Guess what's back. back again.

Ohhhh yeah.

I am registered for iTRYathlon (a Renegade Race Series event) again this year, and in hopes of bettering my time from last year, I've started training!

Thank goodness I keep a blog account of my stuff, because in my BRAIN, I thought I was unhappy with something. In real life, it turns out, my recap tells me that I had a great time and I even PR'ed the 5k! So the bar is set preeeetttttty high already.

I have literally for real not swum or used my bike since last year's event. I know, I'm the greatest. I just found that I didn't really like the bike, and.... that I was too lazy to keep up with swimming (actually, I thought that the pool I used was under renovation for some reason, but then it turned out I was just trying to go every day while they are closed for cleaning, as posted - I am not smart).

So last week I busted out the swim stuff, and hopped in the water for 20 minutes of laps and... spoiler, it's still hard! Who knew if you don't do something, it gets more difficult.

I drafted up a training plan for the next 11 weeks, and hopefully I will mostly stick to it. Like last year, I am running more than the swim/bike - I really want to maintain a decent running base so marathon training this fall isn't the Worst Ever.

I have some vague goals in mind already, but I'll have to see where I'm at realistically as I start training.

Yay!

If you're in SoCal, and you're tri-curious, I can't recommend this event enough! It's super low-key, and impeccably organized. Plus, as far as tri's go, it's priced reasonably - right now just $85 for the tri. Also available are a junior tri, a 5k, and a kids' fun run. You can check out pricing here, and - AND - you can use HEATHERDISCOUNT for 10% off.

Also, it's women only for the tri, which means no men running amok in tri gear. If you've experienced this phenomenon, you know what I'm saying here.


So with THAT said, this is what my PFTW looks like...

Monday: arms
Tuesday: 3-4 easy, XT (tried a new total body video last week that I really liked)
Wednesday: swim - 20 minutes easy, arms
Thursday: 5 easy, bike 30 min easy (not together)
Friday:  swim - 20 min easy
Saturday - 6 easy
Sunday - bike 30 easy

I'm not putting anything in stone yet - we'll see how this plays out next week, and I'll adjust as necessary. Like, I don't know how well the arm/XT work will go on the days I have it scheduled for, so... work in progress. I threw the bike in on the weekend, in case The H wants to ride with me, since that's his most favorite thing to do.

I'm also vaguely tossing around the idea of trying to PR at a July 4th 5k, but... I'm not super committed to it. But I might toss some extra speed work in if I feel feisty.

Regarding my last race... well, I'm still disgruntled about it. I mean, not enough to be, like, on edge or anything. But I spent a few days pouting, and generally being irritated about it. It's over, nothing to do about that now, except pick a redemption race and try again. I am going to have to really figure out this summer running nonsense, because I'm struggling with the heat and staying hydrated. GROSS. I hate summer.

**********************************************************************

Over the weekend, #1 ran one of our favorite local races - Corona del mar Scenic 5k. Many years ago, this was my very first 5k, and the biggest reason this race was selected was for the promise of a "complimentary restaurant-row feast" at the finish line.

Why, yes, that IS a whole baguette. Right on top of the pizza and mini creme brulee and pork tacos and breakfast burrito and scones.

Because I have other places I'm planning on spending my race budget, only the kid ran this year, but man, did she kill it.

20:44 for a new pr on a hilly hilly hilly course (and knocking 4.5 minutes off her time on this course!), and 14th place overall in the female race. She was pretty psyched that she could pull this out during her off season, and after a long season of track work, and no hill work.

XC is going to be so fun.

You get a race discount! YOU get a race... you get it.

I have some race discounts to share!

May17 - XTERRA Renegade Off-Road Tri, Du, and 3 Mile Trail Run Challenge - code "HEATHERDISCOUNT" for 10% off. (Check out the special Dirty Series medal, too!)

 

May 26 - Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half, 10k, 5k, and Kids Run - code "HEATHERDISCOUNT" for 10% off. Just announced, there is a new medal series launching this year - check out the details on Renegade's site!

June 22 - Breath of Life Ventura Tri - code "HEATHERDISCOUNT" for 10% off - this race is also part of the SoCal Tri Series.

July 4 - Run in the Parks, Laguna Niguel - code "renegade14" for 10% off!

