I may do some other stuff like time trials and 10k's for fun but for the most part I'm still working at becoming fit. I've decided to work on my overall endurance, strength and range of motion for this first part of the year. I'm not doing much in the way of speed at all unless you count my rides with the super cyclists, Jason and Du Shun - and even there it isn't as much as trying to go fast as it is trying not to get left behind.
Anyway, I think I have a handle on how much work I can comfortably do in a day at this point and how to schedule it with the necessary food and recovery to make it all work out. But that isn't what the purpose of this post is about. This post is simply about what I've been doing for the last few days.
Yesterday I went out for my morning run and changed my mind. Not about the running, mind you but about the route and ultimately the duration. The run went from 30 minutes in my neighborhood to over 30 minutes down to Town Lake and on to the water stop under the foot bridge and back home. The whole run ended up being slightly over 90 min and pretty much about 10 miles. I haven't run more than 30 minutes since Thanksgiving. But I felt good the whole way so my pace and heart rate were right in line.
I think the thing about this run is I was pushing through some personal boundaries. For the last couple of years I've been hesitant about doing long runs too early. But I've relied on so little running in the past in my preparation that I've probably been underprepared for Ironman. I want to address that this year. So not only am I running more frequently as I did last year with multiple runs per day, I am also going to do more middle to long distance runs early so that my runs later in the year can focus on quality and not durability.
After the run I came home and ate and got ready for my bike. Again here is where I was pushing boundaries. Instead of mapping out a longish ride, I decide I wanted to be more consistent with my cycling this year. Last year I was lucky to get in 2 quality rides a week. This year I want that number to be closer to 4. So again I took a look at what I was doing. I did a lot with a little last year increasing wattage, speed and efficiency on the bike to the point of riding well on very little training. I want to take what I learned not to just "do" more work, but to do more quality work within a certain amount of time. So while I'll be on the bike more frequently, I doubt my time on the bike will increase substantially. To that end I want to keep my rides in the 45 minute to 2 hour range and leave it at that. Yesterdays ride clocked in at 1 hour 45 minutes. Perfect. I got home and it was time to eat again.
This morning was more of the same albeit with shorter durations. 30 minute run on the treadmill before breakfast, then 90 minute bike ride after lunch and a nap. As I give more thought to what I want to accomplish physically, I'll post more details. Until then, "Train well!"
No comments:
Post a Comment