IMMT Training Week 5: Double-Double

Oh, look a recap post! Once you read it you'll understand why I waited until Tuesday to write it. It was a week of firsts and I am not sure that I want a repeat of any of these heroic attempts to stay on schedule.

Swim

Tuesday was the day that just didn't want to be. I had planned to go swimming early in the morning, but then I ended dicking around the house too much trying to prepare breakfast and snacks for the kids and lunch for my work and made it to the pool 45min later than I hoped. Zin looked at the schedule and said that I should be ok because the pool was going to be open for another 2.5h. So I got there and started my workout, but to my surprise, 20min later they started removing the lanes. I asked why and they said that the lane swim was over. Whaaaat?! Why?? Because their published schedule was wrong, that's why! And that I should know better because I'd been going there for a long time. Yeah, but never in the morning!! It must be a sign that I should just give up mornings at the pool. Anyway, I had just finished my warm up set, and I was pissed. Took my toys and left, pretty much wanting to strangle someone.

Nice pool, until they kick you out

Went to work, but in the evening I decided to go back to the pool to finish my swim. It was full of fast 50s and fast 25s and I can't say that I enjoyed any of it. My mojo sank like the Titanic, but I managed to get some decent times on those lengths nevertheless.

Thursday I had group swim with the tri club, but I needed a massage really badly and the only appointment I could find was at noon. 1h15 of pure torture and while walking out of there I wondered if I wouldn't drown if I attempted to use my bruised limbs to stay afloat. The decision not to go to masters got cemented after the run workout that I did later in the day (whose idea was that anyway?). My legs were so sore, I chose to soak them in a hot bath with a ton of Epsom salts for a change.

So this leads us into the weekend with one swim scattered over 12h and another one missed. Sunday, as you may know if you followed the Olympics, was the big game for Canada's men hockey team and even though I had ambitious plans to get my long 2900m swim done before 9am, I got the surprise to find the pool closed without notice for a "special event".

Early to rise, for nothing.

Come'on, now!! 

Where is everyone?? Canada is watching hockey, come back later...

I had no choice but to go back home and put my feet up and cheer for our athletes like a good Canadian. But I still had one long swim to do and no pools with more than 1h lane swim openings. Sigh... Went to Mayfield at 1pm, did whatever I could in 1h, then went to another pool in the evening to finish the job. Why can't I swim faster so I can fit it all in? #slowtriathleteproblems. It was BRUTAL. That's why I called this blog post Double-Double. Never again!!!

Bike

At least everything went well in this chapter.
Monday, easy 1h15 ride, I did Collins.

On Wednesday I didn't bother selecting a specific workout, I just went for a free 1h ride while watching True Detective. That did the trick.

But on Saturday, I went to the group spin and allowed myself to have some fun. We did over-unders, but I only pushed hard for small periods of time to keep the sweating to a minimum. It was great to see some watts in the 200s for a change. First time pushing that high this year and not more than 1min at a time. I loved this workout!

Aren't those intervals pretty?

Run

Nothing exciting here. 8K, 6K, 1h on the treadmill. What made those harder though, is that two out of three runs were sandwiched between swims. Believe me, you don't want to do this, especially at the end of the week when you should be lounging on the couch, drinking beer and blogging instead.

In a nutshell

I need to get my shit together. I am improvising too much and playing catch up. I managed to put in 8h45 of solid workouts, but not without serious sacrifices. Call it double dose of dedication if you wish, but I call it double dose of d'uh! I should have known better. The hardest week so far this year, but it's only getting harder from here, so I need to start planning more and playing less with the fire.

One last update for the road - I also did 2 strength workouts. I added in squats, lunges, bicycle crunches and continued the planks, bridges and clam shells. Three days later and my glutes are still crying. There is only one remedy for them: ice baths! Good thing that the polar vortex is back... I could just make snow angels in my backyard. Naked. Totally legit, don't you think?