Aug 23 - iTRY Women's and Youth Tri and Run/Walk - code "HEATHERDISCOUNT" for 10% off. I did this event last year, and had SO much fun, I'm coming back this year. 

******************************************************************

Weekly recap

Monday - rest! 

It does a body good?

Tuesday - arms/core

According to Daily Mile, this was 50 minutes of "alright" feelings. I don't remember what I did, so I'm assuming I didn't love it, or hate it.

Wednesday - run/XT

4 easy treadmill miles, plus 10 minute abs (this video) and 35 min legs (this video). I like both of these!

Thursday - run

My legs were D E A D after the video, so I just did an easy shakeout run through the slums of Irvine.

#graffiti #seenonmyrun

BURN. 

Thursday night was also Dual Meet night for #1 - her team won, making them 2-0 in the league. 

Friday - arms

40 minutes of another mystery video! Honestly, I spent the majority of the day insanely jealous of everyone running Ragnar SoCal - there was a new course this year THAT RAN RIGHT BY MY NEIGHBORHOOD, and it skipped all the stupid inland stuff to run right along the ocean, AND the weather was fantastic. So jealous. 

Friday night, #1 raced at Trabuco Hills Distance Carnival (which, BTW, was also right on the Ragnar course - I didn't run Ragnar this year because I knew she was racing, so way to really rub some salt on that wound, RAGNAR). 

what even, that calf. 

17th place finish out of 137, and another sub-5:30 finish - she was pretty sad she didn't PR, but not every race is gonna be a PR, kid. 

Saturday - rest! 

First Saturday "off" in a billion years, so we slept in, got donuts, and did nothing.

Sunday - "long" run

6 miles, never felt good, but it was FINE. It's been a long time since I've bothered to really struggle through a run - since I haven't been training, I got into the habit of just stopping when it didn't feel fun any more. If I want to run a half marathon in 7 weeks, I guess I need to stop doing that. I GUESS. 

************************************************************************

PFTW

Monday - XT (I'll recap this next week, but I almost died dead finishing a Fitness Blender 90 minute video).

Tuesday - run! 4 miles easy

Wednesday - run!! 4 miles WITH SPEED WORK dun dun dun. And arms/core.

Thursday - rest/easy xt (#1 is racing)

Friday - Long, 8 miles

Saturday - rest

Sunday - XT, easy 3-4 miles if I feel like it?

Basically, I'm hoping for around 16-20ish miles this week, and while I say I'm introducing speed work, I'm really just going to shoot for a couple of miles at "goal" pace (which is vague, so this isn't really speed work at all, it's more like, run a little faster and see what happens pace). 

iTRYathlon - Race Recap

iTRYathlon is a local women's and youth event put on by Renegade Racing. This was the second year running the race.

This was an EXCELLENT pick for my first triathlon - it's a reverse tri, so instead of the typical swim/bike/run, it was a 3.1 mile run, 9 mile bike, and 200m pool swim.

The swim has always been the piece of the tri that I was most afraid of - mostly because the idea of 1. open water and 2. mass starts terrifies me. Putting the swim last means a steady stream of swimmers, not a crazy group all at once. This was fantastic for me!

Race prep....
With a 7:30am Saturday start time, I planned on being at the race site around 5:30 for transition set up, body marking, etc. To help me make sure I wasn't forgetting anything I set out everything I'd need in a fuax-transition the night before.

We arrived at Northwood High School pretty early - so early, transition wasn't even open yet.

The H helped me make sure my tires were pumped appropriately, and we headed over to set up my space. When Coach Martha advised us to arrive that early, I was pretty skeptical. It was REALLY early, I don't think I even show up for runDisney races that early.

But it was 100% worth it to snag a prime transition spot for my bike.

Here's a funny thing about triathlon. Some kids will, at some point, write your age right on your calf in PERMANENT MARKER. So that's cute.

After spending some time horrifying The H with the number of times I can cycle through the bathroom lines in 2 hours (answer, only 3 times, which IS NOT EVEN THAT MUCH, rude), and some time chatting with my favorite volunteers....

According to Kelly and Angry Julie (pic courtesy of Julie)

...we started lining up. The morning was PERFECTION - misty and foggy and cool. Thank heavens.

SO lucky.

The Run

Elevation map....

