| Totals | Week 19: 12/13/2010-12/19/2010 |
| Swim: | ATP: 15300 yards in 5.58 hours Scheduled: 15300 yards (8.68 miles) in 5.58 hours Actual: 16400 yards (14996.16 m / 9.31 miles) in 5.82 hours; 30% of weekly workout time Longest swim 9500 yds (5.39 miles) Approx. 2037 calories burned |
| Bike: | ATP: 5.5 hours Scheduled: 5.5 hours Actual: 116 miles (186.68 km) in 5.5 hours, Total TSS=0 28% of weekly workout time Approx. 2475 calories burned |
| Run: | ATP: 5.75 hours Scheduled: 5.75 hours Actual: 34.43 miles (55.41 km) in 5.83 hours (30.43 miles/4.83 hrs run; 4 miles/1 hrs hike) 30% of weekly workout time Approx. 2350 calories burned |
| Strength: | ATP: 1.5 hours Scheduled: 1.5 hours Actual: 2.43 hours (1.68 regular; 0.75 extra crap) 12% of weekly workout time Approx. 608 calories burned |
| All Sports: | ATP: 18.33 hours Scheduled: 18.33 hours Actual: 159.74 miles (257.08 km) in 19.58 hours Approx. 7470 calories burned (9790@500/hr) |
| Sleep: | 8.71 hours avg./night |
| Stretching: | 3.35 hours stretching, 0 hours massage |
It's funny to me that my MO used to be "more biking never hurt." Now it's swimming. I didn't really go overboard on the swimming, though--it's just that since I've been on this early to bed, super early to rise regimen, I figured I'd have time on Friday for 9500 yards instead of just 8500 as scheduled. The 9500 did not feel bad at all! I can remember back last year when I began approaching 8,000 yards and how traumatic it was, but I am much, much stronger now. Plus I'm spot on with my night before, pre-, during and post-swim nutrition which makes all the difference in the world.
I have also been trying to add on 10' to the end of my long runs, if only to do strides, just because I am doing all my non-long run running at home on the treadmill, and I do enjoy spending time on the track, so I've been doing the last 5-10' of my long runs on Sundays on the track at the Y. I am just not in the mood to add any extra biking right now since I'm just on the trainer, but if I can structure it properly, I plan to swim outdoors again this summer which means I'll ride a bike there and back and pick up some extra miles.
It is nice to be able to do a little more than I've scheduled and know that I won't trash myself. 15-30' extra on a long swim is not a big deal, and neither is 10' of extra running. It's all good. Except when it's during a recovery week. Even though I am doing those (this coming week is one), I usually look at the schedule and think I can add this or that and it won't matter. But it would matter. So what I do instead is make a "big day" during the recovery week where I just combine two days into one, and then it feels like I did "enough." For example, this coming week, on Friday I will do a 3-hour swim and 3-hour ride together, and then Saturday is basically a day off. There is great value in me doing a 6-hour workout like that, and then taking the next day off. Maybe that doesn't sound too recover-ish to some people, but it works for me.
I am now thinking that instead of just swimming 10k on New Year's Eve that I should go overdistance and swim like 12,500. It just feels like something I should do. I know I can swim 10k, but I know I can swim 12,500, too, and it is not like running a marathon in terms of recovery so I am going to see if I can get enough lap swim time at a pool to do it.
After this week, my next 18+ hour week won't be for another 7 weeks, so it should feel to me like I am getting a whole lot of rest between now and then, right? I think so. Even though a lot of the time right now is swimming, it is still a lot of time to put in and the rest will be good. I've picked up on my sleep, too, so hopefully that good habit will stick with me.
Putting in lots of training hours in the winter can be a great thing for one's overall endurance. You just need to be careful to not put in too much intensity (which is true of high volume weeks, period) and back off when necessary. Last week I felt pretty worked by the time Sunday arrived, but today my long run felt pretty great, and so I know my body has adapted to the buildup I've given it. Of course, I did have about 9 weeks of low volume, so I shouldn't be surprised, but still it is always a bit of a shocker to the body when you throw 17+ hours at it, but I've done this many times before, and it always feels really great when I'm good with it.
So even though many coaches and training plans espouse an "off season," actually winter is a great time to put in some big volume plus decent intensity, depending on your overall fitness. It lays the groundwork for you to then decrease the volume just a bit and add more intensity, then progress to even higher volume. Plus it makes you mentally tough to be putting in the big training when everyone else is slacking!
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