Week #4

This was a great week and I broke a barrier I didn't even plan on breaking. After the Hogpen 18k hill climb, I started the week easy. Tuesday's run started out as a recovery run, but I couldn't take it easy. I've been pushing hard on Tuesday nights so I picked up the pace half way through the run. Despite my effort, I still couldn't run at my normal pace. My legs had not fully recovered from last Saturday's race. I needed to work out my legs and try to get some strength back into them. I really worked them on the leg press and felt sore through Friday and even a little bit Saturday. I took it a bit easy on Thursday & Friday hoping to give my legs a rest for Saturday's 5k.

Date	Day	Activity
01/23/12	Monday	Swim - 2200 yards
01/24/12	Tuesday	Run - 7 miles
01/25/12	Wednesday	Swim - 1000 meters Cycle - Spin Lower Body Strength
01/26/12	Thursday	Rest
01/27/12	Friday	Upper body Strength Core Strength
01/28/12	Saturday	Race - Polar Bear 5k
01/29/12	Sunday	Rest

The 5k ended up being the highlight of the whole week and I'm still grinning ear to ear thinking about it. It's been several years since I've raced a 5k and back then, I probably ran between 27-28 minutes. I was hoping to push myself and get my time down to 25 minutes. I finished in 20:35! 5th in my age group and 42 seconds behind 3rd place. I was so close to a podium. I'm not disappointed, I'm ecstatic about my performance. I had no idea I could run at a 6:40 /mile pace.  I think I'll go more into the detail in a race report and I still need to write up a report for Hogpen. It may take another week to get those up.

Week #3

Decent workout this week considering that city pools were closed on Monday for MLK day and I was resting up or Saturday's race.

I'm glad I managed to get some weights in on Tuesday with a treadmill run and swim. I wanted to swim some more on Wednesday, but the water temp was on the cold side on Tuesday and I heard varying accounts of the heater being broken to being shut down due to the MLK holiday.

Turns out Saturday's race was an 18k and not 17. This was my first year doing this race and they had moved the start location and that added an additional mile. Had it been a 17k, I would have beaten my race goal. Overall I'm happy with my performance, despite walking a significant portion between mile 7 & 10. I'll save details for the race report.

Date	Day	Activity
01/16/12	Monday	Rest - Holiday (Pool Closed)
01/17/12	Tuesday	Run - 3 miles treadmill Weights - Lower Body & Core Swim - 1000 meters
01/18/12	Wednesday	Cycle - Spin Weights - Upper Boddy
01/19/12	Thursday	Rest
01/20/12	Friday	Rest
01/21/12	Saturday	Race - Hogpen Hill Climb 1718k !
01/22/12	Sunday	Rest

Week #2

Looks like I'm back into the full swing of training. Didn't realize until I logged all my workouts this week that I didn't take a day off. So that makes me feel pretty good. Great way to start off the year and not feel rundown or tired. With that said, I've been pushing some of my runs and I notice that when I do, my right calf muscle gets tight. I'm not sure why, but I'm a little concerned that if I keep this up, that it could turn into an injury.

Date	Day	Activity
01/09/12	Monday	Swim - 2200 yards
01/10/12	Tuesday	Run - 7 Miles
01/11/12	Wednesday	Cycle - Spin Weights Swim - 800 meters
01/12/12	Thursday	Hill Repeats - 8x
01/13/12	Friday	Strength Training - Core & Upper body
01/14/12	Saturday	Run - 12 Miles
01/15/12	Sunday	Bike - 30 Miles

BTW, I'm still not sure about the job situation. I accepted the job about a month ago and I still don't have a contract in hand. At this point it's kind of a 50/50 situation and a bit nerve racking with the uncertainty. So I've been looking at alternative plans and the training is helping me deal with the stress and keeping my mind off of things. Anyway, Hogpen Hill Climb is next week and that's where my focus needs to be. I haven't really been nervous about a race in a long time, but this one does. We're also planning on riding Hogpen the next day and it's one of the toughest climbs in GA. Needless to say, I'm going to get in one hell of a workout next weekend.

Week #1 - 2012

Start of the new year, start of a new training season. This year is going to be different as I've accepted a new job that will have me out of the country for most of the year. I have no idea how or what my training will be like. As of right now, I have accepted the fact that I will not be doing any triathlons in 2012. I'm actually a bit bummed about this. Our group is already discussing 2012 races, training plans and goals and I feel left out. So while I'm still in town, I'll be training for races as they come up before my departure.

I was successful in maintaining my off season weight during Thanksgiving & Christmas. Who knew that New Year's would prove to be the challenge to my weight. I put on an additional 4 pounds during that time period. I guess it's no surprise with the eating out and alcohol while I was away, I'd put on a little extra weight. So now it's time to get that under control again.

Here's this past weeks workout:

Date	Day	Activity
01/02/12	Monday	Rest
01/03/12	Tuesday	Run - 7 Miles
01/04/12	Wednesday	Swim- 800 Meters Cycle - Spin Weights -
01/05/12	Thursday	Hill Repeats
01/06/12	Friday	Rest
01/07/12	Saturday	Run - 13 Miles
01/08/12	Sunday	Rest

I've been able to drop 2 pounds during this week. Feels like it should be more. I did eat out 3 nights this week. I always find it more difficult to lose weight when I eat out than when I eat at home.

My next race is Hogpen Hill Climb 17k. It's a straight uphill run and from what I've heard quite challenging. I'm told to expect my finish time to coincide with my half marathon time. Two weeks away, so I've got some hill training to do before then.

During the break, I also took a Good Form Running clinic from Big Peach Running Co. I'll do a separate and more in-depth post from what I learned. I can tell you that there has been some improvement in speed as a result.