Get Into High Gear

So, have you ever wondered what it takes to swim/bike/run faster in a race? Well, of course, you must swim/bike/run. But, what makes you faster is if you do all of these activities at an intense pace- at least once a week. In order to run fast in a race, you must practice running fast outside of the race (i.e. Lactate Threshold or VO2 Max workouts). If you are just simply swimming/biking/running "junk miles"- as I call them, miles without a focus- then you will not wake up on race day and with the added adrenaline of the day itself be able to race your best. You must practice what you aspire to do in a race in your training, and too often, I see athletes reside in a comfort zone that will never get them to a higher phase in their training. Simply because they don't train hard enough.

That being said, I pushed myself today- on the bike. Which is my focus for this year FOR SURE. That is where I am going to cut the most time off of my IM times. I have added some speed focus and an LT workout at least once a week. So, my workout today:

FYI: My max HR is around 190
15 min warm-up: HR steady, up to 150 HR before the beginning of my first Set.

1st Set: 14 mins total: Set a Gear that would be difficult to hold at your fastest cadence for 2 mins. Then, slowly increase every 2 mins by 2-3 RPM. So, I started at 150 HR and by the 7th 2-mins, I was pushing 180. Actually, by the 6th, I was at 180, at 95 RPM.

1 min rest (HR only dropped to 162 after that minute...and I am very in shape :)

2nd Set: 14 mins total: Same as the first set, but I finished the 6th and 7th 2-min RPM increases at a higher gear, and pushed to max HR- or at least to 185 and held that for the final 3 mins.

10 min cool down

It felt great and I was feeling pretty strong after it. I have a day off tomorrow, so I am hoping that I can rest my legs and have some good recovery for these next 6 days after. I have an important brick on Wednesday, going into a 10 miler on Thursday. But, all at a good clip- I am not putting in junk miles this year. Up the intensity for a higher quality workout!