SOCIALLY PROFILED
CHALLENGE ROTH TRAINING - 2023
Week beginning Sunday, February 26, 2023
17 weeks out from race day.
WEEKLY GOAL
Get to the niggles before the niggles get to me.
SUMMARY
Total Time: 11 Hours (and 15 seconds)
I feel like I was CONSISTENT
My goal of managing the niggles was almost accomplished. I worked through the hip flexor and a rhomboid flare up but the very challenging knot in my leg glute is as stubborn as I am. That niggle will be carried over to next week.
This is the first week that I can confidently say COVID is in my rearview mirror.
The weather has been colder than normal; we had snow on Tuesday and hail on Thursday.
Hard to imagine I'll be in a lake in a few months.
SUNDAY FEB 26 🌤
Sleep 3 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 4 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
1st: Pre-Bike: Dead bugs, Glute Bridges.
Ride 80 minutes easy. Just spin. Trainer or rollers. Whatever sounds fun.
2nd: Run 50 minutes EASY. Ideally this is off the bike. But whatever works with the schedule works with me.
NOTES
Total Time: 130 Mins Run: 8km NP: 118W
Wedding expo first, then the run, then the spin.
Impending weather and daylight was my motivation to run first. My legs felt heavy right away; no choice but to run easy up to Panama Hill and back. I had a gel ~30 minutes in.
I was on the trainer shortly after; tired legs for this activity too. I had a bottle with 70g of carb mix consumed in the first hour, and just water for the last 20 minutes.
MONDAY FEB 27 🌧
Sleep 4 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 3 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Swim 2500: 6x 50 easy free to warm up. Rest as needed. 4x 50 swim w/ buoy. Easy swimming. Still warming up. 4 rounds (50 Shark-fin Drill r :20, 100 aerobic swimming w/ focus on rotation. R :20) 8x 150 aerobic/steady w/ focus on rotation and...stronger final 25 meters of reach rep. Making sure you're staying smooth the first 125 of each rep. R :40 after each. 4x 50 as 25 fist drill/25 cruise to finish up/cool down. Rest as needed.
Mobility 25 minutes
NOTES
Total Time: 59 Minutes Swim: 2500m
A restless sleep and I am still working with a tight hip and sore glute; both on the left side. My throat is sore and I am STILL coughing.
I swam with good focus this afternoon.
TUESDAY FEB 28 🌦
Sleep 4 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Pre-Run: Dead bugs, breathing, and Glute Bridges. Run 60 minutes EASY.
Mobility 15 minutes
NOTES
Total Time: 62 Minutes Run: 10.2 km
Not the most restful sleep last night. Regardless, everything is just a little bit better today.
Shovelled some heavy snow before work then late this afternoon, I went for the easy run.
What a difference from Sunday. Practically the same route, same time of day, same kind of weather, except today, everything felt far more comfortable. I could still feel the knot in my left glute and there is some soreness in my right talo-navicular joint. Regardless, for a regular, base run, I finished it with a big smile.
Reviewing the activity afterwards, I would have guessed that my pace was quicker than it was. No matter, my focus was running with good posture, not going fast.
MANN AVENUE OUT AND BACK
WEDNESDAY MAR 1 ☁️
Sleep 4 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 3 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Pre-Bike: Dead bugs, Glute Bridges.
Trainer 95 minutes: Remember to hydrate and fuel! 15 minutes easy spinning to warm up. 8x :30 moderate standing, getting out of the saddle to loosen up, :45 seated/normal riding. 5 minutes easy spinning. 6x 1:00 high cadence/stable hips, 1:30 easy spinning after each. 3 extra minutes easy spinning. 5x 6 minutes @ what feels like 1 gear easier than a 60 minute effort (aka: Find 60 minute effort..then drop it a gear easier and tick away) 2 minutes easy after each rep. 7 minutes easy spinning to cool down.
NOTES
Time: 94 Mins Normalized Power: 137W
Awake at 0400. Fortunately, I was able to get another hour of sleep after a while.
Back on the trainer late in the afternoon.
I need to remember the order in which to turn on the electronics to get the right device to control the "smart trainer".
Dead bugs and glute bridges first as I can still feel that left hip flexor not as strong/healthy as it should be. Once pedalling, it is not bothered.
I continued with the 2019 coverage of Challenge Roth on YouTube. The top men have started the run; LCB has crested Solar Hill on her final lap.
I lost a minute of saddle time for a bio-break.
THURSDAY MAR 2 🌧
Sleep 4 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Swim 2200:
300 easy swimming to loosen up. 2x 50 shark-fin drill. R :20. 200 aerobic w/ focus on rotation. 2x 50 paddle-fist drill. R :20. 200 aerobic w/ focus on rotaion AND catch. Reset as needed. 9x 50 Descend 1-3, 4-6. 1-Steady/smooth, 2-1500 effort, 3-750 effort. R :20 after each. 50 super easy. 12x 50 Odds: FAST! (500ish effort) Evens: Relaxed/smooth. R :20 after each. 200 super easy to cool down.
