A “Fun” Intensive Brick

One of the things I love about my training is that every week is different.  Sure, I have a pattern I mainly follow, but every week is different and every workout has a different purpose.  I’ve been doing some higher volume and working on longer-distance pacing lately, so when I saw this brick last week I was kind of excited for a change – apart from the 2:45 hours on a Tuesday night part . 

I know the zones confuse people, but Z4 = hard effort (165-185 watts for me), and Z3 = not “all day” pace but not too hard either (135-165 watts for me).  I was asked by my Dad recently if I hold 25o watts while biking and the answer is a big NO – haha, not unless I’m climbing up a steep hill!  I know pros can easily hold these numbers, but I’m no pro.  I haven’t been tested for power in awhile, so I’m not sure what my thresholds would be right this minute. Anyway, I wanted to share this workout since I really enjoyed it! 

2hr Bike:
10min EZ then 10×1’ ON/OFF fast cadence efforts, 5min EZ spin
MS: 2min, 4min, 6min, 8min, 5min, 3min, 1min all intervals are at low Z4 with 2min EZ spin between
5min EZ spin
2x 15 min steady at low to mid Z3 w/2min EZ between
SESP for the rest of the ride.

45 min T-Run:
Progressive Run: 10min EZ run at IM target pace, 10min a little stronger pace, 10min a little stronger than the previous 10min.
Walk 30sec in between the 10min segments. Focus on good form.
Rest of the run is just an easy run/jog to cool down.

This bike went by amazingly fast with all the interval work, and I felt SO good on this workout – it felt great to have some speed in these ironman legs once again.  And on the brick runs I’ve been just cruising at an 8:30 min/mi pace lately.  It’s almost scary how easy it feels some evenings.  Remember, I am the same girl who started running 4 years ago at a 10:00-11:00 min/mile pace!

All I could think was that I had to bottle up this positive energy and remember it for race day!

And thanks for all your kind thoughts for David; he is doing better but still a lot less mobile.  We are hoping for a speedy recovery!  I’ll be back with a better update soon!