Elle: I somehow forgot what a great workout this is. The warm-up music really gets you going, and keeps you revved up for the whole thing. And then there's the funny little comment about Contador. And then Sagan shows up, how very current. How will he do in the tour this year? Grady is convinced Cadel is going to win easily, especially with Andy Schleck out of it. Speaking of which, I had a bike fitting with Grady on my TT bike. I love fittings with Grady. He's awesome, it's a fun time, and when I leave on my newly fitted bike, I feel like I've had a massage, everything feels good. Sadly he's leaving Landry's and the east coast to live in California this month - you guys are so lucky out there to have him!
Elle's Pool Swim (2000m)
W/U: 200m
Drill Set 1: 4 x 50m catch-up
Drill Set 2: 4 x 50m fist
Main Set 1: 4 x 200m (:20)
Main Set 2: 4 x 100m (:10)
C/D: 200m
Elle: I feel like I'm getting better every time I do a swim workout, but, like, in millimeters. I'm still winded, and it's hard, but it's very, very ever so slightly getting better. And I don't hate swimming so much, so that's gotta be a good sign.
Webb's Speed Work on the Track
w/u: .75 mile jog
Main: 10 x 200m (:45 recovery)
w/u: 1 mile jog
Webb: I came up with this plan based on two workouts and a dinner discussion. The quantity and distance of the intervals was inspired by a Sarah Haskins workout where she ran 20 x 200 - I'm not ready for that. I then decided to run them faster than :45 (inspired by a dinner discussion with Dan and Elle) and I would give myself equal recovery time (inspired by TheSufferfest.com's "Revolver" workout). Given a surprisingly hectic schedule, I had to fit it in during lunch during the warmest part of the day. It got a little a ugly.
I ran the first 6 sets at :36-:38. Whoa. That was a surprise. After the first two intervals I jogged for :45. I knew I would not survive the workout if I continued jogging recoveries so I resorted to walking/standing. That plan lasted through Interval #6. It was also at this time I started telling myself, "I think I have made a huge mistake." I convinced myself to push through the next one, re-evaluate and repeat until I absolutely failed. It nearly came to that:
Interval #7: Right at :40. Recovery: Standing, doubled-over, sucking wind.
Interval #8: Back under :40 at :39! Recovery: in the grass, on my knees, weeping "no more, no more," but then the clock showed :40, time to get up to run at :45.
Interval #9: First significant slow down at :43. Recovery: in the grass, on my hands, knees and forehead; hope lost, damnit, the watch says time to run.
Interval #10: Slowest (a good thing!) and still within my goal at :44. Recovery: flat on my back, in the grass for who-knows-how-long. Once I recovered enough to move, I was up and jogging a final lap before heading back to the gym.
I was really pleased with this workout. First, I met my goals. Second, I crushed myself. That is a good high intensity workout (evidenced by equalling my max HR from my V02 test in February). There was no doubt I left everything on the track. The run back to the gym was miserable. I wanted to stop and walk so many times. Indeed, had I not had to return to work, I think I would have. Next time I think I'll leave on :90. That will be easier to manage than trying to do sportwatch-math.
WEDNESDAY: Coach Troy's Total Body Conditioning
Elle: So hard, but soooo good. Coach Troy's got rhythm...
Webb: I put in a monumental effort on the bike for this one. I still feel the soreness in my hamstrings. It feels distinctly different than the soreness from the subsequent session.
THURSDAY: SEAC Running Club
The workout:
- 1.5 mile jog to the track
- 8 x 150M hard (w/ 150M jog back)
- some drills
- 1.5 mile jog back to the store
Webb: Elle ran this one without me. I was off at Fenway to watch the Red Sox play the Miami Marlins. Unfortunately the Sox lost, but I still had a great time. My long-time friend Tara and her husband Mike (we'll call them my benefactors) treated me to the game. It had been too long since I had seen them. We spent the whole time catching up.
Elle: It was hot. Super hot. Freaking hot. This workout was fun, but in a sweltering, painful kind of way. The short burst of intensity, followed by the oh-too-short jog back to the start were tough, and since we were doing the reps together, there were no excuses or chances to back down or slack off if you wanted to stick with the group. Dan mercifully cut things short, in that we didn't do the normal 2 laps at the end. And then it was all worth it when, on the return run, a bunch of us ran through the delightful, refreshing, super-duper cooling fountain at the Christian Science Monitor. I think I was born anew in that fountain...
One big highlight of this week was that our new books arrived!
- I'm here to Win (by Macca)
- Finding Ultra (by Rich Roll)
- A Life Without Limits (by Chrissy Wellington)
Chrissy's book has a foreword by Lance Armstrong, while the foreword in Macca's book is by Mark Allen. Not too shabby, guys. I'm liking both of these reads so far...
SATURDAY: BRICK Night
Webb: We had planned to get up and get our 2+ hour brick workout out of the way. Well as life does sometimes to the Age Grouper, errands conspired against us. As it happened I did not start the workout until close to 9PM.
Bike-1: 1:20:00 TheSufferfest.com's "Hell Hath No Fury"
Bike-2: 20:00 TheSufferfest.com's "Extra Shot"
Run: 45:00 - moderate effort, 6x hill repeats (.25miles) HRz3.
Our training plan called for 1:45 on the bike with two 20:00 intervals. HHNF is just that, with a nice little TTT after the second interval. I thought it would be fun to tack on the Extra Shot, which is 20:00 additional minutes of pave and bergs. I did a good job of staying disciplined and not going above threshold. I knew if I did, the brick workout would be lost. While I missed the intensity of a true Sufferfest effort, having the structure was key.
After a comfortable transition, I was off on an easy jog to Beacon Hill. Predictably, my legs felt alien. And predictably I felt like I was dragging ass when a quick check of the Garmin showed I was running too fast. I settled down in time for the first hill repeat. Up I went staying in zone 3, focusing on an upright posture and quick turnover. The next five intervals fell by the wayside. They weren't easy; they weren't hard. At the top of the last repeat, I took a deep breath, felt great and cruised home.
Next up: Team Triathlete's Journey takes on the Timberman bike course. And the review of our fab new xx2i sunglasses.
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