My goal for the run was 28:xx. I haven't really felt great about my speed, since I was my fastest (so, really just "fastest") back during marathon training last year, and I'm not running nearly the same mileage now. When I started iTRY training, I was hoping for a 30 minute 5k. In the last few weeks, I thought if I REALLY pushed it, I could maybe pull out 28:xx. I was really nervous about the hill - I'm not great on hills. They're hard.

The run starts on a nice downhill, and then climbs climbs climbs climbs. I ran into Striding Mom's oldest, Strawberry, close to the top of the hill, and we ran for a few minutes together - my training on this route really helped out here, because I knew how far the hill went, and when I felt like it was getting rough, I knew how close I was to the end of the hill.

Thanks, H!

I only look happy because I know we're running downhill from here. Just kidding, I was psyched to see my hsuband.

As soon as I told him the course was all down hill from here!.... he took off.

Later, Stawberry.

Garmin time, appx.... 27:50ish. {I KNOW WHAT!!!!!}. 8:45, 9:11, 9:07 for the first three miles.

{Update - official time, 27:51!!!!!}


Transition 1: This is where I really jacked things up with my Garmin - instead of hitting lap, I hit start/stop and paused it. Womp. I have no idea what my transition time was. I took a second to take a drink, because drinking on the bike makes me nervous. But otherwise, I took Coach Martha's advice and had a very streamlined transition, only needing to snap on my helmet. Bring only what you need, and use everything you bring....

More pictures from my personal transition photographer, Angry Julie

T1: 1:14

The Bike

Sigh. Oh, the bike.

My goal was to come in under 40 minutes. I was NOT confident in this number - 40 minutes would have been a 13.5mph pace. In training on this loop, the fastest I could pull out was 12.8mph. I don't know WHY I picked 40 minutes, it was totally random.

The course is 2 loops of the run course (so twice up that hill), plus an out and back on some flat roads.

I saw a lot of people passing me who had REAL bikes - like real road bikes, not my clunky hybrid. I felt pretty good with how I went up the hills - I cycled through the gears efficiently, I thought. I didn't see a lot of people on hybrids passing me, which was how I was gauging my speed.

Unofficial bike pace: 14.3mph. WHAT.

{Official time, 38:32 - 14.1mph}

Transition 2:

So, one of my biggest concerns was whether or not I should even wear my Garmin - I thought it would really help me on the run, so I could stay on pace up the hill, but I was really concerned that I would totally forget I had it on, and head straight to the pool with it. Which I did. Plus my sunglasses - and as it turns out, you cannot swim in sunglasses. Awesome. Heading into transition, I racked my bike, took another drink of water, and ran over to the pool - I kept my shoes on, because it's about a 200m run.

Once you get to the pool, Renegade has volunteers set up to collect shoes (and sunglasses and Garmins) for you when you jump in.

T2: 3:06 {ouch}


The swim

The swim was 4 lengths (2 laps) of a 50m pool - jump in one side, swim a length, duck under the lane line, back the next lane, etc. I had never practiced in a 50m pool before, so the distance was a little intimidating. The pool in my neighborhood that I use is maybe 15m? And the pool I did a time trial in a few weeks ago is 25. Also, the pool is DEEP. So I was nervous, particularly in the middle two lanes, where there's not a wall right next to me JUST IN CASE (I know how to swim enough not to drown, but I panicked a little).

So I took the swim S L O W and steady. I never felt crowded, even though plenty of people passed me, but the lanes are super wide, and there was just a steady stream of racers coming in. There was plenty of room to navigate.

dead center sticking my head waaaaaaaay out for a breath. This is why I'm slow.

I'm being so dainty with the lane lines.

{Swim - 6:38 laaaaame}

The finish timing mats are right there at the edge of the stairs - pro tip, I stopped swimming when I got to that long area going towards the stairs. Do you know what is MUCH slower than swimming? Walking through 4'6" of water.

Since I obviously didn't wear my Garmin through the swim (despite my best efforts...), I have no idea how long the swim took - I know I was passed by PLENTY of people. I am assuming it is well over my 5 minute goal.


Total time: 1:17:25 


Post Race
The volunteers are handing out medals right as you exit the pool, and then just outside the pool building, there are volunteers with water, bananas, oranges, and cookies (cookies!!).

Results were posted really quickly out at the expo area (for most people.... Hurry up, Gemini!).

