The luck of the Irish!

I just finished week 1 of my Base 2 Block of Ironman Training.  I am training with a 3 week build and 1 week recovery and testing, for a total of 4 week blocks.  This current week was week 5 of the total training plan.  With the completion of this week, I will have 18 weeks to go until Lake Placid, and 12 weeks until Eagleman 70.3. 

I felt really good this week.  Having fully recovered from the GI bug that went through my house.  Monday was a nice recovery day.  I only did my scheduled weight training session, and skipped the recovery swim.  The pool was so crowded again I did not want to fight to get in just 20 minutes of recovery swimming.  I know in a couple weeks, once baseball starts, the pool traffic will decrease. 

Tuesday was perfect day to get back to a "triple header."  The weather is scheduled to be perfect this week, so I got out in the morning for a good  8 mile run.  After work I went right to the Y for a swim session of 2400 yards in under 45 minutes.  I am trying right now to improve my technique so I have the endurance for the 2.4 mile swim.  After we ate, I did a nice 18 mile recovery ride on the trainer.

Wednesday called for a 75 minute ride, or roughly 30 miles.  I wa not able to get that done early in the day, before work started, so I rode at night after I helped get the kids ready for bed.  I had an optional 5 mile recovery run scheduled and decided to do this near lunch time because the sun was nice and bright and we had some staff issues at work going on.  I added 2 miles to the run miles because I need to cut some miles from my Saturday run this week, and I was feeling really good during this run. I was trying to hold my speed down, but was moving really good with a low HR so I just went with it.

St. Patricks Day today and it was hard to miss out on the party.  Brian had called yesterday to try to see if I could meet him for spirits and watch March Madness games.  I was attending a conference close to home, and he would be at a meeting not far from me. I told him I had to pass.  He did a good job of not pressuring me too much.  I guess this is one of the sacrifices to be an Ironman.  Thursday was a really busy day on the home front, so I only had time to get in a 1600 yard swim.  I was scheduled for a run as well but could not get it in, so I pushed it to Friday morning as part of a BRICK workout.

Friday would be another "triple header" workout.  I started off with a good 24.5 mile ride on a stationary bike at work, maintaining the appropriate HR.  I then got changed and dressed for an outside run from my office.  It was schedule for  7 mile run, but I added 1 mile because of the saturday palnned decrease, so I went 8 miles.  I was feeling really good and fast, keeping a 7 minute mile average.  It was weird, because most of my stand alone 8 mile times have been slower.  I guess the bike really loosens my legs up.  I squeezed in a weight training session after lunch.

Saturday was a really busy day.  I woke up extra early, 5am, to get in a 10 mile run.  I should have done 14 miles, but added those 4 miles to my weekday runs, because I knew I would be short on time.  I was short on time because I was taking Emma to New York City and the American Girl Doll Store.  What a crazy place that was.  We need to catch and early train, and I only had 80 minutes in the moring to workout, so I did a run since the Y was not open yet.  I skipped the 45 minute trainer recovery workout because I was pretty wiped from the day out in NYC with Emma.  It was an adventure on the train because right outsidde of NYC, they had a power outage on the NJ Transit line we were on.  We had to get off and take another train, the PATH, into the city.  Emma was great during it all, but it added an extra hour to our travel time into the city.  I was also scheduled for a swim, but I will make that up on Sunday.

Sunday I was at the Y right at 7am and in the pool by 7:10am.  I did my schedule 1.5 mile swim in 45 minutes, so it was nice.  I came home and helped around the house, taking Conor to get a hair cut and do the grocery shopping.  Conor, along with Batman & Superman action figures, were great helpers.  I even made time to take the girls to church and feed them lunch while Cathy had to take Conor to a birthday party.  At lunch, I ate 2 pieces of pizza and had a Milkey Way candy bar and a soda.  I figured I had to ride 70 miles, so I would burn it up during that afternoon ride.  Cathy dropped Conor at home, then she went out to take of some lady things, manicure, shopping, returns, etc.  I made my way to the trainer since I was Mr. Mom.  The kids were pretty good for me so I made it through the session in 2:41.  The trainer is a mental challenge for me and I know it will help on lap 2 at Ironman Lake Placid.

All total I think it was a pretty good week, over 13 hours and I missed 3 recovery type sessions or I would have been over 15 hours.  Next week I start a new weigh training program with a different muscle group focus to specifically help with the swim.  I still think I can make it through the swim in 1:15.  Broke in a new pair of Nike Pegasus 27 Running Shoes this week.  In the next few weeks, I will be getting a new pair of Zoot Tri specific shoes for shorter races this season, need to get new tri-specific cycling shoes, and have my bike re-fitted at the bike shop I go to.

Weekly Total:  13 total sessions, 180 miles total, 13:10 total time
Weights: 1.5 hours
Swim:  6400 yards, 2 hours
Bike:  142.5 miles, 5.6 hours
Run:  33.4 miles, 4 hours