Hi, it's Laura.
A tad cryptic on the
title for sure.
The week began with a big
ride, at least for me. A casual ride for
me is generally about 10-15 miles and I take my time. Since I am training, any ride takes on a
whole new meaning. I worry about
cadence, hills, speed and wind. I am also very focused on what my body is doing
during the long rides. Is the body: hungry? thirsty? The Brain also plays a
part. The "can do" mind set needs to set in instead of the "oh,
I have never seen that patch of roses before" or "hey, I really dig
this song".
My ride called for long
hill repeats. The only hills I know, that are close by and worth climbing, are
in Central Park. Regardless of whether or not I have long or short hill
repeats, I head for the park. I can't think of a more challenging area to ride
in.
On Monday, I was
fortunate to get to the park at an odd hour. It was also slightly
overcast. People, who need to be at
work at 9am or earlier, had already left the park. It seems the tourists gaggles
don't really get out until after 10am as I only saw one group at the end of my
ride.
I was really the only
cyclist in the park other than a couple of commuter bikes. And since they are
usually dressed for work, they are not trying to ride fast or for cardio. They
ride transportation.
In order to get my
required time in, 75 minutes, I am going to need to head around the big loop of
Central Park at least three times. The big loop is 6.2 miles approximately.
Around I go. With so few people in the park, there was no
drama, no incidents, just me talking to myself into hitting that big loop just
one more time.
I went back to check my
Garmin database to give you the actual mileage but it seems that my history is
gone. Not happy. Not quite sure what happened there. I will
have to check with my technical team (The Husband). But I do believe to the
best of my recollection that it was 19 miles total. 6.2 x 3 maybe equal 18.6 but I do still need
to ride home.
Onto the afternoon! I try
to keep my swimming to Monday and Thursday. This allows me to get strength
training in on Tuesday and Friday. Since
I amped my training this year to a more advanced schedule, there is just no
room to move things around. Careful
planning has to go into every week taking in account of the weather.
The afternoon ticked away
and I procrastinated going to the pool. I did escalate my swimming from a
beginner to intermediate. Still, the workouts are getting longer and more
intense. Monday's are usually the longest and more difficult of my swim workouts.
Mentally, I know that if I just go, it will be done. And I won't have to think
about it until Thursday. But knowing what lie ahead, I sat.
Monday's swim drills
include, for the very first time, a fartlek included in my 1400 meter swim.
Fartlek actually means "speed play”. Generally fartlek's are done in
running but can be done in any sport. The first I ever heard of them was last
year when I started training for my first triathlon. What happens during a fartlek work out is
your vary your speed & intensity in order to increase your
conditioning. I had 400 meters of
fartlek to cover in the pool, which was one of the reasons I was dreading
heading to the pool.
I did eventually drag
myself there. It seems like I am always dragging myself to the pool. It is not in my thought process to say “hey I
will go for swim today” like I would say “let's go hit the heavy bag” or “let’s
go for a run”.
I made it through the
warm up and started my main set or free style. Before you knew it, I was up to
the fartlek. After all the fuss and
dread, I actually found the fartlek fun.
For 25 meters (1 length
of the pool), it was all out effort then back stroke or slow freestyle back.
The pool was just quiet enough so that I had the lane virtually to myself. After 400 meters of back and forth, cool down
and done.
The rest week is calling
for rain. Wednesday, I have another bike ride. Ride in the rain or ride
indoors? We shall see.
Play hard!
Laura
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