Hopfeully eight is great.

I ran today, 1:10. It was painfully slow, and slowly painful. Not so bad that I stopped, but I know I am going to PAY for this tomorrow. I have iced, sat in the hot tub, taken Advil and will ice again before bed. And tomorrow will be painful.

And I pray I am not doing more damage. Because I am doing my re-hab. I am stretching. I am exercising. I am massaging. And I am so, so, so happy I ran 1:10 today. I know I still have 29 weeks to go....doesn't matter...it bothers me I am not exactly on schedule and able to do the prescribed workouts. I will get there.

Below is a taste of week 8 and my tasks. (Reminder: the notes in the program are from the coach who designed it.) The weekends are starting to get long enough that I am going to have to start eating in my workouts and learning how to do that in the next 3-4 weeks. note to self: Pirate's Booty is not a good pre-run snack.

Ultra Distance GroupWEEK #8 - 2nd Week of 2nd Pre-Season Cycle Swim 2:30 - Bike 4:40 - Run 3:05 -- Total: 10:15

Monday
SWIM 0:45
WARM UP 200 Swim - 200 Kick - 200 Pull MAIN SET 2 x 800 w/30 sec rest - #1 @70% intensity, #2 up to 80% (ALTERNATE SET: 2 x 600 w/30 sec rest) - concentrate on keeping your stroke long, rotating your body properly, and minimizing your strokes per length. - #2 should feel like you're in the middle of a long open water swim race, swimming steadily and even, working it but not exhausted COOL DOWN 4 x 50 w/10, keeping your HR @60% throughout
DAILY TOTAL: 0:45

Tuesday
BIKE 1:10
WARM UP 15:00 total spinning, using a gearing pyramid to build the intensity gradually: - 4:00 building up to 60%; - 5:00 between 60-70%; - 6:00 @70% MAIN SET This is an extended aerobic set, meant to boost your aerobic endurance with minimal break-down. Monitor your HR carefully and stick to the suggested intensity guidelines. 5 x 7:30 @75% w/1:30 recovery between 60-70%
COOL DOWN Begin your cool down with the final recovery spin in the main set, and gently bring your HR back down to 60% or under before finishing the session.

RUN 0:35
Follow some structure here, both for variety and to maintain focus on aerobic conditioning. 10:00 warm up, beginning with very light jogging & gradually building your HR up to 60-70% by the end This set will help you work on increasing your foot speed, without letting your HR get any higher than 75%. We'll do this by counting strides -- remember, two steps = one stride -- rather than timing the intervals: 4 x 250 strides (should be around 3:00-3:30) @75% w/2:00 relaxed jogging after each Good job! Now, bring the intensity back down gradually, all the way down to 60%. It would be great to add an additional 3-4:00 of walking afterwards to bring your HR back down to 100 bpm by the end.
DAILY TOTAL: 1:45

Wednesday
SWIM 1:00
Today contains the first of this week's two big target workouts. The duration for this key set is the same as it was two weeks ago -- make a note of your average time per 100 (yards/meters), and compare your progress. There should be some, though slight fatigue/illness could make the difference negligible after only two weeks. Make sure to record your progress for future reference.
WARM UP 400 Swim - 200 Kick - 300 Pull - gradually bring your intensity to around 70% Intermediate set: 6 x 50 w/10 sec rest - do each one as 25 easy / 25 hard MAIN SET -- BIG TARGET! 12 x 100 @race pace (85+%) w/10 sec rest between each -- keep track of your total time (add up the time for each of the 100's) and record the average pace per 100 in your log book for future reference. (ALTERNATE SET: 10 x 100)
COOL DOWN 4 x 75 w/10 sec rest, coming down from 75% to 60% by the end

BIKE 1:00
WARM UP 10:00 easy spinning, gradually bringing your HR up to 65-70% MAIN SET 4 x 7:30 @75% w/1:30 easy recovery spinning, - straight into: 1 x 4:00 @84% -- push your intensity to get your HR to "jump" to this next higher level COOL DOWN continue spinning, bringing your HR down from 84% to 60% by the end
DAILY TOTAL: 2:00

Thursday
SWIM 0:45
WARM UP 400 easy swim, building your HR up to 70% 6 x 50 w/10 sec rest, alternating (60%-70%-80%), 3x thru MAIN SET 2 x 750 w/30 sec rest in between #1 @75% #2 @80-84% -- you can Pull this one if you want to COOL DOWN 4 x 50 w/10, bringing the intensity back down to 60%

RUN 0:45
This main set is similar to Tuesday's, where we focused on counting strides rather than elapsed time for the intervals. Hold your HR within the recommended guidelines (they're higher here than they were on Tues), and focus on increasing your stride count smoothly. 10:00 easy warm up jog 12 x 125 strides (2 steps = 1 stride, should take less than 1:30) w/30 sec recovery jogging in between - #1-4 @75% or below; - #5-12, let your HR jump up to 84% for these shorter intervals Cool down completely after the last interval, bringing your HR back down to 65% before stopping. Continue walking until your HR gets closer to 50%.

DAILY TOTAL: 1:30

Friday
Take the day off completely, and focus on using some self-massage to work the lactic acid out of your muscles. You should also increase your water intake here to improve your recuperation.

Saturday
Today contains the second "big target" set of the week, though this one is designed to be done completely in an aerobic state. This takes some discipline ("But Coach, I can't slow down!"), but it is necessary to improve your aerobic efficiency while avoiding any overtraining.

BIKE 1:50
WARM UP 10:00 easy spin, bringing your HR up to 70% by the end DRILLS 2 x 3:00 Variable Gearing Set w/30 sec recovery after each -- each set should be done as follows: 2 x (40 sec in medium gear, 20 sec in easiest gear, 30 sec in hardest gear) MAIN SET -- BIG TARGET! This is designed to provide you with an uninterrupted, high quality aerobic ride. Performing this indoors will help you work very efficiently: No changes in the terrain, no traffic lights or cars to contend with, etc. Of course, there's also little or no scenery, and you'll have to provide your own fresh air -- but discipline here will continue to pay dividends going forward. 2 x (11.2 miles / 18km) @75% w/2:00 recovery @60-70% intensity -- make sure that you keep your HR under control for both repeats, and record both times (and average HR, if possible) for future reference. (Use 33:00 as an interval time if you don't have access to a cyclometer.)
COOL DOWN Spin through a "reverse gearing pyramid" (14:00 total): 5:00 @75-70% - 4:00 @70-65% - 3:00 @65-60% - 2:00 under 60%

RUN 0:30
If you can, put this run in immediately after the bike session. However, DO NOT run outside if it's cold out! If you don't have access to a tread mill, then wait until later in the day to fit this in. Make sure you do, though, as it is an excellent aerobic extension to your earlier ride.

Sunday
RUN 1:15
Long, steady distance run. It should be easier to control your HR than it was earlier in the season, and you should hold your intensity level right at 70% for the bulk of this effort. You should definitely keep the intensity below 75% at all times.

BIKE 0:40 This is a recuperative effort, so just spin easy, breathing deeply and allowing your legs to flush out the lactic acid that has built up recently. Drink plenty of water during this ride and during the remainder of the day.