This event was REALLY well organized. There are a number of events happening at the same time - sprint tri, junior tri, 5k, etc, but things moved totally smoothly.

For a new triathlete, this is a great choice - it's really non-intimidating, and very beginner friendly. Volunteers were set up everywhere, and all very helpful.


Disclosure: I was provided with free entry to the race by Renegade Racing, but all opinions are my own. There is really NOTHING that I would have changed or thought needed improvement - it's amazing it's only in its second year, because you would never have guessed that they'd only pulled this off once before.

Friday Five - Four Randoms, One Goal

1. I am for real the Queen of Extreme Taper. So far this week, I've done 1 run (and it was GOOD), and 1 40 minute bike ride.

I need to swim today. I mean, I should. I'm the worst. But at least I'll be well rested. CAN'T HOLD ME BACK!


2. SarahOUaL has organized a new run club in OC - first meetup is Tuesday night near Crystal Cove. Good for all paces (walkers welcome!), and variety of distances. I'll be there, probably dragging behind the walking group because hello, I have DOUBLE RACES next weekend, and as evidenced above, I LOVE TAPERING. Details HERE on the FB.

If you don't want to run here, you're broken.

3. Related to above, Disneyland Half weekend is almost here!! HOORAY. I've been looking forward to this for ages! I think Becka, L and I had costumes sorted out way back when we ran Goofy?!?! It's going to be tons of fun, and I get to cook delicious carb-loading food, and Gab can finally end her "When will A BE HERE ALREADY" countdown. 

I'm so so so excited for our costumes. SO EXCITED. 

We are the funnerest.

4. I am unsure how to be properly unemployed. First, I cannot sleep in. I've been driving the H to work following his bike accident, so I've been getting up by 6:30... BUT even when I'm not, I rarely sleep past 7. 

And I don't like napping, it just doesn't work for me. So I'm tired all the time. 

Maybe that is why I haven't felt like doing anything this week? I don't know. Anyway. At the end of the day, I'm always like, WTF just happened, I did almost NOTHING and the entire day is gone. 

How is it possible?

don't worry, I obviously have plenty o' time to dig up gifs

5. ITRYathlon is tomorrow!! YIKES. #1 will also be there, running the 5k - she was scheduled for some cross country stuff, but since it was rescheduled, she's going to race this with me (haha) instead. 

I have some goals based on my training times, but I really have zero idea of how things will go. 

Run: I don't think I'm in shape to PR a 5k right now, and I'm even less confident about doing it on a giant hill. I'll be psyched with a 28:xx run. 

Bike: I just don't even know. I would like to come in under 40 minutes. We'll see. I just want to not die.

Swim: Hopefully under 5 min. 

So, with transition, I guess that makes my.... 

A Goal: 1:15ish

B Goal: Don't hate it.

C Goal: Don't die. 

I'm pretty nervous, but I'm sure it will be FINE. Right?

Adventures in Tri - iTRYathlon training, week 6

Week 1 HERE
Week 2 HERE
Week 3 HERE
Week 4 HERE
Week 5 HERE

We've reached my most favorite part of training - TAPER WEEK. iTRYathlon is this weekend! There's still plenty of time to register (and you can use discount code RC2013 for 10% off!). Click HERE to register.

I'm as trained as I'm gonna get, considering I was a last-minute triathlon decider, thanks to Coach Martha and Tri La Vie. I plan to enjoy the hell out of my taper week.

Last week....

Monday: rest

Tuesday: Bike, XT
In the am, I did a 14.6 mile ride, with hill repeats. Routed from my house, to the iTRY course, two hill loops, and ride back. What's that look like, you ask?

 Looks like devil horns, if you ask me.

Yep. Anyway. I also planned to swim, but had to rescue The H after his bike mishap, so cross trained (Tank Top Arms, Core, stretching) at home instead.

Wednesday: Swim
This one was kind of fun! We were given a prescribed workout from Coach Martha at Tri La Vie - 200m warmup, 2x200 with 2 min RI, 200m cool down. It's like she's speaking my language - I understood this! The 2x200 were good, significantly faster than my previous time trial from less than 2 weeks ago, so I suppose this training is making a difference!

