“Rest” Week

August was a long, tough month of training but I finally made it to the “rest” week. (FYI – I did manage to complete the 3 hour run Sunday at 7:44 pace which was the last workout of the block). I put rest in quotes because none of Karen’s workouts are all that easy! I love it though…this is what is going to make me a better athlete.

In terms of scheduling, this week was kind of tough. The YMCA decided to close their pool for a week of maintenance. I freaked a little, trying to figure out where I was going to swim. Fortunately, the CNY Tri club has a link that lists all of the local training opportunities in central NY(including swimming) and I was able to find an open pool out at Caz College for my 1000yard time trial. The only downside is that they are only open 6:30a-7:40a. Fortunately the swim only takes about 30 minutes…plenty of time (or so I thought). Had a lifeguard showed up, it would have been plenty of time. After standing in the locker room with 6 other scantily clad women, it was announced that the pool would not open today because there was no lifeguard. AAAAAHHHHH!!!!! Now what? I suppose I could have just skipped it but instead, I searched for another pool. I had to be at work at 10am and still had a 90minute run to get in so it would have to be something open after 7pm on a Friday night! Luckily, the downtown Y was open until 9pm so after work, I headed down there for the time trial.

Considering that I had run 90 minutes around Caz Lake in the morning and then stood at work for 9 hours, the time trial went fine. I managed a 13:11 which was only 2 seconds slower than last month. A solid effort in my opinion. Next up was a 3 hour ride on the Syracuse 70.3 course in the morning.

This was my first time riding the official approved course for the Sept. 19th race. It was tough. The first 10 miles or so are just climb after climb with no real downhills. Eric let me use a ZIPP 808 wheel on the back to see how I liked it. The wheel had a different cassette on it and I noticed it as soon as we did the first climb…I am still not familiar with the numbers and everything but this cassette was not as easy as mine for the hills. This was supposed to be an easy ride but whenever Eric and I get together, it always ends up being hard. Basically me, pushing to keep up with him since an easy ride for him is 22+mph!! Anyway, by the end, we managed the course in 2:44:51. On the 15 minute run that followed, I felt great. Good and strong!! I’m not thrilled with how I felt on the course, but I guess what matters is how I feel on race day. I am not sure how I feel about the race wheel. Everyone says it makes such a difference compared to the stock wheels I am riding but after one ride it’s hard to form an opinion. Eric said I could hold on to it for now and try it on my rides this week.

After the ride, I went to pick up my girls. We headed out for a trip to Beak and Skiff to pick some apples. It was a beautiful day for it and they were picking Paula Reds…one of my favorite kinds of apples! Both Phoebe and Maggie had a blast climbing the ladders to pick the apples, riding the tractor and checking out the beehive in the store. Next we headed to Target for some back to school shopping, Wegmans for some groceries and then home for a bath and dinner. While dinner was cooking, all three of us devoured some homemade guacamole! A great way to end the rest week.

Almost There!!

I am now one day away from completing this endurance block. This has been an extremely heavy week in terms of training. On top of it all, Karen has been in communicado for the whole week while she vacations in Placid. Nice for her, but stressful for me! I have been relying on others to calm my usual training anxieties (did I go hard enough? should my time have been faster? was that a good avg mph for the ride? … ). Here’s a recap of the week:

Monday: 5.5h ride followed by 1 hr run brick. This went really well until I hit mile 6 of the run. Major bonk. I am still trying to figure out what happened. I felt really strong on the ride, especially early on. I drank regularly and followed my nutrition plan same as always. I did not use any electrolytes and I did not have any UCAN left to drink. I wonder if both of those would have helped me.  On the flip side, I always have one bad workout before a big race and hopefully this was it.

Tuesday: much needed day off!!!!!! YAY!!!!

Wednesday: swam at the Y – 2 sets of a ladder. I only had 15 seconds rest between reps but did manage to negative split the 2 sets. I was basically very consistent although a little slower than Karen had wanted.

Thursday: big day! I swam 3×1000 at the Y pool in the morning. I was really good with my nutrition having a chocolate milk and english muffin with nutella after the swim and then some pomegranate-blueberry UCAN before the ride. My mom came to hang out with the girls while Eric and I headed out for a 3 hour brick mid-morning.