Pre-Run: Dead bugs, breathing, and Glute Bridges. Run 45 minutes EASY. Running home from the pool, on the treadmill, or another time of tday. It all works for me.
NOTES
Time: 108 Mins Swim(s): 2300m Run(s): 9 km
The cough has started to subside and my resting heartrate is close to pre-COVID numbers.
Commute to the pool on foot for 3.8 km "warm up"; I felt pretty good; effort was easy. Even a solid hail storm couldn't wreck my good mood.
In the pool, I knew I only had a limited amount of time with the 50m lanes in. I made the most of it and got through to the end of the 9x50m descend set. Effort was good, focus was on point. My friend Batuhan was in the lane beside me and that helped with the motivation.
I hopped out and re-worked the workout in my watch to work with the 25m lanes. It wasn't long before I was back in the water to do the hard 50m set. Even the shorter lengths couldn't help me from feeling gassed on the hard efforts.
On the longer jog home, I dealt with a side stitch for the longest time. It eventually passed and the final kilometres were easy and rhythmic.
Although the 2 workouts were broken up over 4 activities, this was a solid afternoon. My left hip complex finished up ok.
FRIDAY MAR 3 🌧
Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 4 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Pre-Ride: Dead bugs, Glute Bridges.
Trainer 80 minutes: 20 minutes easy spinning to warm up. 3 rounds (:10, :20, :30, :40, :50 high cadence on 1:00. 5 minutes easy spinning after each round) 5x 2:00 big gear/low cadence/high torque...again, no watt range, just ride to feel tension on the pedals and a comfortable position. 2:00 easy spinning after each. 10 minutes easy spinning to cool down.
Mobility 18 minutes
NOTES
Total Time: 80 Mins Normalized Power: 143W
Just as I am about to get ahead of one niggle (left hip) another pops up.
I woke up this morning with an angry rhomboid major (right side); it stayed that way all day.
Fortunately, that rhomboid isn't needed much while turning my legs over on the trainer.
I rode the workout exactly as written, non-ERG mode, holding 120 RPM on the first rounds and averaging 50 RPM on the big gear reps.
This felt like a base level workout.
80 MINUTES
On the big screen, I continued with the 2019 Roth coverage. The men's leader has turned off the canal and is making his way back to town. The race clock following him was ~06:45:00; so depending on the start wave I am assigned in June, I may not see the men's race leader on the run course. 😕
SATURDAY MAR 4 💨
Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 2 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Order is up to you.
Swim 2600:
200 easy free to warm up. 6x 50 swim w/ buoy and paddle-fist drill. Focus on rotation AND using your forearm to catch. R :20 after each. 8x 50 descend 1-4, 5-8. 1: Easy, 2: IM effort, 3: ½ IM effort, 4: 1k effort. R :15 after each. 100 easy free. 6x 250 aerobic/steady w/ 2x sighting per 25. Finding a rhythm in your breathing and sighting. R :45 after each. 2x 50 super easy to cool down.
Pre-Run: Dead bugs, Glute Bridges and :30 Plank, and :30 on each side for side plank. Keep your hips level and your rips/hips connected. Just like on the dead bugs.
Run 65 minutes.
Easy effort. Terrain is up to you. Whatever feels good and is a fun route.
NOTES
Time: 120 Mins Swim: 2800m Run: 9.4 km
Crystal Pool at a time when the lanes change broke up the swim again. This time I was at the 2000m mark of the workout; I may have called it good enough if I was pressed for time.
Like Thursday, the staff were quick with the ropes and I was quickly back in the water with a reprogrammed watch for the balance of the workout... plus a bit more.
I am glad that I kept going because I had four of the 250m reps done in the 25m lane with 2 to go in the 50m lane.
Those first four 250m reps, short course reps were super consistent; stopping the watch with at 4:43.5, 4:43.5, 4:41.5 and 4:43.8.
The remaining 250m reps done in the long course lane were 4:40.0 and 4:39.6.
The perceived effort stayed the same. I was really stoked to finish the swim this way.
Who would have guessed that 3.5 seconds would bring me so much joy on a Saturday afternoon?
The run was a super easy pace north on my regular gravel route, turning around at 30 minutes and in keeping with the consistancy theme from the pool, I returned to my start point, 7 seconds ahead of making it a perfect split.
I realized after the fact that this was to be a 65 minute run. Hopefully the extra 200m in the pool makes it a wash.
My left glute max is sore. That knot is angry. Everything else feels like it is in good working order.