Alternate titles for this post:

  1. Why the heck is my town so hilly?
  2. I’m officially a cyclist!
  3. Everything is more difficult on a bike.

This was a great week!  I really enjoyed following a training plan again, as well as being a little afraid of what I’m training for.  It makes a big difference!

So here’s the breakdown for the week:

  • Monday
    • My first spin class!  Lots of fun!
  • Tuesday
    • Rest
  • Wednesday
    • Swam 2500 yards (long swim for the week)
  • Thursday
    • 25 minute run – Just felt generally crappy, tired, sore feet
  • Friday
    • Swam 1650 yards (speed workout)
    • 1 hour bike
    • 45 minute run
  • Saturday
    • 30 minute run – very sore feet, thinking it might be time for new shoes?
  • Sunday (long day!)
    • 90 minute bike (20.19 miles total) followed immediately by…
    • 90 minute run (8.4 miles at 9:53 pace – wow!)

On my ride today I tried to focus on pulling up on the pedals and not just pushing down.  It makes SUCH a huge difference.  I also tried to pay attention to my posture and not hunch my shoulders since that really starts to hurt after a while.

I also tried to get used to doing things on the bike like drinking, eating, getting in and out of aero position, as well as cornering in aero.  Things went really well!  It’s not easy to eat on the bike, but I managed.  I just need to keep practicing.

Also on my bike today, I became an official cyclist!  I’ve been doing really well getting in and out of my clipless pedals, but today, I finally had my clipless wipeout that happens to everyone at some point.  I was at a dead stop, waiting to cross the road, standing still with one foot unclipped and on the ground.  I tried to swing my bike around just a little bit to make it easier to cross, and ended up leaning a bit too much to the right (still clipped in), and toppled over in slow motion – all the while thinking “Oh!  Oh!  There I go!”

And there was nothing I could do about it but sit there on the side of the road and laugh.

So my first week of ironman training is behind me, and I think it went really well!  I’m proud of what I did this week and I’m looking forward to the next one.

The plan for this coming week is…

  • Monday
    • Run: 45 minutes easy
    • Swim: long day
      • Warmup: 6 x 100
      • Main: 4 x 500 even pace
      • Cool: 2 x 150 pull
  • Tuesday
    • Run 45 minutes easy
    • Bike: 60 minutes easy
  • Wednesday
    • Swim: race specific
      • Warmup: 4 x 50
      • Main: 2 x 1000 increasing intensity
      • Cool: 250 easy
  • Thursday
    • Run: 90 minute long run
  • Friday
    • Swim: speed day
      • Warmup: 300 continuous
      • Main: 10 x 100, descend 1-5 and 5-10 (does anybody know what that means???)
      • Cool: 200 continuous, alternate 50 kick, 50 swim
    • Bike: 55 minutes on trainer
  • Saturday
    • Rest
  • Sunday
    • Bike: 90 minute long ride, trying to throw in some hills

Since work is more or less done for the semester (with a few exceptions), I should be able to follow this schedule pretty closely instead of shifting things around a lot like I had to do this week.  So that should help a lot too.

And now it’s time for bed.  I hope you had a good week!