This was an eventful week!
As with week 8, week 16 has also been a week focused on measuring my fitness.
Let’s get into each one individually.
The swim went much better than expected and I am more than happy with how it all turned out.
My times for the 400m and 200m sprints were 6:24 (an improvement of 7 seconds) and 3:06 (an improvement of 4 seconds). This puts my new swim threshold speed at 1:39!!! It’s an improvement of only 2 seconds and I have never been happier. I never swam this good in the 7 years I am in triathlon! With 20 more weeks of training only sky is the limit :)
Then it was time to get on the bike. Oh boy do I hate FTP tests. Based on my previous FTP of 265 W I was looking to get it to around 280 but as it turned out I had a pretty good day and kept my power at around 300W for 20 minutes which translates to an FTP of 285W. With my current weight of 75 kg I am now at a nice 3.8 W/kg which puts me just below the very good category. #improvements
I am not sure if I ever had an FTP of 285 but I am sure it’s going to be well over 300 when I get to racing in Klagenfurt.
After two successes it was time for a setback. It wasn’t really anything major but our twins haven’t been sleeping well for quite a while now and if they don’t sleep my wife and I won’t sleep either. As the week progressed I could feel it draining me and there was no way for me to do a proper run test during this week so I moved it to Monday of week 17.
I went to a lake with a path of around 1.6 kilometers and ran for 30 minutes. I started of pretty strong with a 3:55 min/km but I had to pull back a little or I would probably blow up by the end. I kept a nice pace and finished the 30 minutes with a pace of 4:04 which is one of my best run test results so far. It’s an improvement of 12 seconds to 8 weeks ago and if I continue like this I will be in a great position to run the marathon at hard but (mostly) comfortable pace.
I had to shorten the easy brick session on Sunday because I just wasn’t feeling good and I didn’t want to go through the motions.
Let’s check out some numbers and head into week 17.
My weight went a little up but that’s fine. It’s nothing I am too worried about.
| Swim | Bike | Run | Strenght | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distance | 3.7 (54.5) | 39.7 (1344.0) | 4.0 (395.9) | - |
| Time | 1:25 (18:13) | 1:32 (61:40) | 0:20 (33:53) | 1:20 (20:00) |
| Skipped | 8/32 | 1/42 | 1/43 | 0/32 |
Values in brackets show totals (bike distance is probably wrong because I keep having problems with my speed senson on the trainer)
As you can see my run volume was pretty much non-existent but it is what it is sometimes.
One thing I have also learned this week is how much the food I eat can impact how I feel. The weekend leading up to week 16 was filled with a bunch of (over)eating that can’t be considered good if you want to be in a good shape running. I felt this mostly on Monday and Tuesday. That’s why I am even more surprised that I improved with my swim.
I’ll try to keep it in line for the future.
Until then,
Stay healthy