Thursday: Run
1.25 warm up, 5x800 with 400 RI, 1 mi cool down. Goal 4:30-4:22, Actual 4:29, 4:25, 4:25, 4:23, 4:18. 6 miles total.

Friday: Swim, XT
Cross Training in the am (Tank Top Arms, Core, Yoga). Swim workout was 45 min timed swim, and I managed 1200m in the 47 min (I couldn't very well stop at a weird number...).

Oh, summer finally arrived!

Saturday: Group Brick
Repeat of last week, but with MORE. 3 mile run (with a shockingly-for-me-fast pace of 9:20 ON THOSE HILLS), followed by 3 loops on the bike course, and then finished with a 1 mile run. That was less than fun.

Sunday: LONG RUN!!
Maaaaan, I've missed long runs. Like, for real long runs - not that 10 mile nonsense I've been playing with the last few months. 14 miles, with some strides at *hopeful* race pace the last 3 miles. It hurts so great.

Long live treadmill love.

Totals:
Running: 24 miles
Swim: 2000m
Bike: 23 miles

8:22 training time

Running:
I had to cut one of my weekly runs this week, due to time constraints. I 100% feel like that's a complete lazy ass cop out, but it is what it is. The H's new work schedule, plus his injury, plus 2 doctor visits for Gab, plus 2 interviews made for a chaotic week, even without a pesky job interfering. Overall, I feel like I'm running much stronger than I have in a long time - faster paces are coming easier, I'm able to perform better on hills, and my endurance is coming back. I feel like 14-16 miles is my "happy long run" distance, so it's nice to see it back there.

Swimming:
Dare I say..... I am starting to see the appeal of this sport?? It helps that there is some progress being made, I'm sure, but I can definitely see how it can be relaxing. I am not struggling to keep a mental check-list of all the things to remember - kick, but not too much; breathe, 1, 2, 3; use this arm, now that arm. All those things were playing in my brain while I tried to swim, and it was really confusing for me. The more I practice, the easier it becomes, and the more efficiently I move. I like that. PLUS, I swear it helps with muscle recovery. I SWEAR.

Bike:
Ohhhh, the bike. I have to admit, I am just not really a fan. It's all fine and dandy until there's a hill, and then it's the HARDEST. I am doing.... okay here, I'm getting better every time I train on those stupid hills, but it's so so so so so hard. And going downhill fast freaks me out. Lose, lose. I just really don't love it. Yet?


Notes:

• I have a terrible habit of backloading my week with all the hard stuff.
• I'm so, SO happy to have long runs back in my calendar. 
• I'm not currently registered for anything, however, so I guess they're meaningless. Except that they make me SO HAPPY.
• I used salted caramel GU to bribe myself into finishing that long run. No regrets.
• Consistency is so important. 
• I must FINALLY be swimming "right", because I'm sore in all the right places (arms/chest/shoulders).

This week.... TAPER!
Monday: Easy swim (30 min)/rest
Tuesday: 45 min bike, easy; 5-6 mi easy run, XT
Wednesday: 600m swim, easy
Thursday: 4-5 mi easy run (strides), XT
Friday: REST!
Saturday: iTRY
Sunday: Long run, maybe.

Adventures in Tri - iTRYathlon training, week 5

Week 1 HERE
Week 2 HERE
Week 3 HERE
Week 4 HERE

Oh, hi.

When last we wrote (read?), I was unemployed, and training for a new-to-me event, a sprint tri.

So, nothing has changed there. Exciting, am I right?

I've been enjoying my time at home with the kids, and The H, who has been super fun and joined me for a lot of my training this week.

I have some things (hopefully) playing out on the job front, but... I'm not rushing things. Where I am today, is very different than where I was when I last hunted down a job, and I don't really want to jump back in to a field that was not making me happy, or take something with a company that isn't a good fit. I mean, if it becomes critical, obviously eating food and providing shelter is a bigger priority than whatever gratuitous job-fulfillment I'm seeking, but until then, I'm biding my time, making some connections, and feeling things out.

(I do have an interview today, at the *second* happiest place on earth, which would be part time and my "this sounds REALLY fun" plan....)

Anyway.

It was a really great week!

Monday: Swim
600m in the pool, 40 min.

