Training – March 2019
By : Admin -
I can’t believe we’re three months into 2019 already! As a business owner, I’ve spent the last week looking at quarter 1 results and comparing them to 2018. As a triathlete, I realized this month was the last big block of training before the season starts for me on April 14th at Florida 70.3!
Overall Thoughts
I could definitely feel the training ramping up this month. In February, I was averaging around 11 hours a week of training. In March I had 2 weeks of close to 15 hours of training.
I started off the month with a half marathon. You can find my race write up for the Run Hard Columbia Half Marathon here.
My TT bike frame also came back from getting some carbon repair. I rode my road bike for the entirety of February so it was amazing to get back on my TT bike as I feel much more comfortable on that setup than on my road bike. I was also ready to get out on the road with my new Alto race wheels. Last year I rode with Reynolds 45s. My new set up is the Alto CC52 on the front and CC86 on the rear so much deeper wheels than last year. I was dying to get them out on the road to make sure I felt comfortable in the crosswinds. Good news – they feel great!
Cervelo P2 with Alto wheels
Swim
This month I got to try out some new toys, like a towel around my ankles while wearing the ankle strap! This added extra resistance while I was swimming, forcing me to pull harder in the water. I have to say – I love it! I equate it to running uphill. Although it requires more effort, I love the strength training aspect as I can feel it making me stronger.
Coach had some big main sets in there for me this month. 30 x 50, 30 x 75, and 30 x 100 were all in there, as well as a few 4000+ meter swims. My last swim of the month included deck ups and open water skills like sighting. I can feel race day on its way!!
Bike
My bike workouts are still working on end of ranges – big gear work grinding it out around 65rpm and then spinning it up to 105+rpm. My natural cadence falls in around 85rpm so it’s good to get out of my comfort zone. I’m a much better grinder than high cadence spinner, but I have seen my top end get better this year.
Max effort sprints have been in the schedule as well as sustained pedaling and TT efforts. March also saw my longest trainer ride ever – 2 hours and 50 minutes! This was an over/under race effort TT workout with 3 rounds of: 10 minutes under HIM effort, 10 minutes at HIM effort, and 10 minutes above HIM effort. I would have preferred to have done this outside to really have that race feel, but I had plans with the family starting at 11am so I had to start this ride before the sun came up in order to fit it all in.
Run
After my half marathon on March 2nd, my running legs bounced back very quickly. I ran on the Tuesday after the Saturday race and had no lingering soreness from the race. We continue to work on my heart rate, and I’m ecstatic to see it hanging out in the 160s bpm during the easy sets. I know if I work hard and continue to run in zone 2, eventually my speed will get faster without the big jump into bonking territory.
My brick runs have felt really good. I’m working on not going too fast off the bike, and instead settling myself and then building into the speed. Hopefully I can keep my cool and do this on race day!
Highlights
The increased training load in March has really had me working on my schedule in order to get it all done without burning out. Juggling work, family, and triathlon can be tough. I’m lucky to have a husband who supports me, and we have discussions all the time about our schedules and who needs to take care of food and dogs so we can both support each other as we need.
Martins, Schultz, Boylan, Beatties at the Carolina Cup
I’ve also had family over from Scotland in the last week of March and first week of April. I don’t get to see my family often, and this is the first time I’ve had a chance to spend time with some of my second cousins. I let my coaches know about certain schedule changes, and I planned ahead as much as possible to try to make this time less stressful. I’m certainly not perfect – there was definitely some stress when their flight didn’t get in until 11pm and I didn’t get to bed until 1:30am that night (no chance of swimming that morning). But I’m super proud to have gotten my big brick session in before our day at the Carolina Cup, and I got to include my cousin in my long run the next day. My mantra has been patience and flexibility – I’ll give myself a 65% on that so there’s definitely room for improvement 🙂
Running with my cousin from Scotland
Only 2 weeks until the 2019 season starts! You can follow my race at Florida 70.3 by downloading the Ironman Athlete Tracker app, and you’ll find my 2019 race schedule here.