One Month Down

First month down...man did it fly.  I started off with a CT ride of the Columbia, MD course and averaged 180 watts.  It was tough (I went 1:13:24 in May last year).  Started the 20 week P.I.G CT program and did a few 2 hr trainer rides and a bunch of tempo/interval rides.

I'm over 20 mpw for running, which isn't that much.  I'm doing 2-3 recovery runs, 2 moderate runs, and one long run.  So far everything has been going well and I'm staying healthy.  I'm not focusing on speed/power, but building my base.

Swimming has been non-existent.  I've hit the pool three times this year, but have done some long sets.  I'll start doing two sessions a week, with one being endurance, and the other speed.  I took an easy week last week, mostly because of biking intensity.  My body isn't used to the effort I've been doing.  I'm usually a 3-4 weeks on, 1 off type of person anyways.

I've got an FTP test this weekend on the CT.  I'm hoping to hit 190-200 watts on the 30 minute test.  My long run will be 7.2 miles at a 7.6 mph pace, so I'm getting close to the 1hr mark.  Last year, it took me until May to hit 1 hr of running, but I did a lot of tempo/speed work.  I did ramp it up in June/July though.

I haven't done any speedwork test, so I'm nervous about how that will be.  I've got a few road races and sprints lined up that I'd like to compete in.  I plan on adding some speework in March, but one of my moderate runs will be 20 min w/u and c/d, then the rest at a 6:30 pace.  Once I hit 4/8/12 for my running, I will shuffle my mileage and get my long run up to 16 miles and just reduce my moderate runs to 6 miles.  Due to previous injuries, I think I'll max at 16 (maybe 18) for my running and just do the full distance in the race for the first time.