Tuesday: XT, 6 mi speed work
Tank top arms and core videos, 6 miles with 3x1600

Wednesday: Bike and swim
12.85 mi bike ride - lollipop loop from our house up to the iTRY course, one loop of the hills, and back home. Followed that by a 600m swim in 28 minutes.... vast improvement over Monday!

Thursday: Babysitting
6 month old, which reminded me that I really only like babies in the context of their parents - if mom/dad are around to hand it back to, they are SO GREAT. This was a full day event, so I made Thursday my rest day. Because it exhausted me.

Friday: XT, run
Tank top arms and core, 2.3 miles with runDisney #D23EXPO funrun + 3.7 solo lonely LAME miles.

Saturday: BRICK - run/bike
3 miles on the iTRY course (HILLS), followed by quick transition and 3 loops on the bike course for 8.22 miles.

Sunday: Long run
12 miles, easy pace


Totals
Running - 27 miles
Swim - 1200m
Bike - 21ish miles

7:59 training time


Running:
27 miles - the 1600's were right on goal pace for me (goal was 9:28-9:13, actual was 9:27, 9:19, and 9:10). I've been kind of concerned about the iTRY course, because it's basically a loop of a ginormous hill...

Okay, so it's not as tragic as I might have said, but since I'm The Worst at hills, I've been concerned. When Coach Martha asked who could run a 30 minute 5k on that loop, I hesitated. Turns out, I didn't need to - it was TOTALLY fine, and I did it with no problem. Surprise! Overall, I'm feeling good about the running - I still don't think I'm quite as fast as I was a year ago, but it's getting there.

Swimming:
There is ACTUAL FOR REAL improvement being made, which is exciting. I am having a LOT of trouble kind of getting into a groove with the swim - the pool I have close by is short, so it takes a billion laps to make it a respectable distance, and it's not really.... smooth. Because it's so short, it's very choppy getting stopped by the wall all the time. I need to hunt down a longer pool this week. Swimming is still helping loosen up the muscles, which after this week, I REALLY appreciate.

Bike:
2 good rides this week. The long ride was done at a moderate pace, and did one loop of the iTRY course. I wanted to DIE on that loop. The H said that biking hills is harder than running them, and I did not believe him, but he was 100% correct. So I was a little devastated when I found out our bike training with Tri la Vie this weekend was HILL REPEATS.

What that looks like:

So that was pretty awful.

The iTRY course is only two loops, with some out and back to make 9 miles. I guess I'm glad I'm practicing now so I know what to expect, because holy crap, that was HARD.


Notes:

• We practiced transition this week between run/bike. I am confident that I'm pretty efficient at this, but.... we'll see?

• Training is exhausting, and I have no idea how I'd be doing this level of training if I were working full time. People who do that, are incredibly dedicated.
• It's really nice to see some measurable improvement in the swim - I'm still not good at it, but I'm getting better.
• BIKING UP HILL IS SO HARD. I never, ever would have imagined that running uphill would be easier, but it sure is.
• Salted caramel GU is amazing.

• I had a lot of FUN with training this week - I'm sure part of it was the runDisney fun, and the salted caramel GU, but in general... I kind of like the varied training that triathlon necessitates.
• It would be CRAZY to consider a half IM now..... right?

This week:
Monday: Swim, XT
Tuesday: 5-6 miles easy, 1 hour bike on hills, easy swim
Wednesday: 800m swim, XT
Thursday: 7 miles, 5x800
Friday: easy swim/XT/rest
Saturday: Brick - run/bike
Sunday: Long (12-14)


*****************************************************************************

Friday, I ran a 2.3 mile fun run with runDisney! As part of the D23 Expo this weekend, they hosted a meetup running a quick loop through California Adventure.

I love Disneyland.

I'll tell you a secret. I landed the Disneyland interview early last week, but I wasn't positive I wanted to pursue it until I saw these pictures. Anything that makes me THAT happy, may be somewhere I want to spend my time.

It was a ton of fun, as always - I just love that runDisney does these events. At the end of the run, they gave each of us this Runner Mickey Vinylmation, with a limited edition D23 medal!

Thanks, runDisney!!

Adventures in Tri - iTRYathlon training, week 3

Week 1 HERE
Week 2 HERE

Last week...

Monday: Bike, cross training
6ish mile bike ride to Target and back home - not too bad. Followed up with Tank Top Arms and 10 minute core.

