Tri Chat: Getting In The Groove

As I write this, I keep checking on my Wolfpack teammates and other friends who are finishing up IronMan Brasil.  They are doing so amazing that it inspires me to go out there and hit the road.

But my wise advisor says hold back.  I had a 12 mile progressive run last Saturday.  In theory it went like this: for six miles, run each mile five seconds faster than the previous one until you hit your race pace at mile six.  Reality went like this: the only progressive thing about my run is that it got progressively worse!

The first three tempo miles went well, but I’m not particularly good at pacing and began running too fast and blew it.  I couldn’t keep up the pace.  Then my groin muscles began to hurt and things went downhill.   I need to pay attention to my run, and give it some dedication.  In fact, I need to balance out how much effort I put into each sport.  When I need to wake up early on Sunday for a bike ride, I wake up happy and pumped.  When I need to do the same for a run, it is a monumental effort to get out of bed.  I’ll get there. Though I am happy I finished the twelve miles and have returned to longer runs.  That gives me a bit more confidence for my half in July.

So this week was pretty good, I did 90% of my training plan and that is good enough for right now.

Here it goes:

Monday: BIKE: Spinning – a 45 minute climb.

Tuesday: RUN: Tempo run that began outside and finished inside on a treadmill thanks to thunder and lightning.

Wednesday: BIKE: Spinning – Vo2 like sprints

Thursday: SWIM – long sets of kicking and pulling.  My favorite (and I am not being ironic at all)

Friday: Unexpectedly off… again.

Saturday: RUN: 12 mile progressive run followed by 30 mins on the bike

Sunday: BIKE: 2 hours that should’ve been followed by a run but I skipped it as I may have pulled a muscle on Saturday and am giving it time to heal.

Oh! And there is strength training.  Yeah, that is not happening yet.  But I am committed and it will get done.  June 1st begins my official IronMan training (#IMTraining).  By then I will be self-employed and with a lot more flexibility.  I will get a little breathing room, something I haven’t had for a while and will turn the notch up on the groove that I began this week.