Where I'm At

Self coaching myself these days requires that I read a lot more. I am currently reading "Run Faster" and "Time Crunched Cyclist".  Both are good books but not sure if the training for the Time Crunched Cyclist is appropriate for Triathletes.  The program call for 4 days of cycling which is fine but all of the workouts are intense. Maybe a bit too intense.  Still, I found some excellent training tips and workouts to try that I did like. The 3x12 minutes steady state ride makes those short 1 hour workouts go by pretty fast.  Run Faster talks about adaptive running.  Very interesting stuff.

I feel as though I am stronger than I have felt over the past 2 years.  The last 2 years were very difficult with my sleep issues and feelings of being tapped out during or after workouts.  With some encouragement I recently I had my ferriten levels checked and have since upped my iron intake. 

Did you know that as endurance athletes we loose iron when our feet hit the ground?  The iron is literally pounded out of the bottom of our feel and can leave us feeling fatigued. Strangely I started sleeping more soundly as well as feeling less tired.

My swim class is great.  Kim Goodwin, the swim instructor, has corrected just a couple of issues with my stroke. I know I'll have a better swim this time around.  In my time trial that I did on my own I swam my 1000 well under 19 minutes. That is a huge improvement for me.

My biking - well. I'm' not sure.  I am working hard on my biking but I haven't seen the times come down yet. The jury is still out on my biking.   I am getting in my long rides but they are not that fast.  Only 16 mph. My short rides are more intense and faster.   I got refitted and added inserts to my biking shoes. I feel better as a result and now I just need to feel faster.   As part of my training I'm going to ride the Patriot course in two weeks with Kelly Gill.

Yesterday's workout was a long run of 12 miles in zone 2-3 except for 20 hard minutes in zone 4-5a.  Since I am in Florida and the average temp is 80 degrees I broke it down to 3 x 4 miles to reach 12 miles. That way I could stop, drink, pour water over my head or do what I felt necessary.  I decided to so the 20 hard minutes at the end since I knew I would not be able to get my HR down if I had run hard in the middle of the run.

The first loop was easy. Zone 1.9.  The second loop was fine but towards the end I was feeling overheated.  So when I stopped after the 2nd loop I took extra time, poured cold water over my head, and put down the ipod.  I was really paying attention to how I felt and wanted to make the right decision.   'Should I continue in this heat or call it a day?'  I had one 4 mile loop left and still had to do my 20 minutes in zone 4-5a.  I decided that I still felt good enough so off I went.  I built up to zone 3.5 within the first mile so that it would feel gradual getting to zone 4 and 5a.  I felt really good actually. The cold water had cooled me off quite a bit so I picked up the pace to reach zone  Zone 4 - 4.7  in miles 10 and 11.   The last mile was hard and I was feeling really hot but that was expected. I reached Zone 5.2 and  held that pace for the last mile.  I was really happy that I was fit enough to get this workout done in the heat without over doing it.

Today I get to swim in an outdoor lap pool - Tonight Ruth's Chris!