Week 7 - Tested

One week closer to the race and I haven't fallen apart yet.  That's a relief :-)  Actually this week has gone pretty well.  It was a reminder of why it took so long to start blogging.  I always figured I had time to do the things or write about the things, but I've always feared that there wouldn't be enough time to do the things and write about the things.

This week was the most hours had a somewhat unexpected drop in the hours I've spent on Swim/Bike/Run/Strength.  There were two missed workouts.  One was a "miss" because I substituted a VO2Max test at a local college for the Wednesday morning spin class.  The second one was out of my control.  My Friday lunch easy spin didn't happen because of a lunch meeting scheduled that I couldn't avoid.  I tried to get out of work early to sneak in a ride on the way home but I had to be an adult and see through my work responsibilities instead.

The VO2Max test went very well.  I maxed out at 6.57 L/min of oxygen which when divided by my weight in kilograms gave me a VO2Max of 69.77 ml/min/kg.  It is the highest volume of oxygen that I've seen in a test but my 2014 test run (when I was lighter) yielded a higher VO2Max value.  Just like previous tests, one of the highlights for me was the conversation I got to have with someone that is highly educated in all of this physiology stuff.  The initial impressions were that I am seeing improved performance and endurance that is likely attributed to the addition of strength training.  I'm not sure if the initial impressions are correct.  I get a little suspicious when explaining the "why" of test results lines up too well with expectations.  I've got a lot more study to do of the data that will be shared sometime in the next week.  I hope the initial impressions are correct, I just need more time to run them through my "skepticism filter" first.

Ironically, I've started to have problems getting motivated to do strength training this week.  I've been hitting PT hard for about 3 months now, but missed it 2 times this week.  I've been lifting actual weights for 9 weeks.  I've hit the strength training that was planned this week but I never once found myself looking forward to it.  Now is the time to be stubborn.  It seems pretty common when trying to build a new habit that motivation starts to wain after the first 2-3 months.  If I can just push through for a few more weeks, hopefully it will become ingrained as a habit and motivation can become irrelevant.  At the same time, I've pulled the trigger and increased weights on a couple of the lifting exercises and decreased the weight on a third.  The tricep pulldown and lat pulldown weights have increased.  I'm officially dropping the weight down a little on my squat.  After hitting a bigger number a few weeks ago, I just haven't felt comfortable.  I'd rather back the weight down a little and be confident.


Weekly Stats

Swim - 8000 yards
Bike - 43 miles
Run - 38 miles
Body Pump - 2 times
Heavy Lifting - 2 times
Duration - 13:56 hours

Physical Therapy - 2 times

Body Composition (no change from last week)
Weight - 200 pounds
%Fat - 15.3
%Water - 56.4
%Muscle - 38.8

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