I was back in the pool again this morning. Since my riding on my bike has been very limited to almost nothing I have really kicked up my swimming. I was not sure how the body was going to respond to another big swim workout, but with a little mental toughness I completed another great workout – probably my best one of the week. My legs were sore from the run yesterday, but they loosened up once I got going.
I shared a lane with Brian who attends the Tri Swim club once a month with Coach Stacey and Tara. It was nice to share a lane with another tri guy. He also competed at the Muscatine Indoor Tri and he took off over a minute off his swim time from last year. When I started to doubt and almost quit the workout today I would see him swimming hard and that helped me stay motivated.
Warm Up
200 Free
200 Pull
100 Kick
4 x 25 gradual build – I swam each one at 15-16 secs with a short rest so I was going every 30 seconds. The plan called for @40, but that was too much rest. I felt good and I was happy to keep this pace for four sets.
2 x 300 @ 6:15 – I was not sure on my time at first, but after the first set I was way below the 6:15. I swam the first 300 in 4:55. The workout called for no more than 15 second rest. I rested slightly longer to get the clock at an even time. I took off again and swam the second set in 4:50. I was very happy with this time. I need to start to write these down on a chart so I can dial in my swim targets when I put the workouts together
4 x 200 @ ? – I cannot remember what the workout called for, but I know I only rest 10-15 seconds and my time was ahead of the planned workout. I swam each one between 3:05 – 3:10. After the second set I was dead tired and thought about quitting. I was very close and then I just forced myself to push off the wall and go again before I convinced myself. These sets were hard for me. I had to really dig. It was not hard physically, but mentally. My legs were quite tired by the third set, but I just kept trying to get in a calm and relaxed pace that allowed me push. I was glad I did not quit.
4 x 100 Pull – I was once again way ahead of the scheduled time. I swam these around 1:30 – 1:35 with 10-15 second rest. I really focused on rolling my shoulder out. Today I felt like I could actually feel myself roll. I don’t know if I actually was or not, but it sure felt like I was getting more roll and not being so flat. I was really focused on my arm and making sure I had a bend when pushing back. I felt good during these sets.
This was a tough workout and I feel best about accomplishing this particular one as it was my third big workout of the week and the hardest mentally. I am glad I did not quit and fought through the mind games.
Total Yardage: 2400 yards in 50 minutes
Stepping back to last night I headed to Healthy Habits Bike Shop after basketball practice to have my bike examined. I should have listened to my wife and Jeff Paul way back when I first tuned up my bike because I might not be in my current situation. The first thing the guys at Healthy Habits fixed was my bike seat. The seat had dropped over a inch since the initial tune up a few months back. Yes, I should have marked the seat position. No, I did not do that. Yes, I have it marked now and now my wife gets to chant, “I told you so” over and over.
That change in itself lead to a much more comfortable ride. I cannot believe how high my seat has been raised. It looks crazy, but feels so much better. He also adjusted my cleats in my shoes. This is all new territory so I had no idea what I was doing. Last, he double checked my knee and hip alignment and put everything back in balance. I rode for about 5 minutes afterwards pain free. I have not ridden pain free in quite some time. I hope this fixes the issue.
Coming home I was exhausted. Not sure if I did not eat enough or it is one of those weeks, but after dinner, time with the kids, and putting them to bed, Amanda and I found ourselves once again sleeping at 8 pm. We both needed a workout, but we told ourselves to relax for 5 minutes and the next thing you know it is 11 pm and Ava crying. Needless to say I did not get a bike ride or TRX in last night. Perhaps that was for the best.
Tonight I am going to test the bike out with a 30 minute ride of 100 cadence in a Zone 2 range. If all goes well I will then do a 60 minute ride on Sunday. I will get in my TRX workout tonight and again either Saturday or Sunday to maintain my training plans. I also need to get one more run in this weekend so I will run one loop with the Leadville guys. I am starting my base small and will gradually build myself back up. It is hard because I was doing so much more a few weeks back, but I need to play it safe right now and build slowly on all three sports.
The knee is feeling slightly better. I head to Kaminski today to get it worked out again. I hope by this time next week I am feeling back to at least 90% with stretching, lifting, and taking the work load nice and easy these next few weeks by building my aerobic base.
I am going to end this first week of my “real training” on a good note. I have a lot to still get done, but I will be GETTING IT DONE! I hope to get a few things up and posted soon on the blog. I have some exciting things to share so when the time is right I will let you know. Until then, keep focused on your goals and striving to make yourself the best you can be.
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