Tuesday: Swim
Kind of, but not really. Mostly just practicing breathing and moving at the same time. 20 minutes easy pool time. Tuesday was my 35th birthday (heeeeeey, new AG!), and the day kind of sucked (not because of my birthday, just in general?). Anyway. That was all I could get myself motivated for, before I buried myself in bad tv, pizza, and ice cream cake.

Wednesday: Run, Swim
6 mile easy pace treadmill run, followed by riding my bike to a local lap pool for 30 minutes of drills and laps.

Thursday: Run, cross training
5 mile tempo run - nailed it. Goal: 1 mi wu, 3@ 9:44-9:22, 1 mi cool. Actual: 9:39, 9:32, 8:52. Followed by 30 minutes of Tank Top Arms, Core, and stretches.

Friday: REST!

Saturday: BRICK!
Easy pace 2 mile run, followed by - dun dun DUN - a 10 mile bike, at medium effort. The ride was not terrible - it was challenging, but in an entirely different way than running is.

Sunday: Long run
13 miles on trails. This was NO GOOD. But it was pretty.

Aside from yesterday's TERRIBLE run... Not a bad week, training-wise!

Running: 26 miles. Nice jump over last week. The paces are good, for me, so I'm happy with that. The tempo run was certainly challenging, and I threw in the last mile as a sort-of time trial - I think I could have maybe done a little faster, but I'm not disappointed with it, so it's fine for now. The long run Sunday ended up at an overall 14:50 pace - so for trails, not The Worst, but I'm especially okay with it knowing the elevation, stopping to take a billion pictures, and that I walked the last 4 miles - like, for real just walked.

Swimming: I really need to focus more here, because it's my most challenging sport so far, I think. I am still having trouble kind of connecting all of the movements - I know it will come with practice. I went to a neighborhood pool that was pretty great (aside from the skanky pants neighbor of mine that was there with NOT HIS WIFE, and did you know when you wear goggles you can see what people are doing under water GROSS). It for sure helps me with the leg soreness and fatigue, so that is great. If I ever stop feeling like I might drown, it might be something I want to add to my non-tri routine.

Bike: 2 rides, total of 16.5ish miles. I'm getting a little faster, so that's nice. The route we took had a lot of very short, but pretty steep inclines, so that was tricky - the race course has some long but gradual inclines. This week, I'd like to build in some training on similar routes to see how it goes.


Of note this week....

• Coach Martha from Tri La Vie advised us last week at the swim clinic that we would be exhausted mentally. Man. She was NOT joking. My brain is foggy and tired.
• Physically, I feel pretty good, even with the increased training. Last week, I put in 8.5 hours of training; the weeks preceding this were at 6:45, 5:30, 3:05. The variety of training elements helps - the swimming is definitely keeping my legs in good shape.
• I'm feeling pretty good about my run and bike - I was kind of eyeballing the results from last year to see how I'd stack up, and it looks like I probably won't be last, so that's great news ;). The run is coming faster than I anticipated, and the bike... I'm seeing steady improvement, and I'm not working a ton on it, so that's nice.
• The swim, though. That piece still confuses me.

Plan for this week....
Monday: Swim 30 min, cross train
Tuesday: Run, 6ish easy, bike
Wednesday: Bike, 1 hour (!!!), cross train
Thursday: Renegade Summer Trail Run #3! 5 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Bike, swim (bike to swim clinic, then home), cross train
Sunday: Long - 12-14

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On Saturday, #1 raced the City of Cypress 5k with some of her Cross Country teammates. I ran the 10k here a few years ago, and it's a great event - the race is well organized, the finish is great (popsicles!!), the support is great, and it's CHEAP - $25 for any distance if you register in advance (which we didn't do because see above about my foggy brain).

I thought this was the cutest thing ever ever ever.

The H putting the timing chip on her shoe for her. ADORABLE.

It was warm and sunny out, so not super ideal conditions, and #1 was coming off of a pretty hefty training week at XC Camp - she's obviously a running machine, because she is piling on more mileage than I am in a week.

Somehow, she nailed a new PR! Her previous PR was set at Chapman 5k in 2011, at 22:08. Saturday, she came in 21:57. She's the fastest.

She runs so pretty!

It is a SUPER stacked field, and that 21:57 was good for 7th in her AG. Madness.

 Also, I love spectating.