Training Log Week 2: Garmin Half Marathon Training

I must say, week 2 of Garmin Half Marathon training was amazing!!  I hit 100+ total miles for the first time ever AND they were very productive, quality miles!!  Week 2 has also seen me get 13 days into the 100 Days Challenge to start 2013.  Yeah, it's been a strong year so far!  Although training primarily with the focus of wanting to achieve my first sub-2 hour half marathon, I have been mixing in triathlon training, strength training, core training, etc in an attempt to get myself into better overall shape and I am seeing the results.  Not only am I seeing the results, but I'm having FAR more fun and enjoying my workouts.  I'm not getting burnt out or bored because, although working out way more time-wise than I was, I am varying my workouts so much that it is staying fresh and I'm improving in more areas than I would with just half marathon training.

Here's the day-by-day of this week:

• Monday:  Javorek's General Fitness Weight Training for 48:18; Easy treadmill run 2.0 miles in 20:01 (10:00 pace); 2,100 yard Endurance Drills swim; YMCA Yoga Class for 53:12; 100 Push Up Program Week 1 Day 1
• Tuesday:  2,100 yard Endurance Drills swim; easy spin on the bike trainer 21.2 miles in 1:25:22 (14.9 mph avg); 200 Sit Up Program Week 1 Day 1
• Wednesday:  Treadmill tempo run 5 miles total in 45:46 (9:09 pace); 1.91 mile walk with Kristy & our dogs; easy spin on the bike trainer 21.57 miles in 1:25:11 (15.2 mph avg); 100 Push Up Program W1D2
• Thursday:  Javorek's General Fitness Weight Training for 48:41; treadmill easy run 2.0 miles in 19:56 (10:00 pace); treadmill walk 0.25 miles in 4:23; 2,100 yard Endurance Drills swim; 200 Sit Up Program W1D2
• Friday:  Long run 7.59 miles in 1:15:13 (9:55 pace); 100 Push Up Program W1D3
• Saturday:  YMCA Spin Class for 44:48; light weights & core work for 20:41; 2,400 yard swim (including 2,200 long swim); 200 Sit Up Program W1D3
• Sunday:  Long ride on the bike trainer 31.11 miles in 2:06:00 (14.8 mph avg)

That's a total of 24 activities covering 113.57 miles and 16:20:56, burning 9,228 calories.  I ran 16.59 miles in 2:40:59 (9:42 avg pace), cycled 89.88 miles in 5:41:21 (15.8 mph avg), swam 8,700 yards (4.94 miles) in 3:31:43 (2:26 /100 yards avg), walked 2.16 miles in 36:01 (16:40 avg pace) and did 2:57:40 worth of strength & core training and 53:12 yoga class.  I definitely took the diversity of week 1 up a notch for week 2!!!

Running:  I had a great week of running, although I really need to start dragging my butt off the treadmill and outside even if it is cold out.  I had two Easy Runs this week in the training plan (Mon & Thu) of 2.0 miles each with the plan calling for 10:13 avg pace and I did 10:00 pace for both.  I had a Tempo Run on Wed, which I really do like the treadmill for.  I did a 1 mile warm up at 10:00 pace, 3 mile tempo at 8:35 pace, 1 mile cool down at 10:00 pace for an overall 5 miles at 9:09 pace.  Friday was the most fun run this week, though.  My long runs are normally scheduled for Sat, but this week Fri was near 60* and I only worked until 3:30, so I did my long run then since the forecast had Sat back at 30*.  I ran the first 4 with Katya (my Husky), dropped her off at home & finished solo.  I tried to minimize the amount of time I was headed into the 20+ mph wind, which was good, because it felt much colder than the 58* actual temp, especially when headed into the wind.  It's nice to know I can still hold this kind of pace over a relatively long run & I sure loved spending that time with Katya!  In total, this run was 7.59 miles in 1:15:13 for an avg pace of 9:55 (planned pace of 10:13).

