9.17.15 Thursday Workouts!

5:30 AM: 46 minute easy run
4:30 PM 3100m of swimming, basically alternating speed sets (4 X 100 at decreasing rest intervals) with endurance sets (400 straight in various permutations of kick, pull, and strokes)

As for following a plan without training for a race, not across the board, but sometimes for single sports. I have done so in the off-season for swimming and biking, and, a bit unintentionally, for running. I've done a plan called "Six Weeks to a Faster 1500m" (from Sara MacLarty, found it in a Triathlete magazine) a couple of times to work on threshold pace in swimming, and it helped me drop about a minute from low 26's to low 25. It's kind of boring, though--it has three key workouts a week and if that's all the swimming you do, pretty much everything is freestyle at threshold pace. I'm beginning to think that can be counterproductive! Plus, honestly, I don't see much correlation between pool speed and race speed. I see more benefit from strength work (like pulling with paddles and fly), maybe because I often race in pretty rough conditions and non-wetsuit swims.

Have also done a stand-alone bike program (Jorge's on this site). Last fall I did a half-marathon program (my combo of Hal Higdon intermediate and advanced) but conditions on race day were extremely hot and humid, I hadn't been feeling good all week, and was just exhausted from that plus end of term work and coursework, and I didn't really race the event, just did it as a training run after I realized in the first few miles I wasn't up to a HM race that day. My thought was I would do a different (local) event in January instead, but when I tried to enter, the entries were already closed. Oh well. So kind of inadvertently just training to train..... I guess it was a good base for the HIM events this year.

My default when I'm not training for anything in particular is four or five runs of 30-60 minutes with little or no speed work (maybe a little fartlek if feeling energetic), a weekly bike ride (sorry, trainer and bike), and three swims. The latter isn't entirely a choice--I have good reason to believe that if I didn't show up regularly at faculty swim time, it might be cancelled due to lack of interest! Plus I find it really hard to get back in the....er...swim of things after a layoff from that sport. And it's kind of my sanity. I have days when I love to run and days when I detest it (always been like that), but I never regret a swim.



Edited by Hot Runner 2015-09-17 7:47 AM

It's a rest day for me. I will play some golf this afternoon. Isn't that cross training??

Strength and conditioning at the gym for me. Rest day tomorrow