Training Week 8: 2/4/08 - 2/10/08

Planned Training
Monday - 2/4/08:
HAPPY 31ST BIRTHDAY TO ME! :)
AM - Swim = 3150 yd swim at 6am at Udall done
PM - none
Tuesday - 2/5/08:
AM - Bike = 1 hr 15 min trainer ride w/ Spinervals DVD done
PM - Run = 40 min, Swim = 1 hr Master's swim done
Wednesday - 2/6/08:
AM - Run = 50 min run done
PM - Bike = 3 hr ride after work done
Thursday - 2/7/08:
AM - Bike = 1 hr trainer ride w/ Spinervals DVD done
PM - Swim = 1 hr Master's swim done
Friday - 2/9/08:
Rest day!
Saturday - 2/10/08:
AM - RACE: Sedona 1/2 marathon (13.1 mile run) done
PM - none
Sunday - 2/11/08:
AM - Bike = 1 hr 40 min MTB ride on Sedona trails done
PM - none

Weekly S/B/R Compliance (based on BT training plan):
Swim = 193 min / 170 min = 113%
Bike = 419 min / 415 min = 100%
Run = 252 min / 250 min = 100%

Total SBR training time for Week #8 = 14.4 hrs

Monday, 2/4/08 Update:
Yesterday (Sunday) was a 5 hr ride. I rode with Johnny, who is always willing to go on long rides like this. We rode from my house up Tanque Verde to Sabino, then up to Sunrise to Oracle and out almost to Saddlebrooke II before turning around and doing the same route home. 80.45 miles total. We had some bad wind coming back on Oracle that fried the legs. Good practice for race day since it's probably going to be windy again.

This week I'll have to take PTO to fit all of this training in. I have several early mornings of the alarm going off at 4AM so that I can get on the trainer or get out to run. Ugh. I'm NOT a morning person, but it's the only way to fit all the workouts in before the race on Saturday. I'm banking on being able to sleep in the car on the drive up to Sedona on Friday. With the race on Saturday, I had to push my rest day to Friday. Normally it's on Monday or Tuesday. It's going to be a looooong week.

Since I'm following the same training plan as last year, and I'm OCD about logging all of my workouts on my Beginner Triathlete blog, here's how January of '07 training compares to January of '08:

January 2007 Totals:
Swim = 9 hr 35 min, 20,100 yards
Bike = 14 hr 17 min, 113.4 miles
Run = 8 hr 37 min, 39.65 miles

January 2008 Totals:
Swim = 13 hr 43 min, 36,361 yards
Bike = 30 hr 5 min, 392.4 miles
Run = 14 hr 51 min, 70.6 miles

Uh, yeah, that's a heck of a lot more. The difference is that this year I'm doing every single workout, and not skipping any. Last year I would skip 1-2 workouts a week, but would still get the long workouts in. It adds up. I'll have to do the same comparison for February & March.

Wednesday, 2/6/08 Update:
Here we are mid-week and I have 1 more day of getting up at 4AM. So far, so good this week. But man does it suck.

I've been seeing more of Coach Troy than my own husband. Coach Troy is also a two-timer as I did my Spinervals workout in the morning (4:30AM is WAY too early for Coach Troy, ugh), and came home after swim at night and Zac was on his mountain bike on the trainer. I made my dinner and packed while Zac had his Coach Troy time. He was doing 1.0, "No Slackers Allowed." Since I was in the kitchen, I could only hear a little bit, but I've noticed Coach Troy does a lot of yelling in that one.

I was out the door at 4:38AM today for my hour long run. I started my warm-up and turned around to get my cell phone, as I figured that was a good thing to have with me. I had 2 headlamps (1 on my arm), my dorky reflective vest, and my phone. It was FREEZING cold out, and I had only had 6.5 hrs of sleep so I was kind of in a daze. These are the random thoughts that go through my head on early morning runs in the dark:

• There are lots of owls in my neighborhood. Either that, or it was 1 owl that was following me hoping my light would shake up the mice.
• 4:30AM is too early for Coach Troy.
• This is good practice for the 24 hour mountain bike race coming up. Go outside in the dark and cold and do something (like running) that you don't want to do. That's how the race will be, but with a bike.
• I almost have enough data points to plot the viscosity of Shot Bloks vs. temperature. They do not freeze at 30°F, but sure are hard.

With all of these crazy morning and evening workouts this week, I've ended up in the following routine each day: Wake up crazy early, bike or run, shower, get ready for work, work, leave work early, do another workout, get home late, eat dinner, pack for the next morning, go to bed 30 min later than desired even though it's only 9:30PM. Repeat at 4AM the next morning. *sigh* Just one more day of this and then I get my rest day. Just gotta make it one more day!

Thanks to everyone for your comments! Makes me realize others actually read this, not just me. So that makes me accountable and makes me update it every week. :)