which isn't so weird, considering that this was supposed to be the off week in the 4-week training cycle--typically, i go on a 3 or 4 week training cycle, with 2 weeks of build and 1 week of rest (or, if it's a 4-week cycle, 3 weeks of build and 1 week of rest). the build weeks all follow 1-week micro-cycles, so that each week features progressively longer (or higher intensity) workouts. the rest weeks aren't really rest as in total rest, but rather "active rest" where activity is reduced, but still held to a level that's enough to maintain the fitness gains made during the build weeks.
what was weird, however, was that i'd wanted to go into the rest with a big break-through workout (see prior training round-up posts for a definition of a "break-through workout"), and so i'd scheduled for the sunday a long brick with a 2-mile swim and 70-75 mile bike ride (or 80, if i was feeling good). but i hit a major fatigue point the saturday before, and woke up not really feeling up to it--and it wasn't a lazy kind of fatigue, but a physically drained one.
lucky for me, the weather was pretty shaky sunday, with forecasts of scattered rain and polluted ocean water. that gave me an excuse to ditch the brick i'd planned.
but i ended up feeling so guilty i decided to go to campus on sunday and get in a shorter, higher intensity swim-bike brick. i ended up cutting it short, as i could feel my energy levels really dipping low. i told myself i'd try to reschedule the brick for later in the week.
it didn't get much better monday, when i found myself still feeling tired despite the reduced workout load. at that point, i decided i better scale the schedule back and just take tuesday and wednesday for rest days to recuperate and recover.
of course, that meant thursday was the brick. but there was no way i had the time to fit the planned outdoor workout in, meaning if i did it, it would have to be on campus and indoors so i could get to class and work quicker. i cut out the swim, and shuffled the workout. i ended up doing a simulated long bike ride in the morning--176 minutes on the stationary bike (which from the formula i gave in a previous training round-up post, equals to 264 minutes--or 4 hours and 24 minutes--on a road ride), and a 40 minute run (6.4 km, plus cool-down) in the evening. it wasn't a brick, but i got my long ride and follow-up run, which was good.
and i actually felt much better by saturday. good enough to actually look forward to the next 3 build weeks...none of which are very pretty.
sunday, jan. 28
morning
- brick: swim (build) + stationary bike (cadence), 2200 yards swim + 45 minutes bike, aerobic conditioning (zone 3 & zone 4), mcdonald's swim stadium & lyons center, start time 11am
morning
- swim (technique & pull), 2000 yards, aerobic conditioning (zone 3), mcdonald's swim stadium, start time 6:00am
- weight training (chest & abs), 30 minutes, immediately following
- run (maintenance), 4.8 km, aerobic conditioning (zone 3), loker track stadium, start time 6:30pm
rest day
wednesday, jan. 31
rest day
thursday, feb. 1
morning
- stationary bike (long ride substitute), 176 minutes, muscular endurance (zone 3 & zone 4), lyons center, start time 6am
- run (tempo), 6.4 km, aerobic conditioning (zone 3 & zone 4), loker track stadium, start time 6:30pm
morning
- swim (technique), 1200 yards, aerobic conditioning (zone 2), mcdonald's swim stadium, start time 6am
- weight training (chest & abs), 45 minutes, immediately following
- run (active rest), 12 minutes, aerobic conditioning (zone 2), loker track stadium, start time 5:30pm
- kung fu (active rest), 60 minutes, immediately following
morning
- kung fu (active rest), casuda canyon park, start time 10:30 am
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