Catching Up

As promised, my week's recap...

After really enjoying some rest last week, I had 15.5 hours on my T3 schedule to look forward to this week. On Sunday afternoon, I sat down with my handy spreadsheet and figured out how I would meet 15.5 hours of workouts. So far, it's gone like this:

Monday AM: 2800m @ Courtyard. This was a great swim and I felt very strong, thanks to taking the previous day off. I'm still in the T1 lane, but I ended up leading it at the end.

Monday PM: specialty run @ O'Henry. It was brutally hot, so we modified the workout to make it shorter. 2 warmup loops around the school, drills, 1 lap of 2 strideouts, 3 100% effort hill repeats up Possum Trot, 2 cooldown loops, 15 minutes of core. This was a fantastic run... the hill repeats wiped me out, but I could FEEL myself running faster than I expected. It's runs like these when I know I have the "fast capability" in me if I can just muster through the pain. Overall - AWESOME workout.

Tuesday AM: 2750m @ Lost Creek. Same workout as Monday, and Mo said I have lost my "flick!" Excellent. I showered quickly at LC and put on a t-shirt... it took me until I got to work to stop sweating, and then I decided to get dressed for the day.

Tuesday PM: bike @ T3 Compound. Schedule called for 2 hours, so I got there early. The workout was tough, but I made it and felt very strong at the end. I was using the very first samples of PureSport that Dean gave me in 2007 when I did my first cycling study. I hadn't used it yet because I couldn't figure out what it was - but low and behold it's the stuff we are encouraged to use now. Let me tell you, the stuff works.

Wednesday AM: core @ T3 Compound. I was asked halfway through if the class was comparable to the J&A's coreture class. I said it was easier... and then got my a$$ handed to me when Chrissie made us do a straight 6 minute set of core. I did more planking in this class then I ever expected... and will keep my mouth shut about J&A's! We listened to Michael Jackson the entire class, which was, uh, interesting.

Wednesday PM: quality run @ O'Henry. It actually felt cool out, which was awesome. 4 warmup laps, drills, 2 strideouts (I told Jess I finally figured out why they were called stride outs. DUH. Yes, my hair is naturally blond). 5 x 1000 repeats alternating 10k & 5K pace, 2 cooldown laps. Repeats were something like 5:05, 4:45, 5:01, 4:36, 5:00. Logan stopped me after the 2nd repeat to work on my form... and it worked. I love that he is being extremely specific on teaching me how to run... it's tiring to do, but I know it will pay off.

Thursday AM: bike @ T3 Compound. I was supposed to do a 2 hour ride, but I couldn't bring myself to stay on when everyone else got off. Regardless, the workout rocked. I made my resistance harder than Tuesday to be sure I was working, and I still met all my cadences. I'm really working on staying in the aero position - I get tired there pretty easily, but I know I will need to be comfortable in it. It's amazing how 90-100 rpm seems hard at first, but by the end of class 90-100rpm seems like recovery. Classes are working!

Thursday lunch: 2750 swim @ Lost Creek. I debated getting in T2, but chickened out and stayed in T1. During our main set of 6 x 150s - Suzanne told me I need to swim in T2. I'm excited about that (I need people to push me in swimming, I never feel like I work that hard) but I'm also nervous. I think I'll stay in T1 on Monday morning and see what Chrissie says after class. Apparently my stroke is looking pretty good, minus my lack of rotation and left flinging arm. :)

Friday: OFF! YAY!!!!!!! I LOVE RESTING!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow I have a 55 mile ride (Lost Creek to 360 to Parmer - yuck) and a short run; Sunday I have a 10 mile run and a Barton Springs swim. I'm actually very excited about both of these workouts.

I've been aiming to be in bed by 9:00pm every night. It's worked out okay... I'm at least getting more than 5 hours of sleep which helps. I'm also eating pretty well and staying hydrated.

I told Elizabeth on Monday that this week was going to be fantastic. Not just in training, but all around. It has been. To reference an earlier post, the jumping into the river isn't so bad. In fact, I quite like the life boat I've created.