My mother was a little late arriving so Eric, Phoebe and I went outside to practice transitions. Maggie just rode around the cul-de-sac on her bike watching us. Let me just say that if you have read my blog you know I stink at transitions. Well, I did not perform any better in practice than in the race! Eric wants me to learn the “flying mount” with my shoes rubber-banded to the bike frame. This means I run barefoot pushing the bike and then leap on (without damaging any integral body parts) and get my shoes on and start riding off into the sunset. Eric demonstrated a few times and then it was my turn. Little did I know that Phoebe was watching Eric, also. My first attempt ended with me not even getting my leg over the bike. Next thing I know, Phoebe is showing off doing the flying mount with no trouble. She laughed at me and loved the fact that she could do something I couldn’t. I acted annoyed but secretly I was thrilled at her bravery to try something new and succeed … especially at something mommy couldn’t do.

After a few more tries, I was able to perform the task passably. So then we went to the dismount. Again Phoebe performed it like she was born to be a triathlete. This time, though, I managed to almost look graceful. It will still take a lot of practice but at least I have my own personal live-in expert to help me out!!

Finally, Eric and were geared up and ready to ride. We started at the Nice n Easy and did the Truxton loop (my absolute favorite ride). I finally had a good day and was able to stay close to Eric the whole way. Near the end of the ride, there is a nice downhill stretch where I have always tried to break 50mph. I glanced at my computer and hit 51.1mph!! Then a bee flew into my jogbra, couldn’t get out, got mad and stung me…**OUCH**!!!

We finished 56 miles in 2:39. Both of us ran out of fluids about 6 miles out so transition took a little longer as we downed water before running. I felt super strong on the run and (smile, smile) pulled away from Eric after the last hill. We actually held 7:05 pace for the run …a good solid effort after Monday’s workout.

Friday: a nice swim out at deruyter…peaceful and serene. After a bottle of UCAN, I managed to do my 90 minute ride with tempo intervals. Nothing exciting to report there.

Saturday: and finally…today. I felt terrible starting out as I ran to the track. A 90 minute run with 6x1mi at 6:45 pace with 5 min zone 2 running in between intervals was on the schedule. I didn’t think I’d make it through the first lap but I actually hit every interval spot on. I felt great on the run home as my thoughts turned towards the only workout not crossed off the schedule yet – the 3 hour run at 4:15am tomorrow.

Testing at Engineered Fitness

 

Well, after about a week of eating more sensibly, I have been feeling AMAZING during my workouts!! I finished the first week feeling strong and started the 2nd week rested and fueled. Yesterday was a 4 hour bike ride followed by a 90 minute brick. This was one of the workouts I was dreading.

Last year when training for Chesapeakeman, I had a similar workout on the schedule. Scott and I started riding and one hour in, I pulled the bike to the side of the road and started to cry. I was completely broken. We s l o w l y rode back to his place and I collapsed for a 3 hour nap. I do NOT want to repeat that experience.

Anyway, this was the complete opposite experience. I drank some UCAN before heading out then started  slowly, uphill and into the wind. I rode on a lot of the 70.3 course which had a couple of good, steep climbs. After a while I got into a good groove and just coasted along. The time flew by and before I knew it, I was pulling into the driveway after riding 83.5 miles. I switched shoes for the run – goal was 90 minutes at 7:45 pace. I averaged 7:21. I felt completely strong throughout. Today, I took the day off (Karen would be so proud!).

One concern I have had from the start with changing my eating pattern is gaining weight. After our ride last weekend, Eric suggested I come in and get a baseline measurement of my weight and body fat. So yesterday, Phoebe and I drove down to Engineered Fitness, where Eric (Prager) is the President, and had the test done. By the way, Phoebe had a blast playing in the fitness room on the stationary bike, fitness balls, ab cruncher, etc. Her first question to Eric when he was done was when can mommy have this test done again?? Eric did a 7 site skinfold test and then weighed me.

