General Smallwood Training Week 14

Monday:
Another Monday spent doing schoolwork. All I was able to do was a 2 mile walk at night with my puppy.


Tuesday:
I woke extra early Tuesday morning so I went out for a glorious morning run. The run felt easy but I was going much faster than normal. After the run I went straight to a 60 minute yoga class to stretch out my legs. It is amazing how much help yoga has been since I started doing it last week.


Wednesday:
I wanted to do one last track run before my triathlon next week but I wasn't sure how my legs would respond from Tuesday's longish run. I ended up cutting the run short because I was getting dizzy & my legs felt more tired than they should have. I still got in 3.55 miles of good track running though. After the run I came home & soaked my legs in a bucket of ice water.

Thursday:
I overslept on Thursday morning so I had to cut my swim short in order to make it to yoga on time. This may seem backward since swimming is a crucial part of triathlon training but yoga has really made a difference in the way I recover from running. Instead of doing a full swimming workout I just did 800 yards for time. I finished in 11:05 for a 1:23 pace. This gives me a good idea of where I will be for my triathlon next weekend. After I went to a 60 min yoga class where we worked on headstands. I am pretty terrible right now but I am up for the challenge. I finished up the day with a 2 mile walk with my dad and my puppy.


Friday:
I wanted to do a race simulation to practice my nutrition and pacing for my triathlon next week. I ended up riding 23.63 miles. I was going to run afterwards but it was really hot outside and I didn't think it was worth the risk. I practiced my outfit as well. I am still working on what to wear during the swim though. Any suggestions?


Saturday:
Friday night my boyfriend and I went to a concert and didn't get back to his house until almost two in the morning. We slept in Saturday and enjoyed a day just relaxing by the pool. It was my first full rest day in almost two weeks and it was greatly needed and appreciated.


Sunday:
My boyfriend and I were going to go on a short bike ride so I can practice riding on the road instead of on the trail but he woke up sick. Instead I spent the day taking care of him and enjoying another rest day.


Weekly Totals

• Swimming: 800 yards
• Biking: 23.63 miles
• Running: 10.55 miles
• Walking: 4 miles
• Yoga: 2 hours
• Total hours: 6 hours 28 min

Doing the Little Things Right

Ever since I was about ten years old I have always been told by my swim coaches to "do the little things right." This saying always drove me crazy but lately it has been my personal mantra. I have been super swamped with schoolwork this week and haven't had much to do anything other then sleep, eat, train, and study. Normally when I am this busy my nutrition suffers along with all of the other things that enable my body to train the way it should. Since my first triathlon is a week and a half away I am being extra careful to take care of my body though.

Eating clean.
I have a tendency to just grab whatever is the quickest and easiest, which in turn is often not the healthiest. This past week though I have been making an effort to eat lots of fruits and veggies and monitor my intake of macronutrients. I have also been making sure I am not eating too many calories. In just this past week I have lost 2-3 pounds and I feel much better. I just feel healthier.

Drinking lots of water.
I rarely drink as much water as I should be. Due to a medical condition I have I am often cold and do not want to drink anything that will make me even colder. And because I am infrequently hot I am infrequently thirsty. I have been drinking a large glass of water before every meal and often have another glass with my meal in order to ensure that I am properly hydrated.

Compression.
With coming home from college and packing all of my stuff up I forgot that I had a pair of compression sleeves. I busted them out after Tuesday's run and could feel a huge difference after I took them off. I recently read a great article about recovery methods and when to use them. The article said compression gear is best worn immediately after a hard workout so that is what I did.

Ice.
After a hard track workout on Wednesday I took the plunge (pun intended) and suffered through my first ice bath. I only submerged my calves and shins so it was a wimpy ice bath but it still did the trick. There was a serious reduction of swelling and my legs felt invigorated afterwards.

Sleep.
I am not one of those people who can survive on only a few hours of sleep. I rarely get less than eight hours a night and most nights I am getting 9-10 hours. This may not work for everyone but lots of sleep has helped keep me rested both physically and mentally. And naps are an even better way to recover between two-a-days.

Yoga.
I started going to yoga last week and already I have seen a huge improvement in my flexibility. The looming tightness in my legs after running is no longer there and my IT bands feel better than ever. My legs feel lighter too. I'm not sure how this relates but every time after I leave yoga the heavy feeling in my legs is gone.

A Case of Overconfidence

After yesterday's unexpectedly fast longish run, last week's track party, and an unofficial 5K PR the week before I started to think that I was invincible. I was quickly reminded that I am not some sort of running superstar when I hit the track tonight for my second and last speed workout before next week's triathlon.

My planned workout was:
1 mile warm up
3x 800 fast, 400 recovery
5x 400 sprint, 800 recovery

This would have put me at a total of seven miles. I am really not sure why I thought running seven miles of hard track running would be a good idea when my longest run during this training cycle was not only seven miles but the previous day. The other problem with this workout was that I went during the hottest time of the day so that I wouldn't miss a minute of watching my favorite swimmers battle it out at Olympic Trials.

Before I even started the workout I was sweating buckets and should have taken that as the first sign to back off on the planned mileage. But nope, that did not happen. I started my warm up and was immediately greeted by wind. Luckily the wind was only affecting me on part of the lap, but it still felt pretty miserable.

Besides starting out way too fast on my first 800 the first half of the workout went pretty well. Even on the recovery jogs I was holding a pace much faster than what I am used to. But when the third 800 came I started to really feel the effects of yesterday's run. I tried to push myself but my body fought back.

3:30 (7:07), 3:28 (6:58), 3:33 (7:09), 1:46 (7:03)

I thought I would do better with the shorter distance of the 400 sprints so I moved on. After the first 400 I decided to call it quits though. I felt absolutely terrible and was even starting to get dizzy. I realized that pushing myself even more so close to a race is not worth it. I would rather be able to push myself even harder during my race.

After I left the track I came home to watch the Olympic Trials. While I watched I soaked my feet in a big bucket filled with ice water. This was my first time doing an ice soak and boy was it an experience! Within seconds of putting my legs in the bucket my feet started to hurt really badly. I wasn't sure if this was normal but I decided to keep my legs submerged for at least five minutes. After I was done my legs felt a million times better and I could really notice how much swelling went down. Ice baths may not be fun but they are definitely effective.