What is in your Workout?

This last weekend I was able to spend a lot of time outside with ride/run workouts. We even had breakfast on the patio at TNT in Morrison to rub it in a little. I was able to get my first burn on the top of my head and shoulders and it felt great. The sun beating down on us was a welcomed event and I was able to pause and remember why I put up with the winters here in Colorado.
We were able to run from the Morrison Conoco gas station to Alameda and over to Red Rocks. We ran the stairs along with several hundred other runners. We were going up and and over and then down the other side, we ran them in a 2x2 fashion and by the 3rd one I was ready to head towards town. We found a fun single track to run on to get us out of the park and after a few really fun minutes we were in Morrison.
I have been working on my Heart Rate and most of my published workouts give me a detailed goal within the workout. This is new for me and I have enjoyed the change and the challenge that each workout gives. I am able to focus on what I need to get done within the workout and focus on that goal as well as getting the event done. This type of training has allowed me to really enjoy the workouts over the last 2 months which is a mental bonus beyond the joy of exercising. In fact, I believe for me that having several goals that I can accomplish/or get close to, within a workout allows me to have several successes and not just a pass/fail feeling.
I had a tempo run last week that was very specific. I has a 30 min warm-up not to exceed 155BPM. I then had 7x3:00 efforts holding a 175BPM then a 2:00 recovery after each effort. We wanted to see how quick I could recover and if I was able to know and hold the 175BPM. I have to say that it took me 4 efforts to get to know what the felt effort was to match up what the HR monitor was telling me. I ended the workout with a 20 minute slow cool down and at the end I felt better than I remember feeling on a 7 mile run for the fact that I felt good for 9 different reasons. I also was able to learn more about my body in a hard effort and what I can do to get the most out of it. For me the goal of this year is getting stronger, better looking and faster at Olympic distance triathlons. I have also added that I want to experience a more broad range of endurance sports like Xterra, Road Bike Racing and Ultra running. I am starting later this year on my build but my first "A" race is not until June. I am pretty sure that I am putting in the effort in the gym to get stronger and I am signed up for a Road race this weekend and an Xterra in August. However I am very concerned about the getting better looking part. Swimming with my kids last week they were on the edge and I was in the water and they looked down and said "Dad, Your bald spot looks like a heart, a big one". So I am balding, but it is with heart. So much for the looking better part!!! Sorry Anne.
Keep training. Find a reason to workout and when you do make sure that you have a goal beyond just finishing the workout it will be a lot more fun!
See you all at the starting line.

Love you Anne,

T