Recovery, Offseason, and Training

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what have I been up to the past few weeks?  By looking at my blog some would think not much at all, which may be partially true, others may think I have been extremely busy.  If you are in that group, you would be correct.  Work has been absolutely insane the past few weeks which came at a good time in the training road, right after the Twin Cities Marathon, and before I ramp up my off season training. 

 

I will not go into details about how busy work has been, except that thank goodness for my workouts to keep me sane!  I did not take a ton of time off after the marathon, but gave myself some time to relax and get ready for the winter.  I have been riding the bike inside on the trainer and having some issues with numbness of the goods.  I have adjusted seat angles like crazy with the Fizik Arione seat only to result in varying degrees of bad.  I snagged an Arione Tri2 seat hearing that this helped many people out with the additional padding in the nose.  Well… it arrived and after some adjusting, still about the same results.  My thoughts are the next step is changing to the ISM Adamo seat.  (Skipping ahead in time to when I am writing the post, it causes no issues on the road… no idea what to think)

I started my offseason 26 week plan this past week.  Although it appears to be tailored for race season with some A, B, and C grade races, it is a good start until I am comfortable from reading the Triathlete’s Training Bible and making my own plan.  Here is what my workouts looked like this week:

- Monday: 2475 yd Swim, long set (Missed the bike ride due to some scheduling conflicts

- Tuesday: 45 Min Bike RPE 4, 30 Min Run RPE 2-3

- Wednesday: Rest Day (But I did Monday’s bike workout) 45 mins RPE 3 with 6x20 second top cadence spin ups

- Thursday: 30 Min Swim 3x400 RPE 3, even pace; 1 hr Run (45 RPE 2-3, 15 RPE 5)
- Friday: 2300 Yd 45 Min Swim

- Saturday: OFF!!!

- Sunday: 15 Min Swim (400 yds RPE 7, remainder RPE 3); 1.5 hour Bike RPE 3

This was the first week of the plan and it pushed me outside my comfort level, which was a good thing.  The swims are longer than I have been in the pool before, but it sounds like good way to get better at swimming.  The bikes have been painful with the annoying seat issue, and the run on Thursday was a challenge on the treadmill.  Luckily the bike on Sunday was nice enough that I could be outside.  Nice is a subjective term, nice to me meant mild winds 5 MPH or so and 49 degrees.  I put on some warm clothes and socks this time since the last time I rode outside my toes about froze. 

Lets continue to talk about the bike.  1.5 hours the longest I have biked before for a workout.  I decided to do a route I normally do 20 miles in about an hour give or take, a simple out and back.  Another 15 minutes on to the end of this would get me my workout.  I somehow forgot about wind, and the fact this would be my longest bike.  What did it result in.  45 minutes out got me 16.1 miles.  The way home did not go as quickly, winds picked up above 10 MPH and were conveniently in my face, so much for feeling strong.  The good news, no numbness, at least from the seat.  The toes started to go numb about 40 minutes into the ride making for a long ride back.  I made it back home in 1:42, not too shabby, not my 20 MPH average I was hoping for, but then again it was nearly 10 miles longer than any other ride I have done before.

 

I spent the majority of the day Saturday installing a new laminate wood floor after tearing out the carpet in our living room.  Not too bad for a days work.

 

Before:

During:

After:

Spent the night watching the amazing Iowa Hawkeyes win on the last play of the game to move on to 8-0.  I got a bit nervous, but they seem to pull out all the stops and do what it takes to win.

Back to work and workouts this coming week with a few more posts to be completed this week.