Tri Talk Tuesday - These Are A Few of My Favourite Things!

Hey Hey Hey...it's TRI TALK TUESDAY!  I'm super excited for today's post because Cynthia, Courtney and I are talking about our favourite triathlon things.  This is anything triathlon related - it could be your favourite race, your favourite running shoe, whatever.  I love posts like these because they inevitably introduce me to new products.  Just what every triathlete needs...MORE things to add to their "I want" list, ha ha.

There are lots of things I own that I like and that serve me well, but there are only a few that I absolutely LOVE and wouldn't want to train without them.  I also threw a race in there because why not?  These are my FAB FOUR.

1.  My Garmin 920xt.  I have to admit, I have a love / hate relationship with my Garmin stuff.  When it works, it works REALLY well.  But when it doesn't...it's a failure of epic proportions.  They've gotten a bit better at keeping software updated to fix glitches.  I found the 920 to be a bit glitchy (the screen would freeze a LOT) when I first got it but this latest software update seems to have fixed the issues.  I love how connected this machine is.  I just recently paired it to my iphone and now I get text messages and other alerts ON MY GARMIN.  Mind=blown.   And I can instantly upload my workout to the Garmin Connect app via Bluetooth.  No more waiting until I get home, hoping that the wifi automatically connects.   And no more connecting it to my laptop and hoping it syncs.  I've also just started using it to track my sleep.  Yes, it means I have to wear it to bed but I don't really notice it.   I don't even think I've scratched the surface of what this piece of equipment is capable of!

Clearly I need to sleep a little deeper, ha ha

2.  My Cervelo P3.  I've had Tom Sawyer for a year now and I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this bike.  I had a 7 year old Scott Plasma Contessa that was wonderful but wasn't suited to my riding abilities any longer.  I needed something responsive and light.  G had gotten a P3 the year before and I was very envious.  I probably should have done the same thing at the time but we were going to Europe and I didn't want to spend the money on a new bike.  Looking back I probably could have used the extra gears, ha ha.  But I waited a year and ended up getting the same bike with race wheels for a really good deal.  I've logged some serious km's on this bike over the last year.  My first ride on it was my very first stand alone time trial and I ended up in 3rd place overall, averaging just over 36kph.  I knew right then and there that was money well spent.

3.  IM Luxembourg 70.3:  Maybe because this was my first Ironman branded half, and maybe because it was in Europe...but I absolutely LOVED this race.  If money was no issue, I'd go back and race it again in a heartbeat.  For a race that we picked totally randomly, it suited my abilities perfectly.  The swim was in a narrow river, which helped keep me calm (always close to shore) the bike was 50% flat and 50% rolling hills with 2 good climbs.  The run was 3 loops (I love multiple looped courses) and it was also flat.  And there were lots of spectators on the run course which always makes it better because I draw a lot of energy from people cheering - it really gives me a boost.  It's also the only course on the Ironman circuit that goes into 3 different countries.  You swim in the Moselle River, on one side is Luxembourg, on the other side is Germany.  If you swim wide enough in the swim, like I did, you cross the border, ha ha.  About 10km of the bike course goes through France.   It was one of the coolest races I've done.  And Luxembourg is absolutely stunning.  One more reason to go back.  Look at how happy I was coming down the finishing chute!

4.  My Mizuno Wave Sayonara 3's:  These are a brand new addition to my shoe rotation as they are a really new shoe.  I wore the original Sayonara's and LOVED the responsiveness of them but I found that the ride was really firm especially if you are heavy on your feet like I am (I may be small but I'm not light on my feet).  After racing a half marathon in them, my feet actually hurt.  They were sore.  But I could go REALLY fast in them.  Mizuno has now beefed them up a bit.  There is more cushioning through the mid-foot but they are still super light and responsive.  I'm pretty confident I could race a marathon in these babies with no issues where as before I'd use my Sayonaras for a half marathon or shorter and then I'd use my Wave Riders for anything longer.

Tell me a few of your favourite things!

And of course, don't forget to check out the link up for even more favourites!

An InLinkz Link-up

IM Luxembourg Post Race Ramblings

Anyone that's trained for any sort of endurance event knows the amount of dedication it takes to get to the start line. On race day it's all you...but getting to that point usually requires the support of small army and they all deserve a huge thank you! Its going to sound like an Oscar acceptance speech I'm sure but I feel like sometimes you can't say Thank You enough. So let's get down to it...

Firstly, I'd like to thank my coach, Ming, for pushing me and making me understand what hard work on the bike actually feels like. I have improved in leaps and bounds, not only on the bike but in my running off the bike. I didn't think that was even possible.

Next up, Mike Mandel and the rest of my Real Deal teammates. Mike has been instrumental in helping me get my head in the game. His support and words of wisdom helped calm me down and put me in the right mindset for my first race of the year. Teammates Barbie-Anne Hope, Graeme Rivers and Leanna Lee have also consistently been a source of virtual support as well. As Mike likes to say "Team work makes the dream work" and I couldn't agree more. We wouldn't be able to be a great team without great sponsors as well so a big thank you to all of them!

I know very few endurance athletes who can get through a training cycle without any sort of aches and pains. Scratch that, I don't know any. A key part of an athletes success also lies in the hands of their therapists. I've had so many little issues that could have turned into major issues if I didn't have a great team of therapists in my corner. My ART guy, Peter Lejkowski from Pivot has helped work on my knee and hip issues. Dr. Sarah Mickeler has helped get the knots out with her Graston work and my friend and RMT David Lamy has kept my legs and shoulders in excellent working order.

I also want to thank my friends who kept me company on my training rides when G got sidelined with this injury. David B, Heather and Jordan and David L, you guys all rock. A big thanks to David L for riding the Tour de Grand with me and suffering through a 13km run in the rain with me afterwards. One of the toughest yet most fun days I had this training cycle.

Of course all the folks I work with deserve a huge shout out as well. They always offer me so much encouragement and support. Most of them think I'm a bit nuts but they understand it makes me happy so I've always got their support.

And then there's G. What can I say....? After his crash, I didn't want to go ahead with the race but G wouldn't let me entertain any thoughts of not doing it. He knew that it was just my fears getting the better of me. I know how hard it's been for him to be the spectator these last three races, when he should have been out there with me. He's been a constant source of support and encouragement and he's talked me off the ledge more times than I care to admit. I'm sad that we didn't get to race together but I know that we'll plan another trip like this at some point down the road. G is hoping to do a 70.3 later on this year so I will happily play Sherpa and race photographer.