Here are the results…
Calf – 7.5
Thigh – 9.125
Suprailiac – 10
Abdomen – 8.75
Tricep – 6.125
Scapula – 7
Chest – 2.875

Average body fat – 13.04%
Bodyweight – 132.75
Lean Tissue Weight – 115.49

Women have an essential body fat percentage 10-15% with elite female athletes falling right in that range. Eric said that 13% is EXACTLY where I want to be. Now we will retest in a month and see what, if any, changes occur. For now, I am going to continue with the new eating plan…and am thrilled that I don’t have to give up my cookie cakes or dinners out with wine and dessert … TY TPC

UCAN

My first “freebie” came in the mail yesterday. I got a package of samples from UCAN … a new sports drink that was developed with a modified corn starch to provide long lasting energy. Please visit UCAN to learn more. Basically it comes as a pre-workout drink in lemon and blueberry pomegranate and a post workout protein drink in chocolate and vanilla.

So 20 minutes before my run this morning, I mixed up and drank the lemon drink. My run was to be 90 minutes at an easy pace with 5x1mile repeats at 6:45 pace. (btw, I bagged the run Wednesday after the swim because I was just too tired and hungry. Eventually I will hopefully learn that I need to eat between swimming and running). I was really amazed at how great I felt during the run. It was really gentle on my GI system too. I didn’t get any indigestion or aftertaste which was a nice change from some of the other sports drinks or pre-workout foods I have tried. After the run, I used the chocolate post workout powder mixed into skim milk and drank it on my way to work. So easy and so little time required…perfectly convenient for me!

I spoke with my contact at UCAN after the workout and got some more clarification on how to use the product. Apparently the modified corn starch sustains energy by encouraging fat burning and lasts for over 2 hours. This means that on a long run, no need to carry anything but water. He said Meb Keflezighi drinks it before his marathons and then just drinks water during the race.

After hearing that, I decided to try it out on my 2.5h long run. IT WENT GREAT!!!! I was really excited at how strong I felt during the run today. Sunday I had a 1.5hour long run that ended up very slow because I felt lightheaded by the end. Today, I negative split the 4 loop course. I ran the 1st half at 7:46 pace and the 2nd half at 7:14 pace feeling stronger as I ran further. I drank the blueberry-pomegranate drink right before heading out and was able to go the whole run with no gels, bars or sports drinks. My stomach felt good and my legs felt even better – no “dead weight” feeling like I have been having on runs in the previous weeks. I ran 20.2 miles in 2:31 (7:30 pace). I was psyched!

Tuesday I have my next super long brick workout (4 hour bike, 90 minute run). This will be the next test for UCAN! I am excited to see how it goes…

Hills and Wind

I was able to hook up with Eric, a friend of Karen’s, for my long ride this week.  Since I always ride the same route pretty much, I decided to let Eric pick where we would go. Never again! We were to meet at his house and ride out to Marcellus, Skaneateles, Auburn then Geneva and then head back. We chose this route over the pending Syracuse 70.3 course because it would not be as hilly.  He said it was a basically flat ride with some gentle rolling hills. He lied.

We headed out at 9:15am, planning on riding 97 miles in about 4.5 hours. The first 6 miles were up hill into the wind. And since we were riding that direction for the first half, we were going to be into the wind for the next 2 hours. Long story short, there were LOTS of climbs, lots of wind and lots of mumbling comments like…what is with this f’ing wind and why the f*** are we doing this ride and I hate you Karen and Eric. Finally we made it to Geneva, turned around, and somehow we managed to be headed into the wind again. Many more comments… a little louder now.  I did manage to do a lot of complaining about the course and the wind in between gasping for air. Basically, the ride just hurt. I am seriously wiped out physically and emotionally and this ride turned into just getting through it rather than how well did I get through it.  We finished in 4:50…just around 20mph…and then Eric left me alone for my run. I negative split the 30 minute run which was the main goal. I actually felt pretty strong on the run which gave me some confidence.

