Week #32

I am breathing a sigh of relief this early Monday morning. Usually I approach Mondays with a bit of trepidation as I see the week of training, life and family laid before me with uncertainty and a bit of anxiety as I wonder how in the world it's all going to fit in place. Well, today is a bit different. Next Sunday I am doing the "Summer Open Triathlon", a local sprint race. I just want to make sure my gear is in check and I remember how to swim in a wetsuit in some seriously COLD water. It will be a good tune up for Ironman. So, that means this training week is super easy. I'm actually giddy about it! It will be nice to have some of the aches and pains subside and just "be" a normal person. If that's possible.

Last week ended awesome! On Thursday I did an easy ride with a friend...I just didn't have it in me to do any zone 4. I needed conversation and external motivation. Thankfully MB could ride and we went later in the day with the rain. It was great. Friday was my 3850 yard swim. I rocked it. It was so awesome. I am feeling so strong in the water and I had a fantastic go of it.

Saturday....my monster brick...70/16...the biggest one I'll have to do...the thing I've been fearing since day 1 of training. Wow! The weather was perfect, looked like it was going to rain the whole day, but didn't. I started out at 8:00, decided not to do any major climbs, just wanted to maintain a solid pace. I went south into Boulder and north to Loveland, managed 16.8 mph for the ride...that's pretty fast for me. I wanted to see if my running legs would be okay after pedaling harder...it was a bit of a test. Once the ride was over, I was not excited to run for 2.5 hours, but knew I didn't have a choice. I lose feeling in my feet while riding, so I was curious how many miles it would take for the feeling to return. It takes about five. I did 6 miles of zone 3 work, took it one mile at a time. It's funny, after being out there that long, the miles just tick by, one...two...three...four...five. The last 2-3 always are a trudgefest for me. Finally, my 7 hour day was over.

Once I got home, stretched, drank chocolate milk, took a shower, packed...we piled in the car and headed to Salida where we spent Sunday rafting. It was a perfect end to a tough two weeks!