Tag: week 2

Right, where were we? I'd knocked out 4 workouts on Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday went as planned, 11.6km outside run in the cold and dark. It felt really easy, as evidenced by my HR average of 136, but the average pace was a decent 5:18 so that will do for my easy run.

On Thursday I was at the gym again. I did some strength work on the legs and the triceps, before getting on with my hilly treadmill run. I failed on this run last week, so I was happy to have fairly cruised through it this time. There was one very brief stop, but that was only because my shoelace came undone. It was still a hard effort, but I think and hope I can do this exact workout a few times more, before trying to increase the pace a little.

On Friday I went to Taubertsbergbad straight after work. I'm under no allusions about my swimming, it is pretty rubbish, but I am trying to build into it instead of knocking out 3k now and never wanting to swim again, I started with 1.6km last week, then 1.7 and this time 1.8km. I was experimenting with holding my breath for longer underwater, instead of immediately exhaling. Having the air in my lungs should keep me more buoyant, which in turn should improve my body position. I felt like there was something to this, but I wasn't feeling comfortable with it. I will keep trying. I did 100m sets, almost all around the 1:52 mark, the fastest was a 1:47. I turn like a boat, so I don't think I am faster in a 25m pool than a 50m one!

Yesterday should have been long cycle day, but it was blowing an absolute gale, so I ended up doing 90 minutes on the trainer whilst watching 'Remember the Titans'. It wasn't exciting, but a decent workout too. I am getting worried at the prospect of 250km early in April, I need to get some long outdoor rides in in the next few weeks.

Today I ran a bumpy 30km route. Pretty much everything that made last weeks long run bad, didn't happen this week! No toilet breaks and no chafing, I also didn't really fatigue too badly. It was really windy, and at times I wanted to head home and settle on 25km or so, but when it looked like my route was going to get me back after 28km, I decided to both go further and speed up! I plan to add something to my long runs, i.e. 1 fast km, 1 slow km and sustained efforts at marathon pace, but today's one was a good one, especially considering it wasn't flat at all!

https://www.strava.com/activities/239657438

Weight: 79.0kg (down 0.9kg to a record low for me since I was about 17 years old!)
Running: 65km (123km for the year)
Cycling: 70km (98km for the year)
Swimming: 3.5km (5.1km for the year)

I’m bored at work, so here is a midweek update.

On Monday I wasn’t feeling it much, I was hungry after work, but as Quatchy was already at the gym, I kind of had to go in too! I was happy I did though, I did 1 hour on the spinning bike, it’s not the most exciting thing in the world, but I found the 25 minutes moderate difficulty followed by 5 minutes easy not too bad.
To keep the marathon training ticking over I did an easy 5km on the treadmill at 11kmh without any incline. I think that if I hit my 3 workouts (1km intervals, hilly intervals and long run) every week, I will only do really easy runs outside of those.

On Tuesday I was more motivated and went straight to the gym and went for the 7x1km intervals. It was done exactly as I planned, 15km/h for the 1km interval, 8km/h for 250m as a rest. The first few were easy, the last ones were quite tough, but manageable. I had to rush to get home, eat and leave the house to go swimming. Swimming was pretty good too. I tried to use my legs more consistently and really reach out with my hands. I was generally doing 50m sets with a short rest. I was seeing some 48 second 50m lengths in the middle, with one 47 seconds. It started fading off towards the end though, so I think the 1.7km was enough for the day.

The plan for the rest of the week looks similar to what wrote last time, today: run outside easy. Thursday hilly treadmill intervals w/strength esp swimming muscles. Friday Cycle and leg strength. Saturday – At least swim, possibly add in a outdoor cycle. Sunday – long run 30km or so.

Lets see how this week goes and maybe change things around for a better fit next week.

The diet is going well. On Monday I ate a few chocolates and a bit of cake at work, otherwise I haven’t eaten badly at all.

(note to self: I need to take the 19:16 Straßenbahn to the Pool and either the 20:58, or 21:28 bus back home, getting in at 21:38 or 22:08)