Eric actually was awesome during the ride. I felt terrible because I had told him that I had done a 21mph 95 miler the week before. I like people to know ahead of time what I can do so they can make the decision if they want to go with me or not.  He is a super strong rider and I didn’t want to hold him back. So when I was struggling at 19.5mph on the way out, I felt terribly guilty about screwing up his workout. He said I didn’t and he was fine going my pace but I still felt bad. Anyway, he gave me some pointers on climbing the hills and is confident he can get my bike time down 5-15 minutes depending on the course. So hopefully he will ride with me again!

This morning I was planning a nice 70 minute swim out at Deruyter. I was picturing a nice smooth lake on a sunny day. Well, I awoke to torrential downpouring rain and high winds.  “The (lake) was angry that day my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli!” LOL!!!  I managed to complete the swim but was starving and exhausted by the end. It was sooo choppy! I had waves breaking on top of me.  All I could think was that if it was going to be like that at Kona, it was going to be a loooong day!

Now it is on to Sunday…a 3 hour run that I failed to talk Karen out of. Then Sunday night a bunch of my girlfriends and I are headed out to the movies to see Eclipse. I have not become obsessed with the series but a night out with the ladies…who can pass that up? I hope I can just stay awake!!

Tests!

Since this is rest week, it also means testing week.  Once every 4 week cycle, Karen has me do a test in each of the 3 disciplines. This week there is no run test (YAY – because I hate the run test.  Try running a 5K race alone…totally painful!) but I did the 1000yard swim test and 30 min bike test this morning.  I must be really rested because they went better than I could have hoped!!!

I was not even going to do the swim test until tomorrow but the lanes were clear at the Y so I figured I’d go for it.  I felt tired and sluggish during the warm-up and the 5x50yard sprints.  I decided I would just take it out hard and see how I can hold on.  I wanted to just focus on “long and strong” – pulling all the way through and kicking with straight legs (Scott noticed I bend my legs a lot when I kick). 

I went through the 1st 100 yards in 1:11 and I knew I was on.  Every lap I checked the clock and was way ahead of my usual splits.  I hit 500yds in ~6:35 and brought it home in 13:15.  A PR!!!  The straight leg kicking has really made a difference for me lately.  As I cooled down with an easy 200 yards, my mind was already turning toward the bike.

The bike test consisted of 10 min warmup and cool down with a 30 minute all out effort.  After some easy high cadence spinning I was ready to go.  I had found a route that was generally flat with just a few small rollers out in Minoa.  I took off and pushed as hard as I could.  I got through 11.3 miles in the 30 minutes (that is 22.6 mph for those of you that are math-challenged!!) with an average heart rate of 142.  YAY ME!!!  Scott told me I am not allowed to be jealous of his cycling speed anymore .

After the ride I raced in to Target with minutes to spare before picking up Maggie at preschool.  I grabbed a bunch of new summer clothes for the girls plus a birthday present for a party they are going to tomorrow.  I ran into another mom and we agreed that whomever got to the school first would watch the kids until the other mom got there.  Nothing like getting the most out of every minute!!  I made it first, hung out on the playground and then took Maggie home.  I showed her all of the new clothes and in typical Maggie fashion…frowned, told me she didn’t like blue, said she wouldn’t wear them and crossed her arms on her chest with a hmpphh.  Even though it is frustrating, I wouldn’t change that personality for anything! She is just so Maggie!  Oh well, maybe I will have better luck with Phoebe.  Otherwise it’s back to Target for me!

2:37/1:32

Easter Sunday  – the girls were with their dad, Scott was with Daniel and I didn’t have to work.  I was looking forward to the super long workout Karen had planned and then crashing after for a nice nap.  The workout was to be a 1/2 IM simulation – 56mile ride followed by 13.1mi run.  Karen said to go fairly easy (but that word is just not in my vocabulary).  The day dawned sunny, 60 degrees and absolutely beautiful.  I was nervous for the workout because I hadn’t done anything this long since Chesapeakeman.  I hopped on the bike at 9:45am and I was off.