I've thought a lot about the race in the last week. While I wouldn't change any part of how it all played out, I know there is room for improvement. Now that I seem to have my swim issues somewhat figured out, I should be able to situate myself near the front and swim at the pace I know I'm capable of. I think if I wasn't such a head case in Luxembourg, I probably could have swam about 32 minutes. But, I wanted to put myself in a comfortable position so I stayed at the back. I think that was totally the right call for me. As for the bike, I really only spent 7 weeks seriously working on my cycling. Yes, I rode during my Boston training but it was just to build up endurance. I didn't do any of the really hard work until after Boston. The next time I decide to do a 70.3, there won't be a spring marathon involved, haha. I think if I spend more time doing hard work on the bike, I can only get better. The women that finished in front of me all rode sub 2:50 on the bike. The woman that won my AG rode a 2:35. That's an average of over 34kph. Insane. The crazy part? I beat her out of the water, haha. My position after the swim was the highest it was all day. I came out of the water 8th in my AG, dropped to 12th on the bike and then gained back two spots on the run. I'm beyond thrilled with my race results and even more excited about the potential for improvement.

I mentioned that one of my other goals at the beginning of the year was to qualify for the 70.3 World Championships. Both G and I would have gotten spots here. There ended up being two spots in my AG and they rolled down to 12th position and then they got put up for grabs to anyone in my AG. I opted not to take one because I am far too beat up to continue training at the level that I was.  I need to sort out all my lingering hip and knee issues.  The same roll down happened with G's AG. We were sitting with a bunch of guys from Belgium, 2 of which placed in their respective AG's and the one guy I was speaking with said it wasn't worth it to cross the ocean because it's only a 70.3! It's all about Ironman for those guys. So, we know moving forward that when the World Championships are back on Canadian soil, we may have to go back to Europe to get a spot, which, given how awesome this trip has been, wouldn't be a bad thing!
On that note, I'll leave you with some of my favourite snaps from the last couple of weeks.

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Mingsanity, The Final Chapter: IM Luxembourg 70.3 - The Run

I wrote most of this post in my head in the days following the race it's just taken me some time to get it down on virtual paper. Vacationing and blogging don't really mix well. Unless of course you're sitting on a beach in the French Riviera.....

I figured that once I got out onto the run,I was home free. This was going to be the easy part because I can run off the bike no problem. Boy oh boy was I ever wrong. Towards the end of the bike my stomach was feeling a little funny. Nothing major, just a little off. As soon as I got my shoes on, I bolted out of T2 like a bat out of hell. You had to run around the back of transition and then down a road that took you to the main road / bike path where you'd run three loops and then up a small side street into a courtyard where the finish line was. As soon as I came around the back of transition, I saw G standing at the top of that side street. I was so happy to see him. I smiled and waved. I didn't feel like I was running that fast but when I glanced down at my watch I saw 4:15's. I knew that wasn't going to be sustainable. My heart rate was also through the roof. I tried to slow down a bit to bring it down. No go. I hit that first km in 4:19. Oh boy.

I had hoped that by starting the race at 1:00pm that by the time I got out on the run,it wouldn't be so hot. Totally not the case. It was scorching. It was almost 5:00 pm and it felt like it was noon. There wasn't much shade on the run course either. There were some trees towards the back end but I figured I'd probably be running in the sun for the entire first loop as well as most of the second loop. I hoped they had a sponge station.
I cooked along for the first couple of km but by km three my stomach started to really bother me. It was cramping a bit and it just felt gross. I had grabbed 3 gels and brought then with me and I knew I should probably take one but it was the last thing I wanted. I hit the first aid station and took 2 cups of water, one to drink and one to dump down my chest. Then I saw the kids with the sponges and the hose. Oh yeah!!! I ran through the spray of the hose and grabbed two sponges. One I squeezed over my head and the other I shoved down the back of my tri top. That felt so much better. I felt like my energy was flagging a bit but I pushed on, despite the unsettled feeling in my stomach. I was passing a lot of guys and the occasional woman which kept me motivated to keep pushing. Running back towards transition was nicer as you actually had some shade but it was ever so slightly up hill, which was a bit of an energy suck. Once you closer to transition to what the race organizers called "The Iron Mile" the crowds got bigger and the noise level increased substantially. This part of the course was basically outdoor bars so pretty much all the spectators were drinking and cheering people on. At some points they were lining the road like in the Tour de France, it was crazy. It gave me the energy boost I needed to go and collect my first wristband. Because the run course was three loops, they gave you a different colour bracelet at the end of each loop so it was easy for race officials to see where you were at.
I got my first wristband and headed out onto the second loop. I was really starting to feel rough. The thought of having to get through this loop and one more was incredibly unappealing. I just wanted to walk. I thought about walking almost constantly for the next couple of km. I told myself I would walk through the aid station when I got there and that's exactly what I did. As soon as I rolled into the aid station I grabbed a water. I was dying. I felt totally gassed. I needed something but I really couldn't face a gel. Then I saw it. It was like a beacon calling to me. Rows and rows of it. Cups of flat Coke. I grabbed one and gulped it down. OMG. It was like food from the Gods. It was exactly what I needed. A few minutes later I was flying along the run course. I picked off a girl with the same coloured wristband as me. Yes!! Before I knew it I was at the turnaround. My game plan was now going to revolve around fueling with Coke. It didn't upset my stomach and it gave me the energy I clearly needed. Nothing like caffeine and sugar to give you the kick in your pants that you need!!
I got to the next aid station and had another cup of water and a Coke. I ran through the spray and grabbed another two sponges. I was soaking wet but at least I felt cool. The sun was still pretty strong on some parts of the run course. I shouldn't have been surprised given that it didn't really get dark until about 10:30 pm! I went through waves of feeling great and then feeling crappy. The sugar high would wear off and I'd start to suffer. I wished the aid stations were a little closer together. I went through the second loop in a bit of a haze. All I could think about was how much I wanted to stop. I was tired and I was starting to feel sore. Mentally I was checking out. I had to get my head back in the game or else I was going to start walking. I started to focus on people in front of me, trying to figure out who I could catch. I'd pick a person and will myself forward. I told myself the only time I'd allow myself to stop was at the aid station. There were only two on the course so that meant I could stop twice. That was going to have to be enough. Much like my Ironman marathons, my mantra became just make it to the next aid station. I got to the second aid station and came to a full stop. I grabbed a cup of water and two cups of coke. I walked over to the table with the oranges and had a slice. I walked over to the kids with the hose and had them spray me. I grabbed another sponge and tossed my old one. Then I went to the curb to stretch my hamstrings an ship which were both starting to hurt. I could have parked myself on the curb and taken a nice little break. I think I was probably here for at least a minute if not longer. Then a girl that I had passed earlier ran by as I was stretching and that was motivation for me to get my ass in gear and go.
As I ran towards the wristband check to get my third and final wristband, I started to pick up speed. I don't know if it was the crowd, or the thought that I only had another 7km to go. Less than 35 minutes at my current pace. I could suffer through 35 minutes. I had caught the girl that passed me and I was reeling in another that also had the same amount of wristbands that I had. I didn't feel like I was moving quickly but I guess I was. I was actually passing some guys. Which wasn't difficult given that 85% of the participants were men! It still made me feel good to actually pass people, especially on my last loop. I was coming up on the first aid station and stopped and walked through it, grabbing a coke, water and a sponge on my way through. I glanced at my Garmin. I had no idea what the time of day was, I could only guess. I had estimated that I'd finish around 6:15-6:30 depending on how my day went. I tried to scroll through my Garmin to see if it would give me an overall time but in my current state, anything more than scrolling through the screens was going to require more effort than I was capable of physically and mentally so I put it back to the original screen and kept going.
The timing on the run course seemed to be off as did the distance. I didn't realize that until the second loop. It could have been because I was running loops but the closer I got to finishing, the more obvious it became. My Garmin hit 19km and I was telling myself that I only had 2km left. Less than 10 minutes at my current pace. The next thing I knew, I was running through the IronMile and I could see the turn off to the finishing chute. I ran past the wristband crew and flashed my wrists and they pointed me to the finishing chute. I almost started crying right then and there. I was hurting so much. I made the turn down the side street and then took the turn into the finishing chute like a woman possessed. I was crying and laughing all at the same time. The closer I got to the finish line, the bigger my grin got. I saw G within meters of finishing and he caught my absolute favourite race picture ever. Even the official race pics aren't this good!

