Week #3 is done and this was one of the best weeks of training I have had in a long long time. I typically judge the week by reflecting on my long weekend workouts … so I am obviously happy with those, but more on that in a bit. My workouts during the week were average at best. I should have been on the bike for 3:40 during the week, but I was only able to get on for 1:50 – not quite enough but a long shot. My swim sessions were as good as always – Olivier makes us do more yardage than the plan ever says, so I am never short-changed in the water. My time-trial swim session for the week had me finishing a mile in about 31 minutes – not fast by most people’s standards, but an improvement for me.
This week’s brick was supposed to be an hour on the bike followed by a 20-minute run. I got the time on the bike, but only about 15 minute of running… had to run to a meeting for work. Regardless, the run felt fine which is the point I guess.
Saturday was my long bike ride. I was supposed to do 2:30 but ended up going 3 hours to make up for some of my shortened workouts earlier in the week. I headed out through the hills north of Raleigh and ended up going 52 miles. Not a super-fast pace, but with several steep hills and lots of rolling terrain, I was pretty happy with it. Sunday was my long run – if you remember last week, I had thoroughly kicked Olivier’s butt and he wanted to “race” for real. So Oliver, Ryan, Chris and I headed out on what’s known as “Z-Big Loop” in Umstead (9.5 miles… horse trails… lots of brutal hills). We started out easy and stayed together for the first mile. But then Olivier and Chris pressed forward, leaving Ryan and I behind. That lasted for a few minutes before I split off from Ryan and caught up to Chris… and then set my sites on Olivier. It took about a mile and a half to catch up to Olivier – turns out he struggles up the hills which I find surprising since he weighs about 20 lbs. But he does struggle and by the second big hill, I was past him. By the third big hill I had a few hundred yards on him and he was sufficiently demoralized. Anyway – long story short, I ended up beating him by about 3 minutes and Ryan by 4. Olivier is officially my bitch (on the run). USA! USA! USA!
My watch ran out of batteries, so I am not sure what my official pace was, but Ryan’s said 7:30 which means my pace was somewhere around 7:10. I am VERY happy with that – especially when you look at the terrain we were dealing with. But what I am even more happy about is that I had that strong of a run after having a solid long ride the day before. To me that’s saying my body is dealing with the strain of the increased training very well and not getting too fatigued. I realize it’s early to say that – I still have 21 weeks to go – but still… I am happy.
| Swim | Bike | Run | Strength | Total | |
| Total Time | 3.0 hrs | 5 hrs | 2.5 hrs | 1.75 hrs | 12.25 hrs |
| Total Distance | 6,600 m | 80 miles | 19 miles |
