An Unplanned Shorter Workout Week (or Making The Most Of Each Workout)

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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