half ironman training -- week 3

here is the breakdown from week 3 of my half ironman training. 

Week 3 // May 6 - May 12

6 Swim 1000 yards w/ main set: 6x50 sprints RI = 20 Run 4.5 miles w/ 6x30 second hard effort scattered

7 Bike 45 minutes w/ 8x1 minute hard effort

8 Swim 1000 yards w/ main set:2x200 race pace, RI = 30 Run 4.5 miles moderate w/ 4x10 second hill sprints

9 REST (or) Strength Train

10 Bike 40 minutes moderate w/ 8 minutes comfortably hard

11 Swim 1400 yards moderate Run 9 miles moderate

12 BRICK Bike  35 miles moderate Run 10 minutes off the bike moderate

monday breakdown: monday was tough. i had a terrible swim workout and just couldn't get into a groove. my breathing was off and my form made it feel like i had never swam before. my run after went okay, but it was just an off day.

tuesday breakdown: i got a nice ride in and pushed it at a pretty decent pace. in 45 minutes i made it just about 14 miles holding an average 18.5 mph pace. i was happy with that.

wednesday breakdown: MUCH better swim workout on wednesday. 1000 yards in just over 18:00, so i felt good with that pace. my run went well and i think a big reason was due to me forgetting my watch. 

thursday breakdown: oh, how i love my rest day. it worked out well since the weather was crap on thursday, too.

friday breakdown: friday was rough. i had a busy day at work, but knew i had to fit in my ride. honestly...it went well and i was pleasantly surprised. i ended up holding a 19.2 mph pace for just shy of 45 minutes. 

saturday breakdown: so it seems that friday was nothing! i had to work so that made it very difficult to fit in my training. i actually woke up at 4:00am to fit in my 9 miler (1:17:51) and took care of the swim workout later in the day. i swam the 1400 yards (.8 mile) in 27:19 so i felt pretty happy with that, too. training plus work made for a LONG day, but it was great to celebrate a friend graduating college that night! GO ALEX!!!!

sunday breakdown: ugh...sunday sucked. i have this issue with my toes and cycling in the cold. the issue is that they freeze and i lose feeling. minor issue i know, but it was about mid-40's and when you're cruising around 20mph it tends to feel even cooler. i had a terrible time in the morning trying to figure out what to do. do i chance it and risk cutting my ride short? no. do i go to the gym and do my entire 35 mile ride on a stationary bike? no. do i listen to my wife when she says to pedal to the gym (around 10 miles), do some more miles on the bike, and then pedal home. yes. and it worked! oh, sunday was also my first brick in my training. a brick is where you have a bike workout and then run immediately after. i was SO done on the bike it wasn't even funny, so switching into just a 10 minute run was nice. i averaged about 17.5 mph on the bike and ran my 10 minutes in about a 7:34 minute/mile pace. i was very thankful to get this workout done!

week 3 weigh-in:  180.1  on 5/6/13

previous weekly weigh-in:    184.0  

difference:   - 3.9  

total weight difference:   - 7.1