I didn't even have the where-with-all to look at the clock as I passed under the finish line. I didn't really care, I was just happy to be done. I hobbled over to a volunteer and he congratulated me and handed me my medal and I got a bottle of water and went off in search of G. I found him quickly and he was grinning from ear to ear. I ran over to him and hugged him, breaking into tears in the process. That was so hard.... Then G asked me if I saw my finishing time. I said no and then he told me: You finished in 5:09:57. You were 10th in your age group.
Holy crap. And he told me I ran a 1:35 half. I can remember when running a regular 1:35 half was a dream for me, never mind running it after a 90km bike ride and a 2km swim!
My goal at the beginning of all this was to break 5:30. Then when I started doing the math, I figured 5:15 would be possible. If I had a REALLY good day then maybe I might even break 5:00 hours. But if I came in between 5:00-5:15 I'd be a happy camper. And a happy camper I was. When I started this journey, I was excited by the possibilities. I wanted to be able to race a half well. I can honestly say I gave it my all. In the days that followed the race, I thought about what I'd do differently, if anything, and you know what? I wouldn't change a thing.

There is a small army of people to thank and I have several post race thoughts that have been running through my head so there will be another post later on this week. Perhaps from the French Alps....
I hope everyone back home is enjoying their Canada Day long weekend!

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It's Almost GO Time: #Mingsanity Week 23

I can't believe that in less than 12 hours we're going to be on our way to the airport to begin our European adventure!  Normally I'd post this on Monday but given that we're going to be in transit for most of the day, I thought I might as well get it up today.  This was my last real week of training.  Ming has me doing a bunch of short stuff while we're in Luxembourg.  I'm hoping I'm able to do it.  We're not really close to the race site, it's in another town so we'd have to drive in there every day.  G isn't too crazy about that idea so we'll see what happens.  I'm sure we'll do it a couple of times just so we can get familiar with where everything is. 

Anyway....let's see how my last week of workouts panned out.

Monday:  2200m swim

Tuesday:  OFF

Wednesday:  15km run (wth??)

Thursday:  60 minute hard interval ride that was supposed to be followed by a run but my knees hurt way too much to run hard so I didn't bother.

Friday:  2150m swim at U of T - this was AMAZING. 

Saturday:  2000m open water swim, 40km bike with G and a 10km race pace run

Sunday:  1800m open water swim at Professor's Lake which was super nice.  Was supposed to do an 8km run but I wanted to rest my knees.

Beautiful place for a morning swim!

Totals:

Swim:  8170m
Bike:  68.49km
Run: 25.03km

Total time:  7h 6 minutes.  I was feeling pretty rough at the start of this week but I think I've turned the corner.   The taper tireds are moving out.  Now I'm going to replace them with jetlag, ha ha.

I probably won't be blogging regularly while we're away but I'll try to make a point of getting a race report up at least.  I will definitely be very active on instagram so if you don't follow me there already, what are you waiting for, ha ha? 

Thanks to everyone who's been reading along for the last 23 weeks! 

T-Minus 8 days & An Update

I can't believe that I am 8 days out from my 70.3.  Eight freaking days.  And we leave in 3 days.  I've only *just* started packing.  There is SO much to think about / remember when you're doing a destination race, it's kind of stressful.  Especially one that involves 3 different sports.  I am a list maker at the best of times but when I travel it gets taken to a whole other level.  Thank goodness I have a huge suitcase.

Because there's no such thing as too organized.   

I may not have my packing done but I am SO ready for this vacation.  I think G is too.   Speaking of G, a few of you have asked how he's doing (which I really appreciate, thanks!).  He's still out for this race, which sucks, but, his prognosis is much better than originally thought.  He was originally diagnosed with a grade three separation which meant that he tore 3 of the 4 ligaments in his shoulder.   The doctor at St. Joe's told him to take it easy and let the pain guide him as to what he could and could not do.  No mention of when he should start physio, nothing.  Luckily for us, I have an amazing chiropractor who, when he heard about what happened, emailed me asking how G was.  He then said that G should come in right away to see him and a physiotherapist.  If we hadn't gone away that weekend, G would have been in to see him on the Saturday, a mere 2 days after his crash.  He got in to see him on the Wednesday and then in to see a physiotherapist on the Thursday and has been going to see both of them once a week since the crash.  He's gone from having to keep his arm in a sling to now having almost full mobility.  It's still somewhat painful for him to move his arm certain ways but it's so much better than it was.   Needless to say when G went back to see the Dr. at St. Joe's for a follow up appointment 3 weeks after the crash, the Doc was amazed at how well he was doing.  He even took a second round of x-rays.  He was able to see a lot more since the swelling had gone down and he actually thinks that G has a grade 2 separation, which is great because that means the healing time *should* be less.   G was given the all clear to ride on the trainer a couple of weeks ago so he's been doing that 3 times a week and he was just given the ok to start running as long as his shoulder is taped up.  He went for his first run on Wednesday and he felt pretty good.  This makes me SO happy, I can't even begin to tell you.  He's also been cleared to get into the pool to try some breast stroke.  No front crawl yet.  I think he may go give that a whirl on Sunday morning before we leave.  The best part of all this?  He's feeling confident enough to join me outside for my last ride before we leave.  I was so happy when he told me that yesterday, I started jumping up and down.  It's the little things, folks.

I finally got my race info yesterday.  All 27 pages of it.  Holy moly.  Apparently the race starts at 1:00 pm.  In the original info on the website there was conflicting information.  One area said a 10:00 am start and the other area said a 12:00 pm start.  Now it's a 1:00 pm start.  Ugh.  The pros go off at 1:00 and 1:02 pm respectively (males first, then females), then it's ALL the women at 1:10.  I was a little surprised at that until I went through the age groups and counted up the number of ladies participating.  There are only196 age group women!  That's it.  The men have been divided up into waves according to AG because I think there are at least 100 men in each AG if not more.  This should make for an interesting swim.  The 50+ men start after us at 1:20.  I hope I don't get caught by too many of them.   I feel bad for the relay teams and the 40-44 year old guys, they don't head off until almost 2:30 pm!