Immediately I was flying!  The Trek was smooth and quick.  I almost felt like I was cheating by riding this bike.  It was so much less work than the LeMond!  I rode my favorite loop – a 56 mile ride out to Truxton and back.  I felt good the whole way.  The hills were a challenge but so much easier than in the past.  I made sure to stick with my nutrition – a Power Bar before the ride and then a gel with water every 30 minutes.  I also drank Gatorade every 30 minutes staggered on the “15/45″.  When I returned to the car I checked my stats and saw that I had gone 21.3mph for the 56 mile ride.  That worked out to about a 2:37:00…faster than my ride at Musselman!  I was ecstatic.  I didn’t even feel as though I rode that hard.  I stayed controlled and within myself – not pushing race pace at all.

I had a quick transition which included packing the bike into the car, drinking some Gatorade and of course a shoe change and I was off.  The run was to be a 3.3mi out and back that I would do twice.  This way I could grab a drink at the car halfway through.   There was a long steep hill that I would have to climb twice (which I hoped mimicked the Texas course).  I took a gel with me for the run and left the water bottle behind the tire of the car.  My legs were tired for the run but I felt OK.  I had the gel and some Gatorade halfway through and managed an uneventful 1:32:25 for the 13.2 miles (which worked out to just around 7 minute pace).  I think I could have run faster but wonder if I may not have drank enough and was suffering from some dehydration.

I was a little disappointed with the run.  I really want to get under 1:30 when I race in Texas.  Looking back to Musselman 2009 when I posted a 4:44, I realized that I biked and ran faster than at that race – and this was alone on a windy day not rested.  Not bad!  I called Karen right when I got home to give her the results.  She scolded me first for not taking the bike easier – not surprising.  Then, however, she said that I am right where she wants me to be and sees no problem with me qualifying for Kona in June.  I know these are just words and that anything can and will happen on race day but WOW – what a confidence boost!!

When I got home, after some chocolate milk and peanut butter and honey English muffin, I grabbed my book, bikini and sunglasses and went outside for some rest and relaxation until the girls returned.  We had big plans for baking and decorating a bunny cake that night and I wanted to be sure to have lots of energy for that so I could enjoy their enthusiasm.  Happy Easter!

Vacation!

The week in Myrtle Beach flew by – beautiful weather!  I fit in all of the workouts plus had lots of extra time to spare for tanning, reading, eating out, playing on the beach with Mima (my mom), Pop-pop (my dad) and the girls (paddle ball, making millions of sand castles, sea shell searching, taking lots of pictures), feeding the seagulls, swimming in the indoor pool, having the Easter Bunny come early, miniature golfing, etc. So besides spending every day at the beach, here is what I did:

Sunday I went for a super windy ride along the ocean for my 20min ez, 20min aero, 20 min ez ride.

Monday I went to the pool for the 4300 yard workout (100s in 1:15, 1000s in 13:50), lifted and then ran the 45 minute tempo run.  I averaged 6:35 pace and 155 heart rate.  It was flat but still a bit windy (no hills in Myrtle Beach!). I was wiped out after that!

Tuesday I rode 2 hours up the coast towards North Carolina.  It was super bumpy with lots of traffic but I felt really good.  I did 20.2 mph for 44mi and it felt easy.  Tuesday afternoon we went down to Murrell’s Inlet and visited the Grand Strand Bike Shop.  It was an awesome store with really friendly employees.  It reminded me of Fleet Feet – same personal service.  They invited me to ride with them the next morning.  They were doing about 35mi at 20-25mph pace…an easy day, they said.  I decided I would definitely ride with them so I juggled the workouts around to make them fit.

So, Wednesday I got up super early and did the 3400 yard swim workout (200s in 2:42 and 500s in 6:45) and then headed out to the shop.  I rode with 4 local guys and 1 other out of towner. It was an awesome ride!  The time went by so fast riding with other people.  We drafted and were hitting 25-26mph on the straightaways! We ended up at 34mi at 21.0 mph.  I was so proud to have kept up with them.  I hate to hold people back and was glad no one had to slow down for me to stay with the group .  Visit the shop if you are in Myrtle Beach! Thanks Tim, Chris, Dwayne, Todd and the older guy from Poughkeepsie (didn’t catch his name)…I wish I could ride with you guys all of the time!!

