I Survived!

I survived my first week with my new coach, that is. I wasn't required to do a whole lot for a couple of reasons. First, I'm still recovering from my knee surgery. Second, I'm recovering from a cold that took me out of the game for a week or so. Between those two things, it means I haven't had any steady training of any kind for several weeks (5 or 6). That means my HR is up in the stratosphere somewhere, but my pace is a little slower than a slug on dry pavement. Still and all, this is what the first week looked like:

Scheduled:
Mon -- rest day
Tue -- Swim 30 min / Bike 20 min (bike means ride the freaking trainer--ugh)
Wed -- Run 30 min / 15 min core exercises (I'm such a core wuss...I was supposed to do 2-4 sets of 10-20 reps of just a few exercises. I was lucky to finish ONE set of a measly 10 reps. I sure hope this improves as time marches on.)
Thu -- Swim 35 min / Bike 25 min (Good grief--20 minutes was torture the other day)
Fri -- Run 35 min
Sat -- Bike 60 minutes flat to rolling hills -- weather precluded riding outside, so this was another (puke) trainer session
Sun -- Run 60 min

Completed:
Mon -- Easy!
Tue -- 1000 yards and felt like I could hardly breathe / Managed to do 23 minutes on the trainer
Wed -- Since I'm supposed to be keeping the HR down (yeah, right), I just did a simple 2 mile treadmill program. Funny, but it didn't seem to help keep my HR down. It still sky-rocketed. Then I did the core exercises.
Thu -- Swim 1250 yards -- not dying this time, but still quite winded and still slow / Okay, I managed 27 minutes on the trainer this time.
Fri -- Same treadmill program, but this time I didn't adjust the speed or incline at all and I only did 1.8 miles in 30 minute. Holy moley, but that's slow! (Well, it is for me.)
Sat -- OMG! If I thought 20 - 25 minutes was torture, 60 minutes on a trainer is nothing but pure agony. However, I have to admit it is all mental. My body could handle the challenge just fine, so long as I left everything in an easy gear. But getting my head wrapped around pedaling in place was tough. I can run in place with no problem, but cycling in place is certainly a challenge.
Sun -- FINALLY! Got to get outdoors for a change and run. Again, not fast, but managed to do 5 miles in my 60 minutes. Still haven't managed to figure out how I'm going to get through the Seattle Half Marathon that is only 3 weeks away. I'm thinking I'm going to be a hurtin' gal come the Monday after. Fortunately, that pain usually only lasts a couple of days. I'm actually still hoping to get in enough base training in the next couple of weeks that my HR comes down and I can turn the race into a decent training run. I won't be able to race, but I can at least get some good training out of it.

This is me (in the middle) at my very first Seattle Half Marathon (2002). I was having a blast. My good friend Barb is on my left (right side of photo). I have no idea who the tall gal is and she is tall. Barb and I are no slouches at 5'6". We are evidently laughing about something. Like I said, we had a good time!

Photo by Action Sports International