Weeks 14-16

 This post is to get you caught up with the last three weeks of training (and some tempo run time trials).  Sorry for not posting the last 20 days or so as we had a major family trip out to Indy to see the Eclipse (involved driving to Cleveland and then Indy and back) and up to Boston to help Jen find a new place to live for her coming Fellowship at Boston Children's Hospital.

Swim: W14--7,000 yds.  W15: 4,500 yds.  W16: 6,500 yds.

Bike: W14: 243 miles. W15: 224 miles.  W16: 235 miles.

Walk/Run: W14: 20.3 miles. W15: 22.7 miles.  W15: 25.5 miles

PT/Weights: W14: 4:50.  W15: 4:15.  W16: 4:40.

Total Training Time (hh:mm): W14: 27:48.  W15: 26:19.  W16: 28:30

As for my tempo runs, as you might recall in March I started to do some Z2/low Z3 intervals (1/2-3/4 mile repeats).  On April 7th, in Indy, the day before the eclipse (and our 40th wedding anniversary) I ran with Marshall and Anders for my first 3-mile "tempo" run of the year, where I did 29:44 (9:54/mile) at an average HR of 142 (the top of my Z2 is around 144/145.  This was quite a breakthrough for me as both of my 5ks last year were over 34 minutes (still in recovery mode from the knee replacement) and my goal this year is to break 30 minutes for a 5k (in both a running race and a triathlon).

On 4/13 I ran 29:30 for 3 miles (9:49/mile) but my HR spiked to an average of 153.  For my 3rd tempo run  I slowed down to 30:45 (10:13/mile) at an average HR of 136.

Today, I ran 5k in 29:30 (9:31/mile) at an average HR of 139bpm!  This is already well beyond what I thought was possible when I began this year.  While the 1st run with Marshall and Anders was driven by the vastly improved running biomechanics that I have as a result of the knee replacement and the extensive PT work I've done, with this latest run I'm beginning to see both the impact of actual run faster training as well as my improvement potential as I begin to ramp up my running.

Today's run was 23 sec/mile faster at a lower HR than just 2 weeks ago.  Also, as you can see above, I'm coming off a 28+ hour training week and today had a heavy leg weight workout and a 2,000 yd swim and a 2-hour bike BEFORE the run.....

I've decided to race  a run 5k this Sunday and to hit my goal in an official race (however, I must admit I'm thinking I need to push for 28 something).....onwards and upwards!!!!