8.25.16 Thursday Training

I wish we could have a late start so I could sleep in! 8 PM here and about ready to hit the sack. Last run spadework of the season (I think) tomorrow AM!

Just 3100m of swimming today. Very little really hard stuff but it was enough to make me tired--swimming is kind of a sleep aid for me. That was probably the whole point of the workout. (Some of my previous taper woes involve insomnia; swimming tends to cure it.)

Hey everyone!

5;15am - 60 min power spin - we did a high end endurance workout today and I forget how awesome these can be. Usually it's about heavy intervals but this was a good burn but we weren't exhausted at the end!

8:30am - 2300yd swim. Trying to embrace my slowness and made some of the sets longer. Speaking of coaches, I need to contact mine to get some lessons!

It was a 30 minute ride and a 45 minute swim.

Kim- I have the same questions you do about coaching and how much can I improve. My favorite interval drill for speed is to run 800's at your marathon pace. Example a 4 min 800 is the pace for a 4 hour marathon. That drill has helped me a lot. One of my issues on a coach is my ability to have the time to workout. My job interferes with workouts often. I would also want to make sure I hire a good coach. I do feel my workouts get very routine and mundane!

Jamie- the teachers note home about no home work has gone viral. It was an interesting read.

Have a good week everyone

I've found that's one thing a coach is very good for--showing you how to maximize limited training time. (On the other hand, if you want to know what happens when you're crazy enough to tell your coach, "I can train to my heart's content and live the pro athlete lifestyle (minus the fame, speed, and $, of course) all summer!" you can have a look at what my summer was like LOL. When I look back at it now, it just seems like one long workout! But there are worse ways to spend a summer than swimming, biking, and running in Oregon.

You just need to communicate your needs and schedule very clearly at the start, and any time they change due to work demands, travel, etc. I usually get my workouts two weeks out and will look them over and try to make sure they fit into whatever else will be going on in my life. Then if needed I will contact her for ideas on how I can move the workouts around or modify them to still get the key benefits.

If your goal is improve the run leg of a triathlon, working on bike fitness might actually be more useful. For pure running, there's no getting around putting in the mlles, and doing some race pace running. I think it can be hard to improve pure run speed while tri training, due to cumulative fatigue from bike training--basically, unless it's taper or a really easy recovery week, I'm never really running on fresh legs--any speed work is going to be compromised to some extent. If your goal is a faster stand-alone 10K or HM time, then an off-season run focus may be the best approach.

I would actually be 100% behind a no homework policy for most kids. So many of my students spend hours at after school classes--"academies" in their home languages plus music, etc. Would really rather see them get some fresh air and physical activity with friends or family. But the reality for many is that without the classes and homework, that time would just be screen time of some sort.

Edited by Hot Runner 2016-08-26 7:05 AM

That's why I am in favor of homework for my little girl. If she's at home and not doing homework, she's in front of a screen. If she's not doing either, she's a mean little brat that constantly gets into trouble. Of course, during the week she has lots of after school activities (swimming, cross country and viola), so there's not too much time for the screens or meanness. And we cut her a little slack on the weekends with regard to the screens if her chores are done (basically cleaning up the messes she's made...)

But back to the topic of the thread....

Yesterday I did my usual 2 minute plank and 22 pushups. While my wife was running our daughter to viola practice, I got in about an hour on my bike. I replaced the stem about a week ago and am still getting my back used to riding in the new position. I got about 12 miles in before my lower back started aching. I got in 14 miles total on a new route that I kind of liked.

J White