This week had a lot of ups and downs in both my training and non-training lives. First, I experienced my first potential injury since the stress fracture last winter. It was a very painful quadricep cramp that stopped me in my tracks halfway through my long run. I feared the worst but after a couple days I've come to realize it seems to be just an overloaded muscle that needed a lot of manipulation to loosen it back up. Much appreciation to Leigh Boyle who is a fellow Endurance Nation teammate, 2010 IMWI competitor, physical therapist and founder of Athletes Treating Athletes. Leigh gave me a thorough plan to knock this thing and get me back on track. Luckily, the quad issue didn't affect my biking and swimming as you'll see below.
This week also marked my last week in my current job and a departure from the pharmaceutical industry where I've spent the last 10+ years. I'm super-excited to start something new, though, and look forward to diving into my new challenge very soon. I'm confident it was definitely the right decision and will lead to future career growth.
With the help of some teammates I came to the realization this week that I needed to back off on swim frequency and structure. I was cooking myself in the pool and it came to a head in the last couple weeks when I just couldn't come close to hitting my goal paces session after session. Additionally, my stroke felt terrible - I felt like I was working way too hard. So I skipped one swim workout completely this week and replaced another one with just a nice, easy recovery swim with some drillwork - no watch, no intervals, only a focus on a smooth, balanced stroke. It worked great and I'm now back to "feeling it" again in the water!
The Bike
After the quad issue on my Wednesday long run I was a little worried about it affecting my long bike that I had planned for Friday. Fellow EN teammate and friend Matt Ancona (stud cyclist and triathlete) was going to ride with me on my normal route so I knew I would have to work hard. Luckily the quad wasn't much of an issue on the bike and I ended up putting in an unbelievable effort for just under 5 hours and right at 100 miles. I then replicated that great effort with a solo 3 hour, 67 mile ABP ("always be pushing") ride on Sunday. All of this riding lately with Matt is really paying off - wish I would have been on his wheel earlier this year.
The Bike
After the quad issue on my Wednesday long run I was a little worried about it affecting my long bike that I had planned for Friday. Fellow EN teammate and friend Matt Ancona (stud cyclist and triathlete) was going to ride with me on my normal route so I knew I would have to work hard. Luckily the quad wasn't much of an issue on the bike and I ended up putting in an unbelievable effort for just under 5 hours and right at 100 miles. I then replicated that great effort with a solo 3 hour, 67 mile ABP ("always be pushing") ride on Sunday. All of this riding lately with Matt is really paying off - wish I would have been on his wheel earlier this year.
The Run
So the quad blew up on my long run on Wednesday. Luckily, after that run I really didn't have any key run workouts for the rest of the week so I was able to really focus on getting it treated and back to 100%. It's slowly coming back but I'm amazed at how long it's taken. At least it's nothing serious! Hopefully I'll be back for next week's long run.
Body Composition
Weight continues to maintain. Nothing has changed with my diet - I continue to constantly munch away on healthy foods, although I noticed I've been grabbing at sugary stuff more this week that have been lying around the house (Tootsie Rolls, hard candy, Jelly Bellys) leftover from Drew's birthday party.
Here's the day-by-day view of the training I did for the week followed by a summary of the week's data:
Monday: 8 mile run with 3 x 1 mile at 6:03/5:55/5:53. Felt great. I think I beat the fatigue that set in last week with quality sleep and a rest day on Saturday. Lunchtime speed session swim didn't go that great. Felt like I was working way too hard - need a break.
Tuesday: Confined to the pain cave (basement) for a 1.5 hour bike/run due to rain. 60' bike at .8 IF with 30/30s then steady 30' run. First time on the treadmill in months. Skipped my normal Tuesday swim to give the body and mind a break from water.
Wednesday: Long run: made it 10 miles in with some strong half marathon pace intervals then the right quad seized up. It was a long crawl trying to get back home. Very easy lunchtime recovery swim, then massage appointment in the evening to get on this quad thing quickly.
Thursday: Early morning swim in the outdoor pool during a beautiful sunrise. Felt great! I needed that break from swimming the last couple of days. Quad still really sore. No running today - just more ice, compression, self-massage and elevation.
Friday: Great ride with Matt Ancona. He crushed the bejesus out of me! 100 miles, 4:42, 310 TSS, 60'+ FTP work, .82 IF. Whew! Now that's work!
Saturday: Easy 35' run pushing Drew in the jogging stroller and Abby (yellow lab) in tow. Ran to the park, played on the swingset and slide, let Abby swim in the river then ran back home. Quad not feeling as good as I hoped.
Sunday: 67 mile, 3+ hr solo ride at .8 IF and 211 TSS. Excluding warm up and cool down: 2:52, 61 mi, .822 IF, 194 TSS. Recent rides with Matt Ancona are paying off.
Totals for the week:
Training duration: 16:36
Time spent at or above FTP on the bike: 77' (my best for 2010!!)
Time spent at or below lactate threshold pace on the run: 44'
Avg bike intensity factor (% of FTP): .793
Mileage: 226 miles (Swim: 7.9K, Bike: 185 miles, Run: 36 miles)
Training Stress Score (TSS): 1128
Chronic Training Load (CTL): 140.0
Training Stress Balance (TSB): -22.3
Weight: 169.0
Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 293 watts
Vdot: 55.3 (but training at 56)
Performance Management Chart through week 7 of Ironman Prep Training:
No comments:
Post a Comment