I'm a little concerned about the later start time.  I guess it just means I'm going to have to eat the same meal twice.  Once for "breakfast" and again just before we head to the race.  I'm also going to make sure I pack a bunch of Lara bars.  The last thing I want is to start the race feeling hungry.  That is a recipe for a bonk of epic proportions towards the end of the bike. 

Every time I think about the race, I get butterflies.  I'm nervous.  I know that's natural.  I'm also kind of excited.  Way back at the beginning of the year I set out a time goal and I mentioned another goal that I wasn't ready to share yet.  I'm happy to share it now:  my goal for this race was to qualify for the 70.3 World Championships in Mont Tremblant in September.  For me to do that at this race, I'd have to win my age group since there's only one spot available.  There is a chance the spot will roll down but in all honesty, I'm not that fussed if I don't make it there.  That goal has caused me to put too much stress and pressure on myself and kind of took the fun out of my training and I don't want it to take the fun out of my race.  Yes, I want to do well.   How I define "well" is the question.  I think it's going to come down to a few things.  1) Did I execute my race plan successfully?  2) did I give it my all on the course?  If I can answer "yes" to both of those questions at the end of my race, then I will have "done well".  Anything else is just gravy.

Sometimes You Need a Break: #Mingsanity Week 22

Remember how ginormous my previous week was?  Remember how I said that this week was supposed to be an even bigger one?  Well, it wasn't.  Yes, I had the workouts scheduled but my body just did not want to cooperate.  I was busy at work, I had two really crappy nights of sleep after my big weekend so I don't really think I recovered properly.  Add to that a serious ART session on Monday night and my body was a bit of a mess.  I was dragging my butt for most of the week.  I even skipped my Friday morning swim in favour of sleeping in, which turned out to be ok as the pool ended up being closed.   Clearly I needed the rest.   The rest was probably a good thing considering what I had on tap for the weekend.

Sooo, let's see how this past week went down.

Monday:  1500m swim.  Had to get out early to get to the dentist.  ART appt in p.m. so no workout.

Tuesday:  Had an 80 minute bike on tap but skipped it and opted to rest my hip and knees.  Spent some quality time with my pal Ice Pack instead.

Wednesday:  2800m swim.  This was a tough set.  Was supposed to ride / run when I got home but I worked late so I didn't.

Thursday:  a.m.  40 minute bike, 2km run.   This was supposed to be an interval workout but I had absolutely NO gas in the tank.  I was exhausted.  So I did what I could.   I did get to see a beautiful sunrise though.

Friday:  Was supposed to swim but I got up looked at my bathing suit and said, screw that, and went directly back to bed and fell into the best sleep ever for the next hour.

Saturday:  Binbrook Tri.  750m swim, 30km bike, 7.5 km run.  Total time:  1:40:55.   A full 3 minutes faster than last year!  Landed me in 2nd place in my AG (the woman who beat me was a MACHINE) and 3rd place female overall.   Race report to come!

Sunday:  106km ride at race pace followed by a 13km run at race pace. What an epic day of workouts.

Totals:

Swim:  5050m
Bike:  156.15km
Run:  22.74k

Total time:  8h 32 min.  Most of which was on the weekend, ha ha.  

Now I am officially in taper mode.  Only 6 days until we leave and I haven't even started packing yet!  I better get on that soon.

How was your week of workouts?  Anyone else have any fun summer vacation plans?

It's a Part Time Job: #Mingsanity Week 21

Yes folks, this past week was GINORMOUS.  Which scares me because apparently this coming week is supposed to be a high volume week.  Last week was classified as a medium/high volume week.  Good lord.  I was so exhausted by Sunday evening I was in bed asleep by 9:00 pm.  Oh yes, I know how to live it up, yo!  But, even though I was tired, I was happy.  I put in a solid week of work and I didn't die, ha ha.

Let's take a look at how my week unfolded.

Monday:  2000m swim in the a.m.  40 minute easy spin in the p.m.  Was supposed to be 60 minutes but my legs didn't feel good and I was bored so I got off the bike.

Tuesday:  80 minute ride in the a.m.

Wednesday:  2100m swim in the a.m.  60 minute interval workout on the bike (4x8 minutes at 180-200w with 2 minutes rest), followed by a 8.5km run with 3x1 mile repeats within it.  Followed by a Vega Recovery accelerator + a bag of ice on my knees.

Thursday:  OFF

Friday:  2450m easy swim

Saturday:  1800m open water swim, 71km bike, 8km run.

Sunday:  100km ride with 70 of it at race pace all along the DVP & Gardiner with my friends David & Heather.  SO much FUN!  Followed by a 6km run at race pace.  Followed by eating ALL THE FOOD.

The weekend was tough, I felt like it was non stop and I didn't really get as much sleep as I would have liked.  But, on the plus side, I got into the water and I am pretty sure I've figured out my fueling strategy for Luxembourg.  YES!  Now if only all my aches and pains would go away, I'd be a happy woman.  I feel like I'm operating at about 75% these days.  My knees still bother me and now my right hip is acting up.  Apparently I have a knot or something in there.  I've got an A.R.T appointment tonight and I suspect that it's REALLY going to hurt after all the work I did on the weekend.

Totals for the week:

Swim:  8350m
Bike: 257.37 km - the biggest week of mileage I've had on the bike in a LONG time
Run:  22.67km

Total time:  14h 9 minutes.  Yeah, I'd say that qualifies as a part time job!  Bring on the next week of Mingsanity!

How was your week of training?

Meltdown: #Mingsanity Week 19

It had to happen sooner or later.  I'm actually amazed that it took so long, although I think the events of this week had a lot to do with it.  Yes folks, I finally had my first training meltdown.  I usually have at least one of these per training cycle and it usually happens during a huge block of training.  Which has been the case for me over the last couple of weeks.  Coupled with what happened to G the other day, and the high crap factor of yesterday's ride and well, everything just seemed to be a bit too much for me.  I haven't been feeling very confident as of late.  I feel like the decision to do a 70.3 only 8 weeks after a marathon was maybe not the greatest idea.  I feel like I haven't had adequate time to prepare the way I would have liked to (lots of open water swimming, long rides followed by long runs).  I also feel like I've lost a lot of strength.  That seems to be the kicker for me.  I felt it yesterday on the climbs and in the wind and I can physically see it in the way my body looks.  I'm no longer the super lean athlete I was last year.  My body has changed.  I'm carrying more weight around my midsection and thighs than I have in the last 2 years.  I can only chalk that up to not lifting like I used to.  I'm also carrying 4 extra lbs that I somehow managed to put on after Boston and that I haven't been able to shake.  I know 4lbs doesn't sound like a lot but when you're already slim, 4lbs makes a difference in everything.  It can slow you down.  I feel and perform my best when I'm in the low 120's.  I'm hovering around 125-126lbs right now.  Anyway, all of this came to a head yesterday and after my ride, I sat on the couch and cried.

