Training Tuesday

It has been another good week of training. I have been staying consistent in the pool, but the weather has been more on again so I was able to get outside for a run on Wednesday and a long bike ride on Sunday.

I put up 5550 yards in the water. While the majority was freestyle, there was 650 yards of backstroke. The Master’s team will be competing in the state meet this weekend and our workouts have been geared towards an optimal showing. It is kind of interesting to see swimmers take off of the blocks and swim full speed ahead. I have also enjoyed seeing the butterfly swimmers in the water. It is an elegant stroke that just seems exhausting.

I had a great bike ride on Sunday. While the weather wasn’t perfect, I was dressed ideally in a long sleeve jersey and knee warmers. I rode up Simms to SH 128 and took that rode all the way out to SH 93 to create an approximately 28 mile out and back ride. Fortunately, I had two full water bottles and a Hammer Nutrition gel to keep me fueled and hydrated over the 2.5 hours. I am on e-mail distribution for the Arvada Triathlon Club and the group rides I hear about are pushing 40-50 miles. While I would like to participate, I would need to build up to that kind of distance.

I was mostly doing maintenance running this week. I did have a fast session on the treadmill. For me that means 5.8 mph versus 5.4 mph or 5.6 mph. At any rate it felt good and I did not have any repercussions. I did wake up with a moderately sore ankle on Sunday morning, but a couple of Indomethacin may short work of that.

This week will be more challenging with my wife’s reserve weekend. Fortunately I have been getting terrific family support during the week. Depending on the weather, I may even bring my bike in to work and try to ride on Thursday. The challenge is the time frame. Running or weights is much easier to fit into a one hour lunch. A minimum distance bike ride is about an hour on the bike. In addition there will be prep before and shower afterwards. An occasional 2 hour lunch is not a big deal and I can always pop in early to work or work late.