Training Week 6: 1/21/08 - 1/27/08

Planned Training
Monday - 1/21/08:
Rest day!
Tuesday - 1/22/08:
AM - Swim = 1 hr swim at noon (3000 yds) done
PM - Run = 15 min, Strength = 1 hr weight routine at gym done
Wednesday - 1/23/08:
AM - none
PM - Run = 2 hr run (ride bus & run home from work) done
Thursday - 1/24/08:
AM - none
PM - Bike = 1 hr 20 min ride after work done
Friday - 1/25/08:
AM - Swim = 1 hr swim at noon (3600 yds) done
PM - Bike = 1 hr 30 min Spinervals trainer ride done
Saturday - 1/26/08:
AM - Bike = 2 hr 20 min ride done
PM - Swim = 1 hr swim at Udall (4000 yds) done
Sunday - 1/27/08:
AM - RACE = 10K Sun Run done
PM - Swim = 30 min recovery swim done

Weekly S/B/R Compliance (based on BT training plan):
Swim = 270 min / 270 min = 100%
Bike = 310 min / 310 min = 100%
Run = 246 min / 205 min = 120%

Total SBR training time for Week #6 = 13.8 hrs

Sunday, 1/20/08 Update:
This week appears to be the week of the swim. Oh joy. If you smell a strong odor of chlorine, it's me. The thing I dislike about swimming is that it's so boring. You can't talk to anyone while doing it, and rarely is there any music. The only time I get to hear music is when the aqua aerobics group is working out in the dive tank next to the lap lanes at Udall. The choice of music is usually pretty bad. But I guess it's good enough to swing a noodle over your head.

The challenging thing about scheduling this weeks workouts was the running. The Sun Run 10K is on Sunday, which will be a fast run. So that means I need to get my long, slow run done mid-week to have enough time to recover for the race that weekend. That puts the 2 hr long run on Wednesday. Normally my long runs are on the weekends when I can run in the daylight. Mid-week I have to run after work, which gets into night (and cold). So I came up with this plan: There is a Sun Tran bus that leaves work at 3:45PM and I can ride it to the stop at Speedway and Alvernon. The bus drops off there at 4:18PM. I can then run up Alvernon to Lee, run down Lee St to Wilmot, run up Wilmot to Tanque Verde, and run down TV to home. I'll get stuck in some dark, but I'll be pretty close to home. I'll have my headlamp with me for the dark. I'll have Zac drive me into work that morning and then change at the gym after work to head out for the run. I'll be getting on the bus in my running gear, but oh well.

I haven't ridden a Sun Tran bus since the 9th grade. We had to take the bus down to the Temple of Music & Art to see plays for my English class. One time this group of girls got on when we hit a downtown stop, and they drug this other girl onto the bus. They got her bus pass out of her pocket and threw her down on a seat in the back of the bus. Needless to say she was drunk and high on everything. Sure enough, not long after she got on the bus she barfed everywhere down the center walkway. All of us grabbed our bookbags and started yelling and screaming. We begged the driver to pull over (which they don't like to do) and kicked the girl and her posse off. We got to the Ronstadt center and all of us scrambled to get off without touching the center lane. We just wanted off of that freakin' bus. Yep, that's what I remember of 9th grade English class. I can't recall what play we saw that day, though.



Friday, 1/25/08 Update:
I have had to shuffle workouts like crazy this week. Mon & Tues got flipped, and yesterday I didn't make it to Master's swim due to a UA game. I didn't know there was a game going on, and got stuck in traffic as they reserve the parking around the pool. Plus, I wasn't parking anywhere within a 5 mile radius of the campus because of the mad mess of people. It was too late to hit the city pool, so I went home and grabbed the MTB and did a night ride with Zac up Reddington Rd and did 1 hr 20 min, which was Sunday's ride. So now I need to swim Fri, Sat, & Sun, and a storm is supposed to move in. The city pools close during storms, so it's going to be iffy. I may be able to swim at ARC since it has a tent cover over the pool and they may allow swimming in storms. I need to call to be sure.


Wednesday's 2 hr run went well. I changed at the gym at work and left everything in my Jeep for Zac to take home, since we carpooled in together. I got on the bus in my running shorts and gear (headlamps, rear blinky light, the whole getup), and I'm sure people were wondering what the heck I was doing since they were all leaving work. I rode the bus to Speedway & Alvernon, then ran home. It was perfect weather for running, and I only got rained on a few times. My right knee is getting sore from running, and I'm sure it's from the increased mileage. I'm pretty much running through the pain and hoping it will go away soon. I know you're supposed to rest when this kind of stuff creeps up, but I'd rather not miss any workouts. I can rest after April!


Here's my running route from Wednesday night. Total of 12.75 miles.

Saturday, 1/26/08 Update:
Today I did a 2 hr 20 min hilly ride, climbing up Freeman, riding the Saguaro East Loop, climbing Catalina Hwy to Mt. Lemmon Short Rd, and climbing Ft. Lowell. Then I had the joy of doing a 4000 yd swim workout right after. I'm not exactly thrilled about swimming, especially swimming that far. Boy did it suck. Here was the workout:

Warm-up: 100 swim, 100 kick, 100 pull, 8 x 50 w/ 10 sec rest between each
Main: Descending ladder w/ 1 min rest between each
1000, 800, 600, 400, 200, 100
Cool down: 200 kick

I got the 1000 done and thought "Well, at least I got the hardest one done early." By the 600 I was getting tired. After all, I had done the hilly bike ride right before this workout. By the 400 things were getting bad, the 200 I was hating life and everything having to do with swimming, and the 100 was a slow "try not to drown" mess. My arms and body were so tired after that. Not to mention I was freakishly hungry. All I had was 2 bottles of Infinit mix on the bike and a Clif bar before the swim. I thought I was going to pass out and the lifeguards would have to fish me out of the lane.

The 2.4 mile Ironman swim converts to 4224 yards, so this workout was pretty close. The whole thing took me about 1 hr 28 min to complete, which means nothing compared to the actual IM swim, and no race swim time can be extrapolated from this. That swim involves wearing a wetsuit, navigating for invisible buoys while the sun is in your eyes, and getting run over and pummled by 2000 other wetsuit-clad people. Needless to say, all of those extracurricular activities in open water adds quite a bit of time. In my case 20 minutes to half an hour. Maybe.

On the schedule for tomorrow (I refuse to use the term "on tap" like the weatherman, as it's an overused term and just plain silly...we're not drinking and partying to the weather) is the Sun Run 10K (6.2 mile) run and a 30 min swim. MORE SWIMMING! As much as I dislike the thought of swimming yet again tomorrow, I'm hoping it doesn't rain like the bartended weather man said and the pool will be open. I've become OCD in getting all 100% on my training plan, and I don't want it to get screwed up from bad weather. So the weather can roll in after 2pm.