Semi-Wordless Wednesday: THREE Big Weeks!

>> Wednesday, April 02, 2025

I'm going to cool it after this, I swear.

Three weeks ago was a PR in "intensity minutes" at 2041 minutes spurred on by a long birthday bike ride and my family leaving for a trip that weekend. Then two weeks ago, I had another big training week that also included one of my best long runs ever.

Well, I did it one final time. Last week I kept it up and and posted big "intensity minutes" again:


A decent week 4 weeks ago with 1707 minutes, but then 3 weeks that
are MY THREE BIGGEST WEEKS EVER. And back-to-back-to-back!


I'd never been above 1798 before these last 3 weeks! (My average from
that yearly graph is 1523 [502x2 vigorous mins + 519 moderate mins].)

I'm not going to keep that up. This week is going to be a lot more "normal," if not even smaller after a busy upcoming weekend. But my March training numbers should be GOOD! Gotta work up a "month in review" post shortly...

Bike Intervals, Then Track Intervals

>> Monday, March 31, 2025

The end of last week had some good workouts. Thursday was a beautiful day for a nice ride, and then Friday was a great morning on the track.

I knew I wanted to something FAST for my bike ride - I've been focusing on getting in more and more miles over the last few years, but I can't stop trying to go HARD. I thought about my "go to" tempo loop, but I wasn't ready to deal with some of those rough/gritty roads, and I also like to do that loop when it's really early (out of the question on this day that started chilly, so I waited until later in the day to ride). So I hit the Greenway Trail for a 4x4 mile workout. I like to do 5-mile efforts, but with some construction right in the middle of a good stretch of the Greenway, I did just 4 miles (from the Sabo Bridge right up to the edge of the construction):


Hiawatha just through the Lakes for #1 and #3,
and Lakes to Hiawatha for #2 and #4.

I didn't realize there was a slight breeze FROM THE EAST when I started - I kinda hoped that I was just really fast. But I learned that wasn't true when I started interval #2.

#1: 10:29, 22.8 mph (22.9 halfway)

#2: 11:46, 20.4 mph (20.4 halfway)

#3: 10:17, 23.3 mph (22.9 halfway)

#4: 11:42, 20.4 mph (20.8 halfway)

I like to note what my average is half-way through each interval, and that led to some interesting stats in #3 and #4. In the third, I had the same average half-way through as my first, but then I "put the hammer down" to finish that one 0.5 mph faster than the first! But in the final interval, I was quite a bit faster at the half-way point compared to #2, but I ended with the exact same overall average because I was DEAD - I had no power left to climb up the Sabo Bridge to finish!


Speed...


... and with the 4-mile intervals highlighted.

Then the next day, I hit the track. My legs were HEAVY from the start after that bike workout the day before - I hadn't biked like that anytime this year yet. My hammies were fine, but my quads and butt were slightly sore and tired. I didn't know what to expect for this workout, but figured it could be a good effort on heavy legs. (I often ease up a bit on workouts right before track workouts, but NOT THIS TIME.)

I did 4x800 with 2:00 rest, then 4x400 with 1:00 rest. And WOOOOOOO BOY... that 1:00 rest for the last half of the workout is ROUGH.


Lots of laps.


Walking around between the intervals at the start/finish line.

My opening 800 wasn't as fast as I had hoped, but I was able to keep that as my slowest. I felt like I just couldn't quite hit my top gear in any of my 800s - I wasn't able to get my legs moving quite like I felt they could. But then in the 400s, I was happy with those times! I was able to suffer through those single-lap intervals, but couldn't keep the pace up like I wanted to for the 2-lap intervals.

1:20 + 1:19 = 2:40.4
1:18 + 1:18 = 2:37.5
1:20 + 1:17 = 2:37.6
1:18 + 1:16 = 2:35.6

1:13.4
1:13.0
1:12.8
1:12.1


Ave of 1:37.78 / 800 and 1:12.83 / 400

This time, my 800s and 400s were both FASTER than when I did this workout 3 months ago, and my 400s were faster than when I did them last May. In fact, it was my fastest 400s ever for this workout!

Trying to keep this speed work going to try to get into good shape for the upcoming race season!!

My Family Running the 2025 'Hot Dash 5K'

>> Saturday, March 29, 2025

A week ago, my boys had a chilly (19 degree) 5K in Minneapolis! They weren't planning to break any speed records as they haven't been running at all, but they were ready to have a good time with their cousins:


My boys and their cousins!
Under the Hennepin Ave Bridge!


The Moms (sisters) did it too!


Wes, Evie (behind Wes), Charlie, and Sarah (behind Charlie) just after starting!


Runners heading down River Parkway after starting!

I walked across the Mississippi to the finish line on the other side. The winner finished just over 16:00! Jon (my brother-in-law) and I waited for our crew at the finish. Henry was the first to come through:


Go Henry!


Evie did amazing!


We spotted Wes and Charlie, and then they stopped and decided to finish like THIS!!!


Direct link: youtube.com/shorts/ufi3C4kBRqA?si=Xvl4m7724p3shi-5


Cousin buddies.

They're already planning their next 5K!

Friday Funny 2432: 'There, I Fixed It'

>> Friday, March 28, 2025






































































Lots more funnies posted all day long on SportsAndLaughs.tumblr.com. HAPPY WEEKEND!!

Friday Funny 2431: War Plans in the Group Chat

In case you've been living under a rock, Pete Hegseth (the secretary of defense) accidently inlcuded an Atlantic reporter on a Signal chat with detailed war plans for an upcoming attack in Yemen. Big oof. And then the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, denied many details but was shown to be lying. Extra big oof.

Here are some funny reactions to this story:










































I had to look this up... and yes, it's from an actual broadcast.





























More funny things on SportsAndLaughs.tumblr.com.

Twitter

Follow steveinaspeedo on Twitter

Facebook Fan Page

All content and original images copyright 2006 - 2025 by Steve Stenzel, AKA "Steve in a Speedo." All Rights Reserved.
Want to use something seen here? Just ask - I don't bite.
BlogNation.com