The theme of this week is definitely trying new things…working on a new swim stroke and running my first relay (75 miles). The new swim stroke is going to take lots and lots of practice to get ingrained in me, but the relay was super fun!
Monday:
At 4 am my feet hit the floor and I was ready to rock-and-roll! I was off to the gym for a 60 minute full body strength training session. Monday morning strength training sessions are a great way to start my day and my week! I always feel so much more invigorated afterwards! After a full day of work, I met with a personal training client before heading home for 75 minutes of #bikelove intervals. I capped this off with dinner, a shower, and prepping for Tuesday.
Tuesday:
We intentionally slept in this morning because I new I had an early morning work commitment. I was actually upset to find out that the meeting I was supposed to have got cancelled, so we could have gotten up for a morning workout after all…SIGH. After a full day of work, I went to the pool for 2800 yards of swimming. I was REALLY trying to work on my new swimming form (if you missed my update on correcting my swim stroke, you can read more about it here), but I’m not sure that I was really making progress. After swimming, I ran a couple of errands before heading home to meet my sister. She visited us for the night since she had a conference nearby Wednesday morning. We ate dinner, went for a walk, prepped the vegetables from our CSA that I picked up, and prepared for Wednesday before bedtime.
Wednesday:
The 4 am alarm clock came sooner than usual since I was up later than usual with my sister last night. I hopped on the trainer and after the first 30 minutes it was time to climb some hills. This is where I began to sweat puddles…EVERYWHERE! I was definitely awake now…just in time for a full day of work 🙂 After work, I headed back to the pool to work on my swim stroke some more. I figured out a way to get my fingertips down toward the bottom of the pool, but I still have work to do with the catch and my head position. After swimming, I ran a couple of errands and then went home to clean house and start preparing for the coming weekend…did I mention we are running our first relay on Saturday?! This requires some planning as we will need food and hydration for the day, as well as change of clothes and different running apparel options. Since there is a chance of storms on Saturday, that requires even more clothing options! Lots of things to think about and prepare for!
Thursday:
Another 4 am alarm clock to get us up and running! We met a friend on campus and had a really good run. It was a beautiful morning, with lots of rabbits, birds, squirrels, and raccoons for Basil to chase. She was in doggie heaven 😉 After a full day of work, I met with a personal training client, rode an easy 60 minutes on the trainer, and then taught TRX before I was able to eat dinner, shower, and continue to prepare for this weekend’s relay.
Friday:
Today was a rest day, and after many nights of less than 8 hours of sleep this week (have I mentioned I don’t function well on less than 8 hours of sleep?!), it felt really good to sleep in!! After a full day of work, I had an EXTREMELY busy evening. I went straight home, met the Iron Hippie and caravanned to downtown Des Moines (~45 miles) to drop a car off at the finish area of our relay. We drove back just in time to encounter rush hour traffic…grrr. I dropped the Iron Hippie off at home, quickly changed clothes and went back to school to chaperone the 8th grade dance. When I got home at 8:15, I finished getting my gear and food together for tomorrow before letting my head hit the pillow.
Saturday:
Hello 4 am! You have been popular this week! We met the rest of Team #KissOurAsphalt at the middle school at 5:15 for a departure to Jefferson where we would start our 75 mile running relay to Des Moines. This was my first relay that I’ve ever participated in and boy was it SUPER fun!! I was really nervous going into it about what the day would be like, if I would enjoy myself, and how well my legs would hold up. I think being an Ironman athlete helped me both mentally and physically today as I ran 3 different times throughout the day. My first leg was 5.4 miles at an average pace of 7:56/mile. I didn’t feel too taxed with this leg, but boy could I smell and see the smoke that had drifted down from a Minnesota wildfire. My throat was very scratchy, but all I could think was “I hope everyone up north is safe!” as I ran. My second leg was 5.1 miles at an average pace of 8:07/mile. I didn’t smell the smoke as bad on this leg, but we were farther south…I don’t know if that matters or not. I did slow my pace a bit on this leg for just a short time to run with a friend for about 0.3 miles that I caught up to on the trail. It was good to chat with a friendly face, even if it meant running a bit slower than I had been! I was the final runner for our team, which meant running about 3.7 miles and then meeting my team for the last 0.3 miles as we crossed the finish line. I was nervous about this leg because everyone kept telling me how tired and sore my legs would be and that they wouldn’t want to cooperate. I was pleasantly surprised…as a triathlete, I am used to running on tired legs. It felt just like running off the bike after a long/tough workout. My last run totaled 3.95 miles at an average pace of 8:18/mile. This part of the run I was VERY familiar with (having run this part of the trail during MANY other local races) and I usually break down mentally in this area. Thankfully I had a pep talk with myself before I started this leg and I didn’t break down too badly today! Overall, I ran 14.42 miles at an average pace of 8:07/mile. Since I thought I would be running closer to 9:00 miles, I was SUPER happy with my performance on the day! #courageovercomfort definitely helped me push past some mental barriers today! We arrived back home at about 8 pm, unloaded the car, showered, relaxed for a bit, and then hit the pillow by 9 pm.
