[S]he Conquers Who Endures

1:10:00 swimming.

Aquajogging: 10 min wu, 7x2:30 hard with 30 sec recovery, 10 min cd

20 mins laps ~ 610 yards. I think I'm figuring out how to swim. This is over double what I swam on Friday and this time I took no breaks. :) I felt like I could have gone longer too!

Finished with 3x(1 lap frogs, 1 lap walking in the pool with my jogger belt to keep weight off my foot).

Once again I got out of the pool and my legs were shaking so bad with fatigue!! I love it! 

AM: Speed bike in boot! 30 min wu in zone 2 then 5x2:00 in zone 4-5 with 4:00 recovery followed by 15 min cd in zone 2-3. This was really hard, but it felt really good to push so hard, drip sweat, and get my hr up. My peak HR was near 165 for each interval. Kinda like running. Interesting factoid: I finally found the answer to my question: why is it so difficult to get your HR up when on the bike to be similar to your HR running? Answer: because in many individuals there is a strength that needs to be built first. Tri athletes generally have built the leg strength to be able to bike at a similar HR as they run. 

Finished up with a little weights focused on my hammies cause my quads are burnt! Arms and 3x15 real pushups, 3x1:30 plank in boot.

PM: Waterjogging. 5 min wu, 2 sets of 6x1:30 hard with 30 sec recovery with 2 min rest between, 5 min cd. Apparently I got into a pretty decent rhythm because I accidentally added an extra rep on my last set. Once again I came out of the water and my legs were shaking with fatigue. This new routine is really focusing on quad and hip strength!! Now I'm pooped and ready for an early bedtime!!

Waterjogging: 5 min wu, 35 min steady running. 

Laps: 30! I'm figuring out how to swim and that's making it so much more fun! I swam 900 yards not realizing that's over half a mile. 

I get skeptical about these swimming workouts because my body doesn't feel so beat up. Then I get out of the pool and my legs shake so bad with fatigue and it's kinda hard to tell my muscles to move, so I know I'm getting a good workout. :) 

1.5 h steady bike. 30 min wu at 60% max HR (115-120 bpm), 15 mins 80-85% max HR (150-155 bpm), 15 min recovery at 60% max HR, 20 mins 80-85% max HR, 10 min cd 125-135 bpm.

I really didn't believe I could maintain 80-85% max HR for so long on the bike. It's pretty hard for a runner because you just don't have the quad strength to get your HR up that high. I can tell I'm improving though because it wasn't as bad as I thought. It was actually a lot of fun! My watch gauges your training effect based on HR. I hit 4.1 out of 5.0 which stands for "drastically improving"! :)

65 min ladder waterjogging: 20 min wu, 1 min hard, 1 min recovery, 2/1, 3/1, 4/1, 5/1, 4/1, 3/1, 2/1, 1/1, 10 min cd. I know this must've been hard because a) I almost vomited a couple times and b) for the longer intervals it was hard to keep my head above water which I think means I had no oxygen in my lungs. :)

Swam 750 yards in 23:29 I am such a slow swimmer!! 

So a sprint triathlon is 750 yard swim, 20k bike, 5k run. Now I've swam and biked several times a week those distances or greater. There's a sprint triathlon the weekend in late June after the century ride. Hmm...

Okay, I've been keeping positive about this stress fracture for quite a while. I need a short venting session so please bare with me. I  have two friends who were at the same fitness as me before my stress fracture. I got a text from one friend this weekend that he ran 10 miles sub 7 AP (we were both trying to run a sub 7 AP half marathon in July). Then I got a text from a friend last night. She's tapering for a marathon next weekend where she will try to get her BQ. She did 5x1 mile repeats. Her last mile was 5:50! I text them back all excited and happy for them, but it really makes my heart heavy. I'm jealous I can't hit those paces and I worry they are just going to keep advancing while I'm working so hard just to maintain what I had. It makes my hard work seem inadequate too. Why?! That doesn't make sense for someone's one mile time to make a 1.5 h hard bike seem inadequate. What is wrong with me??? Okay venting over. Time to focus on my own recovery what I CAN do! 

I am flying to FL tomorrow to surprise my mom for Mother's Day, so I won't have access to a stationary bike. So, I did my long bike this am. 

3h at 70-75% max HR. Supposedly 64.8 miles on the bike. It was tough, but it was my longest ride yet!! I'm really thinking a century ride and/or triathlon will be in my immediate future (June). :)

I had great news from the PT yesterday! She had me hop on my bad foot without the boot. NO PAIN!!! Now I can walk around without the boot and no guarding. I'm getting through this!! 

2 hr water jogging. 

30 min wu, 2x[6x3 min hard, 2 min recovery], 5 min easy between sets, 25 min cd.

Phew!!! This was so hard!!! My legs were very sore after this. I don't know if my heart rate is getting high enough to maintain high heart rate fitness, but hopefully I'm gaining leg strength and maybe even gaining more efficient oxygen delivery? 

I'm walking more around the house without my boot and my foot is feeling really good!!! I think about fall marathons while I water jog. I think I'll nix an Oct and shoot for a Nov race. I just applied to the NYC marathon and thinking Philly as a backup. I can't wait to plan a new schedule!