Sunday, March 15, 2009

IM CDA week 13

Swim faster...you're not even out of breath!

That's what Chris said to me towards the end of my swim training today. To my defense, it was supposed to be an easy swim as I am getting my second lactate test tomorrow! It's difficult to gauge how hard you're supposed to work during a swim. During the bike and runs, it's easy because that's what the heart rate monitor and your training zones are supposed to be for but with the swim...it's a bit grey. Regardless, I will swim harder for now on and if I am not out of breath by the end of my set/interval, then that means I an not swimming hard enough...

Speaking of lactate test..my second one comes tomorrow with Craig at Performance Labs. What happens during a test? Basically, I warm up on my bike for about 15 minutes, then Craig will prick my finger for blood and increase my power wattage on the bike by 20 watts every 3 minutes until I can pedal no longer at 80+ rpm. Chris then uses the watts for computrainer class and my heart rate for training zones. Speaking of class, the pain cave has now become the pain dungeon. Halfway through class on Tuesday, fans were shut off..then on Thursday, Chris wouldn't let us turn the fans on at all... what's next? I don't really want to know. So back to test, I have a feeling that Chris has some expectations about this upcoming test. I'm not nervous...I don't feel the pressure...calm as can be! 

Saturday bike ride was windy was h*ll! Kara, Caesar, Michela, Chris H. and I met up at the intersection of Sir Francis & Platform Bridge. Kara and I had a 4 hour ride while Caesar had a 3.5 hour ride. We all stayed together up until we hit the water, that's when we split up according to our heart rate zones. I didn't see Kara again until 3.5 hours into my ride. It was pretty darn windy but scenery out by Pt. Reyes and the oyster farms was just beautiful and calm...almost romantic in a way! I was really looking forward to this ride as I wanted to get used to my new bike position. I had Craig fit me on the TT bike and he changed quite a few things, most telling was the much lower position in the front. The bottom half of my body adjusted well but the shoulders are definitely feeling the much lower adjustment! I was supposed to have zone 3 pick ups during this bike and a 45 minute run as well but got an email from coach Friday evening instructing me to stay strictly in zone 2, cut the run out, easy swim on Sunday (clearly we have different definitions of "very easy"), plenty of rest and recovery for a rockin' test on Monday. 

Who am I kidding? Definitely nervous and feeling the pressure for my test! Wish me luck! Recap of that next week...

Found myself missing Italy this week so I am sharing with you one of my favorite photos that I took while in Venice back in 2004-
Workout Summary-
Swim- 3 hours and 10 minutes
Bike- 7 hours and 0 minutes
Run- 1 hour and 10 minutes
Total workout- 11 hours and 20 minutes

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