Week 8

Monday - rest

We spent Monday packing up the campsite on a rainy morning, loading up the car, making the 3.5 hour drive home, unloading, tackling several loads of laundry and then crashing on the couch. No energy for anything more!


Tuesday - run + swim

I expected to sleep like a rock back in my own bed after three nights camping, but I ended up having a horrible sleep Monday night. I tossed and turned and woke up several times, which rarely happens to me. With a 4am wake-up, I got maybe 3 hours of sleep and getting up early to run was not so appealing. Luckily I had plans to meet Juliana, so I crawled out of bed before I could convince myself otherwise.

Normally Tuesday would be a speed work + medium-long day, but I shuffled things around this week and was definitely glad of that when I set out in my zombie state. I got in a nice 10K with J in light drizzle before taking off early to make it to the pool (since I had missed my usual Monday morning swim).

10.3KM (6.4mi) - 58:33 - 5:41/KM (9:08/mi)

I took a workout from this 0 to 1650 swim plan. I've been feeling like a need a bit more structure in my swim workouts to urge me to go farther. This plan actually starts at less distance than I have been swimming, but it increases quickly so I decided to follow along for week 1 and go from there if it was a good fit. Nothing too exciting to report on the swim - felt good.

700m: 4 x 100, 4 x 50, 4 x 25 [I did 2 x 50 for the 25s]



Wednesday - run + bike + run + run + swim

Started the day with my run + bike + run practice du.

run: 5.0KM (3.1mi) - 28:58 - 5:47/KM (9:19/mi)
bike: 29.1KM (18.1mi) - 1:05:53 - 26.5 kph (16.5 mph)
run: 5.0KM (3.1mi) - 26:09 - 5:13/KM (8:10/mi)

After work I went for another 5K run and then to the pool with hubs to complete this epic day!

run: 5.0KM (3.1mi) - 27:45 - 5:33/KM (8:55/mi)
swim: 1000m - 2 x 50 W/U, 4 x 100 Free, 4 x 50 Free, 1 x 100 pull + 4 x 50 pull

I am really, really loving the pool. Especially when it's not busy and we get a lane to ourselves!



Thursday - run [med-long + speed work]

After the big day on Wednesday, I was not expecting much out of my legs for this run, and I was right. To be honest, I was pretty pleased they showed up at all! It was a hot and muggy evening - nothing like laps around the track in soup disguised as air.


The plan: 2 x 1600 at tempo pace (~7:15), 2 x 1600 at 15s (/KM) faster than tempo (~6:50)

I was pretty certain those ambitious goals would not come to fruition, but set out to do the best I could.

7:15 - 7:18 - 7:33 - 7:41

The first two went okay, but I had nothing left in the tank to maintain (let alone pick it up!) for the next two. It was temping to call it quits but I went into survival mode, determined to finish the ^$&% workout no matter how much I had to slow down.

I was a sopping wet and exhausted mess by the time we got back to the store. 

21.0KM (13.0mi) - 1:56:43 - 5:33/KM (8:55/mi)




Friday - run [recovery] + bike + swim 

On Thursday night Juliana and I made plans to meet at our usual 5am, unless the predicted thunderstorm rolled in. Ia actually went to bed hoping for thunderstorms in the morning... no such luck - just another muggy morning instead. 30C/86F humidity before sunrise is not cool! I got up and reminded myself that I could sleep in on Saturday, completely pooped and knowing it was going to be a tough one. It turned out J was feeling the same way, so we kept it extra slow and survived with the help of a couple walk breaks and some sprinklers along the path.


10.0KM - 1:03:42 - 6:22/KM (10:15/mi)


After work hubs and I went for a bike ride. My legs were still trashed and I had a heck of a time getting up some of the hills, but I made it. I'm getting braver going downhill and riding on the road; amazing what a difference a few weeks can make.

23.0KM (14.3mi) - 56:52 - 24.3kph (14.1mph)

Later in the evening, we headed to the pool - clearly it is the place to be on Friday night! I had a great relaxing swim and it was the perfect way to unwind after a busy week.

800m: ‎2 x 50, 1 x 400 pull, 1 x 100, 4 x 50 alternating pull/free



 
Saturday - run + swim

Hubs and I drove to the lake and went for a short recovery run before cooling off in the water. It was scorching hot when we headed out at noon, so finishing at the lake was perfect. My legs weren't as heavy as I expected them to be, so I was just hoping they'd be good for Sunday's long run.

I was excited to try my new wetsuit and tucked my Garmin into my cap in a ziploc bag to record the distance. There is a great buoy line all the way across this lake that a lot of the local swimmers use. I started at the beach instead of where the line begins, so I chose a big buoy somewhere in the middle and planned to swim there and back.

I got into a groove easily and had a very comfortable swim. I was able to sight using the buoy on the way out and swam a pretty straight line, but I had a heck of a time seeing where I was going on the way back (nothing to sight from the shore) - clearly illustrated on this map.

When I got out of the water and checked my Garmin, I was surprised to see that I had covered 560m. No breaks and no panics - this gave me a lot of confidence for my upcoming events (400m, 750m) since I'm pretty sure I could have comfortably gone quite a bit farther today.

Sunday - long run + bike

Sunday morning was our group long run. We started nice and early (before sunrise), but it was already muggy. I know I sound like a broken record, but I am over summer running! I set out with my group and did not feel good from the start. The first 10K pretty much sucked and I thought I was in for a looong morning. I needed to pee and ducked into a port-o-potty on a construction site - I sent my companions ahead and told them I'd meet them at our designated water stop. I started feeling better after that and caught up to someone else who was struggling quite a bit. I tried to keep him going and we eventually made it to the pit stop.

After water refills and some fresh watermelon (mmmm!), we were off again and I was able to meet up with another pace group to tag along with for the last 10K. We had a heavy but brief rainfall, which was actually refreshing, but left behind even worse humidity in the air. The last couple K were a bit of a slog, but I made it and was happy to finish off my first 20+ miler of this training cycle.

The post-run brunch and pool party made it all worth while! I went straight into the pool in my running clothes and it felt great!

32.4KM (20.1mi) - 3:01:33 - 5:36/KM (9:01/mi)

That afternoon we met up with 3 friends for a nice and easy bike ride around the 'hood, followed by a great BBQ. Spinning out our legs on an easy ride felt like a good way to shake out long run kinks and soreness. Pretty much a perfect Sunday, if you ask me...

15.0KM (8.7mi) - 45:03 - 20 kph (12.4 mph)




WEEKLY TOTALS

Total Run Distance: 92.8 KM (57.7mi)
Total Run Time: 8:47:02
Average Run Pace: 5:40/KM (9:08/mi)

Total Bike Distance: 67.1 KM (41.7mi)
Total Bike Time: 2:47:48
Average Bike Speed: 24 kph (14.9 mph)

Total Swim Distance: 3060m
[Approximate] Total Swim Time: 1:27:00

Total Training Time:  13:01:50