23 Weeks ’til IMWI: Seeing Green

This week was a completely different week than last week! I was ready to get back to work in the pool, on the saddle, and pounding the pavement. The theme this week was “seeing green” in Training Peaks!!

Seeing Green

Monday:

The 4 am alarm clock got us to the gym for an hour strength training session, which was a great start to the week. After a full day of work, I met one of my personal training clients for an hour and then hopped on the bike for an easy hour ride.

Tuesday:

I seem to have no trouble getting up and riding my bike, running, or strength training, but I always struggle with going to the pool early in the morning. After I get in the pool and swim a couple of hundred yards, I’m always glad I made it to the pool, but sometimes my mind tries to convince my body to go back to bed. Thankfully I didn’t listen to it this time. We started the day with an early morning 2700 yard swim. It ended up being the perfect start to my day. After a full day of work, I experienced some serious #runlove! We ran 10 miles around town and through campus. It was a beautiful evening and we were so lucky to have Mother Nature actually bless us with good weather!

Wednesday:

We started the day with 90 minutes of sweaty bike intervals before a full day of work, followed by a work meeting, and then 2400 yards of swim torture. I couldn’t seem to get my arms to turn over and my stroke just wouldn’t come together smoothly. I plugged through, but it wasn’t a great swim for me. That smile is because I was finally done! 😉

Thursday:

Thursdays we typically sleep in, but we got up early because I had a deadline to meet for work and this would give me a couple of extra hours to meet it. After a full day of work, I met with a personal training client, hopped on the bike for an hour recovery ride, and then headed back out the door to teach TRX.

Friday:

Friday mornings we always sleep in. It felt good to get a few extra hours of shut eye! After a full day of work, I got to enjoy 2100 yards of pure #swimlove 🙂 This was the best swim of the week. I always love Friday swims after work! I’m not rushed to get here or there and I can fully relax and enjoy the water. We followed this up with dinner out with friends. It was fun to catch up and hear about life!!

Saturday:

We woke up at 5 am…yes, I know it is Saturday…ate our standard cream of rice cereal with blueberries and beet powder before a long workout and hopped on the saddle at 6 am for 3 hours and 15 minutes. This bike workout had a lot of variety, so the time ticked by rather quickly! Then it was time to change into winter running gear…yes, it was COLD and WINDY for our 45 minute run off the bike!! Serious #triathleteproblems existed as I changed into winter compression gear because I was all sweaty from the long bike ride!! UGH!! This run was REALLY tough!! The winds were sustained at ~30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph, which made the wind chill temperature feel like ~20F. We pushed through and finished strong, but were exhausted when we were done. After grabbing food, an epsom salt bath, and a shower, we decided to take a 2 hour nap before grocery shopping, completing 30 minutes of core strength training, and prepping food for the week. This week’s meals include homemade red curry, homemade chicken noodle soup, homemade ham and bean soup, and homemade sweet potato with ground hamburger and pasta sauce. We added lots of meals to our freezer for future use as well!!

Sunday:

We slept in until 6 am, ate our standard cream of rice cereal with blueberries and beet powder, and hopped on the bike for 90 minutes of tough hill climbs at 7 am. I really struggled to keep my cadence higher for this ride, especially on the second hill set. We quickly transitioned to a long run. The weather was completely different from yesterday. While it was still windy, it was near 50F when we started running and only got warmer throughout the 1 hour 45 minutes that we pounded the pavement. It was nice to have the sun shining on our skin…VITAMIN D 🙂 We were so lucky to have 2 girlfriends join us for the first 4 miles, before we ventured out to finish the last 70 minutes on our own. This was probably the best I’ve felt coming off the bike in a LONG time and was so happy to see close to a 9:00/mile pace for nearly 12 miles on tired legs!! So much #runlove 🙂 After refueling, an epsom salt bath, and a shower, I left for CPR/AED recertification. I was bummed to have to spend all afternoon indoors when it was supposed to be near 80F outside, but I was offered free recertification that I had to take advantage of. Thankfully the instructor also wanted to get outside and we got done in under 3 hours 🙂 I spent the rest of the afternoon doing some house chores, including moving the winter equipment into the shed and bringing the summer equipment to the garage. I hope this doesn’t jinx us…we are really looking forward to spring/summer!! We then went on a family outing to get some froyo…first of 2016 for us. This is definitely one of our favorite parts of the warmer weather!!

Basil was tired after running 11.6 miles, but her nap didn’t last long and she was ready to play all afternoon!!

Spending 3 hours with “Annie”

Weekly Totals: 17:19

Swim: 7200 yards in 2:45
Bike: 110 miles in 8:15
Run: 26.6 miles in 4:04
Strength Training: 2:15

Quote of the Week: 

“Don’t start your day with the broken pieces of yesterday.” ~anonymous