I touched on some of this with Mike yesterday (another coach & owner of Real Deal racing).  He gave me a pretty good pep talk.  Ming has also reassured me that things will turn around.  I am full of mixed emotions right now.  I'm questioning my reasons for racing as well as my desire to do so.  I was miserable on the bike yesterday.  If it wasn't for my friend David, I think I would have thrown in the towel.  Since G can no longer ride, I have also lost my main training partner for my long rides which sucks.  To top it off, my friend Heather and I went into the water yesterday and it was positively FRIGID.  I'm not sure how much open water swim practice I'm going to get before I get to Luxembourg.  Pretty much all the open water in Ontario is colder than normal.  My first triathlon of the season is next weekend and I can't even fathom getting into the water and actually swimming. 

But...things could be worse....every time I look at G with his arm in a sling, I am reminded of that.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, let's look at the week that I had.  It was a high volume week but some workouts were shortened due to lack of time on my part + due to water conditions.  As usual, I'm linking up with the Bestfoot ladies to recap my week of training.

Monday:  2000m swim followed by a 50 minute bike with intervals

Tuesday:  10 km run.  Was supposed to be 12-15km but I got stuck at work late and got to run club just before they started.

Wednesday:  OFF

Thursday:  35 minute hard bike (probably should have done a longer warm up) followed by a 7+km run with 1km repeats.  Holy tough.

Friday:  2050m swim, followed by a 60 minute bike.

Saturday:  95.16km ride followed by a 5km run.  100km day baby!

Sunday:  A amazing 20km run followed by a 30 minute weight workout and then a 10 minute dip in the lake.

Totals for the week:

Swim:  4050m
Bike:  163.98 km
Run:  42.39 km

Total time:  11h 25 minutes

Thankfully this is a low volume week so I should have some good recovery time built in to my program.   I had a really hard workout today so I've asked Ming to give me tomorrow off.  Fingers crossed he does.

How was your week of training?

Peaking Out: #Mingsanity Week 18

Holy Moly.  This week was EPIC.  That's really the only word for it and the scary part is, I'm not even IN my peak week yet.  Because of my unhappy knees, Ming opted to get me on the bike 4 days in a row this week.  Yes, you read that correctly.  FOUR.  Although I ended up ditching my Monday night ride due to a very hard ART session with my chiro.  It was excruciatingly painful.  My IT band on my left leg is a mess.  But that's another story for another day.  Back to my week on the bike.  Can I just say that by Thursday "the Queen" was not amused.  My legs were ok but my girly bits, not so much.   But that's part of training.  I'm sure things will get better over the next 5 weeks.   As usual I'm linking up with the Bestfoot gals, Krysten, Amanda & Ericka to recap my week of training.  This is how it all went down.

Monday:  1700m swim

Tuesday:  a.m., slept in.  p.m.  Bike 35.85km

Wednesday:  a.m swim:  50x50 on 55s.  B-R-U-T-A-L.  Total swim:  2800m.  p.m. Bike  90 minutes with 5s max sprints every 20 minutes

Thursday:  a.m.:  2000m swim + 35 minute weight workout  p.m. 40 minute insane interval ride, followed by an interval run.  I told you this week was EPIC.

Friday:  OFF (thank GOODNESS).

Saturday:  84km horrendously windy bike followed by a 6.2km easy run.  We did stop for a mid ride treat though which I think helped me get through the last half of the ride.  Oh yeah, a pistachio cherry cookie.  So. Good.

Sunday:  14.55km run followed by a 3000m swim, 2000 of which was a time trial.  Holy frig was I ever tired.   But I still managed to pull off a 37 minute 2k swim.  It's not exactly where I want to be but, I right now, I'll take it.  Especially given the week I had.

Totals for the week:

Swim:  9500m - had I actually been on time for swimming yesterday, I probably could have pulled off a 10,000m week but alas I missed most of the warm up.
Bike:  185.95km
Run:  29.33km

Total time:  12h 50 minutes.  

I asked Ming if this was going to be the way things stayed for the next 5 weeks and he said pretty much.  Tuesdays will normally be a run day he just wanted me to rest my knees from the pounding of running.    Thursdays are going to be the days that kill me.  That is a whole lot of STUFF to cram in one day! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't feeling just a wee bit tired.  I didn't really have much time to relax over the weekend either so when my alarm went off this morning, I was VERY tempted to skip my swim and sleep in.  I didn't so I'll have to make sure I get to bed super early tonight.   I feel like getting enough good quality sleep has been something that has been missing from my routine for the last week and that can't be helpful to my recovery.  Sleep is one of the most important aspects of recovery.  That could explain why I've been generally cranky and lethargic as of late, ha ha.   Time to fix that, especially since I'm heading in to what looks like a peak week of training.  Oh boy.

How was your week of training? 

It's All About The Bike: #Mingsanity Week 17

Well, things are finally back to my version of normal.  This past week saw me back in the pool and on the bike.  I also had to do another FTP / CP test so Coach Ming could figure out if I actually improved on the bike over the last few months.  Thankfully I did.  You can read all about it here.  These next few weeks are going to be all about the bike.  My running has been short and easy which is good because my knees have been cranky.  More on that in another post.  For now, I'm linking up with the #Bestfoot ladies to recap my week of training.

Monday:  a.m. 2550m swim p.m. 60 minute easy ride

Tuesday:  TEST day

Wednesday:  2000m swim, 90 minute ride with 5s max sprints every 20 minutes

Thursday:  40 minute interval ride, including 2 minutes all out.  OMG was this ever HARD.  My data profile looks like a mountain range, ha ha. This bit of insanity was followed by a 5km run = FIRST BRICK OF THE YEAR! 

Friday:  was supposed to take it off but I swam 1800m instead

Saturday:  First outside ride!  Second brick of the year!  62km followed by 6km run.

Sunday:  10km easy run

Totals:

Swim:  6350
Bike: 150.26km
Run: 21.29km.

Total time:  9h 50 minutes.

My training hours this week were more than double what I did last week, ha ha.  This didn't really feel like that much of a big week until last night at around 7:00 pm when all of a sudden I just wanted to go to bed.  I made it to 9:00 pm, ha ha.  This coming week is listed as a "medium volume" week.  I only have 2 runs this week, both of them are off the bike and he's brought back my strength routine.  Thank goodness because I was starting to feel a bit doughy.

I know a lot of you raced this weekend so I'll be stalking your blogs for recaps! 

If you didn't race, how was your week of training?

The Longest 3 Minutes of My Life: The Mingate Algorithm

First off, I want to thank you all for your support & comments on my Boston race report.  That's what I love about the running community - we "get" each other and we all support each other.  You guys rock.

