Fast swimming intervals and even faster running intervals

Monday was an off day – that is right Friday was off and Monday was off. That is what the scheduled called for – it also called for a long bike on Saturday but I did the race instead. There was another race I wanted to do at the end of this month but I have decided to pass. Even though I really enjoy the races they just take too much away from the long endurance days. I think a 4 – 5 hour bike is going to help me more than a 1:30 hour sprint triathlon. If the races were closer I might be able to do them but with the travel it is just not possible.

I got a good swim in on Tuesday morning at the gym. The plan called for a lot of shorter intervals with decreasing rest. The session wrapped up with all out 25 yard sprints with a long rest interval. This started out pretty easy but by the time I got to the last few it was challenging – I did a total of 16 of these sprints.

At lunch I did some treadmill intervals. I was scheduled for only 30 minutes so I wanted it to be intense. Intense it was – I have felt that I have not been going fast enough on the intervals and since I was only going to be able to do 4 x ½ mile I adjusted the pace. I did an easy ½ mile warm up and then dialed in the treadmill to a 6 minute / mile pace for the intervals. Recovery was for 1 minute (0.1 miles). I still had a little bit of time so I tried to do a 5th interval and I failed. It was not on the plan and I was not mentally prepared. I gave up.

INTERVALS 4 x ½ mile at 6:00 minute /mile pace.
01 – 2:59 – HEART RATE AVE – 157
02 – 2:56 – HEART RATE AVE – 165
03 – 3:01 – HEART RATE AVE – 170
04 – 2:59 – HEART RATE AVE – 176
05 – FAIL