Back to regular programming

This week was my first week with my coach's training schedule and me being ready and raring to go! My coach and I had a good chat last weekend about a schedule, my goals, and how I'm going to achieve it all. We talked about the burnout the I always feel around the beginning of August (although last year it was in June) because I train too hard in January and February. This year is going to be different... and so far it is!

My training schedule seems so free right now. I mean, I don't even have a workout to do on Sunday. So I'm going to go cross-country skiing! I FEEL SO FREE!!! It just feels so good to get all of my workouts done in the week, as opposed to skipping workouts and planning to skip workouts. I really enjoy the sense of accomplishment I get from doing everything I'm "supposed to."

Also, this week I have discovered the beauty of a training buddy. My coworker and friend J. and I ran on Tuesday and this morning. It is so much easier to get up at 5am when I know that someone else is going to be there waiting for me at the doors. J. is a great training buddy because she is a positive person, like myself, and seems to have an endless amount of positive energy to give as we pass the halfway point of our workout. She has exercise-induced asthma, which I am learning a lot about, and I feel a little bit guilty about running along breathing heavily, but not laboured, as she is huffing air through what apparently feels like a tiny straw. However, she assures me that she is fine and "just needs a minute." My training intensity is a little bit higher than hers right now, but this week she cheered me on through my session of intense intervals. It was nice to have a cheerleader. :o)

Another part of training that I have thoroughly enjoyed this week is the City of Saskatoon Leisure Pass. I get to go to all of the leisure centres in Saskatoon for the low price of $37/month for 7 months! That will take me to the end of summer and this week I've used it enough to be worth my while. I get a strange sense of satisfaction when I scan my card in and it "dings!" me through. I am very proud of myself and my leisure card.

I'm really getting into my training groove this week and it feels great! Next season is going to be awesome and hopefully I don't burn out before my peak races. Things are really coming together right now and I can't help but think about what it would be like to train for Ironman knowing what I know right now. Maybe I'll give myself another year to think about it. :o)

Swimming, biking, AND running?!

Last week, I committed to myself to get in a good weekend of training hard. So I did that.

On Saturday, I went swimming in the pool. I think people were surprised I was at the indoor pool rather than the outdoor pool, but the outdoor pools here don't have lane swimming (I think that this is ridiculous and would like to see it change). I didn't push it too hard because I think I've forgotten how to push it while swimming. I'm going to test this theory later this week, but I'm really having a hard time pushing myself to get my heart-rate up while swimming. It may have to do with my anxiety, but I will have to explore that further later. So I did an easy 2100 metres. a 250m warm-up, 3 sets of 500, 100m of kick, and 250m of cool-down. It was refreshing and it felt good. I am going to try to work in some intervals soon, now that I've gotten my swimming rhythm back.

Sunday was the big training day, though. I had a long bike followed by a short run planned. I did two laps of my favorite loop that even has some hills. The first lap I was accompanied by a couple of great triathlon people that let me talk almost non-stop about my personal problems. They were extremely supportive and without them there, I'm not sure I would have been able to continue on the second lap. However, I must have warmed up a lot from the first lap because I picked up the pace a bit (about 1.5 km/hr) and ended up with:
Distance: 115.70km
Time: 4:28:52
Max: 37.1 km/hr (on the flat!)
Average speed: 25.8 km/hr

That pace is a great pace for me and didn't even feel like a race pace. So it was really exciting. My legs just felt really good. Afterwards, I changed into my shoes and put on my hat (it was hot and sunny, not unlike Penticton in August!) and did a nice 35 minute run. I didn't go very far and it kind of hurt, but bricks are so important in training. It felt good to get out there and run... and it started feeling really good at the end, but I didn't want to push it.

All-in-all, a great training weekend!