Training has been going well. I am now on week 7 of training. Starting tomorrow is week 8 and it is a recovery week (I'm excited to get my massage!).
I have changed my training from all aerobic work. I have been doing "true" tempo runs during the week, of short duration, where I run without watching my heart rate. Most of these short tempo runs are done with run club because I have other people to push me. I have also added in some LONG tempo runs and LONG tempo bikes.
Most of my biking has been done indoors, thanks to the wonderful Colorado weather (not so much). I have been doing indoor biking with harder gears and spins. Inside I cannot get my heart rate up high enough to become anaerobic, so I try to get my legs some good strength inside. I have also added LONG tempo bike rides. During these rides, I do my long ride time for the week and do a warm up and then begin gear changes, where my cadence drops to 55 to build strength, then change about every 1 or 2 min to different cadences. So, I go from cadence of 55 to 75 to 90. This helps keep my leg speed up and builds strength while I am inside. I have been doing my full rides inside, even though because they are on the trainer you can do less time. I want to continue to increase my endurance. Currently, my long ride is 2hr 45min.
Running has been going well! I have actually noticed a big change in my speed aerobically and anaerbically. So, to explain a bit more. Every third week I have added in a Long Tempo run. This means that I go for my long run of the week (by myself, without stella to pull me) and I run for time without watching my heart rate. This is a difficult run... this last week my long tempo run was an 8:40 pace for 12 miles. It is not as fast as I was "pre-heart rate" training, but a lot faster than all of last year's running. I have then noticed that I have been getting faster aerobically. Meaning, that I noticed on my heart rate controlled runs, that I am getting faster each week! Currently, my long run is 1hr 45min.
Swimming is going...I am still slow but endurance is doing well. I have been getting all four swims in each week. My long swim is currently 4,000 meters. The race will only be 1,920 meters. I am hoping by over distance swimming I will be able to go faster during the race! I am also doing over distance to help get in more swim time during the week.
I have been thinking about my training and I read other people's blogs and I read this and I wonder if I am working enough:
Fitness and fatigue trend similarly. You may not have thought about this before,
but it is important to understand. There is a strong link between fitness and
fatigue. If you are fatigued from training then you stressed the body adequately
enough to create the potential for fitness. If the workout did not cause any
fatigue at all then it also did not produce the potential for fitness. So, when
fatigue is rising you can expect the same thing from fitness.
So, I am hoping that I am doing enough. There are a few days where I am tired, but overall I am not physically fatigued. Maybe it is the amount of time that I sleep that makes a huge difference??
Anyway, I am hoping to put more updates now and maybe even some pictures!
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