Catching Up

    I feel recovered from my race so this week is the beginning of my three week "build" phase. On Monday I met some of my running friends for the Heidi Loop. I am pretty sure it was named after my friend Heidi who just happened to be running with us but I failed to ask the back story on it. Oskar was with us and we got in an easy 5 mile run with a couple of hills. Later on I went to the Jack and Adams core class and it is always a humbling experience when towards the end of the hour of torturous training you are trying to hold your legs up and straight and they are shaking like leaves on a tree...in a tornadoe and the two girls next to you are chit chatting away with each other with seemingly no effort put in on their part. After the core class I met my buddy Craig for some swim practice at Big Stacy. I bought a kickboard to work on my...you guessed it...kick. I have no kick power whatsoever and I struggled to make it one length of the pool. It was very frustrating. I figure if I can improve my kick then that will help me get out in front during the swim portion of the tri and I can get some distance on the guys who a little slower than I want to go. I finished the swim with some easy laps mixed in with some drills.
  That was Monday. On Tuesday I woke up and went back to the pool with my good friend Barton for some help with my stroke and more importantly my kick. He got me doing various drills with and without the kickboard, trying to focus on my hips and leg orientation in the water. I noticed some immediate improvements with my kick efficiency. Now all I have to do is build on that for the next 5 months. We finished with sprints at maximum pace, or what Craig calls, "Throw Up Speed," followed by a full recovery for the interval. I got out of the water ate, rested and then got on the trainer for some bike technique training. I spun with one leg for 30 seconds, then the other and then both for a minute. This helps you learn a smooth turnover for a more efficient pedal stroke. With just thirty minutes done on the bike I hopped off and finished with weight training (lunges, curls and arm raises) followed by 80 tire flips. Yep, I was finished for sure.
Currently as I am typing I am noticing the morning slipping away and I got go and get my brick workout on.

Thanks for reading.
Oskar says, "Ruff ruff..bark bark"