consistent weeks. 4200 yds is pretty close to the Ironman swim distance of 2.4 miles (4224 yds), which I am NOT ready for after 2 weeks. I can probably do about 3000 yds in a single workout, but that would be it and it would be ugly at the end. Anything more than that would be disasterous, and would require lifeguards using that hook on a pole thingy to drag me up from the bottom of the pool. And I don't want to touch the bottom of the pool. Let me give you this little mental image. The bottom of the UA Hillenbrand pool is FREAKIN' NASTY. There are hundreds of swimmers that go through that pool a day. There are several hairball "jellyfish", random band-aids, kleenexes, and sometimes other fiberous materials (I shudder to think what) at the bottom of that pool alog with mysterious black spots. So I'd like to avoid touching the bottom of that thing. Oh, back to the training plan. So I'll be doing my usual 3 swims of the 1 hr Master's workouts, and add another 1 hr Master's swim workout on Saturday to catch-up the yardage. So the total weekly swim volume will stay the same. This is all perfectly legal. Ignore the man behind the curtain.

Tomorrow is a rest day! So glad...I seriously need it.

Thursday, 1/3/07 Update:

I've shuffled around some workouts. I found out Butz Jeans and Piece by Piece Wear is having a sale Saturday morning, so I'll be going to that to use the gift card Zac got me and get some stylin' stuff. This is the serious fashion stuff, like what you see on Project Runway and whatnot. Stuff that they use words like "fierce" to describe. I'll change into my mountain bike gear there (Julie won't mind...he he) and then we'll head to the meeting point for the 24 hr course ride.

Since I was going to swim on Saturday morning before the ride, I decided to swim today and hit the noon Master's swim. I'll be going to the 6AM swim tomorrow, because there is some big college swim meet and they'll be using the pool at noon. So that means another wonderful morning of getting up at 4:45AM to put on a swimsuit and get in the frigid pool. I hope the temperature outside is above freezing this time. I feel like I'm living at the pool and I'm always swimming. I constantly smell like chlorine no matter how much lotion I put on. Then it just smells like flowers + chlorine.

I'm off to put on a new shorter stem for my Blur mountain bike. I've moved the seat back and that stretches me out in the cockpit, causing lower back pain. So I visited Mike at ABE and he gave me a 70mm stem to switch out. I just need to bring the old one back in. Very cool. It will give me an excuse to wash the bike, which is still filthy from the Dawn 2 Dusk race. Yes, I'm a very very bad bike mommy. But it's a mountain bike dang it, and it's not supposed to be clean. Still, this is excessively dirty. I'll throw the new stem on and try it out on Saturday's ride. I'm looking forward to hitting some trails after being stuck on the tri bike so much this week. Why can't they have an off road Ironman? Wait, they probably do. And I'm not stupid enough to Google it. Yet.

My purty new Blur (back when it was clean):