HAHAHA... this one never gets old :) If you aren't familiar with the lingo, "fartlek" is a Swedish word meaning "speed play." In running, (and I guess other endurance events, although I hear is most referred to in running), this basically mean going faster than normal for a while during your run, and doing a few intervals that you are literally "playing" with how much speed you are using.
Although I technically know a lot about training for endurance events, periodization, and exercise physiology, I don't trust myself enough this time to stick to my own plan for training for the ironman. When I make up my own schedules, I tend to get a little lazy when life gets busy. I feel much better about trying to adhere to what someone else tells me to do. This time around, I even made up a week by week schedule to remind me of what I need to do each week and cross workouts off as I go. The schedule that Brian and I are following is from a book called Start to Finish Ironman Training 24 Weeks to an Endurance Triathlon by Paul Huddle and Roch Frey. We are modifying the plans slightly so that we can fit workouts in the best and to fit our needs as swimmers (Sorry, Paul and Roch, 3500m just isn't happening until June when I get out of school!), but all in all, I like the plan presented by these two seasoned triathletes.
Yesterday's run (that I skipped due to fatigue) was a 45-60 minute run in which I was supposed to insert 3-6 45 second pick ups (fartlek running). I'm proud to say that I DID end up waking up early to go out and do this workout! EXCEPT, I forgot to double check the timing for the pickups so I ended up doing 1 minute pick ups 8 times (oh well). That was the good news.
The bad news is that my digestive system did not cooperate with me this morning. I went to the bathroom before the run in effort to make a pit stop-less run. I did pretty well on the way out--maybe I was just distracted by the beautiful weather and the picturesque scenery of the National Mall in the morning--but once I reached the halfway point it went downhill prett fast. My pick ups for "speed play" seemed more and more like a necessity. I eventually had to cut back 2 blocks in the wrong direction to find a dunkin donut in chinatown. THANK EVERYTHING that the workers were nice enough to give me the keys to the bathroom even though it was clear that I wasn't going to buy anything. They must have recognized the look if sheer terror in my eyes when I approached the locked bathroom. haha (THANKS DUNKIN!!!)
Anyway, that made for a slightly longer run (my planned 50 minutes ended up being 55 minutes), but faster pick ups, and therefore a better workout.
Brian and I are going to swim a mile after work--clearly not the 2500 yd "sprint" workout they suggest, but this is good for us!
Total so far (well, since Monday)
Swim 5000 m (plus 1600 later today)
Bike 42 miles
Run 13.5 miles
UPDATE: We just finished our mile of swimming so we have 5 straight days of following the plan. yay!
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