Love the Hurt: Rest & Test Week

Kiddos ready to go look at xmas lights!

For the past month or so I've kind of stayed away from blog posts about training. It's the holidays after all right!?? I've definitely done my fair share of training but honestly the thought and "act" of training has been on the back burner this month. Since Thanksgiving it's been all about spending quality time with family, friends and really just planning my 2013 season. Putting on paper my objectives for the year, my races and most importantly- mapping out my training schedule. I've been having a lot of fun coaching myself so far this year. This is the most I've ever been involved in my training/planning and it actually has added a higher level of focus as I go into each week and each workout. I learned so much from Walshie last year that I pretty much know what I need to do to get fast and it forces me to be "in-tune" with my body by listening to it and making changes on a limb if I need to.

Getting ready for my 1000 TT

Last week was my rest and test week. Basically my first test to gauge fitness as I head into Base 2 for my build to Ironman St. George 70.3. Basically it's a 1000 yd TT swim, 30 minute TT ride, and a 30 min TT run. The result? I pretty much picked right up where I left off leading up to SOMA which puts me waay ahead of where I thought I would be this time of the year. I have taken a lot of days off, only cruising in zones 1/2 and I still knocked out times/HR zones that I was only doing when I was peaked and ready to rock the last race of the season this year. So the only way to go is up from here. I look forward to building and seeing where my fitness is once we get closer to St. George. The numbers? Well I said this wouldn't be a numbers focused blog, but this is also a training log for me too - so if you roll your eyes, skip over this part and deal with it...haha:

Swim 1000 TT: 15:04 (1:30 pace). Just a solo TT (no wetsuit) in my HOA pool. Can't remember if this is a PR or not. I think I swam 14 low at SD International this year with a wetsuit so swim fitness is definitely getting better. The biggest take away here is that I actually haven't been in the water much these past few months (my lane mates would agree) because of crazy work schedule. Overall pleased with the results.

Bike 30 min TT: 12.1 miles in 30 minutes (24.2 mph). I didn't exactly do this the way it was supposed to be planned. I had a long ride scheduled so I ended up doing this right smack in the middle of a 60 mile ride with 3k of climbing. Either way I was pleased with the pop I had in my legs despite only doing easy rides for the past few months.

Run 30 min TT: 5.5 miles in 30 mins (5:29 pace). This was probably the biggest surprise of the three. My running volume has been pretty low, slow and inconsistent mainly on purpose these past few months to try and rid of PF issues I've had all year. So I just took the first half mile as an easy build and then went sub 27 for the last five miles. Solo, on the track at night and freezing. My kind of night! I had a lot of fun getting on the track and couldn't believe the results I had on such lack of running.

Overall I am way ahead of where I projected myself to be. The swim was right about where I expected it but the ride/run is where I thought I'd be in March so needless to say I'm stoked heading into 2013.

Few pics over the past week. Happy New Years!