Last one first. You gotta read this story HERE – oh lord. And I thought I had turkey problems!
Yesterday was a Swim ladder, and a Brick spin/run. I had a bunch of “clean up email” stuff to do, and “suddenly” it was 3:00 – time to get the whole thing in! So I strapped on my heart rate monitor, and hit the garage…oh I mean “workout studio.” Here is the bike workout. The greatest thing for me was having done that Lactate Threshold test – because as I’m doing these repeats, I can watch my heart rate climb (or fall) and I gear up or down accordingly. It’s such a different workout that way than just “slogging through it” without really knowing what to do. I definitely wasn’t working hard enough before – there is a huge puddle under my bike now after I finish, and my “transition” includes completely changing out of my clothes, which look like I have “cycled through” a rainstorm!
TR-6 PROGRESSIVE SPEED (90 Minutes) + 20′ brick run @ tempo pace immediately following bike.
WU 15′ in the Middle/Middle (MM) chainrings. ‘ = minutes, ” = seconds
5 x (3′ MM@85RPM/90″ MM@75RPM),
5 x(2′ MM @90RPM/1′ @80RPM),
5 x(90″ MM@90RPM/45″ MM@80RPM),
5 x(1′ MM @95RPM/30″ MM @85RPM),
5 x(30″MM @100RPM/15″MM @95RPM)
use hardest gear you can to maintain RPM and Aerobic HR Zone
CD 15’ MM; off bike, run 20 minutes.
I covered just over 27 miles doing the bike (per my bike computer) – the thing that was really instructive to watch was how my MPH shifted as I shifted through the gears (especially when I went to an easier gear, to get my heart rate down). I know, it seems “obvious” to do this – but I never really had before. I am reading a book by Cherie Gruenefeld, an Ironman athlete, and her chapter on “Focus” talks a lot about paying attention to such things. When I was in my warmdown and at about 26 miles, I practiced moving into harder gears and different cadence, just to see how it affected the miles I was covering. Very instructive.
I haven’t listed my Playlist for a while, so I thought I would do so here.
PLAYLIST for Bike/Spin and Run:
‘Till I Collapse, Eminem & Nate Dogg
When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down), Great Big Sea
Scar That Never Heals, Jeremy Fisher
Suddenly I See, KT Tunstall
Heads Carolina, Tails California, Jo Dee Messina
Summer Nights, Rascal Flatts
Jump In The Line, Harry Belafonte
Oh Oh Oh Sexy Vampire (JUSTiNB’s Video Edit), Fright Ranger
Environmental Product, Brisk & Vagabond (3x – this is only a bit under 2 minutes long and I LOVE IT. Anyone know where to get a longer play version of this??)
Untouched, The Veronicas
Little Bitty Pretty One (Live), The Doobie Brothers
Spotlight, MuteMath
Sex Bomb, Tom Jones
Let It Rock, Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne
18 Wheeler, P!nk
Shambala, Three Dog Night
Iko-Iko, Zap Mama
Pour Some Sugar On Me
Land of 1000 Dances, Wilson Pickett
Marrakesh Express, Crosby, Stills & Nash
Hollywood Nights
La Grange, ZZ Top
Express Yourself, Glee Cast
I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho), Pitbull
This Is How A Heart Breaks, Rob Thomas
Daniella, John Butler Trio
Mony Mony, Billy Idol
Supermassive Black Hole, Muse
Fuego, Pitbull
Sex On Fire, Kings of Leon
U Can’t Touch This, MC Hammer
Yeah yeah, eclectic, I know! Came back from the Run (actually a bit over 20 minutes – it’s hard to gauge with my crazy hilly terrain around my house), grabbed my swim bag, and off to the pool! I swigged a Recovery drink in the car (are you still in “recovery” if you are recovering from one workout and moving on to another? I figured I was, since it takes a bit to get to the pool).
Swim Ladder Workout:
WU 300 EZ
3×50 25 kick on back/25 free 10″
3×50 25 Catch Up (CU)/25 free 10″
3×50 25 scull/25 free 10″
25 3SW 10″
50 Breathing every 3 10″
75 SAR 15″
100 Build L4-L7 by 25 15″
125 Steady L5 15″
150 Build L4-L6 by 50 20″
175 Steady L5 15″
200 Build L4-L7 by 50 20″
175 Steady L5 15″
150 Build L4-L6 by 50 20″
125 Steady L5 15″
100 Build L4-L7 by 25 15″
75 SAR 15″
50 Breathing every 3 10″
25 3SW 10″
CD 100 EZ
Total Yardage: 2450
Today, it’s another Brick:
TR-2 PEDALING (50 Minutes) + 20′ brick run @ tempo pace after bike.
Warm-up 10 minutes in middle-middle chainrings.
Repeat the following drill sets TWICE.
Stay in big ring up front the entire workout, Shift to 3rd from largest ring in back.
Alternate removing one foot from the pedals for 30 seconds at a time @ 50-60 RPM’s,
returning to two footed pedaling for one minute @ 80 rpm between single leg efforts.
Repeat 4 times per leg.(12 minutes total).
Shift to 4th from smallest gear in back.
Pedal at 85 rpm.
Focus all mental energy on the 1:00 to 3:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes.
Focus all mental energy on the 4:00 to 6:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes.
Focus all mental energy on the 6:00 to 9:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes.
Focus all mental energy on the 9:00 to 12:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes.
(run immediately after, no cool down)
I’m slamming this blog down but then heading out the door to a biz meeting (ahem – with my bike gear underneath…) so that I can have the meeting, go do the workout (at the gym – spinning on their bikes is not as good as mine, but sometimes you “gotta do what you gotta do”), then to another 3 meetings in a row, then back home. I guess this is the life of an Ironman Athlete, eh?
Feeling pretty strong, especially after gutting out the workout yesterday. I am Grrrrrrateful to be helping lick cancer and FINALLY getting my booty in gear to get back in shape. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr! That’s me – with a Tiger in my Tank!
IronQuote of the day, courtesy of Maria M-Dot:
Thinking vs. Focusing
Thinking is judgmental and critical. If you make a mistake or perform poorly when you’re in a thinking mode, it may hurt your confidence and cause you to feel badly about yourself as a triathlete. Thinking actually interferes with your ability to focus in a way that will hurt your performance and may cause it to deteriorate. If you’re thinking, you’re likely to react with strong emotions because these obstacles are blocking your path to your goals.
Focusing simply involves attending to internal or external cues. This process is objective and detached from judgment or evaluation. If you make a mistake on something you were focusing on, you’re able to accept it and not be overly disappointed by failure. In a focusing mode, you’re able to use the failure as information to correct the problem and perform better in the future. -Jim Taylor & Terri Schneider, “The Triathlete’s Guide to Mental Training”