Now that Boston is done, Coach Ming has said he's shifting my focus from the run to the bike & swim.  We have 7 weeks to get me primed and ready to go.  I've been training in both disciplines throughout my Boston training, I just wasn't pushing myself in either of them.  I was in maintenance mode.  Subsequently, I started slowing down in the pool, which I wasn't happy about but I know that will come back once I start pushing myself again.  As for the bike, I've actually shown improvement which is generally what should happen when you actually log the time in the saddle.  I didn't do any of that last winter and if I did, it was sporadic at best.  This year, I rode 3 times a week during my Boston training.  About 80% of the rides were just recovery rides but sometimes he had me doing power work.  That consistency in the saddle has paid off.

Tuesday night I went down to U of T to the infamous "Pain Cave" because Ming wanted to do another test.  Of course I was apprehensive, but I was also curious.  He said it would be less than an hour including warm up and cool down.  Ok then.  I was chatting with one of my colleagues at the studio that was a part of Mings PhD study and he just smirked when I told him what I was doing.  He asked if I knew what test I'd be doing.  I said I had no idea.  He warned me to be prepared for a world of hurt.  Awesome.

I met Ming at the U of T Athletic Centre and he proceeded to take me through a labyrinth of hallways, down some stairs and into the underbelly of the building.  I wish I took a video because I felt like I was literally being led into the dungeon.  We walked past what looked like heating units and plumbing, all of which was enclosed in cages.  We rounded a corner to a hallway with a series of offices.  Ming opened the door to one of them and I had my first introduction to the pain cave.

It was a large-ish room with a couple of offices a large table and some chairs and a whole bunch of exercise equipment.  There was a treadmill and a couple of interesting looking stationary bikes. Ming had me get on one of the bikes and start pedaling.  I've never been on a bike like this.  The minute you applied pressure to the pedals, it increased the resistance so it made it harder to pedal.  He dialed in a cadence (95 rpm) so that's what I had to maintain, which was fairly easy for me as that is about where I'm at when I'm on the trainer.  There was a table in front of me that had a computer screen on it with a graph.  The graph was tracking my power so it was kind of neat to watch it.  He had me do a good warm up with some 5s max sprints that showed up as spikes on the screen.  After I was warmed up, he explained that we were testing for Critical Power, which is also known as Functional Threshold Power.  I tested for this back in December except that this test was a 20 minute test.  Mings PhD thesis was centered on developing a shorter more accurate way to test for this.  So, I knew that my suffering would be shorter than 20 minutes at the very least. 

Ming explained that I had to ride all out, as hard as possible until he said stop.  I didn't ask for how long as I figured he probably wouldn't tell me.  I had put my heart rate monitor on but he didn't want me see it so I had to put the watch on the table in front of me.  He then proceeded to remove the computer screen that was in front of me and he also turned the other screen he had away from me so I couldn't see it.  I had NO visual distractions, no music, no nothing.  I think he does this so you really have to go within yourself and focus on nothing but the pain so you can work through it.  As he started his countdown, my palms started to get sweaty and my heart rate spiked.  I said to him that I figured my heart rate was high and he looked at it and started laughing.  I was clearly nervous about what was to come.

pic courtesy of Ming - this was before the pain started. 

As soon as he said GO, I mashed the pedals.  Normally I will focus on something but I had nothing to focus on other than the black table in front of me.  I looked at that for a bit and then just closed my eyes.  Ming started encouraging me.  I concentrated on pushing those pedals as hard as I could.  The lactic acid started to build up fairly quickly.  My breathing became ragged and soon I was gasping air.  I was also hunched over with my head down.  That seemed like the most comfortable way to be when I was exerting myself to the extent that I was.  The encouragement kept coming and all I could think was "when will this be over?"  I couldn't even ask the question -nothing else was able to come out of my mouth except gulps for air.  But, I kept mashing, even though ever fiber in my body wanted me to stop.  I focused on not letting up or backing off but trying to push through the hurt.  I can do this on the run but I haven't quite experienced what it's like to do on the bike.  Until now.  It felt like forever but Ming finally started to count down.  I could taste blood that's how hard I was working.  As soon as he said stop, I sat up and let up on the pedals.  I knew I had to let my legs spin out for a bit after that kind of effort.  I did that for a bit but was thirsty so I got off the bike to get some water.  Oh my God, my legs were like jello.  I asked him how long that was and he said 3 minutes.  My response?  "That was the longest 3 minutes of my life". 

Yesterday Ming gave me the data from my test as well as "a picture of what my legs drew on the screen".  This what he said:

CP (critical power) = 216.5w (in December it was 186)
anaerobic work capacity (AWC or W') = 8759.76J

- The CP value is 30w higher than when we tested you in Dec, so that's a really good sign when we haven't focused on cycling yet and the supplementary bike workouts are helping
- so with your new and improved CP,  that means the training zones are different now.
- the "toughness" score (ie. the variance on the points along the line) is very good, that means you "know" how to push yourself!

 This is all Greek to me so I asked him what these numbers mean.  Apparently I have good Critical Power but I have to work on developing my anaerobic capacity, which, according to Ming makes sense because I have only really been training my aerobic system vs. my anaerobic system.  The really good news I took from all of this was that my CP (or FTP) went up by 30 watts with consistent easy training.  I can only imagine where it will go once I really start pushing myself. 

So when I opened my training log yesterday, I noticed a whole new set of values.

The next 3 weeks will be all about training my anaerobic system so I'm going to have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.  I'll be hanging out in the higher end of this range a few times a week.  In fact, tonight will be my first hard workout.  It will also be a brick.  Nothing like having your first run after a marathon come AFTER a hard bike ride, ha ha.

#Mingsanity indeed.

A Mini Vacation: #Mingsanity Week 16

This is going to be the shortest #Bestfoot post ever.  My last week of workouts consisted of the following:

Monday:  I ran the freaking Boston Marathon (race report to come!)

Tuesday:  I walked hobbled around Boston and ate everything in sight.

Wednesday:  I slept in the car on the way home.

Thursday:  I slept in and celebrated 10 years of wedded bliss with G.

Friday:  I dragged my butt out of bed and tried not to drown at swimming (swam 1300m)

Saturday:  Lounged around on the couch drinking coffee in the morning.   Had a massage in the afternoon after spending 3 hours sitting in traffic due to the closure of the Gardiner.  It's amazing how cranky that can make a person.

Sunday:  I was a shuttle driver, cheerleader & picture taker for G and my two friends that raced Paris to Ancaster.  Did an easy 35 minute ride on my new saddle when I got back.

 Total workouts this week

Swim:  1300m
Bike:  20.53km
Run:  42.2km

Total time:  4h 21 minutes of workouts.  3h and 21 minutes of that was my race, ha ha.

Now I have to mentally get my head back in the game and focus on the next 7 weeks of crazy to get ready for IM 70.3 Luxembourg. Ming and I were emailing yesterday and it looks like these next 7 weeks are going to be all about the bike.  I'm still running 3x a week but 2 of those runs will be off the bike.  I've got doubles almost every day now.  I'm also going to his lab at U of T tomorrow night for some more testing.  I'm a bit nervous about this as I suspect it will be quite unpleasant, ha ha. 

