Triathlon Training Log – Week 13


Training notes: this week was all about recovering from last Sunday’s 26.2-mile adventure. (The recap is almost done, promise.) Although I was able to walk and move around fairly well on Monday, I didn’t start to feel somewhat normal until Thursday. And I learned the hard way that I cannot run a marathon and then expect to slice through the water at a swim meet.

Monday – p.m. CompuTrainer spin-out at Tailwind Endurance

After work, I went to Tailwind for an easy 30-minute spin-out and spent some quality time in the Norma Tec sleeves.

Tuesday – a.m. CompuTrainer class at Tailwind Endurance

Another easy spin session at Tailwind. This time, I went before work—and saw a bunch of my triathlon buds—and made adjustments to the prescribed workout. Basically, I hung out at 70-75 percent for 70 minutes.

Wednesday – a.m. swim with Bearcat masters

After a week-long hiatus, I returned to the water. My legs still felt toasted from Sunday, but I hung tough for 4200m of freestyle swimming.

Thursday – a.m. Compu Trainer class at Tailwind Endurance

A Sufferfest workout was on the docket, and while the class tackled the prescribed intervals, my coach instructed me to do the VO2 max efforts as threshold blocks. My legs felt surprisingly OK, and I was even getting a little ancy toward the end of the workout because I wanted to push more.

Friday – a.m. swim with Bearcat masters

Woohoo for Friday Fly Day! My body felt much better in the water, but this IM-based, butterfly-focused workout was still brutal. We logged 4000m.

Saturday – a.m. CompuTrainer class at Tailwind Endurance; p.m. swim with Bearcat Masters

Sportz Saturdays are back! The day started with a two-hour ride at Tailwind Endurance. It was a tough workout with intervals ranging from 80 to 105 percent without any true recovery. (Blocks at 70 percent were considered recovery.) I hit my numbers and survived the ride, but I have a lot of work to do in the saddle.

That afternoon, I went to the pool for a 90-minute distance freestyle swim. My favorite set of the day was the 5x200s. I love locking into that pace. We also spent some time working on starts off the blocks for the upcoming meet.

Sunday – NYC Parks Swim Meet

Lesson learned: I cannot except to swim fast one week after running a marathon. There were about 30 Bearcats who went to Queens for this meet, and since most of us competed at Harvard two weeks ago, expectations were low. In hindsight, I should’ve done what my teammates did and swam events I “didn’t care about” like the 50-yard breaststroke and maybe the 100-yard butterfly. Instead I swam personal worsts in the 200 and 500 freestyle and the 100 IM. Oh well. Train, race, and learn.

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