Wild Goose Chase Metric Century Training: Week 1

First week of metric century training is in the books!

While it is not the same as running and training for a half-marathon or triathlon, I am definitely excited to sink my teeth into a new training plan! Here is how this week turned out…

September 10-16, 2012:

Monday: Swim 1700 yards

My first swim since moving and it was fantastic! Even though I was a little tired from a long day at my internship, I still made it to the pool at a local high school to swim for about 40 minutes. I didn’t have any set plan or workout with me, so I just swam how I felt. Turns out taking an extended break from swimming actually made me come back stronger! Now if that would only work with my running…

Tuesday: “Speed” Ride- Bike 22.27 miles (AM)+ Strength Training (PM)+ Core/ Stretching (PM)

A double workout day. In the morning, I attempted to do a speed ride, but did not have the intervals down right. I did a warm up, followed by six or seven speed bursts of 60 seconds in duration with rest intervals in between, with a cool down at the end. The ride was not awful and I now understand how I am going to do these rides. In the afternoon, I did an arms workout followed by core work and stretching.

Wednesday: Strength Training+ Core/ Stretching

My legs were a little tired from the previous day so I decided to skip the spin class I was thinking about attending and just focus on my strength training. I did a more full body workout followed by core work and stretching.

Thursday: Steady Ride- Bike 22.03 miles

This ride was more successful than Tuesdays. After a 10 minute warm-up, I did three interval of 15 minutes each at a pace that was slightly uncomfortable, but able to maintain. I had a rest time in between each interval. At the end of the last interval, I did a short cool down.

Friday: REST

Saturday: Long Ride- 40.19 miles

This was a tough ride with a strong headwind almost the entire time, but a beautiful ride nevertheless. I learned a lot and plan to apply it to next week’s ride. It was also a new PDR on the bike for me!!!

Sunday: Swim 1500 yards+ Strength Training+ Core/ Stretching

In the past, I have always swam before I did my strength training, but the pool does not open until noon on Sunday’s so I had to switch it. My strength training focused more on my lower body/ back to give my arms a break before swimming. After lifting, I did my core routine followed by stretching.

Then I drove over to the high school to get in the pool. I did not swim as far as Monday, but I had more of a plan going in. After a 300 yard warm-up, I did the following pyramid set: 2×50, 2×100, 1×150, 1×200, 1×150, 1×100, 2×50. I cooled down with another 200 yards.

• Running Mileage= 0
• Bike Mileage= 84.49 miles
• Swim Distance= 3,200 yards
• Total Distance= 86.31 miles

Overall, not a bad week. Definitely a record for the most miles biked during a single week! While I miss running (a LOT) I am enjoying getting into cycling a bit more. Next week I will continue to build up mileage, and hopefully speed!

Last Week’s Goals:

• Find a good sports doctor to get a third opinion on my leg pain (Still researching…)
• Ride my bike at least two times (CHECK!)
• Start looking for a bike training plan (CHECK!)
• Get in a swim (CHECK!)
• Don’t get discouraged about my lack of running (Sort of check)
• Set up a study schedule for my ACSM preparation (CHECK!)

Goals For Next Week:

• Continue training for my metric century
• Have a good long ride
• Remain positive about not running…remember the bigger goal.
• Do something fun this weekend

Have a fantastic week!