The week in review

Well, a bit of a ragged week…bike test on Monday…very good result…Tuesday planned day off exercise after the bike test, Wednesday off everything…my wife in for surgery for the day, so sitting at the hospital all day…aborted run test on Thursday…details below…light bike and yoga on Friday, and good bike on Saturday…and trying to fit in the making-a-living thing around all of it…next week is going to be more of the same

Thursday I had planned to do my running test…didn’t feel great, had some concerns about pushing the hamstring since it had felt a bit stiff, and the Wednesday sitting around didn’t help…also I know from experience that ‘life stress’ stuff takes its toll on my workouts, so need to be factored in…but still decided to get in my 5K run test to see where I was at…well at least _ease_ into the race pace and see how things felt…those darn age-group athletes just won’t lay off will they 🙂

Turns out ‘Fortuna’ the goddess of Fate decided for me…I drove over to the local track where I did the last test…it’s shared between a county park and a local Middle School…parking in the county parking lot, I could see that there were a 100+ kids on the field and the track…most just standing around…a few sauntering around the track, and a few dozen on the field kicking around a soccer ball and throwing a football…well…by the time that I got out of the car, it looked like they were leaving so I walked down to the track to warmup…and as one group left another came…well…as I did a few warmup laps, I was thinking that it was still doeable…most kids were just standing around, with a few groups walking around the track slowly…and a few kicking a soccer ball…I guess the modern version of a Phys Ed. class.

I got to meet the 3 teachers that were ‘supervising’ the ‘action’…I’d passed them 8 times in the first 20 minutes doing warmup laps…when they told me on the first acceleration lap of my 5K test, that I couldn’t run on the track when the kids were on it…pointing to the security guard making his way down the hill towards the track…got to meet him too…nice fellow…I mentioned that I didn’t see any sign anywhere…they said that there wasn’t a sign, it was just the school policy…’regulations’, you understand…mentioning that the track and field were in constant use with ‘classes’ from around 11-4pm, so couldn’t be used then…I thanked them for giving me the heads up, walked over to the security guard, and said “the teachers over there said that you needed to run with me as an escort when the kids are around”…he smiled, said that normally he would, but with knee replacements coming up on both knees, it was against doctors orders…and so my track test ended…I took a 40 minute run in the park, to complete the scheduled hour, pushed the pace a few times, and called it a day.

I wasn’t completely unhappy about not getting the test in…hamstrings and body parts were intact for at least another day, so at the Masters level, that’s always a good thing…it was really going to irritate me if I re-pulled that hamstring doing the 5K test, and I did have a concern in the back of my head…and I _do_ usually listen to those voices…

My next scheduled run test comes up in 4 weeks, so rather than mix around the schedule trying to make room for it again, I’ll probably just work with my estimated vDOT of 38-39, and go from there.

A big part of it is that my training volume leaps up beginning next week, for the 12 week ramp up to the Vancouver Half Iron, and in looking at the training, it’ll be all that I can do to hang on and get through it without breaking something or getting burnt out…so this week was a bit of a rest before the run up in training hours.

Friday was a planned soft day, 30 minutes easy on the bike, and 30 minutes of yoga…Saturday almost 2 hours on the bike, with a main set of 60 minutes at Half Ironman race pace…20 MPH, and 228 Watts, 128HR…Heart Rate and speed were perfect…power looked a bit high for the speed (should have been closer to 210 Watts for 20 MPH), but it was the hilly Shearer course, and I was wearing an Ironman cloth backpack, so with wind, could be…I’ll re-do the route without the backpack, and see how it turns out…beginning of the season I usually send in my PowerTap wheels for a calibration check to make sure they’re perfect anyway

and all aero position with the new fit…feels a lot more powerful and stable and less cramped, maybe a bit less aero if that speed/power ratio holds up without the backpack, but a lot more comfortable staying aero all the time, and I can see up the road…life is about compromises :)…excellent to be able to ride 20MPH on a hilly course, at a modest Heart Rate

…and then a brick, so an easy 30 minute run off the bike.

I did have a business trip scheduled on Monday and Tuesday…lots of _really_ good things on the business front…it’s just trying to get to all of it…with my wife/me going back for a post-surgery meeting/tests on Wednesday…so decided to not take the trip, and let my partners handle it…just feeling too compressed these days, to get it all in without running the stress meter and time pressure further into the red zone.

I don’t really feel as rested as I should be going into a BIG schedule…and my wife makes a poor patient, and I’m even a worse nurse…so Sunday will be another easy day for recovery…although since I won’t physically be at our business meetings on Monday and Tuesday, I need to prepare my ‘virtual’ presence…talking presentations…training materials…Internet links that my partners can use…and still ‘do my thing’ as part of online meetings on Tuesday…next week doesn’t really have much ‘calm’ about it

So rolling along…feeling _really_ good about the bike…good/okay about the run…and can’t say that I’m _really_ looking forward to my return to 3 x week swimming next week…and for 12 weeks…particularly with its prep/travel time overhead…with any type of enthusiasm

…so I guess feeling a little worn right now…this too shall pass 🙂

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