Check out my first week of training here:

• Sprint Tri + Half-Marathon Training: Week 1

***

Another week of training done, another week of adjusting the plan done

(Click to see the actual google spreadsheet)

Monday – 45 minutes of Strength Training

My duck itch/swimmers itch was at it’s peak on Monday and I was SO ITCHY. Hot yoga was out of the question so I ended up staying home and doing a 45-minute upper body workout with Eric, he does this workout a couple times a week. It was tough and I was definitely sore for a couple of days afterwards!

• one arm bicep curl – 3 x 8 @ 15 lbs
• one arm bicep curl – 3 x 8 @ 10 lbs
• hammer curls – 3 x 8 @ 15 lbs
• barbell bicep curl – 3 x 8 @ 30 lbs
• tricep overhead extension with dumbbells – 3 x 8 @ 15 lbs
• tricep overhead extension with barbell – 3 x 8 @ 30 lbs
• tricep dips – 3 x 15 @ bodyweight
• bentover dumbbell row – 3 x 15 @ 25 lbs
• front raise – 3 x 8 @ 7 lbs
• lateral raise – 3 x 8 @ 7 lbs

Tuesday – 6.5 mile run and 750 metre swim

Ran 6.5 miles with my old neighbour in the morning. I was supposed to bike to work after that but the sky did not look good and I just did not feel like it so I packed up all my stuff for swimming after work.

I’ll never swim at the YMCA at 5:30 on a weekday again. There were tons of KIDS at the pool fooling around in the lanes. I did some sprints and it was nice to switch it up from just swimming easy.

750 m swim:

• 250 m – warmup
• 2 x 50 m – hard effort
• 1 x 100 m – hard effort
• 2 x 50 m – hard effort
• 200 m – cooldown

Wednesday – 4.75 mile bike ride, 3.75 mile tempo run

I biked 2 miles down to the track, did a 1.25 mile warmup, 2 miles at tempo or steady-state pace (this was hard!) and then 0.5 miles cooldown. I then biked back up the hill home. Let me tell you – biking after a hard run like that, especially uphill, was SO HARD. My legs felt like jelly. I definitely need to do more run-bike workouts in the future.

Also, my run coach (who has done all kinds of marathons, ironmans, ultra’s etc.) told me that he’s always had his best run times when he was doing biking for cross-training and that biking will make me a stronger runner. Good to know!

Thursday – 90 minute hatha hot yoga class

This was such a lovely class with one of my favourite instructors. She took the clock off the wall so nobody could check the time and she had this ticker-thingy that she turned on for some poses. For 6 different poses throughout the class we were supposed to close our eyes and focus on breathing in for 4 counts (of the ticker) and out for 6 counts.

This class was actually SO relaxing. I felt like I was on a bit of a yoga high when I was done because I was so zen and mellow. It wasn’t too hard of a class physically but it was AMAZING for my mental state!

Friday – 15 mile bike ride including first official bike crash

I finally biked to work! The weather has been so crappy here lately that I have not been biking to work nearly as much as I would like to be. On Friday I biked 4.5 miles to work and then tagged on some miles on the way home to make the trip 10.5 miles total (including going up the giant hill!)

I was so proud of myself for this ride that when I came cruising towards our front door I distracted myself by looking at my watch. Well, the next thing I knew I ran into our front step, couldn’t get my foot out of the cage in time and over onto my side I went with the bike crashing on top of me. I was so shook up and scared that I immediately started bawling. Eric came out and helped me in the house and brought my bike in. He then indulged my crying for about 2 minutes before telling me he didn’t cry that hard when he crashed his bike at 9-years-old.

OK Eric. Point taken.

I think I was more scared and shaken up then anything as I wasn’t hurt TOO bad, though I did sustain some war wounds:

Saturday – 10 mile bike ride

Despite my crash the day before I had another bike ride planned for Saturday. I hemmed and hawed and put off my workout until 11:00 AM when I finally just got on my bike and rode. Biking is my weakest of the three sports so I don’t really enjoy it but I know I have to do it. This was a nice rolling hills ride and dare I say by the time I was getting close to the end of the ride I was actually enjoying myself? Maybe this whole biking thing isn’t so bad after all.

