Monthly Archives: March 2023

This past week, I had my regular full workout week without any issues getting there like I did the week before. In a way, I had more than a full week since I also had the Dri-Tri, but in a weird way, I don’t count that as a regular workout and more like a bonus. So I had my 4 regular workouts to help get me ready for the Dri-Tri and I ended the week thinking that I’m pretty ready for it (the recap of how the Dri-Tri went will be coming tomorrow).

On Monday, I was feeling pretty good but I also had some weird anxiety. I don’t know why I was feeling like that, but it made me pause a bit during the workout. This might have been good since I know going into a Dri-Tri, I don’t want to overdo it any day and this helped to keep things a bit easier on me.

For cardio, we had 4 blocks and they all followed the same pattern. We had a base to push pace, a push pace, a push to all-out, and an all-out. In the first block, there was no incline work. But for each block after that, the incline or resistance level went up. I did work with the new resistance levels I’ve been using and I tried to increase them the way we were supposed to. But for the last block, I wasn’t able to do the entire block at the highest incline so I dropped it back a bit and focused more on pedaling faster.

On the rower, we had one long block. We started with a 500-meter row followed by lunges and deadlifts with shoulder presses using the medicine ball. Then we did 2 rounds of a 250-meter row and the same exercises. And the end of the block was supposed to be 3 rounds of a 125-meter row and the same exercises, but I only got through one round of the 125-meter row. I usually don’t love long rows, but I was glad to have the 500-meter row since it allowed me to practice having a steady pace which I knew I would need for the Dri-Tri.

And on the floor, we also had one long block. We had step-ups (which I did as lunges), seated shoulder presses, goblet squats, reverse fly with weights, plank kicks, and double crunches. I really was hoping that I’d be able to work on using heavier weights by this point in the month, but I’m just not there yet. I tried heavier weights for many of the exercises and had to switch to lighter ones. I know that at least trying is better than doing nothing, but I wish I was seeing more results.

On Tuesday, I was dealing with some nausea related to my injectable medication. I don’t know why it was affecting me the way it did when it has been better for several weeks, but I was able to use the things I do whenever I have nausea to work through it. I had a few moments when I was worried I would need to step out of class, but I made it through without having to leave.

For each section of the room, we had 2 blocks that were about the same length. For cardio, we started with 1-minute intervals with push and base paces with a 30-second all-out. Then we had 2 more standalone 30-second all-outs with recoveries between each one. In the second block, it was a similar pattern but we had 30-second intervals and the recovery was longer after each all-out.

On the rower, the first block started with a 3-minute crew row. In a crew row, you were supposed to row synchronized with the people next to you. This isn’t easy to do, but we are given a specific stroke per minute we are supposed to be at, and having that can help get everyone synced up. After the crew row, we had squats and then a quick rest before being timed out with cardio for the last all-outs in the block. In the second block, we did a similar thing but we had a much shorter crew row at the beginning of the block. The second crew row was harder, but I think not everyone was staying at the strokes per minute we were supposed to use so we weren’t all going at the same rate.

And on the floor, the first block was focused more on lower body work. We had goblet deadlifts, lunges, and squats using the straps. I did use a heavier weight for the goblet deadlifts than I normally do, so that was a nice win for me. And in the second block, we did upper body work and we had high rows with weights, single-arm lateral raises, and Y-raises on the straps. I didn’t go heavier with weights for this block, but I didn’t go lighter with the weights which I wanted to do with the lateral raises.

By Wednesday, the nausea was almost gone. I still had a few moments when it kicked in, but it wasn’t as bad as Tuesday so I felt a lot better.

In the first cardio block, we had a 5-minute block to build. We had 90-second intervals with a base to push pace, a push pace, and a push to all-out pace. And we ended that block with a 30-second all-out. And in the second block, we had 30-second intervals with push paces and all-outs with standalone all-outs at the end. I do feel a lot stronger on the bike than I did before and I’m getting pretty used to the resistance levels that I’m using now. I don’t know when I will be increasing them again, but it’s nice to know that I’m feeling like this is normal and even considering pushing myself again.

On the rower, the first block matched cardio with the 5-minute build. I was hoping I wouldn’t need to take any breaks on the rower, but I ended up needing to take 2 really quick ones. I really want to keep working on my endurance on the rower because I know it’s possible to do these rows without stopping. I’m just not there yet but I’m hoping I will be soon. In the second row block, we had rounds of a 200-meter row with tricep extensions with a medicine ball between each row. That block went a lot better for me since those rows were all quick.

And on the floor, we had 1 long block. We had lateral lunges, hammer curls, and shoulder presses first as single movements and then we were supposed to do them combined as a single movement. I couldn’t do the lunges when the exercises were supposed to be combined, so I just did the hammer curls to shoulder presses. We also had core work after getting through each of those exercises.

Thursday was my last workout before the Dri-Tri. I knew that I needed to go a bit easy because I didn’t want to accidentally make myself sore before Saturday. So I just tried to not push myself too much and made sure that I was feeling ready to push myself over the weekend.

We had 3 blocks for cardio. Each block had 2 rounds of a push pace to base pace and ended with a push pace to an all-out. The base paces were always 30 seconds for each block. In the first block, the push paces were 30 seconds. In the second block, the push paces were 45 seconds. And in the last block, the push paces were 1 minute. And the all-outs decreased each block so they went from 1 minute to 30 seconds. This wasn’t anything too crazy and I just tried to make sure that I was not too stressed about how fast I was pedaling.

On the rower, each block had a different rowing focus. The first block was a 250-meter row with lunges between each row. This was more of a power row. The second row was doing stroke drills so we had 20 strokes on the rower and tried to get as far as we could in those strokes. This is more of a strength focus for rowing. And the last block was timed with cardio so it was an endurance row.

