It’s hard to believe this but finishing up Week 6 brings me to about the halfway point in my triathlon training plan! Week 6 was filled with mostly ups and overall I’m feeling good about things. Here’s how my workouts went:

Monday

Rest day

Tuesday

Strength training day

Tuesdays were originally planned for swim sprints but since I’m not able to be in the pool right now, I’ve mostly done strength training in its place. I did leg exercises at home this day. Most of exercises are from PT but I have also incorporated some squats, wall sits and lunges to help with strength in my legs. Hoping these sessions will keep my legs nice and healthy!

Wednesday

50 minute ride + 35 minute run

So I mentioned in Friday’s post that some drunk guys may have heckled me when I was running around downtown this day. But I don’t want it to overshadow that this day was actually a great workout!

My triathlon training plan actually has time ranges for each workout. For example, this day’s workout was a 40-50 minute ride and a 25-35 minute run. When I first started my training plan, I always opted for the lower time range. Part of me felt lazy and the other part wasn’t sure I could do it. I started turning a corner during Week 5 and really tried to land in the middle of the time ranges. Week 6 was kind of a breakthrough for me because it’s when I started reaching the max time frames for all of my workouts I basically just had to push myself a little bit, but I always feel great afterwards.

I started out this workout on my bike for a 50-minute ride. One of my friends actually called me right when I got on the bike so 26 minutes flew by. I went for a 35-minute run afterwards (pace: 14:58).

I thought it was interesting that my pace for a run alone is ~14:30 but my pace after a brick workout was 30 seconds slower. I actually felt like I was really pushing myself during latter run. I guess that will be the more realistic time for the triathlon since I will be running after a long ride.

Thursday

Strength training at the gym

Thursdays were originally planned for open swims at the Whitewater Center but since I’m still sporting a cast, I changed them to another strength day. I went to the gym this day. Here is what my gym workouts typically look like:

• 5-10 min on recumbent bike
• Stretch
• Leg Press: 3 x10
• Leg Extension Machine: 3 x 10
• Hip Adduction Machine: 3 x 10
• Hip Abduction Machine: 3 x 10
• Squats: 2 x 15
• Wall Sits: 2 x however long I can hold it
• Pelvic Lift Exercise: 3 x 10
• Stretch

I was reading online that the hip adduction and abduction machines are kind of pointless, and that the leg extension machine puts an abnormal strain on your knee. So I’m not sure if I need to change up this routine?

Friday

30 minute run

This was a 2-mile treadmill run. Thank you to Keeping Up With the Kardashians for seeing me through. It was the episode where Rob tells his sister that Blac Chyna is pregnant with his baby. It kept me nice and distracted!

I also ran into my roommate at the gym! Great minds think alike

Saturday

60-minute ride

Saturday morning was a training ride day in my bedroom for an hour. My trainer is so loud that I’ve started strategically planning my workouts for when my roommate will be gone so that he doesn’t hate me. I like to wear my pink socks when possible because they make me feel happy.

My rides generally go pretty well and this one was no different. I love riding so much that I feel like I could play around on my trainer all morning. I have a floor fan that I place right in front of me when I ride, and I set my trainer up beside me dresser to be able to reach what I need (phone, water, etc) while I’m riding. It’s a nice set-up for a tiny bedroom

One thing I need to do is get my Duotrap (speed and cadence sensor) synced with some sort of phone app to track by stats on my trainer rides.  I never have any idea how far I’ve ridden when I ride on my trainer.

Sunday

30-minute run

I wanted so badly to run outside on this day but the heat in North Carolina is intense. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. So this day ended up being a treadmill run instead.

I usually set my treadmill to 4 MPH because this is a nice pace for me and I never feel like I’m dying on the treadmill. But part of me wondered how I would do if I upped it a little bit. I decided to try it out for a mile and ended up doing a 13-minute mile for the first mile. This felt pretty fast for me but I survived. I slowed it back down for mile #2 and ended up with a 15-min pace. So overall 2 miles in 28 minutes followed by a 7-min walk.

Thoughts for Week 7

So a few big things for week 7….

The first is that it’s my rest week. You may remember after my bike accident that I missed out on the first few weeks of training and subsequently skipped over my rest week in Week 4. My next rest week isn’t technically until week 8, but I decided to switch some things around because my body is feeling very tired. This also works out really well because I am leaving for the beach today and a bit of rest goes along nicely with vacation Here’s my plan this week (Monday was a rest day):

The second eventful thing with training this week is that I am *fingers crossed* supposed to get my cast off today. I’m not entirely sure of the plan moving forward because I know I will still have to wear a brace, but I am thinking this will be a game changer for my triathlon training for several reasons:

• My cast is HOT and makes running outside feel miserable. I would love to be able to run outside on nights when I really don’t feel like going to the gym.
• Every time I work out, my arm sweats and the liner in my cast stays damp afterwards. It may or may not smell like a dead body at this point.
• I will be able to get in the pool (!!)

I’m not going to lie- as the weeks have gone on, I have felt more and more nervous about the swim part of the tri. I have not been in the pool in over 2 months. I’m looking forward to talking to the ortho PA tomorrow about this and what I will be able to do moving forward.

Wish me luck today!

Questions For You:

Do you ever alter your training plan as you go along? I’ve mostly stuck with mine after I got going but I knew I needed to take a rest week?

Do you listen to music when you work out? I’ve started playing some Amazon Prime workout playlists, although I feel like I should stop since I can’t listen to tunes during the tri.