Week 2: We're Not in Kansas Anymore
Week 2 of 13 is in the books. 77 days to go!
Last week started off pretty crazy here in little Appleton, WI.
In my 38 (almost 39 later this month), I’ve experienced plenty of severe weather, including tornado warnings (and sirens).
On Monday, we were alerted on our phones to seek shelter for a severe thunderstorm warning. About 30 minutes later, that thunderstorm warning turned into a tornado warning, with the sirens going off.
I hunkered down in the basement with our 2 dogs and watched out the window as the trees were blowing sideways and garbage cans were thrown across the lawns.
After about an hour, the weather cleared up and the sun came out.
I didn’t think much of it, until I started seeing all the photos from social media. Less than 5 miles away from our house, a tornado came through and did severe damage to Appleton and Menasha communities.
Fortunately, there were no deaths, but it’s just a reminder that life can change very quickly and to try to stay in the moment—appreciate what you have.
Anyways, back to training. A solid week in the books with 21.25 hours in for week 2 of 13 leading up to California.
Hot Take of the Week
Durability beats hero workouts.
Everyone loves the workout where you smash the numbers. But the bigger skill is knowing when to adjust so you can still hit the sessions that actually matter.
Monday’s bike was ugly. I cut it short. Wednesday became easier than planned. Then Saturday turned into the best ride of the week.
That’s not a failed week. That’s a durable one.
Last Week Training Log
The Swim
14,572 yds for the week over 3 sessions (up about 400yds from last week).
I was hoping to get an open water swim in over the weekend in Madison, but the rain changed my plans.
Key sessions this week were
Monday’s session was a long endurance swim, what I call my weekly “long run.”
Wednesday was a speed swim with 15x100, building every 5 100’s.
Friday is my strength day, where I did a progressive distance ladder set.
My focus in the pool right now is just to maintain good fitness, feel for the water, and keep up my speed/strength.
The Bike
The week didn’t start off so great on the bike. Monday is traditionally my threshold day on the bike.
I started my threshold workout (5x10’ at 94% of FTP on 4 minutes easy) in the afternoon.
On the first interval, I was already struggling. I took a short break to refocus and tried to get back after it.
I continued to struggle throughout the workout and ended up doing 4 of the 5 intervals.
I didn’t get too down about this workout, given the fatigue in the legs, coming off a big week of riding and 50+ miles of running.
I made an adjustment to my Wednesday ride and decreased the IM efforts to a zone 2 effort ride to help shed some fatigue before the weekend.
This worked well, as I crushed a big workout on Saturday.
Saturday’s ride was a 5hr indoor ride with a 272 NP average.
All in all, I did 11.5 hours on the bike, 30 mins more than last week.
Key sessions included:
Monday Threshold ride
Wednesday Z2 ride
Saturday long ride
Plus a handful of Z1 or easy rides
The Run
The run is the biggest question mark or challenge heading in to California. I want to train my body to be able to run fast and efficiently with fatigue in the legs.
My key run sessions of the week were:
Tuesday threshold run with 5x1.5 miles on 2’ easy
Thursday long run with 17 total miles including 4x2.5miles faster than goal marathon pace
Sunday easy outdoor miles - I do lots of running indoors, so want to continue to get outside and put miles on the legs. Did 10 miles Sunday to close out the week.
Run totals for the week were 5hrs and 56 mins with 54 miles (2.5 more miles than last weeks total).
The “Other Stuff”
I was able to get my first strength session of the block in this week. Strength is going to be key for me because I have a few limiters in the strength department.
My girlfriend Sarah, a PT, often gives me crap on how inflexible I am for being such a high volume athlete.
I’m working to correct this over the next 11 weeks.
My limiters right now include:
Limited hamstring flexibility
Limited gluteus medius strength
Limited hip flexor strength
Outside of training, Sarah and I were able to get out for a date night on Wednesday—getting shrimps tacos and a beer.
On Friday and Saturday we hit up the Mile of Music with friends in downtown Appleton. Mile of Music is a massive annual event held along a one-mile stretch featuring hundreds of up-and-coming independent bands/artists.
I had 3 beers on Saturday and stayed out until midnight (very rare)—my Whoop data on Sunday morning reminded me I’m getting older and can’t handle lack of sleep and alcohol like I used to.
On Sunday, we have a tradition of getting donuts from the local donut shop. Event the dogs get their doggy donuts. This week’s flavor of the week was Lemon Poppyseed.
This Week
This week is the final week of my first 3 week durability build. It will be structure almost identical to last week.
Monday: Endurance swim, threshold ride, and easy run
Tuesday: Threshold run and easy bike
Wednesday: Speed swim, endurance bike, and easy run
Thursday: Long run and easy bike
Friday: Strength swim
Saturday: Long ride and brick run
Sunday: Outdoor easy run and easy ride
After this week, I’ll take a few days to freshen up the legs before starting the next training block.
That’s it for you free subscribers on this post.
But, paid subscribers ($8/month) get the full data report from last week. The TrainingPeaks breakdown, WHOOP scores, full workout details, fueling notes, and inside information I didn’t share above.
I’ve also added 2 new discount codes for paying subscribers: including Intake Breathing and AltRed.
