Training Week in Review

It's getting more difficult to keep up and post on the blog as training days get longer and I have less time during the week for other things. I started the week tired and feeling tired from the previous weekend's long ride & run. I still managed to take 2 days off for some rest. Because I was volunteering on Sunday at a local tri, I had to move my long run to Friday. I normally run these kind of distances with the club so it was difficult to do this on my own and I'm proud that I stuck to it and did the full 16 miles. I have to confess that at mile 15 I was questioning why I would consider running a full marathon. My feet were hurting and I just wanted to take my shoes off. The benefit of running a long loop is having to finish that loop.

I rode the longest distance so far, 95 miles and I almost cut it short. I rode the first 15 mile loop at a sprint pace. I needed to see how fast and for how long I could hold a race effort. I've got a sprint race coming up and I've been training long distances, so I needed to feel that out. It felt really good and I felt like I could easily run a 5k after the bike. The next loop was 48 miles and towards the last 10 miles, I started feeling tired. I pushed through and finished with a good pace. I think it was a bit more mental than physical. At this point I considered doing the 15 mile loop, but talked myself into riding 31 miles. Pace dropped a bit, but not by much. When you consider that my first 15 miles was average of 18.5 mph and I finished at 17.2 mph over 95 miles, I think that's a great accomplishment considering the hills in Cartersville.

I talked to a couple team mates and they feel I'm more than prepared for a half ironman. I can definitely do the distance. I can also feel the fatigue in my legs 3 days later. So I think it's time for me to dial back the distance and start working on shorter rides and concentrate on interval work and try to build some speed.

Date	Day	Activity
08/01/11	Monday	Swim - 2700 Yards
08/02/11	Tuesday	Run - 7 Miles
08/03/11	Wednesday	Weight Training Swim - 500 Meters Spin - 1 hour
08/04/11	Thursday	Rest
08/05/11	Friday	Run - 16 Miles
08/06/11	Saturday	Bike - 95 Miles
08/07/11	Sunday	Rest