Make sure you check out the other #Bestfoot ladies blogs this week:  Krysten, Amanda & Ericka - there's been some pretty amazing stuff happening! 

How was your week of training? 

Taper Time! #Mingsanity Week 13

Two Magical words:  Taper Time.  Yes gang, I've officially started my taper for Boston.  Of course, the universe being they way it is, in my world reduced training volume almost ALWAYS comes with increased workload at work.  Which in turn comes with stress.  It NEVER fails.  So, here's hoping that I manage to get adequate rest AND not get sick over the next two weeks.  Fingers crossed.  Now, on the FUN part...what I got up to this past week.  I'm linking up with the Bestfoot ladies Krysten, Erica & Amanda to recap my week of training.

Monday:  I normally swim on Mondays but I opted to sleep in.  ATB really wore me out so the rest was necessary.

Tuesday: a.m.:  70 minute easy spin on the trainer + core work. p.m.  really easy run through High Park.  I was told to run hills for the next couple of weeks so I did just that despite the fact that my legs were sore.

Wednesday:  2350m swim

Thursday:  a.m. 15km run with 10km at tempo pace.  Ran nothing but hills so instead of focusing on pace, I worked at pushing it up the hills.  Legs were still a bit sore but I felt pretty good otherwise.  Core work, push ups & single leg squats post run.  p.m.  55 minute easy spin.  Was supposed to do 70 minutes but got home late.  Didn't want to be riding until 8:30 at night. 

Friday:  2050m swim. 

Saturday:  28.22km run.  Was supposed to do between 25-30 km so this was perfect (even though I had set out to do 30km).  Super hard run.  Ran through High Park, did TONS of hills and ran into the wind for a large part of the run.  By 24km I was feeling pretty rough.  By 26km I had had enough so I called G and had him meet me on my way back to the house.  He picked me up at just past the 28km mark.  That was enough for me.  I completely checked out.  Was supposed to do weights after but I was exhausted.

Sunday:  60 minute easy spin, followed by a 3050m swim. 

Totals for the week:

Swim:  7450m
Bike:  80.93km
Run:  56.58km

Total time:  11 hours of training.  Never thought I'd say this but that actually felt kind of easy.   I must be getting used to the #Mingsanity, ha ha.

How was your week of workouts?

T-Minus 3 Weeks: #Mingsanity Week 12

Well now that race number two is under by belt (recap to come later on this week), it's almost time to wind down for Boston.  I've got 3 weeks left.  This weekend will be my last long-ish run (30km) before I really start to chill out.  This past week was really low key so I'd actually be able to recover from the two hard weeks that I had.  I also had a few after work events so that meant I was either missing a workout or doing them back to back. But I didn't have anything terribly long or too intense so that was good.  I felt pretty tired at the beginning of the week but seemed to bounce back towards the end.  At least I thought I did.  But I'll save that for my race report.  For now I'll recap my week of training.  As usual I'm linking up with the Bestfoot ladies, Krysten, Erica & Amanda.  Let's see how this week went down.

Monday:  1800m swim.  Was supposed to swim easy but ended up leading my lane on a progressively harder set so I got out before things got too crazy.
Tuesday:  13km run with 11km at tempo pace.
Wednesday:  1600m swim.  Super hard set so I didn't stay long.  Coach told me to take it easy this week.
Thursday:  30 minute ride + 8km run with 4x600m repeats.
Friday:  OFF
Saturday:  1650m swim + 30 minute ride + a really short run (1.5km) to test out my new Mizunos.
Sunday:  5km warm up + 30km race.

I have a medium volume week this week with nothing too intense until later on in the week.  I've been instructed to do all my runs in High Park for the next 2.5 weeks since I felt like the hills in yesterdays race got the better of me.  That's what happens when you spend most of the winter running on a treadmill.  I think that's part of the reason I was so wiped out yesterday  I was in bed asleep before 9:00 pm.  I skipped my swim and slept until 6:20 this morning.  I definitely needed it.  I have a massage scheduled for after work so I'm hoping that by tomorrow evening my legs will feel better.

How was your week of training?

Details Details....

I can't believe that our Europe trip is less than 3 months away!  We've finally finalized all our travel plans for our big European road trip.  Since we are flying in and out of Paris, we were hoping to spend some time in France other than in the airport.  Our original plan was to stay in the countryside, perhaps near Alp d'Huez but apparently there are a ton of races happening the week we're looking at staying there and a lot of the accommodation has been booked up already.  So, we went back to our original plan of visiting the south of France.  When we leave Italy, we'll drive along the coast and spend 4 days in Nice.  Ohhh la la.  I'm pretty sure a day trip to Monaco will happen while we're there.  From Nice, we're going to head to Grenoble and spend 2 nights there so we can drive to Alp d'Huez and ride up it.  I'm still freaking out about that descent although I think it will be much nicer on my fancy rental bike.

That, my friends is a Pinarello Dogma.  We had a few options to choose from and I went with that.  I wanted to ride something that I could never justify buying.  Here's hoping I don't crash it. 

After our stay in Grenoble, it's off to Paris to spend one last night in France before heading home.  A bit of a whirlwind yes, but it's a whirlwind I'm looking forward to! 

It seems like such a long way off but I know it will be here before I know it.  I'm already thinking about what to pack, ha ha.  I'm sure the list making will start in a couple of months.  Details details.

Speaking of details, it turns out there will be a few other details I'm going to have to figure out before we go.   Specifically when to eat breakfast on race day because apparently our race starts at 12:00 noon.  Yes, you read that right.  NOON.  WTH?  Although there is another area on the website that says it starts at 10:05 so who knows.  If it is noon, that's just insane.  Most 70.3 races start at 7:00-8:00 am.  Maybe as late as 10:00 am in some cases.  But NOON???  That opens up a whole other can of worms in terms of fueling.  I'm either going to have to eat a double breakfast or try to sleep in as late as possible (if I manage to sleep at all) and eat my pre-race meal later in the morning.  I'm sure I could try to practice this in training but that's going to make for a whole lot of late training rides which I'm not sure I'm too crazy about.  

The good news is that this race has wave starts so I will be with all the other "old broads" in my AG.  Right now there are 34 women in my AG including me.   The wave starts run between noon and 1:30 pm.  So the finish line party will start once the last wave has gone off and will go until 7:30 pm when they close the race course.  If it's anything like the finish line party at IM Switzerland, it's going to be a blast.  Maybe they'll have a D.J. and Red Bull on the run course too!  After all of that there is the official finishers party as well. I definitely want to stick around for that.

Of course I've been doing as much online course recon as I possibly can.  Especially regarding the swim.   Thank goodness for Google Street view!  I now know what the river we're swimming in looks like.  I know exactly the area that we swim in and I have a decent idea as to what I can use for sighting.  That's the thing with destination races, especially ones that you don't have the opportunity to train on ahead of time.  If you're like me and want to be prepared for certain in things on race day, you need to try to do as much course recon as possible before race day.  Unless of course you're my husband who will pretty much race anything, anytime.

