Been a week already?

I think I have started writing a blog post multiple times over that last week and have never seemed to finish so I will just do a recap as a lot has been going on.

Last Wednesday we did our threshold testing at Computrainer class. I have two baselines to compare this to, the multiple twenty minute tests we did last winter and the previous 30 minute test we did a couple of months ago. I had some expectations going into this but was not putting it to high as I did not think I was hitting the cycling as hard as last year. Last year for any of the twenty minute tests I peaked at 283 watts, previously this year I was at 271 for the thirty minute test. Well I must be doing something right as I was able to test at 286 watts for the 30 minute test, was very happy with that and now hoping to build on that next time we test.

Last Saturday was the monster swim event for the local masters swim club. This is a 100 (or 75 and 50's) , 100's on the 100 (1:40 interval). Rick and I opted to do the 75's as we were going to ride at CT class beforehand and I was fine with a 7500 swim day with an addition of almost two hours riding. I swam all 7500, no pulls, no fins just straight up freestyle. Things went pretty well except for the last 20 I couldn't stop coughing as I think that after three hours in the pool the chlorine did some damage. For this reason I am not sure I would do this again as it really got my lungs and I was dead ass tired the rest of the day.

Sunday I started up my longer runs as the Indy Half Marathon is coming up the start of May, I was really not sure what to expect as the ride\swim on Saturday took a lot out of me but I knew some beers were going to be consumed for the Super Bowl so in my sick head I used that as motivation to get me out the door (it was also super nice out). I headed out with once again little expectations and just went by feel, I ended up running almost 8 miles on a 7:30 pace and felt I could have gone longer, I was very pleased.

Monday, I decided to run at lunch to see where the legs were. Goal was to go easy on the treadmill four miles or so. This was more for a mental break from work than anything, it really breaks up the day and gets rid of the stress caused by the few that have managed to stay employed in the dismal economy that really have no reason to be.

Monday night was masters and I was hoping it was an easier set after the monster swim and all. No dice, one look at the workout and first thought "shit". Main set consisted of a 1000 for time followed by 6 x 200 hard. I am not going to lie, I actually kind of like the 500 for time we did last year on a monthly basis but have never done anything longer outside a race. Last year the fastest I ever went during the 500 was 6:45 I I think, the plan was to just find a pace that was comfortable, count the 40 lengths and set it on cruise control. First 500 looked up and it was 6:47, happy with that wasn't feeling all that bad and just wanted to not drop off much. I ended up coming in on 13:36 which puts the second 500 at 6:49. This ended up calculating out to a 1:21 100 pace, very happy and really felt like I could go another 500 at that same pace. The problem came on the following 6 x 200 set, ouch those hurt.

Today's CT class was the first over/under workout of the year, I got in a pretty lengthy warm up before we started the main set and I could tell the legs weren't feeling all that great but the sets were 4 x through the following:

2 min above threshold,
1 min at 80%
2 min above threshold,
1 min at 80 %
1 min above threshold
3 minute recovery

Even though the legs weren't feeling all the great the intervals were short enough where I could zone out and get through and still hit the numbers I needed to be hitting.

Well that is the recap and it has been a tough week of training.