Training Summary 7/26 - 8/1

Note: my olympic distance tri is 8/22. And I'm out of town next week travelling. So now is the time to train hard :)

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Monday 7/26
Swim: 1 hr
goal: stroke training, w/reinforcement at easy pace.

• 1x25-50-75-100 catch up stroke
• 1x25-50-75-100 rolling side to side (driving w/hips)
• 1x25-50-75-100 side to side w/fistgloves
• 5x100 w/20 seconds rest, easy.
• 5x50 @ 1:00
• 2x100 w/20 seconds rest, easy.

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Tuesday 7/27

Swim: 1:10
goal: same as above

• 1x25-50-75-100 catch up stroke
• 1x25-50-75-100 rolling side to side (driving w/hips)
• 10x100 w/20 seconds rest, easy.

I noticed yesterday that I was averaging 1:48 or so doing easy 100s. This is sad b/c I was averaging 1:45 at the last tri I did, 1/2 mile swim. It's good because if I can improve efficiency, I can drop time easily.

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Wednesday 7/28
Run: 1:15
2 mi warmup run to track
15 minute mi @ 80% HR (157) TT: 1.99 mi = 7:32/mi
1/4 mile walk
1 mile all out @ 6:41
2 mi back home

This is the first 80% TT effort I've done. The goal is to get faster at the same sustainable HR. 7:32 was close to my 'best case scenario', I was hoping for 7:25 or so, and was actually at 7:20 pace before my HR started creeping up and I had to slow down. Note that 80% HR may not be accurate, I need to retest using a max HR test (these....suck)

The one mile hurt. Which was to be expected. But I don't think I pushed as hard as I could have, mainly because of lack of concentration. I was thinking about how much it hurt, not how I could run faster/with better form. I think a 1 mile on track interval, esp following the 80% effort TT, is a great mental training exercise, its hard, but short enough to not totally shatter me for the rest of the week.

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Thursday 7/29

slept in. Did some really minimal maintenance pilates. I really needed to sleep in after 2 late nights out. On the upside, it's always good to get beers and go to a Sounders game.

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Friday 7/30
27.06 mi bike ride,  1:22 total. The usual Mercer Island loop
20.2 mph first lap.
15.4 mph over the hill
18.8 mph around the north side of island
20.5 mph on backside of island

Aside from almost getting killed by some latte sipping soccer mom on the second lap, this was a fine ride. I'm generating reasonable power and settling into the position well.

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Saturday 7/31
Swimming 1 hr
1x250 (25+50+75+100) warmup focused on rolling hips
1x250 (25+50+75+100) warmup focused on extending arms forward and gliding
10x100 w/45 seconds rest. Focused on form not speed, was averaging 1:42, then slowed it down to 1:45 to keep focusing on form. Felt good and relaxed in the water. Breathing well on both sides for first 50, then on right side for last 50. Oh well. Really starting to feel like I'm driving from the hips.

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Sunday 8/1
Cycling. 38 mi 2:17, 16.9 mph. "Eastside Hills From Hell"
This is the east side of the lake washington route, out and back across the following major climbs:

• the col d'Killarney, a vicious 1/4 mile straight uphill grind rising from the lake like a bat out of hell.
• the col d'Kirkland, coming out of downtown Kirkland like a Lynwood girl in a bar fight,
• the col d'Juanita, a deceptively gentle start with a demoralizingly long ending.
• the col d'Holmes Point, a solid grind that follows a wild descent off of the top of Juanita.
• Then turn around, do the col d'Kirkland backside, which (I think) is worse than the frontside, 
• followed by the col d'Medina point, a brutal grind between the bowels of Kirkland and the posh avenues of fair Medina, followed by the backside of the col d'Killarney, which at this point in the ride is definitely worse than the frontside.

 Legs and lungs felt quite good today, I think the lunges on the TRX have helped give me that extra bit of power in the hills. This is the last ride I will do this week until (at least) Friday, because I'm going down to SanFran for business. I'll do some running and lifting there.

Weekly total: ~8.25 hrs trained. 

• 3 hrs swimming
• 4.5 hrs biking
• 1.25 hrs running