This is the river we will be swimming in.  It's quite pretty!  And that's the bridge that I *should* be able to use to help me sight.  In fact, in some of the other aerial shots I saw, I think I've figured out where transition will be etc.  So exciting!!

Clearly the swim is what I am most preoccupied with as it is the thing I am least comfortable with.  I'm dealing with some "issues" regarding this leg of the race that will probably end up in a separate post on another day.   At least I have a few months to try and get my head sorted out.  Buckle up friends because that's going to be a FUN ride!


Anyone have any recos for places to go, things to do while in any of these places?  Other than drink lots of wine and tour vineyards, ha ha. 

Pumping Up the Volume & Pulling the Pin: #Mingsanity Week 11

Wow.  What a week.  Sure my previous week had more hours but this one seemed way more intense. I guess that's why Ming classified it as high volume.  To say it knocked me on my ass would be an understatement.  Although I think my super long work day (got to bed at 2:00 am) & less than ideal food choices on Tuesday (ate McDonalds!!!) might have had something to do with it as well.  Top it all off with an eye infection and suffice to say, my body was clearly flipping me the bird. Thankfully this week is a recovery week, just in time for Around The Bay on Sunday.

As usual I'm linking up with the #Bestfoot ladies, Krysten, Amanda & Ericka to recap our week of workouts.  Let's get down to business!

Monday:  2200m swim

Tuesday:  18km run with 16km at marathon pace.  Yes, you read that correctly, that's 18km on a TUESDAY morning.  This was followed by a 50 minute computrainer ride.  Ming gave me a 90 minute ride but said if I couldn't do it not to worry about it...50 minutes was a good compromise.

I was so. freaking.  hungry. after this but I had to rush off to work.  We were shooting at McDonald's Head Office so I ended up having (I hope you're all sitting down) a quarter pounder with cheese and french fries.  And then I worked until 1:00 am.  Got home and was in bed just before 2:00 am.  Soooo not the best thing after the double workouts I did.  But I got to sit in this AWESOME chair that made me feel like a kid again.

Wednesday:  Day off.

Thursday:  a.m.  80 minute ride with a swollen and red left eye.  Off to the walk in clinic by my house to get it checked out.  Oh hello eye infection.  Nice to meet you antibiotics.  What's that?  No swimming until it clears up?  Ok then.  P.M:  I had a 12km run scheduled with 5x1200m repeats but that didn't happen.  My legs DID NOT want to work.  I managed just over 3.5km and decided to pull the pin.  I was clearly not recovered from Tuesday's epic day.  I ended up in bed asleep by 9:00 pm and I slept until 6:30 am the next day!

Friday:  OFF - I was supposed to swim but couldn't due to my eye infection.

Saturday:  25km run with 3x5km tempo repeats.  Ming said if my legs were still tired I could just do 2km repeats. My legs felt a whole lot better, still a bit on the tired side but at least they were able to go.  I did 2x2km repeats and then ended my run with 5km at tempo pace.   This was followed by 40 minutes of weights.  Hello box jumps.  So glad I didn't fall on my face.

Sunday: 3200m swim since my eye infection had settled down.  A nice distance set again this morning.  This was followed by an 80 minute easy spin.  Followed by eating ALLTHEFOOD.  There is something about a back to back swim / bike that makes me really hungry.  The crazy thing?  I actually ate 3 pancakes stuffed with ricotta cheese after swimming, just BEFORE I got on the bike.  As soon as I got off the bike I was hungry again.  Holy hollow leg.

Totals for the week:

Swim:  5400m
Bike:  87.37km
Run:  46.85km

Total time:  9h 21 minutes including my one strength session.

4 weeks from today, I will be toeing the line in Hopkinton.  I get butterflies just thinking about it. If I don't get my knee issues sorted out before then, I'll be going in at less than 100% which wasn't really the plan.   But, I'm learning that the older I get, the less my body seems to want to stick to any sort of plan.

How was your week of workouts?

Pump Up the Volume: #Mingsanity Week 10

As I mentioned last week, this weeks workouts started with a warning from my Coach: "This is going to be tough, just plow through it".   It wasn't really what I wanted to hear but hard weeks are part of the program.  Without them, you can't grow as an athlete.  Knowing it was going to be a tough one, I had a deep tissue massage on Sunday.  And then a Graston treatment on Tuesday morning.  I think that might have been a bit too much for my poor little legs but, it did help them feel a lot better once I finally recovered from it all (which was Wednesday btw).  I didn't have any knee pain Monday through to Thursday.  My treadmill run on Thursday seemed to have aggravated something and my knee pain was back by EOD Thursday.  However, it was mild compared to what it used to be.  Perhaps because I am acutely aware of any pain I feel in my knees now, who knows.

On to the fun part of this post:  what I actually got up to this week.  It was a big one folks.  As usual I'm linking up with the #Bestfoot gang:  Krysten, Erica and Amanda.  Follow along as we put our Bestfoot forward this week.  Let's get down to it....

Monday:  Impromptu day off:  My massage left me feeling quite tired and I was really sore so I slept in.
Tuesday:  a.m. 10km run with 8km at tempo pace.  Didn't happen.  I ran, but it turned into a "do what you can" run because my legs hadn't recovered from my massage yet.  I followed that with a body weight circuit, which was also kind of sucky.  p.m:  90 minute boring as hell trainer ride.  Decided to use it to do a Game of Thrones recap.  Tested out a new saddle as well.  Jury is still out on that.
Wednesday:  2200m swim.
Thursday:  12km run with 5x1200m repeats @ 4:40.  Nailed it.  But I did have one weird knee pain moment, then everything was fine.  Followed that up with a body weight workout.  P.M.:  80 minute trainer ride.  Another snooze fest.
Friday:  2200m swim.
Saturday:  35.53km run followed by a weight workout.  Ran through High Park with my friend Stephanie.  I was so happy to have the company for a change.  I was supposed to run 10km at 4:20 pace but since it was such a hilly run, I opted to push the pace for the last 6km of my run.  I wanted to see what I could do on tired legs.  I actually felt like I could have gone longer.

Sunday:  3200m swim followed by a 90 minute trainer ride with 2x30 min @ 120/140w.  Amazingly my legs felt alright.  They were a little sluggish at the start but once I got going they felt pretty good considering the beat down I put on them the day before.

Totals for the week:

Swim:  7400m
Bike: 132.87km
Run:  57.56km

Total time:  13h 27 minutes.  Good.  Lord.  I have to wonder what my peak weeks will look like once I really get into the "meat" of my 70.3 training.  Granted I won't be doing 35km long runs but I suspect that time will be replaced by time in the saddle. 

Work is going to be a bit nutty this week so I'm not sure what I'll be able to get done especially since we're shooting overnight on Tuesday which means I won't be swimming on Wednesday morning.  Unless I don't bother going to bed but that's sooo not going to happen.  So we'll see how I manage to fare this week.

How was your week of workouts?