Sunday – 8 mile run, 1,000 metre swim

I got myself out of bed when Eric left for work this morning and headed out on my run by 7:30 AM since I knew it would be hot. My knee was a little tight from my crash on Friday so I decided to do 9 and 1′s (9 minutes running, 1 minute walking). I still managed to maintain a 9:50 pace over 8 miles despite the walk breaks so I was happy with that. I took a GU at mile 4.

After my run I headed to the pool for a 1,000-metre easy swim. I warmed up with 250 metres of front crawl, did 50 m kick, 150 m pull and 50 m kick and then decided to do 500 metres straight through with no breaks. The first 250 metres I still pushed off the wall but the last 250 metres I wouldn’t let myself push off the wall or touch the bottom and just treaded water to turn around at each end. I’m a strong swimmer so physically this was fine but mentally it was hard to swim laps without taking breaks.

What I look like after swimming. In case you were wondering

Weekly Totals:

Biking – 29.75 miles

Running – 18.5 miles

Swimming – 1,750 metres

Yoga – 1 class (90 minutes)

Strength Training – 1 session (45 minutes upper body)

Thoughts on Week 2:

No rest day. Whoops! I think Thursday could be considered “active rest” as it was a very easygoing yoga class. I do know rest days are important though so I’m going to make sure I have one this week. Despite not taking a rest day I felt really good and strong this week and was not nearly as tired as I was after training last week. I think I slept better this week, fuelled better and overall just trained smarter.

Biking is by far my weakest sport which means I need to keep working at it; at least three bike rides per week, maybe four. I also would like to fit in one more yoga class OR one more strength training session per week for a total of 3 yoga and/or strength sessions a week.

Overall week 2 was great. I enjoyed training and I’m feeling strong. Onto week 3!

Questions of the day: Have you ever crashed your bike? How was your week training-wise?

Good Morning!

I am trying to break out of my morning workout rut (aka hitting the snooze button) this week so this morning I hightailed it to a 6:00 AM yoga class.

It was so wonderful. I really need to get back to yoga in the mornings more often! Such a nice, and relaxing, way to start the day!

Before I headed to yoga I prepped my smoothie so all I would have to do when I got home was throw it on the mixer.

Another thing that made this morning interesting is that I’m working longer hours this week so I can take Friday off. Friday’s are the only days Eric got off so I will be doing this occasonally throughout the summer so we can have time off together. Working 9.5 hour days feels wayyy longer – and harder – than a 7.5 hour day!

I ripped out of the class as soon as yoga was over so I could get a shower.

Sweatyyyyy:

And then I drove home from the yoga studio with a towel on my head…

…Ya, I got a few looks!

My smoothie is currently mixing and my coffee is currently brewing and I’m on track to be at work in 15 minutes! However, I arrived at 7 AM the last two days in a row so I guess today I’m looking at staying until 6:00 PM.

It will all be worth it for a 3-day weekend!

OK, gotta go!

Do you fit in workouts before work? Anyone else work longer days during the week to get a 3-day weekend? I know some offices do that all the time but I don’t think I’d like it. I’m quickly discovering I like my less hectic, shorter days – even if it means only a 2-day weekend!

I spent the morning on my yoga mat doing the Morning Yoga series from Yoga Download. There were a few flows and lots of backbends (cobra, locus, bow and several bridges/wheels to name a few).

I am feeling much, much better today and knew I needed to move my body after 3 days of almost zero movement. I decided an at-home yoga practice would be a good way to eases myself back in. Tomorrow I will run.

I can’t believe how stiff my body got after only 3 days off! I suppose it was first thing after I crawled out of bed too, but I couldn’t even touch my toes. Also? The pose I mastered (wheel!) during my 30 day challenge, is getting considerably harder to get into now. I need to get back to regular yoga practice (3 – 4 times per week) stat before I lose all my flexibility and movement.

In other news, I’m currently eating a bowl of cheerio’s which seems to be one of the only things I have an appetite for these days!

What is it about cereal? Such a comfort food!

Anyhoo, this mornings at-home yoga practice reminded me that I can in fact improve my practice by doing yoga at home. I’ve gotten in this mindset where I only do yoga at the studio, which is fine, but I can usually only make it to the studio two or *maybe* three times a week.

I think my goal for yoga from now on will be twice per week at the studio and twice per week at home. I know that yoga has been SO good for me so I don’t want to lose sight of the importance of my practice now!

Do you do an at-home practice, a studio practice or both for your yoga?