Week 3 & 4 Update

Feb 5 - Feb 18

22 weeks till Lake Placid

Week 3 Summary

Week 4 Summary

Residing in the country hosting the Olympics may be a once in a lifetime opportunity.  When life presents opportunities like this, our overzealous hobbies can, and should, take a back seat.  There will be plenty of times to make sacrifices as we get closer to our goal.  Needless to say Cindy took some time the past two weeks to go to The Winter Olympics in Peyongchang!  She still worked hard on the days she could, including going for a run between events while in Peyongchang.

Swim:  

The past two weeks we have continued to have workouts with a focus and a purpose. Not much has changed. In the following weeks, we will continue to train with a purpose rather than just add up garbage yardage.

Bike:

Cindy is still waiting for her powermeter to be shipped to Korea. So, in the meantime we do our best with heart rate and perceived exertion. Cindy is focusing on cycling at higher intensities and higher cadences.   It is difficult to practice cadence without a cadence meter.  I suggested that Cindy listens to music that is playing at specific beats per minute.   This technique is common for cardio spin classes.  

Photo credit: Brent Crocker

Run:

We are continuing to do higher intensity speed work every Tuesday and on Thursdays we are alternating threshold efforts one week followed by an endurance run the next week. However, for week 3 and 4 her distances were increased slightly to help her body adjust to running a faster pace for just a little longer.

Cindy’s Thoughts about week 1 and 2:

General comments about the training week:

Initially, I felt guilty missing my workouts to go watch the Olympics, but the experience was amazing! It took a toll on my body though since I was outdoors the first weekend and it was cold, even for a Canadian. Many of the skiing events were cancelled that weekend due to the cold. I tried to keep my key workout sessions for both both weeks.

Breakthroughs, favorite workout of the week:

Thursday’s run near the Pyeongchang Olympic venue. I felt as though people thought I was an Olympic athlete potentially staying fit before a race.

Example Workouts From Cindy’s Week 3-4 Training Plan:

Swim workout: (source: A FamilyFirstTri original)

• 500 easy

• 500 swim with snorkel this is technique focus where are you alternate 25 kick on your side and 75 swim with perfect technique

• 10x50 Fast with 20-30 sec rest 105 to 110% CSS case this would be about 42 to 43 seconds per 50

• 400 pull smooth with paddles focusing on the catch. Do the first 200 with a reverse grip so the paddle is in your fist and resting on your forearm and the second 200 normal grip implementing a good catch.

• 20x25s with 15 to 20 seconds rest at 110% CSS or 20 to 21 seconds per 25

• 300 easy warm down

Indoor Cycle Workout (Source https://whatsonzwift.com/workouts/4wk-ftp-booster/week-1-day-2-hit-45sec-1

Even if you do not have a zwift account you can still benefit from some quality workouts. This workout is a great workout for Cindy as she struggles at higher cadences.

• 3-5min warm-up

• 2x (1min @ 70% 90rpm /1min @ 50% 80rpm easy )

• 2x (1min @ 90% 90rpm /1min @ 50% 80rpm)

• 3-5min spin

• 6x the following

  • 45 sec HIT big gear and 100+ RPM. last 20 sec should be It should be difficult to keep your cadence high for the whole 45sec bc the gear is so big and 45sec is long time to be in anaerobic..

  • 4min @ 70% 80 rpm

• 3-5min spin 8min Threshold effort @ 95% 95 RPM 3-5min cool down

Run Workout

• W-up + strides

• 7x 800m HM-5sec/km 800m HM+20sec/km

• Cooldown 15min