My legs feel like...

J-e-l-l-o!

Whew! It's been a tough 18 hours of training! Wednesday evening I got in a little brick action. I rode on the trainer for two hours and then hit the mill for a quick 3 mile run. For the bike ride, I warmed up for the first 15 minutes and then did a ladder of all the gears using 5 minute intervals. I used my big chain ring and started on the easiest gear, worked my way to the hardest, and then back down. Once that was completed, I rode a steady tempo in a hard gear for the remainder of the ride. It was a good ride but I was having major saddle issues. Hopefully, it was just due to the ill fitting shorts I had on. I was happy with the ride otherwise and very glad to have a longer ride in for the week. The run went really well , too. It was only three miles but I felt strong. I eased into the run with a very easy pace to work out all the "kinks" and then picked up my speed for the last two miles.

Bike: 2 hours

Run: 3 miles

mile 1 - 9:48

mile 2 - 8:36

mile 3 - 8:36

It just occurred to me that I did not fuel at all during this training and come to think of it, I usually don't fuel during any of my trainer rides. I guess because I always feel like trainer rides don't really count, I don't treat them with the respect they deserve. It's pretty stupid not to fuel at all during a two and half hour workout and I plan to change that going forward. That lack of fuel and the fact that my only post workout nutrition was chocolate milk, did not help me during this morning's run. I was definitely dragging a little bit and my legs were sooo heavy but I managed to complete the 7 mile tempo run.

Run: 7 miles
1 mile easy- 10:00
2 miles tempo - 8:41/8:41
1 mile easy - 9:32
2 miles tempo - 8:41/8:49
1 mile easy - 10:00

The scheduled run called for an easy pace of 10:15 and tempo pace of 8:46. The easy pace was a little too easy so I bumped it up slightly. I probably should'nt have increased it so much for the 4th mile but I was getting impatient as I watched the distance tracker slowly crawl forward. Oh! I can't believe I almost forgot to mention the best part of my run! I'm plucking along at tempo pace just around mile 3.75 when wham! The treadmill stops dead. No beeping, no warning, just shuts off. Thanks to the running gods above, I didn't stumble or fall. I alerted the Y staff of the malfunction and switched to a different mill. Surprisingly, they just unplugged it, plugged it back in and let some other poor soul jump on. I think I would've slapped an "out of order" sign on it and called maintenace but I guess that's just me ;)

Down to the details

This week I've been trying to organize my thoughts and handle all the last minute details for the big race. I only have two training weeks left and then a taper week before the day of reckoning.

Monday I went to Fit2Run and loaded up on fuel. I got my two favorite Gu's; Jet Blackberry and TriBerry. I also purchased Endurolytes by Hammer Nutrition. I haven't used this product before but I know that it is going to be brutally hot on the run and I need to plan accordingly. To ensure I don't have any adverse effects, I am going to test them out on Saturday's long run and Sunday's long bike ride. I also picked up some LockLaces for my running shoes. It's nice that I finally got around to it since it's just about time for a new pair of shoes. Better late than never I guess. Since they aren't giving Garmin bike computers out for free these days, Hubs was nice enough to transfer his bike computer to my new ride. I love my old computer but it doesn't have cadence. With a three hour (hopefully) ride on race day, I want to have every possible tool to gauge my effort. Next on the to-do list is to make a fueling plan.

Here's my tentative plan:

Pre race

1 - 2 Endurolyte capsules
Power bar or Gu chomps (no caffeine before the swim; my heart will already be pumping out of my chest)

Bike
mile 2 - TriBerry Gu (25 mg caffeine)

mile 25 - 1 -2 Endurolyte capsules and a power bar

mile 50 - JetBlackberry Gu (2x caffeine)

Run

mile 7 - JetBlackberry Gu or non-caffeinated Gu depending on how I feel.

I'm up for any suggestions!

Training this week has been pretty good.

