Saturday, January 23, 2010

2 weeks and counting

It is 2 weeks from today that a bunch of us will be gathered in Sedona, AZ for the 1/2 marathon. I'm really looking forward to a fun road trip, hanging out with friends, checking out a new part of the country, and hopefully throwing (trowing if you are from St. Bonaventure) down a new PR in the half. The road trip part of the whole weekend is a part that a lot of people probably hate, but I never cease to be amazed when I travel out here at the expanse of emptiness that you can find. We'll be going through one of those parts in western New Mexico/north eastern AZ.

The weather here was just starting to be warm enough to have all of the snow melted, and now it is looking like the possibility of some snow next week. We were so close to having the mountain bike trails clear. We would still have to ride early while they are frozen, so that we don't tear them up, but having some clear trails to ride would have been nice. Oh well, more time in the pain cave I guess. The weather is good for some hearty winter soups though, which is just what Jaime and I made this week. Actually she made it while I did the riding in the spare room. What a great wife huh? Here is the recipe if anyone wants to try it. It is easy and tasty. I would suggest adding more stock than it calls for though. This will make about 9 bowls of soup as it is listed, but obviously more if you add more stock. http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/quick-recipes/2010/01/lentil_soup_with_spicy_italian_sausage

This week's training went pretty well and looked like this:
2 swims so far, plus one more tomorrow - all 2,000 yards.
#1 had 6x200 at race pace intervals w/:30 recoveries as the main set
#2 had 400,300,200,3x100, all pull at endurance pace as main set.
#3 (tomorrow) has 5x100 sprint w/1:00 recovery, 400 easy, 6x50 sprint w/:30 recovery

4 bike sessions on the trainer.
#1 45 mins with 2x6:00 threshold intervals
#2 1:15 at endurance pace (thank god for criminal minds marathons on TV)
#3 60 mins with 6x:30 VO2 intervals with cadence over 110, rest at endurance pace
#4 60 mins at endurance pace

4 runs
#1 easy 2 miles
#2 easy 2 miles
#3 10 miles with 5x1 mile at 5K pace / 1/2 mile recovery jog
#4 11 miles at endurance pace.

2 strength training sessions.
#1 heavy weights (this is relative, as the weights I'm moving these days are certainly not heavy) 5 sets of 5 reps, full body.
#2 (tomorrow after swim) 300 workout. Check it out at http://www.menshealth.com/men/fitness/workout-plans/muscle-building/article/5e1790ecab7e1110vgnvcm20000012281eac I totally have to reduce the weight in the bench press and have to substitute for the floor sweepers and kettle ball stuff because we don't have the equipment/room at the gym for it. If you want to get completely worked over in a lifting session, try this one out. It doesn't sound all that hard until you do it, and start trying to bring your total time to complete the workout down each time. I promise, when you are done, your whole body will be shaking but you will feel awesome.

If you haven't fallen asleep reading by now, you are at least well on your way to becoming a "mentally strong" endurance athlete. Seriously, though, thanks for reading.

Happy training,

Nick

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