2 Months in Review: February and March by the Numbers

February
Swim: 30,300yards
Bike: 496.9miles
Run: 85.4miles + 11.8miles walking
Weights: 8 short 15-20min sessions TRX/bosu/core

To be honest, I can't even remember February at this point. I know that I continued to be diligent about getting to the pool for short (2000-2500yard) swims and even got in a few longer swims. Biking all on the trainer (despite the mild winter) and one day a week at FastSplits on the computrainer. I continue to LOVE the computrainer. After replacing my new (Lake) cycling shoes with a second new pair (Shimano) the foot trouble I was having subsided enough to be manageable. I still get some numbness if I ride hard or long but nothing debilitating and nothing that kept me from running. I returned to running in my heavy trainers (Adidas Supernova Sequence 3) which was fine given the slow steady miles I put in. Endurance started returning on the run which was good to feel, despite the slow paces.

March
Swim: 32150yards
Bike: 538.8miles
Run: 138.4miles + 19miles walking
Weights: 5 TRX/core sessions

March was a pretty great month. A breakthrough run month!

I took a week of vacation the second full week of the month and just trained to my heart's content. It was blissful. 3 swims (2k, 3.5k, 4k), 5 rides (1hr OUTDOORS, 1h10m, 1h30m, 1h40m, 2h30m) with two 3+mile t-runs and one longer 1hr run off the bike. I moved my long run (usually Saturday) to Thursday so I could hammer that longer ride/run on Sunday. Long run was alright, nothing to write home about. Friday was a 90/30 brick, also good not great. Saturday I had speed work on the plan. I was thinking 6x400. I jogged easy to the track and then settled into the planned work. As I came toward the fifth interval I realized that my pace (including rest intervals) was pretty darn close to my current 5k PR time so I gunned it through the last interval. I came in just 1 second off my PR. I slowed to a jog to recover and realized I was feeling quite good. I decided to pick it up to mile 4. Then mile 5. Set a new 5mile PR (by a longshot). Decided to go for 10k. Came through 10k with the second 5k faster than the first 5k, and a PR by over 30 seconds!!! (21:54)   At this point I am on cloud nine, pretty psyched with all that frustrating slow running I did all winter. With basically no speedwork I found myself with speed. I ran another lap or so and was still feeling awesome. At this point my total distance was around 8.5miles. Something clicked in my head and I decided to just keep going. Miles ticked by one after another. At some point I decided I was going for 13.1. Why not? Its my vacation, I can do what I want!  The last mile was a 7:10. 7:10! That's my (former) 5k pace. I don't know where this came from. I ran through 13.1 and my watch read 1:39:59. Admittedly this is not a true time. I stopped my watch twice for ~30 seconds (at the end of that first 5k of trackwork (5.1miles) and then after the 10k of trackwork (8.2miles). Even if I were to call it 2 minutes of stopped watch we're talking many minutes faster than my HM PR set in November. (If you recall I was gunning for a 1:45 that day and then blew up at mile 10 and shuffled home in 1:48:xx.) REDEMPTION was mine!

During the month I rode my bike outside twice. I feel good about that. One on quiet roads to shake off some of the lingering fear I have from last year's witnessed accident. The second in traffic to really get myself used to my new road pedals and all the stresses of riding with cars and traffic lights. Both were slow, nothing like the confidence I have on the trainer. To close out the month I did my second FTP test of the season. My FTP came up more than 10% and my W/kg increased from 3.3 to just over 3.75 thanks to more watts and fewer kilos! All in all, a great month!!

Neglectful Blogger!

Often while I'm out on a run I start to compose a post in my head. I come up with a title. I think through a paragraph or two of something that is on my mind. Then I get home and hurry to shower and eat something a go to work and the post never gets written. Weeks pass like this. Good workouts come and go. Bad workouts come and go. Weeks turn into months?!?! I was convinced I wrote a post at the end of Base 1 but checked the other day and realized I must have only wrote it in my head! Shame on me :-)  I am now at the end of my third training block (of 5) leading into my first A race of the season. I must blog more often!!!