Monday
1 hour ride (15 warm up/45 minutes Spinerval)
1 mile run

Tuesday
Run: 7.5 miles
2 mile warm up
3 x 2000 @ 8:07 (400 RI)
1 mile cool down

The last 2000 was k-i-l-l-i-n-g me. Brutal. Thankfully, I was able to run at the Y and the bright lights, a/c and people (witnesses) kept me on task. Tuesday night I was in my closet getting ready for swim class when I realized that I really just wanted to stay home with the family. It's not that I didn't want to swim per se, it's just that I wanted to spend the evening with them more. I had an easy swim planned anyway and I decided that at this point, my swimming skills are what they are. The rewards of spending some much needed time with my little people far exceeded the benefits of the swim. I was glad I did because they followed me around all evening talking my ear off!

Week #12 update

Swim: 5650
Bike: 2.5 hours
Run: 20 miles

Wednesday morning, I made up my interval run. It was harder than I expected but I was glad that I made it through. In the evening, I rode for 1.5 hours while I watched the rest of P&P :) It ended up being a late night but totally worth it.

Run: 5 miles
2 mile warm up
10 x 400 @ 8:06
.5 mile cool down

Bike: 1.5

Thursday morning my daughter woke up 20 minutes before my alarm was set to go off. Since I was the only parent home, I stayed with her so that meant no tempo run in the garage gym for me. I tried to make it up in the evening before swim class but I ran out of time. The schedule called for 5 miles at 8:47 but after the first mile, I knew I was not going to have time for all five. So I figured increasing the speed would make me feel less guilty for missing the miles.

Run: 3
mile 1- 8:47
mile 2- 8:13
mile 3- 8:13

It may have been a lackluster run day but it was a great swim day. I managed to add some extra distance. I actually can't remember what the workout was (great reason to keep my blog updated!) but I know we hit 3000.

Swim: 3000

Friday morning I was going to do an easy bike (even though it was my day off) but then I realized that I had a big training weekend ahead so the rest was needed. Saturday, I headed out for a 12 mile run. I ended up being by myself which isn't really a big deal. Most of my training is alone anyway and it was probably a good thing that there weren't any witnesses. It was an interesting run. First of all, G-Unit was giving me all kinds of grief. It wouldn't switch from the bike setting to the run setting. So I had to change the entire display page to suit my running needs. By the way, it's still set on bike. I finally started my run but things didn't get much better. Aside from my legs feeling like lead, I opted to wear my new iPod shuffle for entertainment on the lonesome two hour run. I LOVE the new teeny tiny shuffle but my play list was making me nuts! The music was good, just not good music for running. Then I tried to stop G-Unit for a water break and the keys were locked! I was ready to throw in the towel at that point. Oh and "that point," was only three miles into the run.

I was so flustered that my inner dialogue was beginning to sound schizophrenic. One second, I was telling myself to stay positive and keep trudging along and the next second I was ready to stomp my feet and throw a fit. Finally, the rational side of me took hold and I decided to walk the last third of mile three and collect myself. It was just the trick. I was able to calm down and find my purpose. I got a drink at the four mile marker and finished the run without any further tantrums. That was the last of the tantrums but not the last of the blog worthy events. I know, it's like the never ending post :)



Let me begin by saying that I like all animals but anything other than a cat or dog scares the crap out of me. So imagine my pleasure when I had TWO wild animal encounters during my run. The first was on a long stretch of trail where there happened to be no other people. Out of nowhere comes a deer. It starts grazing right at the edge of the trail, opposite the side I am running on (the trail is about 6-7 feet in width). When I first see it, I am about 50 yards away so I think "Ok, not a problem. It will get skittish and run off into the forest to be with all the other woodland creatures" But as I get closer, I realize this thing is not phased by me at all. Then it perks up and we make eye contact - Holy sh*t! My heart just about jumped out of my chest! These things have some huge, frightening solid black eyes and I realized that little Bambi here does not look so friendly after all. So now, I am 15 feet from this thing and it's not moving. I did my best not to make any changes in my movements, just kept running, and was praying to high heaven that my watch wasn't going to beep or buzz leading to a hoof in my rib cage. I seriously thought I was going to have my very own "when animals attack" moment. Thankfully, I ran on by without incident but that was a little too much nature for my liking.



Then at mile 7, I'm running along totally in the zone, a little tired and not really paying attention, when I damn near stepped on a lovely little snake sunning itself on the trail. *shudder* Now I don't know what you've heard about Florida, but it's like the damn Amazon around here. We have all kinds of deadly snakes, critters and creatures. And I'll admit that the snake was only the size of 2 pencils end to end but w-h-a-t-e-v-e-r. I have such a fear of those things it may as well have been an anaconda. Needless to say, I was very happy to be finished with this run. Hopefully, this was my fill of park animals for a while.

Sunday morning I volunteered at the St. Anthony's tri which was such a treat. I felt a little ache in my gut when we got to the venue - I wanted to compete so badly. Then I saw the water and quickly changed my tune. Big props to all the athletes that tackled that swim! No long bike ride for the day thanks to the miserable weather we had. I don't know who pissed Mother Nature off but she absolutely unleashed her fury on us.

Honest Scrap award!

I was tagged by Caratunk Girl to share ten honest things about myself. This is such a fun post and I've really enjoyed reading all the other Honest Crap blog posts. Hopefully, mine won't be too painfully boring.

Here goes...

1. I'm terribly uncomfortable in large social gatherings - even if I know everyone. I'm much more comfortable in a small group of friends.

2. I avoid sweets (cookies, cupcakes, brownies, etc.) at all costs because I have no self control. I will binge eat an entire tray of brownies so I've learned it's better for me just to not have any.

3. I hate pizza and macaroni and cheese. The only pizza I eat is from California Pizza Kitchen.

4. This recession has turned my life upside down in every possible way. The last two years have been the biggest struggle of my life. Even though I still can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, I am grateful for the lessons that I've learned during this time. I am a better person for it.

5. I'm 5'11" and being tall makes me feel too masculine.

6. My guilty pleasure is celebrity gossip blogs. My top 3 are Perez Hilton - I've been a fan of his since waaay back when he was in NY as Pagesixsixsix; Idontlikeyouinthatway - definitely NSFW but it takes sarcasm to a whole new level; and Celebrity Baby Blog - just because.

7. I have ZERO tattoos and plan on keeping it that way but the only one I would consider is, of course, the M-dot.

8. I'm a people pleaser to a fault but I'm finally learning to make "me" a priority.

9. My two pet peeves are poor grammar and tardiness. Don't get me wrong, I make grammatical mistakes all the time and I'm certainly no Rhodes Scholar but I do know the difference between there, their and they're. As for tardiness, again, I have children and I understand that things happen but I'm talking about the people who are late for EVERYTHING. It's rude.

10. I have a finance degree but I am terrible with numbers. Terrible.

At this point, I think all my blogger friends have been tagged already. Thank you for all the great posts - it was fun to read!

Follow the leader and try to keep up!

Tuesday's swim class ended up being much more of a workout than I had anticipated. I got there a few minutes early to try and find a lane and get in some extra laps. Now that the weather is nice, suddenly everyone wants to swim. I think that those of us who were dedicated enough to swim at night in 40 degree temps should get lane priority HAHA All kidding aside, the swims have been chaotic lately now that they've moved us into the "family" pool. There are only 3 lanes, it's crowded and filthy - we're back to band aids and clumps of hair floating by *gag* I think everyone in the master's class would happily donate money to pay for an additional lifeguard to be stationed at the lap pool.

Anyway, last night's class was exceptionally crowded so we had to circle swim with five people in our lane. Circle swimming makes me a little frantic because I freak out thinking that I'm going to be the one to slow everyone down. The first part of the swim I was the only girl so that only added to the pressure to keep up. That's just my own weird complex, though. Overall, we had a wonderful group of swimmers and it was an awesome workout. I pushed much harder than I normally do and all the chaos in the pool definitely felt like more of a race day experience. It was just the butt kicking I needed!

Swim: 2650
500 warm up before class
2 x 75 build to sprint
400 warm up with the class
5 x 100 drills
500 ladder
10 x 50 fast (I consistently hit these in the 48-50 second range with 10 second RI)
100 cool down

Smart me - 1, Lazy me - 0

As previously mentioned, I intended to move my alarm clock to the other side of the room in an effort to get me out of bed on time. It worked. I got out of bed at 4:15 but I was a little annoyed with myself for... well, outwitting myself. I finally stopped pouting once I realized I had a new video to watch for my trainer session today. A friend had loaned me the 2 part movie series of the greatest love story ever (and no, there are no silly Vampires involved) - Pride and Prejudice! Since I had planned just an easy ride this morning to loosen up my legs, it was the perfect opportunity to put aside the Spinervals DVDs and spend my morning with Mr. Darcy. It was the fasted hour ride of my life! I was so disappointed when I realized my time was up. Too bad I can't listen to audio book on race day or it would be the easiest race ever!

Bike: 1 hour (easy)

Week #11 Review

Swim: 2000
Bike: 6 hours
Run: 10 miles

Well, I had a great bike week but my swim and run numbers were slashed in half. I just can't seem to balance all three but at least the pendulum is swinging towards the bike now. Saturday morning I headed out for my first 50 mile ride and it went pretty damn good. I left from my house for this ride instead of driving to the trail and due to time constraints, I tried to choose a route that would keep me close to home. On one hand, keeping it close to home meant more slow areas to navigate than usual but on the other hand, not riding a straight out and back meant that the ride never felt tedious. In fact, the 35 miler I did a month ago out and back on the trail felt a lot longer than Saturday's ride.

This ride was a great confidence boost for me. I started out feeling unsure about my capabilities because 1) I forgot to eat anything before I left the house and 2) I only had one Gu to get me through 3 hours of riding. Way to plan ahead, right? I felt a little hungry around mile 12 but once I hit my rhythm, all was forgotten. I forced myself to stop at mile 30 to fuel which was good because I realized I hadn't taken in nearly enough fluids by that point. My fuel for the day was Gu's new Jet Blackberry with 2x caffeine and HELLO! It was yummy (well, as yummy as that crap can be) and gave me more than enough oomph. That will definitely be a race day fuel for me! Overall, it was a strong ride for me - I maintained my speed between 19 - 22 mph (my avg speed last year at the sprint tri's was 18), I felt stronger the second half of the ride (thank you Jet Blackberry) and I did not have any neck/shoulder pain. Holla! I can't get over how great this bike fits me. *Love her*

I ended up having to cut the ride short by five miles to get me home just in the nick of time. I jumped on the trainer to finish out the remaining miles and then hit the treadmill. I had planned on a 6 mile run but I had the little lady with me and that wasn't working out so well. My "gym" is set up in the garage next to the kids area filled with everything imaginable to entertain her. True to diva form, she opted to play with everything for 5 seconds and then play 8 rounds of twenty questions with me. During mile 3, she was losing her patience with me and the treadmill, so I called it a day at 4 miles.

The run went surprisingly well, too. I definitely had some gumby legs going on the first mile and I took the pace nice and easy. I was so afraid that my knees would hurt or there would be pain somewhere but nothing ever happened! I felt okay on the run - better than I expected to feel but not 13.1 ready for sure.

Bike: 50
Run: 4 miles
1-10:15
2-9:36
3-9:36
4-9:12

Week #10 Review & Week #11 update

Week #11 Update

Monday

Bike: 1 hour

Tuesday

Hubs had business to tend to so I was on kid duty most of this week. Tuesday was a rough day and despite my best efforts for a Tuesday run, the kiddos were not having it. No training at all this day.

Wednesday

Early a.m. I made up Tuesday's interval run.

Run: 6 miles

2 mile warm up

3 @ 8:12

1 mile cool down

Woohoo! Finally a great bike ride even if it was on the trainer. After work, I did the Spinerval's "Have Mercy" workout while the kids played outside. I felt great on the bike but an hour into the ride the kids were ready for dinner. This posed a problem since I still had an hour left to ride. Desperate times call for desperate measures so I had the kids bring me my phone and I ordered them a pizza - dinner was handled and I never got off the bike! Probably not my best parenting moment but they were happy and I got to finish my ride. It was a win-win.

Bike: 2 hours

Thursday

By Thursday, I was flat out exhausted. Besides handling all the kid and house duties, work was super busy this week. I missed my Thursday morning tempo run but made it to swim class with all the kids in tow. It was a good swim but I know I wasn't giving it 100%.

Swim: 2000

500 warm up

100 easy/50 fast/100 easy/50 fast/100 easy

10 x 25 sprint/25 recovery

500 easy

Friday

This was yet another morning this week that I overslept. I am having a really hard time with my 4:15 wake up time lately. It makes me so mad at myself because I know better! I know that not getting up at that time either comprises my morning workouts or eliminates them entirely. Thanks to snooze, I sacrificed my tempo run for the week. I think it's time to move the alarm clock out of arms reach.

Tomorrow, I plan to redeem myself with a 3 hour ride followed by a 3-5 mile run, weather permitting. I really do not want to do that workout on the mill and CompuTrainer in the garage but it must be done. Sunday will be my long run and that will finish out a pretty nice training week.

Week #10 Review

Swim: 4500

Bike: 1:45

Run: 20.5

Super busy week and unfortunately, my blog suffered. Last week's recap:

Thursday evening: 2200 swim

Friday: off

Saturday: Iron Girl 15K

Sunday: TriGator Super Sprint

TRIGATOR SUPER SPRINT RACE REPORT

First I have to tell you that we are a house divided. Hubs graduated from Florida State. I was accepted to the Business School at FSU (but ended staying local and going to the University of South Florida) - we are FSU fans. When Leland was two years old, he matter-of-factly told us that he was going to the University of Florida. He was now a Gator and there was nothing we could do to change his mind. Hubs refused to buy him any UF merchandise but Leland (always smarter than his years) got around that by asking Santa Claus for Gator gear. Now our house has more blue and orange that garnet and gold. I have to admit, though, that I am pleased with Leland's decision. UFis an outstanding school and I couldn't ask for a better role model than the one and only Tim Tebow. Leland would rather watch Sports Center than any cartoon or sitcom and when arrests and general unsportsmanlike conduct go hand in hand with the sports world, it is refreshing to have a man of such conviction and character highlighted.

I think Hubs has finally accepted this, too, because the TriGator Super Sprint Triathlon was his idea. We got up at an excruciatingly early 3:30 a.m. on Sunday morning and headed to Gainesville. This was Leland's first trip to UF and it ended up being a very special experience for all of us.

We got to swim in one of the campus pools - Olympians swam here dude!

"If you practice with emotion and purpose, you compete with passion and confidence"

The race itself was small and not exactly what I was expecting. I don't have anything bad to say and I would definitely recommend it but you just can't go into it with too many expectations. What it lacked in goodies, it made up for with the course on campus. The swim was a staggered start (by swim level) that snaked in a pool. This worked out perfectly because the three of us were able to line up together and the Hubs and I stayed with Leland the entire race. The 4 mile bike and 2 mile run went through campus with lots of cool things to see - Lake Alice, fraternity row, the football training field, the Bull Gator outside the stadium, etc. Leland struggled a little bit at times but of course being the youngest athlete at the race, he got rock star attention and lots of cheers to keep him going.

Swim: 250 yards in 7:08

Bike: 4 miles

1-4:59 (included T1)

2-3:57

3-3:41

4-5:04 (big hill & included T2)

Run: 2 miles

1-8:47

2-9:27 (same big hill)

Overall, Leland did a great job. The pool was a 50 yard length which we don't have at home but he didn't seem to have any issues. There were actually a lot of adults that seemed to be having a difficult time - several were stopping at each 50, there were a lot doing the breaststroke and I even saw one guy walking. The bike took some time for him to find a rhythm. I think the elevation changes were a difficult adjustment for him. He's not very comfortable changing gears on the climbs and I could tell the faster descents had him uneasy. He rode smart and steady, though, which to me is much more impressive than going balls out and risking a crash. The run was supposed to be 1.5 miles but really ended up being 2 miles. It wasn't his best run but again the elevation changes were a new challenge for him. Truth be told, I was grateful for the easier pace. I knew I could keep up with the boys at an 8:00 pace but my legs were feeling a little heavy after the 15K the day before. It was a great race and awesome opportunity for us to spend some quality time with each other. After the race, we had to take him to the Florida Field so he could see where all the magic happens. I have all the confidence in the world in him and I know that if he stays the course, he'll walk that campus as a student one day.

Touring the campus...

IRON GIRL 15K RACE REPORT

La chicas

Leland waiting at the finish line for me

So cool

Happy finishers!

I ♥♥♥ this event! This is my third year in a row participating and this year was by far the best experience!

Highlights:

Awesome swag

Gorgeous course

Very organized

Women only

Awesome post-race buffet

Great merch

Entertainment throughout the course

Plenty of water stops

Very nice race shirts

Super cute finisher's medals

I wasn't sure how well this race was going to go for me since I hadn't completed a long run in three weeks. It was also the first time a 15K was offered at this event and I had no clue how I would feel running that mileage while dealing with the bridge twice. I had no expectations or goals set for this race other than to just enjoy it.

It ended up being a gorgeous day in Clearwater! The last two years were overcast and windy but this year it was cool temps, sunny skies and minimal wind. If you've never been to Clearwater Beach, it's hard to describe how beautiful it is. There were moments on the run I wished I had a camera just so I could share with you the beauty of the course. We started at Pier 60 and headed for the Clearwater Memorial Bridge which may as well be Everest to us Floridians. I held steady going over the bridge and enjoyed the reward of a speedy decent. We then headed to a residential area with lots of shade and some fun entertainment. We looped this twice and it wasn't until the second loop that I noticed the homes were massive estates. There are a lot of immense homes like that on the water here in Florida and I always wonder what these people do to afford these incredible homes. I mean, seriously, what do you do??? My Dad in his cynical, dry humor always responds very flatly with "drugs." Anyway, the first 6 miles flew by and I couldn't believe how easy this race was for me. I was even running a little faster than what I thought was my "easy pace." Mile 7 I started to get hot and by the time I got to the bridge the second time, I figured I would use the time I had gained from my faster pace to walk some of the bridge and really take in the view. It was heavenly - the water, the sun, the boats - the epitome of Florida living. Mile 8 was tough because my feet were on fire by this point. I had this problem last summer and thought it was my shoes but now I don't think the shoes are the issue. I walked a couple more times and finally saw the finish line.

The one perk of being the slowest person in my circle of runners is that everyone was waiting at the finish line to cheer me on LOL Thanks Jen, Dana, Christy, Kristine and of course the greatest race spectator of all, David, for the happy faces and encouraging cheers. This finish line was extra special for me because Leland was one of the volunteers handing out the finishers medals so I got to see his smiling face as I crossed and he gave me my medal. It was very cool.

G-Unit had the distance at 9.56 and I know some of the other runners had more than 9.3 clocked on their watches as well. My official time ended up being 129:01. It wasn't until later in the weekend that I realized that my time was 2 minutes faster than last year's Gasparilla 15K which says a lot about my progress considering 1) I wasn't even trying 2) I crossed the bridge twice plus managed several additional inclines throughout the course and 3) I walked three times!

Run: 9.3 @ 9:34

Time: 1:29:01

1-8:53

2-9:08 (first time over the bridge)

3-9:02

4-9:09

5-9:17 (had to stop at the water stop to take my fuel, forgot to do it before I got there)

6-9:06

7-9:12

8-9:57 (walked some of the bridge)

9-9:59 (walked briefly two more times)

Feeling like a hot mess

This has been a miserable week. It's like you're allowed to have fun but life makes you pay for it afterwards. Vegas was a blast. It was exactly what I needed after enduring the last two years of craptastic circumstances. I was absolutely the happiest I have been in a long time and felt totally care free. Within 24 hours of landing back home, though, reality smacked me in the face with the fury of Elin Woods. Damn. It's so frustrating because in the in the last few months we finally made 3 steps forward but in an instant we are once again 10 steps back. I try to keep things in perspective and be grateful for all the blessings we have. I also try to remember that I can't stress about things that are out of my control. I'm not running the show and I just have to keep the faith that it will all work out in the end - it always does. Sometimes, though, I just feel like throwing a pity party.

It doesn't help that I am having serious doubts about my training. I feel like I am prepared for the swim but I am struggling once again with my running and my bike training is a joke. With the race one month away, I am starting to think I'm in way over my head. The rational part of me knows that it's not as bad as I think. That I'm just in a "funk" which is only exacerbating all these doubts that are probably just a natural part of training for longer distance events. I've been stretched really thin for a long time and it's starting to take it's toll I guess. I just need to hang in there a little bit longer and then I can relax the reigns. I hate feeling like this. I need a cookie.

Here's some happy Vegas pictures...

The Strip

One of the many yummy dinners

My ridiculously hot Sis-in-law and I loose on the goose.

Ghost Bar... a little windy.

Last night

Monday
Took this day off. Despite downing 10-12 water bottles a day while in Vegas, that dry air did a number on me and I was terribly dehydrated. Okay, okay, maybe the vodka had a little something to do with it too :-)

Tuesday
I attempted an interval run which was a disaster but I ended the day on the CompuTrainer doing the Florida 70.3 course. I only had time for half the ride but I was pretty happy with it.
Run: 3 miles
Bike: 1.5 hours

Wednesday
Swim: 2300
Holy chlorine Batman! With this week being Spring Break for our local schools, the Y clearly wanted to prepare for all those little bladders. The chlorine was so bad that my eyes, nose and lips were stinging and my sinuses were still wrecked the next morning.

Thursday
Run: 6 miles
1 mile w/u, 5 miles @ 8:57

heading to the pool shortly...

Week #8 Review

It’s been a little hard to concentrate with so much on my plate. There were a lot of small tasks that needed to be completed in a very short period of time. In the end, I was able to coordinate with the Easter bunny and get all the Easter goodies handled, make a trip to our fabulous International Plaza and finish up my last minute shopping as well as squeeze in some training. I realized that the schedule was just going to have to fall to the wayside this week – no need create additional stress for myself. It was a mild training week but I’m confident that I will be back on track next week. I actually left myself no choice for slacking and signed up for the IronGirl 15K which is the weekend after we return from Vegas. I don’t do well with too much idle time so I find that a tight schedule keeps me on track.

Tuesday
3 x 20 min bike/10 min run

Bike: 1 hour
Run: 30 minutes

Swim: 2500
500 easy
4 x 50 kick (ugh)
3 x 25 drill/25 pull/25 fast
3 x 400 (100 easy, 100 fast, 100 easy, 100 fast)
150 cool down

Wednesday
45 min ride
1 mile run @ 4.5% incline

Thursday
1 hour of Sunrise Yoga before we headed to the airport

Friday
Yes, that's right. I actually managed to squeeze in a run while we were in Vegas. We landed in Vegas Thursday afternoon and never missed a beat. We stayed up for just shy of 24 hours straight - it started with yoga and ended with too many hours of drinking, gambling and dancing to count. Thanks to our internal clocks, we slept for only 4 hours and then hit the strip for a 5 mile run. Not exactly my easiest run but 5 miles none-the-less.

Week #8 Totals:
Swim: 2500
Bike: 1:45
Run: 6.5 miles