Sunday:
After sleeping in on Sunday morning and eating a big breakfast, I ran to the grocery store while the Iron Hippie went to a friend’s house and cut rhubarb for us. After getting all of the groceries put away, I wanted to ride my bike. I was too lazy to change the tire since I have a trainer tire on and knew I would be putting it back on for riding this week, so I rode the trainer in the backyard for 3 hours. The dogs chewed on their bones and sticks from the wood pile while I rode. They had a blast! FroYo was the perfect evening treat before bed 🙂
Weekly Totals: 13 hours & 47 minutes
Swim: 5600 yards
Bike: 98.6 miles
Run: 21.7 miles
Strength Training: 1 hour & 45 minutes
Quote of the Week:
“Don’t run away from a challenge. Instead run toward it cause the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet.” ~Nadia Comaneci
PushMyLimits 
What a busy week! I’m tired just reading it. Is it that bad to have the wrong tire on the trainer? I had the opposite problem, so I used my road tire on my (cheap) trainer yesterday for an hour.
It was a busy week! Thankfully this week should have a bit less crazy. In the summer I use my road tire on the trainer, but during the winter we use a trainer tire to save the rubber. You can’t ride a trainer tire outside as it will not grip the road and you have a much greater chance of having your tire spin out from under you. I was just lazy…especially knowing we’d be back on the trainer this week because the weather is cold and rainy 😦
Ok–good to know! I would never use the trainer tire on the road (my cycling is terrible enough–heeheehee), but didn’t know how bad it was to use the road tire. Our weather isn’t looking awesome for the one day this week I was hoping to get outside. Have a good week!
I would totally lose control using my trainer tire on the road 😉 You have a great week also!!
Three hours on the trainer?! Damn!
Yes Jim! I thought of you when I got started 😉
If there was a bow emoji, I’d use it. 🤗
Yes, we’ll go with jazz hands!
Thanks Jim!
Great/solid week!!! I told you relays were fun!!!! 🙂
You were right! A blast!
Way to commit to the trainer this week and get the work done. It sounds like the relay was a good experience. I have had good and bad experiences with relays – but with the right people they can be really fun.
I know what you mean about how challenging it is to change swim technique. Having the same issues that you have, I am working on mine as well. I really struggle with technique, primarily because I can’t really see myself in the moment and correct it verbally. When running or biking you can easily see the change and talk through it, but with swimming it’s so different. Swimming is definitely a challenge, that’s for sure!
Thanks Kristen! I don’t seem to have a problem riding for extended periods of time on the trainer. Tell me I have to go swim, and I have to psych myself up for it right now. I agree, the swim is so much harder because I can’t see myself and know if I’m “fixing” the poor technique. I think I am, but when I see video footage, I’m really not. Grr!! We’ll get it down with LOTS of practice 😉
What a crazy week!! I have never done a relay, but know that I would like to one day. You had a stellar day of running!!!! Great times. Way to get it done for the team!!!
Thanks Lee!! I know I would not be able to do a relay that requires a shortage of sleep, but this one was a lot of fun!! If you get the chance, I highly recommend it!! 😉