Week in Review - April 20th 2014: So So Week

This week of training was so, so.

Monday I took the day off due to some time constraints and to recover a bit from the race the day before.

I managed to squeeze in a couple of short swims on Tuesday and Wednesday, during which I had an epiphany that I hope will bear fruit on my swimming speed. I realized that my hand placement in the water was not nearly as effective as it should be after watching video from this website: http://www.swimsmooth.com. I hope that I can fine tune this movement over the next few weeks for the upcoming Tempe International Triathlon.

Thursday morning I went out for a 13 mile run with the plan to do an easy pace for the entire distance. I was feeling a little sluggish for the first six miles when I started to feel pain in my right knee. I pressed on for another mile and stopped for a moment to consider my options. At this point I was 6 miles from home with no convenient way to get back in time for an upcoming appointment. I decided I would change my running gait by reducing my knee lift and see how it felt. It felt pretty good! I was able to make it the rest of the way home with a tolerable amount of pain.

After getting home I reviewed the data from my run and found that my running dynamics were significantly improved during the last portion of the run when I changed my gait. Another epiphany! I look forward to duplicating the gait this week without leg pain. I believe this gait should reduce impact and fatigue.

On Friday I headed out for a 25 mile ride. Uugh. My legs felt really tired and I was glad when it was over.

Saturday wasn't much different. I rode another 45 miles and while my legs were a bit better I still didn't have my normal power. My average speed was 19mph where it would normally be ~21mph for that distance.

I was surprised by how tired I was on Friday and Saturday and assume it was from Thursdays run. Thirteen miles usually doesn't have that much impact for me.

On Sunday I had intended to do a long swim during my lunch break but work was extremely busy and I couldn't get away. Oh well, sometimes work gets in the way of training :-).

Training Details:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 1000 yard swim
Wednesday: 1000 yard swim
Thursday: 13 mile run
Friday: 25 mile bike
Saturday: 45 mile bike
Sunday: Rest