Recap Week 4

Rest Day

I swam today and I felt strong. There's a point in swimming where you can feel yourself higher in the water and things aren't easy, but it feels effortless. I know I'm quite a long way away from being where I need to be so this is just the beginning stages. Regardless, I'm excited to be where I'm at.

Warm up
500 FR

Set 1
4 x (4 x 50) @ [1:00, :50, :45, :40]

Set 2
5 x 100 @ 1:30

Cool Down
EZ 100 Fr

Tuesday: Speed Ride Workout

Quick workout this morning. I was on the Peloton but did a "Just Ride" workout where there is no instructor or music. Not a terribly hard workout being this is active recovery week. Felt strong throughout despite not being super comfortable in my cycling shoes. Went sock-less and I could feel my toes rubbing against the top of the shoe.

Warm Up:
8 mins easy Z2.
5 x (5 secs in Z5 + 55 secs in Z2).

Main Set:
15 x (45 secs in Z2 + 15 secs in Z5).

Warm Down:
5 mins in Z2.

Tuesday: Strength & Conditioning

This workout went by fast. I think I need to add some weights to the first 3 exercises here to force me to work a little harder. This is a recovery week so I'll do it next week.

1. Squat: 3 x 16 (Exercise 1)
2. Alternate Lunge: 3 x 10 (Exercise 5)
3. Squat Jump: 3 x 10 (Exercise 2)
4. Bench Press: 3 x 10 (Exercise 14)
5. Tricep Kickback: 3 x 10 (Exercise 16)
6. Bent Over Row: 3 x 10 (Exercise 12)
7. Spider Climber: 3 x 8 (Exercise 25)
8. Bicycle Crunch: 3 x 10 (Exercise 26)
9. Plank: 1 x 3 (Exercise 21)

Wednesday: Aerobic Swim

Easy swim. Basically did 1200 yards and doing a variety of freestyle and freestyle pull. My Garmin said I averaged about 1:40 per 100. Sounds about right. I'm trying to embrace active recovery this week and not push anything too hard. I want to be ready for the next 3 weeks of training if possible.

1200 yards - mix pull and freestyle

Thursday: Speed Run Workout

This morning was a whirlwind. An issue at work had me furiously working from a multi-purpose room at the YMCA. Thankful to have had wifi there and that I could quickly drop off work stuff for a 25 minute run but would rather not have that stress.

I could have dropped my daughter and come home but making the decision to work from the gym put me in a better position for success. There is a higher probability that I'll do my workout if a) I'm dressed for it and b) if my proximity to the facility is really close.

The run itself was good. I can sense a bit of soreness in my left foot but the soreness went away when I started warm up. Not sure what's up there but paying attention and massaging my calves out as much as possible.

Warm up 
5 min in Z2
5 x (:20 in Z5 and :40 Z2)

Main Set
3 x (:60 in Z5 and 2:00 Z2)

Cool Down
5 min in Z2

Thursday: Strength & Conditioning

After the run I came home and continued working. I was still in my running clothes so when I had an hour break I went to the garage and did my workout. It was a great workout overall. The temp in the garage was in the 90s but it felt good. After my morning it was nice to rage lift for a while.

For this workout I really pushed myself and added some weight. I think the weight helped with the intensity a lot. Worked up a real good sweat on this one.

1. Squat: 3 x 16 (Exercise 1)
2. Squat Jump: 3 x 10 (Exercise 2)
3. Step Up: 3 x 10 (Exercise 7)
4. Push Up: 3 x 12 (Exercise 13)
5. Lat & Front Raise Combo: 3 x 7 (Exercise 11)
6. Dumbbell Pullover: 3 x 10 (Exercise 15)
7. Glute Bridge: 3 x 14 (Exercise 18)
8. Lying Hip Abduction: 3 x 12 (Exercise 20)
9. Side Plank: 1 x 3 (Exercise 23)

Friday: Swim Recovery (no optional bike today)

Nice and easy swim today. Woke feeling the "dumbbell pullovers" from yesterday. Actually followed the workout pretty closely today. Added only about 200 yards to it. I think the weight session yesterday made me feel slightly sluggish. Otherwsie, it was a good morning. Looking forward to the next phase of training next week.

Warm Up:
1 x (100 FS in Z2 + 100 Drill* in Z2 + 10 secs rest),
1 x (50 Breast in Z2 + 50 Back in Z2 + 10 secs rest).

Main Set:
1 x (100 Pull in Z2 + 20 secs rest),
1 x (100 FS in Z2 + 200 Pull in Z2 + 20 secs rest),
1 x (200 FS in Z2 + 100 Pull in Z2 + 20 secs rest),
1 x (100 FS in Z2 + 20 secs rest).

Warm Down:
1 x (100 Choice in Z2).

Saturday: Aerobic Run

20 min Z2 aerobic run in the books and it felt damn good. I didn't feel like I was pushing it too much but my pace was exactly a 9:00/mile. It felt smooth and not labor intensive. Again excited for the next phase. Overall feeling strong. I'll be pushing my limits a bit more in the coming week if everything goes according to plan.

Weather reports are that a tropic storm/hurricane will be hitting the city tomorrow so we'll see how my ride goes.

Sunday: Aerobic Bike

Final day of active recovery. Just a long easy 40 min ride. I did a 45 min Peloton endurance ride instead of getting on my bike. The storm has been moving and I'd rather not be out on the roads with this weather. There's just no need to risk it.

Anyway, felt really good on the ride. I can easily spend a day in Z2 at 100 cadence. Looking forward to pushing myself the next 3 weeks and see I can drive my fitness score up.