Jackie D - Week 28

Week 28 - starting Monday 26 March 2007

Scheduled hours: 12hrs 00mins
Actual hours: 13hrs 27mins

What a great week. I actually did all the workouts on the actual days prescribed! I did a quarter of an hour extra on my long bike outside and an extra swim on Saturday which accounts for the actual hours being greater than scheduled.

Hubby was out of town again on business this week (sunny Brazil - lucky him!) so I couldn’t make the evening masters workouts so I swam during the day at open swim. I definitely prefer to swim with my masters group as it is so much more motivating - not to mention the fact that Mary had me doing some longer sets which aren’t my favourite (bit of a shame considering what I am training for really)! I missed swimming with my masters buddy so on Saturday morning I did an extra swim by going to masters. This meant I didn’t actually have a day off this week but I was a good girl and cleared it with my trainer first J!

Long bike was scheduled for 2hr 30min but I had done one around 2hr45 about a month ago so was relaxed about the time. (This isn’t going to be a “longest ride ever” for a while yet as the aqubike part of HIM last year took me well over 3 hours on the bike). It was nice to be outside and have time to actually cycle a bit farther rather than pootling around the roads close to home. I did a quarter of an hour or so extra which was fine. I was playing a little bit with nutrition and although I am fine eating a banana just before a ride, I don’t think I would choose to take one as workout nutrition again. Apart from being fiddly, messy and time consuming I did have a very slight niggly cramp. At around 2hr 15, when I thought I would easily make it home, I began to feel feeble so I had another gel (had one at 1hr and half the banana at 1hr 45) and was amazed at the difference it made. It was a chocolate flavour and I really sucked it down. Made me think that maybe I will try snickers cut up into bite size pieces as solid food next time on the bike. I do like chocolate! I actually stopped to eat the first gel but managed to have the second one whilst riding along - little successes will all add up! Average speed was disappointingly low at 15.0mph but hopefully that will come with practice and it was a rolling hill route - up the hills I was going 7mph which is slower than some people run! Spin, spin, spin.

I am very pleased with my running progress. Another set of cruise intervals this week which went well and it is nice to see my pace quicken for a while. However my Garmin went temporarily on the blink this week and in a run of an hour said I had done 38miles with the map showing that I had made it three quarters of the way across Lake Ontario!

My big achievement for the week was my long run on Sunday. My longest run ever (again) at 2hr 30min. This was actually broken up a little because a bunch of used a local 9.3m race as a tempo part of this long run to test nutrition under stress. So, prior to lining up at the starting line I ran with some other crazy athletes (that includes my trainer J ) for 55minutes, then the race, then another 15 minutes or so afterwards to make the time I needed. The only other running race I have done is a 5k about a year ago so this was a new experience. Having the mile markers there is really motivating, not to mention 320 or so other people! Boy some people can run fast! I really don’t think I could have gone any faster and I was in zone 4/5 the whole way round that course - which is hilly! At 45minutes in I forced myself to have a gel but I wasn’t hungry. Just goes to show that under stress you have to do some things by plan and not by feel!
My pace for the race was 8min 30sec /mile with the overall run being average at just under 9min/ mile and I am absolutely thrilled with both those numbers. I hobbled home, took a nap and then went out for a family walk. Luckily I had the dog to pull me and the husband to push me up the hills.

A great end to a great week of training.

16 WEEKS TO GO