4 weeks: Most volume in a few months

Training Summary: Aug 14-20
4 weeks until Barrelman

Swim: 3X 2h06m/ 6.2K
Bike: 3X 3h20m/104K
Run: 3X 1h57m/25K
Weights: 3X/ 1h23m
Other:
Total: 8h57m

Summary
Busy week at work and tried to up the training volume as well. Had a strong swim with a group in a new pool, leading to my longest workout in a few months. Did my long run in the pouring rain on Thursday night, but it felt relatively good. Ended off the week with my longest ride (75K) on Sunday morning and was able to felt pretty good and nail my nutrition.

Swimming:
Monday AM: 41m/2.1K Q8 I7.5
Good swim after not doing much volume last week. Felt stiff at the beginning and did a long warm-up. Mostly kept the pace easy although I did do some 100s in sub 1:30 towards the end without pushing too hard, which is a good sign. Felt strong at the end of the swim which is also a good sign for my endurance.
Wednesday PM: 55m/2.6K Q9I9
This swim didn't go as planned, possibly for the better. Went to westmount to swim, but they only had one lane open and it was fairly slow. Did 500m at a fairly slow pace (around 10min) then had to get out because of a pool fouling. I decided to look for another pool that was open and headed down the mountain to a pool on Duke St (forget the name). There must be a regular Masters group there because there was 5-10 swimmers there looking fairly fast. I jumped into the fastest lane with 2 other women and did another 500m to get myself warm-uped again. I noticed that I was keeping pace with the women and maybe even a little faster. They asked if I wanted to swim with them 16 x 100. I wasn't sure if I could handle a set thatlong but I decided to go for it - I really haven't challenged myself like that in a while in the pool. I led the set and managed to keep it under 1:30 (2:00 interval) for the first 4, around 1:30 for the 2nd 4, and flipped between 1:29-1:31 for the third set. By that point I was done since I really haven't done much tempo work that like lately. It was a good sign for the fall that I'm ready to swim with a group again as I was surprised I held the pace as long as I did.
Friday AM: 30m/1.5K Q7I6.5
Recovery swim. Fairly stiff from the swim and run the days prior, so had an easy swim. Standard warm-up, and then did some 50s at moderate pace (46-48s). Felt not too bad at the end.

Cycling:
Tuesday PM: 30m/15K Q7I7
Did a quick loop around the city and did some power work (sub-threshold) for some short stints. Everything was good except I blew my rear brake cable making a sudden stop. I'll have to do an emergency repair before my next planned big ride.
Friday PM: 30m/14K Q7I7.5
Didn't have my bike for a few days due to the brake repair. Finally got it back Friday afternoon and did a quick trainer spin to loosen up.
Sunday AM: 2h20m/75K Q9I8.5
Left at the crack of dawn (6:28AM). Winds were light and it was comfortable (15-16C). Was a bit stiff at the beginning but loosened up after by about 10K. There was a very slight headwind on the way down but still kept the speed in the low 30s. Once I turned to the SE I had a bit of tail wind and bumped the speed to around 33kph. First gel at 45m/23K. Salt tab at 60m. Kept the pace and rode down to grand river and turned around at 39K. The wind picked up slightly on the way home (SW) which helped when I was heading north but slowed me down as I headed back W. Took gels at 1h20 and 1h55. Overall drank 2.5 scoops of eload (in 750mL), 3 gells, 650mL H2O, 1 salt tab. Average power 206W. Did a 10 min transition run and legs felt good minus some tighteness in the R hip.


Running:
Tuesday AM: 28m/5.6K Q7I6.5
Easy run after doing heavy legs the night before. Very stiff to begin, but got down to 4:40s (downhill) and 4:50s on flat. Right glute started to tighten up over last K but stride felt okay.
Thursday AM/PM: 68m/15K Q9I9 (++2K/10min)
Started off with 2K in the morning after the strength workout. In the evening, did a tempo-style Fartlek run in the pouring rain. Started off easy, then built to sub 4:30 pace, took some rests of roughly 500m after a few surges. After 2 loops (7K) stopped to use the washroom at home. Took a salt tab. At 9K took a gel and had some more mild GI issues. Took in extra water (around 17-18oz) an had second salt tab at 1:00 (13K). Overall legs felt good, no cramping, only GI upset. Probably didn't need both the full gel and full drink of e-load. Finally pace was 4:34/K with closer to 4:28-4:29 not counting warm-up or cool-down. Longest run in several months, not counting the HIM.

Weights:
Monday PM: 36m Q8I8
Good weight session in the basement. Started with Sq (120, 140 x 8), DL (120, 140, 150X6), BP (160x7) and DBSP (stopped at 30, back was tight). Did some mobility work as well, but overall felt strong.
Wednesday AM: 23m Q7I5
Mobility work, mostly just did glute exercises and some body weight upper body.
Thursday AM: 24m Q7.5I8
Quick session in the morning. Started with light sq (120 x 8) DL (120x8,10) and then moved to BP (160x6, 170x4) and OHDP (30x10, 35x8). Followed with a 10min run.


Next week
Biggest build week to come. Have to do another long swim (2.5K), a long run (18-19K) and my peak ride (90K). It's getting busy so I need to squeeze these all in with everything else. May shorten my other workouts to fit these all in.