Week in review June 13-19: Lots of swimming and lots of heat

Swim, swim, swim.

Last week was a good one overall. I did more swimming than I have in a week all season, and all of it was outdoors. I only got on my bike once, but I ran and even did a weights video, which had been collecting dust.

I did take one evening off to go faucet shopping with my husband. The romance! We made it a date night with a stop for sushi and I was way too full, and it was way too late, to do any training. No regrets; I’ve never met a spicy tuna roll I didn’t like.

Broken down by sport, it was:

Swim: Three times, twice in my beloved outdoor pool and once in the lake for my first OWS of the season, for about 8,050 meters in about 3 hours, 20 minutes. I was embarrassed by the youth swim team lapping me repeatedly early in the week, but when I did the same workout later in the week I was able to take my average on “fast” repeats down by a second, so that was good to see.

My lake swim went… interestingly. It was a hot day and the water felt wonderfully cool. I always do lake swims with a cheapo version of a swim safety device, basically a pool noodle I attach to my race belt with a shoelace, which I tow behind me. Well, about 100 meters in I was getting very small waves in my face, and I started getting intimidated by how far away the beach was, and that led to a minor panic attack. I grabbed my noodle to rest for a minute and get my breathing under control, and after that I was fine – I made it across the lake and back with no problems. (I mean, I’m slow and can’t swim in a straight line without a black stripe to guide me, but no other problems.) I had the beginnings of a few more freak outs, but I would touch my noodle with my foot, and I was able to calm down again knowing it was there.

This isn’t out of the ordinary for me. I usually have at least a minor panic attack during the first OWS of the season, and maybe the beginning of the first race of the season, too. My routine is a little off since I didn’t do my usual May race, and because I didn’t Sunday, and probably won’t at the upcoming race, wear a wetsuit. I wasn’t making another OWS pre-race a priority, but now I think I will do some schedule shuffling to make sure I get in at least one more lake swim just for peace of mind.

Bike: Once, on the road, for 40 miles in a bit less than 2.5 hours. For once in my life, I was out the door at a decent hour and was able to do a full three laps of the closed-off stretch of road. My 5-mile splits were amazingly consistent, with only 46 seconds between the fastest and the slowest. It was hot and sunny, but I was well-hydrated and well-sunscreened. By all accounts it was a good ride.

I did de-prioritize trainer rides this week knowing that my next race is likely going to be swim-run only.

Run: I only made it out twice this week, for one easy-ish run after work and one LSD Sunday morning, for a total of 14 miles in about 2.25 hours. My shorter run was warmer than anticipated but I still held a decent pace. I did take drink breaks every 2.25 miles of my long run and I was dripping, literally dripping, with sweat by the first break, so there was no doubt they were necessary. Overall it was fine, and I am still successfully continuing to build my long runs one mile at a time. Hooray!

Right now I’m hovering at goal marathon pace +0:45, not counting drink breaks. BUT, I haven’t gotten to the point of fast finishes or GMP repeats or anything like that. I’d like to feel the effort come down a bit first before I start doing any marathon-specific pace training. When I get to 10-12 miles and am still feeling OK, I’ll reassess.

Weights: It was a gloomy day Thursday and I had to work later than I would have liked so I did a Jillian Michaels weights video for 55 minutes. Nothing spectacular except to reinforce how weak I am and how bad at pushups I am.

Total: 7 sessions in just under 9 hours.

Swim, swim, bike, run, swim, repeat. It wasn't a bad week and I hope to build on this to have an even better week next week.