And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block had 2 mini-blocks. The first mini-block had step-downs and squats. I did use weights for my step-downs, which I haven’t done that much but I was feeling ready to try to do that. And the second mini-block had chest presses and push-ups. And the second block was a core blast with leg lifts, hip raises, and crunches. I struggled a bit with the core blast because both leg lifts and hip raises are hard on my hips, but I tried my best with both and took my time so I didn’t get through too many rounds.

I don’t know if I ever really feel ready before a Dri-Tri, but I finished this past week of workouts feeling a lot more ready than I would have last month. I know my endurance isn’t where I want it to be, but I have seen improvements and that’s a big thing for having a successful Dri-Tri. And I knew going into it that I didn’t have to PR or do anything crazy. My goal for Dri-Tris is to just get through it and if I have a new record of some sort, that’s a bonus. And I’ll recap how everything turned out tomorrow!

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This past week of workouts was not exactly what I expected since I missed a workout when I couldn’t get out of my parking garage. That was frustrating, but there wasn’t much I could do about that and I didn’t have another time I could go to the gym. But it also wasn’t what I expected since my nausea was not affecting me when I thought it would but then also on another day, it was hitting me when I thought I’d be over it. But as always, I tried to do my best each morning that I was there.

On Monday, I was feeling a lot better so I was excited to keep trying to push myself. And this workout ended up being a really good one to test some things out and to feel even more ready for the Dri-Tri coming up.

For cardio, the first 3 blocks were all the same. We had a 3-minute push pace with a 45-second recovery after each one. I was using my new push pace resistance level and that did feel extra challenging. But I’m getting more and more used to it. The last block was a 2 1/2-minute push pace and a 30-second all-out which was a bit harder, but I still managed to use the new resistance levels that I have been using this month.

On the rower, for blocks 1 and 3 we had a 3-minute push row. I did better for distance on the second attempt than the first attempt, but I took fewer breaks the first time so I feel like they were somewhat equal. I’ve been focusing more on my rowing endurance to be ready for Dri-Tri, but I’m still nervous about how I’ll do. And in blocks 2 and 4, we did rounds of 150-meter rows with foot exchanges between each row.

And on the floor, in blocks 1 and 3 we had timed exercises. We did 1 minute of lunges, 1 minute of bicep curls to upper cuts, and 1 minute of squat jumps. And in blocks 2 and 4, we had plank punches and scissor kicks. The timed exercises were really hard, but I modified things when necessary and tried to keep those to a minimum.

Tuesday’s workout was the last Dri-Tri prep class. This one was to prepare us for the cardio section of the Dri-Tri, but that’s probably the section I’m least worried about. But it gave me another challenge to work with on the bike with the higher resistance levels. And I was dealing with nausea when I wasn’t expecting to, but I think it might have been due to my medication because it wasn’t the same type of nausea I had the week before.

For cardio, we had one long block. We started with a 4-minute push pace followed by a 1-minute base pace. The push paces got shorter each time and they all had a 1-minute base pace in between them. I usually don’t use my push pace resistance level on the bike for the Dri-Tri, but I do try to change it up throughout the time since biking for as long as I do can get a bit tiring. I’ll have to see how I feel when I do it, but I might try to keep the resistance levels a little higher than I have in the past since I have been proving to myself over and over again that I’m doing a lot better on the bike than I thought I would.

On the rower, the first block was rounds of a 500-meter row followed by lateral hops. And the second block was rounds of a 300-meter row followed by front and back hops. For both of the exercises on the rower, I had to modify them since I couldn’t do the hops. But I still did one as a lateral move and one as a front and back move. But I did better on the rower than I did on Monday, at least with the 500-meter row.

And on the floor, we had circuit work that had some exercises that changed and some that stayed the same each time. Each time we did the exercises, we always did a reverse crunch, sit-up, and back extension. But between each exercise, we did an exercise that changed each time. We had deadlifts, sumo squats to upright rows, and tricep extensions. I did better with the weighted work than I did with the core work, but I wasn’t able to use heavier weights than I normally do. I think my struggle with the core work was mainly about how I was feeling, so I wasn’t too down about that.

And my last workout of the week was on Thursday. I tried to not let my frustration about Wednesday get to me, but I know I was in a bit of a mood that morning because of what happened the day before.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks. The first block started with a 1-minute push pace followed by a 30-second base pace. We did 3 rounds of this pattern but the push pace got 15 seconds shorter and the base pace got 15 seconds longer each time. And in the second block, we had rounds of a 45-second all-out with increasing recoveries between each one. I think the rounds of the all-outs really helped me get the remaining frustration I had out of my body, which just continues to prove to me how much I need these workouts for my mental health.

On the rower, we started with a 1000-meter row. After the row, we had halos, tricep extensions, and presses with a medicine ball. Then we had 2 rounds doing 500-meter rows. I was working on the second 500-meter row when that block ended. I really focused on the split time on the rower for all these rows since that’s an important part of endurance rows. And I know what I have been able to do before and what I want to be able to do again. All of these long rows continue to give me more confidence about the Dri-Tri even if I know that I still am not exactly back to the strongest I’ve been.

And on the floor, we had one long block. We had skater lunges, pop jacks (which I did as squats), upright rows on the straps, single-arm snatches, woodchoppers, and plank shoulder taps. I tried to use heavier weights for the weighted work, but I had to go back to the weights I normally use when I realized they were too heavy. But at least I checked before I assumed.

Even though this workout week was a shorter one for me and not what I planned for, I really did a good job each day. I still am nervous about the Dri-Tri and I know I will feel that way until it’s done, but I’m feeling more prepared after this past week of workouts since I did a lot of endurance work that really got me ready for what is coming up.

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