Thursday I headed over to the place where I had been swimming (Pepper Geddings Recreation Center) because Kayla at the bike store told me there was a track over there I could run on.  I parked at the rec center and started my warm-up looking for the track as I ran.  There were professional looking athletic fields behind the center and the track was as beautiful as the fields!  Wow – this was an awesome track!  It was an 8 lane, newly surfaced track surrounding a pristine turf field.  I had to go early and was concerned about seeing my splits for the interval workout – no need to worry.  It was completely lit up 24/7…I was running under the lights!  Only someone as obsessed with working out as I am would be literally giddy running on this track.  I had an awesome workout, too – 5×400 (86,86,86,85,85), 2×800 (2:57, 2:57) and 3×1600 (6:03, 6:03, 6:02).  Last week I did the same workout (but only 2×1600) and could not get the miles under 6:14 so I was super happy with the improvement.  I called Scott after to brag about the workout.  I am pretty sure he thought I was nuts when I started going on about the beauty of the track!!

That afternoon, Phoebe saw a girl running on the beach with her mother.  The girl was about 11 or 12 years old.  I told Phoebe it would be fun for us to run together sometime.  That, combined with the report from Scott that Daniel (his 11 yo son) had run 20 minutes a few days before must have fueled a fire inside Phoebe.  She asked if we could go for a walk.  Right after we started she took off at a sprint.  I caught her and slowed her down and we settled into a rhythm.  She told me to start timing her because she was going to run for 22 minutes.  She wanted to turn around after 11 minutes so that she would do a little more than Daniel.  After 11 minutes, we turned around and she wanted to walk.  So we walked for a minute and I asked if she wanted to walk more.  Her answer was to start running again.  After a few more minutes she informed me she was going to run for 8 more minutes when we got back to do a total of 30 minutes.  She did the whole run and even sprinted to our blanket at the end.  Then collapsed.  She insisted that I immediately text Scott after to tell him of her accomplishment.  She was super proud of herself but not nearly as proud  as I was.

I know there is sometimes some controversy about how far kids should run and at what age they should be doing it (see www.kidsrunning.com for some good information on this topic).  My feeling is let the child run at any age, when they want and how far they want.  Don’t force them to do more than they are willing to do and praise whatever effort they give. My goal is for my girls to view running as fun and approach it enthusiastically.  One of the coolest things Phoebe said to me on this trip was “how was your run, mommy?”

Another Outdoor Ride

Today was another 50 degree day in CNY and for once I had a 3 hour block where I was not working and did not have my girls.  Both of them were at school in the morning.  Phoebe left the house completely excited for her Brownie sleepover this evening and Maggie…well, Maggie,as always, has her own story.  She had her school picture scheduled for today.  Her dad had bought her a super cute spring outfit at Old Navy.  One of the few outfits she has that does not have food stains on it.  I got her tights on, the skirt, the tank top and had one arm in the sleeve when she informed she was not wearing this today.  “I want to wear wings” she stated adamantly.  I argued back and forth, explained about the school picture and didn’t she want to wear the cute outfit daddy got her…to no avail.  She said I want to wear the Tinkerbell dress I got for Christmas, with the wings and the slippers (green satin slippers with a pom-pom).  Well, I really wanted to get her to school on time so I would have enough time to ride so I said fine.  I got her all dressed and even was allowed to put her hair in a ponytail (“because that’s how Tinkerbell wears it, mommy”) with a cute flower barrette.  She looked absolutely adorable.  She wouldn’t wear a coat, though, because her wings would get crumpled.

Ok…so I got her to school, rushed home, got out on my new bike and started to fly.  I felt so good, the bike felt smooth, I could feel air on my legs because it was warm enough for shorts!!  And then I started to sink.  The seat loosened again and so I decided to loop back home and get the old bike.  I am getting super frustrated with this seat issue.  Scott promised he would look at it sometime Saturday before we go to the symphony (yes.. a real grown-up date with a babysitter back at the house and everything!!).  I switched tires, pumped them up, moved the water bottles and headed out again.  I was still really tired on the hills and with the wind at my face was working super hard.  I was frustrated when I got halfway with the speed at 17.5mph.  But then I hit the end of the lake.  I headed back, downhill and into the wind and was seriously flying!  I was up over 25mph most of the way back.  I ended the ride at 35.7mi avg 19.6mph.  Definitely an improvement from the last time I rode a few weeks ago when I averaged 19.0mph.

