Week 3 = Exhausting!

I've completed my 3rd week of Ironman training and it was an exhausting week.

Mondays are suppose to be rest days, but I find it difficult to get both the swim and bike workout done on Tuesdays after spending a full day at work. So this past Monday evening I did my 1600 yard (.909 mile) swim drills. Tuesday, I set up my bike trainer on my porch and completed a 90-minute long hill spin interval (15 minute warm up, followed by 10 minutes in hard gear with last 2 minutes standing, 3 minute spin in easy gear with set repeated five times, then 10-minute cool down). On Wednesday & Thursday, I prepared for my Thanksgiving feast as well as fit in two runs and strength training. Friday, I completed my 1600 yard swim drills.
Saturday was a long training day in San Ramon. Coach Alex started us out with 45 minutes of dynamic run drills (high knees, butt kicks, side steps, quick steps, strides) and then 45 minutes of strength training repetitions of push-ups, planks, bicycle crunches, kneeling leg presses and dipping birds. At 10:30, I changed into my bathing suit and had a quick snack before 90 minutes of swim drills.

I love the coached swim drills because Coach Nancy, Skip & Scott were all there on deck to provide me instant feedback on what I am doing wrong with my swim. I learned that I am not swimming level. My forehead is above the water thus causing me to swim at a slight angle creating drag. I need to practice pushing my chest down more so that my head is below the water which should level my body and even my kick to be from the hips. I need to break the habit of looking forward when I swim and concentrate on looking straight down at the bottom of the pool. I was introduced to closed fisted swim drills and learned how to use my forearm as a tool to power through the water as well my hands. I will keep all this in mind and practice this week.

After the swim, we set-up our trainers for 3 hours of brick workout led by Coach Dave as well as a sweat test. Before each brick, we weighed ourselves with our water bottles to figure out how much water we were losing. In all, I lost one pound, which means I needed to drink at least one more bottle of water. We did 3 repeats of 30 minute spin and 20 minute run.

During my second brick run, I felt hot and tired and my mind was turning negative and filling with doubt on what I signed up for. We were already working out for over 6 hours and I was wondering if I would be able to complete Vineman within the 16 hour time limit. I shared my doubt with Coach Alex. He said to concentrate on the training at the moment and not think about anything else. He said Vineman is 8 months away and I shouldn't be worrying about that right now. Just concentrate on the drill at the moment. His words really helped. In my 3rd brick run, I ran my strongest and fastest.

I was so tired when I got home but knew that I had to eat. My husband and I went out for Chinese food for dinner. I was sound asleep by 8:30pm and slept 9 hours. I woke up sore but not sore enough to skip my 5 mile run. I weighed myself this morning and did not lose weight after working out so much this week. I blame it on water retention from the Chinese food that I ate last night. Will try weighing myself again tomorrow.

I want to be able to begin monitoring my cadence and ordered the bike cadence accessory to my Forerunner 305 via http://www.iGive.com/SupportLLS. If you shop via the internet, sign up on this link and make purchases through the over 600 stores listed. Same deals as going directly to their websites but the only difference is that the retailer will donate a percentage of the sale to the LLS.