In the Zones!

Remember the Beep Test? Where, in a so-called test of fitness, the phys-ed teacher put the class through a running test during which you had to run between two set lines on the gym floor, beating out the gradually quickening 'beeps' while doing so?

Well, imagine the gym floor was on a grade, moving under your feet, and you're running between beeps that are minute and a half apart. Throw in a basement in a semi-renovated state, a medium sized fan, my hubby monitoring my progress while he and the pup cheer me on, and you have me doing a run test to determine the heart rate zones that I should be hitting during various training sessions. This run test was last week, and I'm happy to report that I'm solidly 'in the zone' and have some marks with which to ensure my exertion is where it should on the run.... the bike test, as you may recall, was the week before.

We've reached week 11 in my plan, which will effectively mean the end of the adaption period, which from my perspective is a huge part of the base building I needed to prepare me for what is to come. I built up for five weeks prior to hitting my prescribed adaption phase of 6 weeks,  and by doing so I feel that I've given my body ample time to adjust, I am fairly comfortable with the routine, and now the workout frequencies feel normal. Next week will bring the beginning of the next build, with the volume increasing, and a few more workouts added.

Up to now I haven't wanted to bore you with such details, but I wanted to make sure that I shared some progress, for accountability sake. So there you have it.

So far so good this week from a training perspective, we finally had clear skies during our post-ride run on Saturday morning, the sun even peaked out at the end of it, which was a welcome site after almost a full week of rain. Sunday's run only had a few hiccups, one rock in my shoe and a moment of 'aw, man, do I gotta?' which I pulled myself out of after only a minute of two of slowing to a walk. Thank goodness this was after I'd run into Coach B.  Tried a new pool tonight, which was more bath than pool temperature-wise, but got me home 30 minutes earlier for dinner. Really, it was a win all around. And then we had ice cream... win, win, win!

And so, it's onward and upward, with hopes for a change in the weather, a ride on the road would be so good right now.... until then, I think our next tri related investment will be............ a gigantic fan.