Unfortunately, even with the good ride, I am feeling less than fit this week.  I was unable to complete Karen’s treadmill workout Wednesday.  I have been tired during my swims and my weight is up a bit (too much food and drink in Seattle?? ) .  Do I need more rest, better nutrition, something else?  Karen and I will bat that around a bit and see if she needs to tweak the workouts in the future.  In the meantime, I have to remind myself that her job is to push me to my limits, to get the most out of my training time and that if I can’t do something it does not mean I am out of shape.  My job is to get the most out of my rest time.  Next week that will be my focus up until Saturday when Scott and I hit the streets of DC for our 1st race of the year.

By the way, a shout out to Karen, my coach.  She was recently accepted into the Level 2 USAT Coaching Certification camp out in Colorado for USAT coaches.  I wonder what new forms of torture she will return with!!

Only a Workout . . . Right?

Wow – I just realized it’s been quite a long time since I have blogged.  So much has been going on that I just have not found the time to sit and write.  Don’t worry, I have been fitting in the workouts though!  I finished month 2 (week while I was out visiting some of Scott’s family in Seattle. Lots of good food and good wine (but that’s a story for another blog ).  The tests at the end of the month went great! I am definitely seeing improvements already.  Both the swim and the run were faster than last month and my heart rate was 7bpm lower during the run (so I am running faster with less effort!).  I am still on the trainer indoors for the bike so I am not sure how my fitness is doing in that discipline.

Karen now has me doing a “run block.”  Which basically means that I am running more than swimming or biking for the next 3 weeks.  I only had 2 bikes and 3 swims this week but 5 runs.  One of the runs was a “2-a-day” session designed to keep my effort up but stress on the body down.  I ran this with Scott out in Seattle…it was tough!!  We ran the first workout in the morning…60 mins at 6:55 pace.

Then we all had a brilliant idea…lets go to SkyHigh Trampoline and jump on the trampolines for an hour.  This place was so cool! It is basically a warehouse filled with billions of connected trampolines (no, not billions ) and a big foam pit.  You just go jump and jump and jump some more!  We went with Scott’s 4yo niece and 2yo nephew.  What a blast!  I even broke out some old gymnastics tricks – even doing a double front into the foam pit.  The kids were so hot and sweaty when we were done (yes, I am including Scott!).

Later that afternoon, we went out for the 2nd session.  I have never done “2-a-days” so this was going to be a new experience for me.  I was not sure at all how I would feel.  Of course I’ve run and swim, or run and biked in 1 day so I figured I would make it – but how much would it hurt?  The workout was to run 50 minutes at 6:45 pace.  Scott and I finished together at 6:42 pace.  The 10 minute cool down lasted forever but we had made it!  It was easier than I had thought but still a tough workout.

Today I had the dreaded treadmill workout scheduled.  Due to the traveling this week, I had to swim 3 days in a row.  Today was the 3rd swim and I decided to do it before the run.  I was sooo tired in the pool.  My arms and legs just had that numb feeling you get when the bloodflow is sluggish getting there.  I made it through and hit the times I was suppsoed to but was obsessing about the run during the whole swim!  I got out of the pool, decided I was going to finish the workout no matter what and headed up to the treadmills at the Y.  I ran 5 mins at 8.6, 5mins at 8.9 and 10 mins at 9.2.  I had 5 mins of ez jogging before repeating.  I felt pretty strong and thought I had a good chance of making it.  I started the next set and felt really good.  I did the 8.6 then the 8.9 took a deep breath and started the 9.2 (6:31 pace).  The first 5 minutes seemed really tough and I decided to make my goal just making it further than last time (5mins).  Every minute that went by after 5 minutes, I had the same thought – just make it 1 more minute.  I did that all the way to 10 minutes!!!  I have had this awesome feeling of accomplishment all day.  Yeah, it was only a workout but hey, whatever lifts your spirits and makes you feel good about being you…right?

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