Cycling:  I'm pretty sure this is a new record of my most miles cycling in a week ever!  Other than being stuck on the indoor trainer due to the cold weather, all four were pretty good rides.  When I got home from work on Tue, I decided I was too tired for a workout after a bit of a hectic day.  So I hoped on the bike trainer and ground out 21.2 miles in 1:25:22 for a 14.9 mph avg anyway!  If some thing's important you'll find a way, if it isn't you'll find an excuse.  I nerded out a little to get through it, I put Star Trek: TNG Encounter At Farpoint in the DVD player and rode for the full extent of the show. Capt. Picard would be proud!  After our walk with the dogs on Wed, I got right on the bike trainer for a ride of 21.57 miles in 1:25:11 for a 15.2 mph avg.  Since I'd watched Star Trek: TNG Encounter At Farpoint during my ride the day before, I finished it off by watching TNG All Good Things... during this ride.  It was a pretty good ride, but the trainer just isn't getting any less boring!  Saturday, the YMCA was having some sort of Group Ex sampler day, so they cut the classes shorter so they could have more than normal. Spin class was tough despite the shortened length.  On Sunday, I capped off the week with a great long ride.  Well, for being on the trainer, anyway.  I'd still much rather be outdoors, but an exciting playoff game between the Falcons & Seahawks kept me quite entertained for much of the ride and after that a game between the Patriots & Texans started.  I achieved negative splits and my first ever 100+ mileage total week (113.58 total miles)!!!

Swimming:  I'll admit, I kind of slacked on the swimming this week.  I had planned to do some work on speed, but I never got around to printing off a workout, so I stuck with what I do have printed out.  I did the 2,100 yard Endurance Drills workout on Monday, Tuesday & Thursday.  I did Tue pretty slow because my arms were quite tired from the previous night's workouts.  On Saturday, I did 2x 50 yard warm up, a 2,200 yd long swim in 50:03, then a 100 yard cool down.  Overall, not a bad week of swimming by any means, but I really do need to start working on trying to get a little faster in the water.

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Other Workouts:  I had a pretty solid week outside of running, cycling & swimming as well!  I did two walks this week for exercise purposes.  On Wed, Kristy & I took all three of our dogs for a fairly slow, relaxed 1.91 mile walk in 31:38.  It was a fairly quick pace for Kristy & the older dogs, but Katya & I could have gone much faster.  No need, though, we were just happy being outside and having some good time together with the pack!  After my run on Thu, I was a little winded and wanted to cool down some before my swim, so I stayed on the treadmill for a very short 0.25 mile walk in 4:23.  I really want to start doing my walks at work more regularly, but this week was hectic and I was doing so much outside of work that I decided to skip those for this week.  As for strength & core work, this was a very solid week!  Mon & Thu I did week 6 of the Javorek Dumbbell General Fitness plan, on Sat I did a little weights & core work after spin since the core class was cancelled, and this week I started two programs that will help me strengthen & tone up even more!  When I was taking Karate, we did a ton of push ups & sit ups, but I really haven't done them since and my core has suffered.  This week I started the 100 Push Up & 200 Sit Up programs.  They are both 6 weeks long with 3 days per week.  I'm excited about it and week 1 went great for both plans.  I'm doing push ups Mon/Wed/Fri and sit ups Tue/Thu/Sat.  I only made it to one yoga class this week on Mon, but it was good.  The instructor is terrible, but luckily I have done enough yoga that I know what I'm doing and can get more out of the class than I would get if I was having to learn from her.  Oh well, you make the best of what you've got, right?

Overall, that is a VERY strong week for me, especially hitting 100+ miles total for the first time ever!  I feel like I accomplished quite a bit with a solid tempo run mid-week, a strong cycling workout at spin class, a good long swim, strong strength & core training, and (believe it or not) I actually got some good rest and sleep.  Strong first two weeks of training; here are the totals for the training plan so far:  40 activities covering 183.32 miles and 27:36:51, burning 16,428 calories.  I've run 8 times 34.09 miles in 5:50:29 (10:17 avg pace), cycled 7 times for 132.98 miles in 8:00:32 (16.6 mph avg), swam 8 times for 17,750 yards (10.09 miles) in 7:00:27 (2:22 /100 yards avg), walked 4 times 6.16 miles in 1:36:01 (15:35 avg pace) and done 4:16:10 worth of strength & core training in 12 sessions.  Plus 53:12 worth of yoga in 1 session.