Weekly Workouts

I'm 14 weeks away from Raleigh 70.3 and 31 weeks away from Beach2Battleship race week! To be exact, as I'm writing this, there are 239 days, 17 hours, 39 minutes and 11 seconds to the start of B2B! I'm on the edge of my first few weeks of prep races. Last week I spent over 12 hours training - including foam rolling, yoga, TRX and pilates (on top of the swimming, biking and running)!

My running buddies joke and muse and try to figure out on nearly every run what has broken in our brain to make us want to do this. Right now, I feel like I'm only half crazy - my focus is on the Raleigh 70.3 (get it? half iron= half crazy) on June 2. I can't imagine what's in store in July, August and September when the bulk of my training for 140.6 miles ramps up.

Here is what we must look like to normal people like you. [Warning: This contains adult-content.]

Ask any iron athlete and they'll do one of two things: deny they're as extreme as the guy above or they'll try to one-up him. Mostly, I deny the fact that I spend so much time training, thinking about training, racing, thinking about racing, eating to train, or thinking about eating. But, after I wrote the schedule below, I faced up to some crazy. For starters: my alarm is set for 4:40am. I usually hit the snooze once and I'm up and dressed and in the kitchen and letting the dog out by 4:58. In short, here's what a typical week of workouts looks like right now:

Monday 

YDubTri Cycle
Spin Class

Yoga or Pilates

Tuesday

Swim

Spin Class

Wednesday

Run: Speed

Spin Class

Yoga

Thursday

Swim

Bike

Friday

Run: Tempo/Social

Saturday

Long Bike

Transition Run

Sunday

Run Long

Spin Class

For those of you who want details:

Monday:  CrossTrain

I coach the YDubTriClub cycle session at 5:45a. Sometimes I ride with them, other times I sip coffee and encourage them to go a little harder. A little later in the morning I  teach an indoor cycling class at the hospital's employee fit center. More than likely, I'm on the bike for an easy 100+ cadence spin. For the past two months, I've added an extra swim on Monday evening - thankfully that has ended!

Tuesday: Swim + CrossTrain

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I swim with the YDubTriClub. We are a sprint triathlon-focused club, so we work on short-distance speed and techniques. We tackle 2500 - 3500 yards every Tuesday and Thursday. My crosstrain event is another coached spinning class and I'm usually on the bike - using it as a recovery spin with a high cadence

Wednesday: Run (Speed) + Crosstrain
I usually do a track workout that is three-to-five miles. I work on form and high cadence and my repetitions are short intervals. I teach another Spin class at the fit center and then take a basic yoga class.

Thursday: Swim + Bike
Another 5:30am swim with the tri club. This morning, we did 3000 yards.  I add a optional trainer ride in the afternoon. 

Friday: Run (EZ, Hills or Tempo)

Fridays are my favorite. I usually do an easy  social run with friends and mix in hills or tempo runs every few weeks. This week we watched the fog roll with the Cape Fear River and the sun rise over the buildings of downtown Wilmington as we crested hill after hill - and climbed the parking deck at PPD. Tempo runs are mid-distance speed workouts. You work on race pace for miles at a time and sandwich it in between easier efforts.

Saturday: Bike

Right now, I'm biking indoors. Last weekend, I stared down a two hour on my trainer. For the past few weeks, three or four other riders have set up in the classroom of a teacher at a local school. She has a projection screen and we've watched Ocean's 11, Bridesmaids, The Long Run and last Saturday, I annoyed everyone by quoting every line in So I Married an Axe Murderer. 

Sunday: Run (Long) + CrossTrain

Harkin's watch isn't bee-beeping at him.

Sunday mornings are reserved for the longer run. Last Sunday, I tackled eight miles alone. I set my Garmin up for a progressive run - where I picked up the pace every two miles. I started out a little too fast and cruised through the first two miles. But, when I hit the second pick-up, I couldn't do it. My watch kept beeping at me. Bee-Beep! It actually read: SPEED UP! Every 20 seconds for six miles, I listened to it Bee-Beep! Bee-Beep! Bee-Beep! I have now affectionately renamed it ARGO because for six miles I muttered and cussed at it with lines from the movie ARGO. You know the one.

DAY OFF  ---- Once a week I take a day off. I try to take it easy. No spin, maybe yoga, maybe a massage. This week, I tried to sleep in. I woke at 5:15 instead of 4:50. I ate, did some chores and took a nap from 6:30 - 7:30a. By then, I was wide awake and ready for coffee - and something else to eat. I like working out - I like seeing my friends. I have also learned that I like to feel rested and take some time off. More on that to come!