Week 17

This week began a stronger focus on the Half Ironman race (High Cliff Triathlon) I have coming up in June. I'm now using the Endurance Nation half Ironman training plan for my bike and swim workouts. I'll continue to stick with the OutSeason training plan for the run workouts but will be adding some run miles here and there during the week since the OS run workouts don't exceed 60'.

My run mileage was definitely up this week. I capped the week off with a 10K "race" on Sunday (ended up being more of a tempo run workout since my body and mind definitely didn't prepare to race this one). It was in East Lansing on Michigan State's campus (my alma mater). I met my brother and his buddy there who were doing the 5K (which started 1 hour after the 10K so ran it with them as a cool down run). Being back in E.L. for the first time in 5 years with some fun dudes meant that there would be some good times the night before the race. After many beers (those Leinenkugels Summar Shandys rock!), bad food, on my feet all day (after a 3 hour hard bike workout in the morning), 5 hours of sleep and pouring rain during the race I ran the 10K and managed to set a PR. However, it was about a minute and a half slower than where I thought my time should be. Still, it was a low priority race done more for fun. It was cool to run around campus and finish on the 50 yard line of Spartan Stadium! You need these low key, "who cares" races every now and then to give yourself a break.

Here are the day-by-day details of the week:

Monday: 2,000m morning swim with hard 100s in 1:20 - I can feel sub-1:20 coming soon. 5.5 mile easy run during lunch with runner buddies that I hadn't run with in a long time.

Tuesday: 45' run with 3 x 1mile repeats @ 6:05/mile pace. Suffered bad on #2 but pulled it together for #3...No snap in the legs this morning.

Wednesday: 60' bike session on the trainer followed by an steady 30' brick run outside on the trail ion the beautiful sunrise weather.

Thursday: Great 11 mile run with 3 miles at 10K pace and 5 miles at marathon pace. Strong, smooth & comfortable. Definitely a confidence boosting run!

Friday: "Give-the-legs-a-rest day": 2500m swim in 40'. Prep for long ride tomorrow & 10K race Sunday.

Saturday: Battled some crazy winds on a 3 hour/60 mile ride in Michigan. Definitely didn't hold anything back for the 10K tomorrow.

Sunday: Heart of a Spartan 10K: 39:00 (PR by 3:30 (only the 3rd 10K I've ever done - last one was 4 years ago)). "Racing" it just wasn't in the cards (or shelled legs). Good enough for 13th overall and 2nd in age group though. Established new Vdot of 54.3, but I think I'm closer to 55.

Data for week 17:

Time spent training: 9:37

Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 50'

Time spent at or below LTHR pace on run: 1:19

Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .797

Mileage: 115

Training Stress Score (TSS): 784

Chronic Training Load (CTL): 91.9 TSS/d

Training Stress Balance (TSB): -20.3

Weight: 170.5 lbs

Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 293 watts

Vdot: 54.3

Performance Management Chart (PMC) through week 17: