Weekend? What Weekend?

Oh hey Monday, how did you get here so quickly?  Right, I didn't really have a weekend.  BUT, I can't really complain about that since I chose to fill it up.  And, I had a lot of fun.  I'm sure you're probably wondering what the heck I'm talking about, right?  This past weekend I did my NCCP Triathlon Community Coach certification.  This now means I'm a certified triathlon coach (yippeee!).  There are several levels of certification depending on the level of athlete you want to coach.  This certification level means I'm able to coach individual age groupers or in a club setting, which is exactly what I love doing.

 The facilitator was excellent as was the course and I knew several people there as well so it made for a really fun afternoon.  Definitely not a bad way to spend a weekend.  

Knowing that I was going to be spending most of my weekend at this course, I ended up shuffling my workouts around and taking Saturday as my day off.  We wrapped early on the Sunday and I was home by 3:00 but I had work things to deal with so I didn't get on my bike until 4:30.  But I still managed an easy 90 minute spin, thanks to Hannibal (the TV series) and Breaking Bad.  Yes, I know I'm really late to the party but whatever. 

I'm feeling a whole lot better than last week and I finally finished my antibiotics on Friday so hopefully that's it for my sinus issues.  I know our upcoming week in the Dominican will help with any problems that may arise in the next little while.  I think I need to live somewhere hot and humid.  My hair will always look good and I won't have any sinus issues.  And, I'll never have to deal with cold and snow ever again, ha ha.

This past week I started putting a little extra intensity into my run and bike workouts.  My body can handle it, my knees not so much.  I've had sore knees since Tuesday and I'm trying not to freak out about it too much.  My run on Friday really did them in I think.  I feel like my left kneecap has gone back to it's old tracking pattern which is really frustrating.  I have physio next week so we'll see what she says.  I also think I need to have my bike fit looked at again.  Because I have so much time for that.....ugh.

Anyway, this is how my past week panned out:

Monday:  OFF
Tuesday:  60 minutes strength & mobility, 2km run on the treadmill.  P.M.  25km on the trainer (52 minutes)
Wednesday:   2200m swim in a.m.  Awesome 6km run in p.m.
Thursday:  Physio work in a.m. 25km bike (52 minutes) in p.m.
Friday:  2300m swim in a.m. 10.10km run in p.m.
Saturday:  OFF
Sunday:  90 minute ride.

Total time:  7h 24 minutes

How was your weekend?  Who got out and enjoyed the milder temperatures?

Blindsided

There must be something about this first week of January that does something to my immune system.  This week last year, just as I started my #Mingsanity training, I got sick.  It was my sinuses.  This year, the same thing happened, only it was way worse.  I actually had a sinus infection which completely knocked me off my feet.  I'm still not 100% but I'm definitely feeling better.  I'm on antibiotics which have definitely helped.  Unfortunately they don't agree with my stomach but what can you do.

Of course, this kept me sidelined for most of the week.  I was out of the pool for almost two weeks and I took 10 days off running.  I ran New Year's Day and that was the start of my decline.  Not the best way to kick off the new year.   I started to feel better on Thursday so I slowly got back into the swing of things.  I had been itching to run so despite the frigid temperatures on Saturday, I went out and ran 10km, which is the longest run I've done in almost 3 months.  It seems so weird to say that.  I've gone from a marathoner to someone who can barely eke out 10km without being sore the next day, ha ha.  Oh well.  It's my new reality right now and that's ok.  Usually my quads would be sore but this time around it was my glutes and hamstrings.  Which proves that I am actually using these muscles.  That, my friends, is huge. 

You know it's cold when the mask comes out.

You know it's REALLY cold when Lake Ontario freezes.

I know I"m not totally 100% because I can't really push things.  Easy aerobic efforts are about all I can do without feeling completely exhausted.  I know this because yesterday's ride was a hard one and I had to have a nap afterwards I was so wiped out.  And my Garmin told me that I worked maybe a little too hard so I'm going to back things off this week and just go easy. 

This is how my last week unfolded:

Monday:  OFF
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday:  35 minute easy ride
Friday: 2000m swim
Saturday:  10km run + 20 minutes core & upper body
Sunday:  1h 35 minute computrainer ride.

Total time:  4h 43 minutes. 

I'm looking forward to getting back into the gym this week.  We booked a trip to Punta Cana in February so it's time to get this body of mine into bikini shape.  That means dedicated gym time as well as cleaning up my diet.  I spent Saturday afternoon and a few hours on Sunday meal planning and prepping like a boss.  I've got a weeks worth of good healthy food so there's no need for take out which is something we've been guilty of a little too often these last couple of weeks.  No more.

There are a few exciting things happening this week.  Wednesday night I have an MRI scheduled for my left knee.  It was supposed to be January 30th but they bumped me up.  YAY!  My knees are almost 100% but I still have a bit of lingering pain in my left one upon extension.  My sports doc humored me and scheduled this so we could see if there are any other issues, other than simple maltracking of the patella. 

The other exciting thing is my NCCP Triathlon coaching course is this weekend!  I'm pretty darn excited about that.  I'm looking forward to learning a whole lot more about the sport that I love.

How was your week?  Who else is running away somewhere hot?