We generally get drawn into lots of drills when swimming with the Masters group. No doubt that the drills are great, and lot to learn from the Masters group. This post is not to discuss the pros and cons of the drills for Masters Swimming, rather incorporate those drills to suit the triathlon needs.
So after my Masters swim workout, I spoke to a triathlon coach. And I found three really good points from our talk- Continue reading
Guess it was the coldest day that I had to pick for swimming. Morning temperatures 34 F and evening 42F.
Woke up to go swimming for an hour, but looking out the window it was chilly cold, and a little windy :(. Took me 30 mins to decide, to hit the pool. I made it for the last 20 mins before the pool closure. This pool visit was after 2 months, and wasn’t bad given I did 1000 yds in those 20 mins. So begins the swim part of the Ironman training.
The hardest part in the morning, especially during winters, is to prepare mentally to dive into the pool. Water is always warm, so once I dive into the pool, I remain underwater for the first 25 yds, coming out just twice to catch breath.
Anyways, post swim feeling was great !!
Evening, I skipped the crossfit session, it was Angie’s workout (100 pushups – 100 pull-ups – 100 sit-ups – 100 squats), and went for a run. There weren’t any two thoughts about doing less than 10 miles, till I felt an awful pain on my posterior lower calf muscles. Its called ‘Gastrocnemius’ muscle strain. Whatever the hell it is, you can read it and understand it over here.
Had to stop a couple of times. A little before 4 miles, I almost gave up, but walking was more painful than running. So I started a slow jog back, and at about mile 5, I picked up the pace. Thanks to crossfit sessions, that I was maintaining my pace for a good .75 miles at around 7:30 min/mile.
Check out the pace analysis-
http://www.strava.com/activities/98714288/pace-analysis A sense of achievement, so I am continuing with Crossfit.
2.4 miles Swim + 112 miles Bike + 26.2 miles Run
Happy Belated ThanksGiving !!
Yesterday plan was to hit the swimming pool early morning, and then go for an easy run 5-6 miles.
But plans are made to be broken. Unhealthy sleep, woke up late, skipped the swim, thought of running, lazy ass did not put up the running shoes. Went for a crossfit workout in the evening.
To make myself feel less guilty I warmed up with a 1.5 miles run before the crossfit workout.
Crossfit is going to make an endurance athlete gasping for energy. So avoided a post workout run or indoor spin.
Today morning-
Went for a chilly morning ride on my new 11-28 cassette. Focussed on maintaining my speed/cadence. Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/98556789
Evening was at the crossfit box, with some exhausting WOD – power cleans and jump ropes.
I will be writing a post on how I plan to balance crossfit training with full distance Ironman training.
Having heard that quite a lot of Pros ‘Andy Potts‘, ‘Meredith Kessler’ and ‘Tyler Stewart’ and many more stay indoors for their Ironman Bike training. And a short exchange of messages with Andy Potts, also strengthened my belief in Indoor training. At the worst, it will be a pure waste of time :).
So I have borrowed a fluid Kinetic Kurt trainer from a friend, to test out the indoor training.
My main objective out of this being –
More on Indoor training later. For now I am posting my first Indoor workout.
Ladder Workout
The workout was hard. Here is the link from Garmin Connect, post workout:
Goal for the Workout : Keep the same Cadence range, but move on a higher gear.
Keep in mind that you need a big towel, music to keep you running, and your choice of hydration. You are going to sweat way more than you sweat outside.
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