And another
Well, I’m finally feeling it. Today is my eighth hard training day in a row. And I’m not sure that I’m getting a day off next week, either! Last weekend John warned me that the coming weeks were going to be tough and there wouldn’t be too many off days. I’m not complaining, but once again, this morning I had to fight to get out of bed and during this morning’s swim, which was a somewhat tough session, I struggled at times to keep on pace and keep good form. I’m not saying I couldn’t do it, or that I sacrificed quality to get in the hours/distance, but I am certainly pushing myself right now. The bulk of my main set today was 15×100 at a moderate effort with ten seconds between each 100. It was really the middle ones that were the toughest. The last few went fairly smoothly. I think that’s at least in part because I was pushing too hard at first. I did the first few 100’s in 1:25-1:30, which is way too fast for me to call it a “moderate” effort. I made a conscious effort to slow down and even though I was still working harder than I should have, slowing down obviously helped me keep my effort level down and maintain good form.
This evening, I went back to the gym for a “light” strength day. By this evening, I was feeling better than during my swim. Still muscle-fatigued and not exactly fired-up, but not nearly as all-out tired as this morning. The only real difference between light and heavy days is that on the light day I only do the first three sets of each exercise (70, 75, 80% of 1RM) and skip the fourth set (85%). Today’s strength training seemed much more manageable than the heavy day on Wednesday. That’s in part because I’m omitting the fourth set, which is the heaviest. But, as a result, I’m cutting out a ton of time – seven sets, plus seven two-minute rests equals probably 18-20 less time for the workout. Also, I did today’s session after work instead of during, and didn’t feel so rushed.
I need to get some sleep tonight, so I’m going to try to sleep in a little and ride a little later than I normally would. The forecast still looks good enough to ride outside tomorrow morning. We’ll see.
Swim – January 26
Time: 1:15
Distance: 3,100 yards
Strength Training – January 26
Time: 1:00