Week In Review

Now that my triathlon training has begun in earnest, I'm going to post a summary of the weeks training each Saturday or Sunday.  Here was this week:

Monday: 40 min. yoga, 35 minutes of swimming (mostly kick drills with fins.)

Tuesday: 28 min. of biking hills, short but very intense.  1 minute running.

Wednesday: nothing, my left Achilles tendon was sore, so I took the day off and iced it.  I would have still swam, but we played inner-tube water polo instead during my swim class (way fun, btw, if you get the chance I highly recommend it.)

Thursday: 30 min yoga, 62 minute bike ride at Zone 3. 1 minute running.

Friday: 30 min. Nike Training Club workout.  Body-weight strength training, very intense.

Saturday: 20 min. yoga, 20 min. light bike ride on a low gear and high cadence.


It was a solid week, a good start to my first serious training block.  Things were really up and down, though, with some weird pains cropping up then disappearing just as quickly.  My left Achilles tendon started hurting on Monday, but ironically not from the new shoes: I walked about ten miles that day with a heavy backpack which just wore out my calf muscle.

Other than that I had the faintest sciatica on my right side that came and went all week; not enough to really hurt, just a tingling sensation, like my leg was starting to fall asleep.  It's happened on and off since the surgery, and it's a sign that I'm pushing my back a little too hard.  I've stepped up my yoga sessions by holding the poses longer, which makes them more about back strength rather than just flexibility.  This should help strengthen it and allow me to do more biking and running.

As you can see my runs were very short, which is deliberate.  The last time I got successfully back into regular running I started the same way, going for only one or two minutes at a time every other day and slowly increasing the duration.  This allows me to gradually adapt the fitness in my feet and legs that I need to run really well, while focusing carefully on my form and making sure to build good habits.  I also have new shoes which I am still feeling out, so all in all I figured I should be as careful as possible.  There are still three months until the race, so I have plenty of time down the road to train.  The important thing is to get it right.