The Week in Training

This was sorta the first week of triathlon training. Right now, I'm just getting used to doing a variety of things, rather than just run. It's different. For one, tri training will require a lot more planning. Running requires some planning, but not nearly as much if I'm going to squeeze in nine workouts a week. I'm not there yet. The variety seems to make recovery easier. Running all the time gets super tiring for me. Learning to swim again is hard without long recovery. All in all, I'm OK with how the week went. I worked out six of seven days, although one swim was short because I had to do an interview.

Run: 2x; 16.75 miles: I stuck with a long run (11 miles) because the weather was really nice. Running is going to take a back seat for a bit while I get comfortable with swimming and cycling.

Swim: 2.5x; 4600 yards. There was an abbreviated session of just 600 yards. The other two were 2,000 yard swims, done in sets of 100s. I'll need to come up with real swim workouts. First, build a base -- and get comfortable again with flipturns. The low point: I got a terrible cramp in my calf getting out of the pool on Thursday. Writhed around in pain on the deck for a little. It's still a little sore.

Cycle: 1x; 50 minutes. Today was my first time on a spin bike. I was a little perplexed. Kevin, my tri advisor, said to keep the cadence high and focus on pulling through the spin. I tried to do this. The spin bike, though, seems to kinda take off on its own. My heart rate only broke 100 toward the last 10 minutes. The average for the session was a mere 97. That's clearly not enough. Still, it was the first cycle. I'll improve.

Foot massage: 1x, 30 minutes. This was a day of firsts. The Chinatown foot massage places always scared me. But I was convinced to give it a try. Not bad. There were a few delicate moments when he got to my Achilles on my left leg and calf on the right leg.

Overall: This was a slow start to training. I wouldn't even say I'm training yet. The key now is to get used to dong a variety of workouts, particularly in the disciplines I don't know, and getting a schedule where I can do enough. Stamina-wise, it was an easy week. The only hard workout was my last swim, which for some reason was drudgery. I kept getting lapped, which didn't help.