Treadmill Intervals and bench press

I tried the bike trainer again on Wednesday morning. My legs have been dead all week. I am actually not sure why they have been like lead. When they are tired I can almost always pick them up for a run – they can and do respond – but on the bike it is a different story. I dialed in a workout on the trainer that I thought I could handle. I got about half way through it and I just had to dial it back. I am not sure if this is a mental or physical failure. Anyway, I got 40 minutes on the bike trainer.

 

At lunch I hit the pool. I was concentrating on my stroke count and the swim came along well. I started with a 500 WU and then 10 x 100 with 20 seconds recovery followed by another 500 cool down. I was not focused on the speed but just the form and stroke count. I think I was a few seconds slower but I was pleased with the effort. Stroke count was right at 17 per 25 yards.

 

On Thursday morning I 86’ed the bike workout. I just did not need another failed training session. The legs needed a break from the bike. But lunch would bring a new running workout.

 

Like I said, my legs are tired but they almost always seem to be able to “bring it” when I ask. I was looking at a 10k interval training session on the internet and I charted out a couple of sets. After a short warm up I would do 3 times each of the following:

 

3 minutes on / 3 minutes recovery
2 minutes on / 2 minutes recovery
1 minutes on / 1 minutes recovery

 

The intensities would be a little faster than 10k pace (actually quite a bit faster than 10k pace). I had been doing those Yasso 800’s a month ago and I was successful at a 6:00 minute pace (give or take a second or two). So I decided to do these intervals at 9.9 MPH (6:03 minutes per mile). Why 9.9 – it is just easier to type it in on the treadmill. The sets of 3 minutes on / off went by pretty quick and they were not as challenging as I had hoped. I played it conservatively and only increased the 2 minute sets to 10.1 MPH (5:56 minutes per mile). My heart rate was still dropping nicely with the 2 minute recovery. On the 1 minute sets I increased the rate again to 10.3 MPH (5:49 minutes per mile). The 1 minute recovery was not sufficient to reduce my heart rate but I was able to complete the entire workout of treadmill intervals.

 

Soaked in sweat I headed to the bench press. I am still trying to add a few reps to my 70% body weight max rep lift. My arms were a little bit sore from Tuesday’s workout but I decided to see how many reps I could get. Success again – I was able to press out 36 at my 70% body weight cold – no warm up. This is an increase of 4 reps from the last time I attempted the lift – or 80 seconds off of my total pump and run time! I did two more sets with only 60 seconds recovery and completed another 15 followed by 14. 65 total reps with 60 seconds recovery between sets. My goal is 40 reps by mid-May.