The timing might not be ideal... I'm not sure. I'll be in good shape from just finishing the the Half Ironman, but the week after I'm guessing I'm going too be sore to do much, and then the next two weeks we'll be busy packing, having my last day of work, saying goodbyes, having family visit, and celebrating Nathan's graduation (woohoo!).
I have to do these races though- my plan for the last few years was to do both for the Amateur Challenge. I did the Sprint as my first triathlon in 2013, and I did the Olympic in 2014, so it's only logical that I'd do both in 2015! But that was my plan before I knew I'd be doing a half Ironman just 3 weeks earlier! So I had been on the fence about these races, but I'd regret it if I didn't do them. It'll be for fun, with no expectations.
And since we move back to Michigan the following Wednesday, this is kind of my little celebration of our time in Tennessee. One last hurrah!
And I'm even more crazy because I am seriously considering racing Ironman 70.3 Steelhead in Michigan this August.
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| Could one ever really be enough? :) |
Okay, but priorities... let's focus on Texas first.
Last week's training was awesome. I felt so strong!
I nailed my bike ride on Monday and during my brick run I was supposed to run at my easy pace and when I looked at my watch I was going 2 minutes/mile faster than that. I was really excited that the faster pace felt easy to me.
Later on I swam and I swear that was the best swim I have had since I started training. I don't know what it was, but the water felt amazing. I felt so streamlined and I was going faster than I've been able to recently. Finally! My swim progress had stalled for a long time, so this was exciting.
Tuesday was my last long Long Run. The way my long runs work is that I have 8-12 sets of my easy pace for 9 minutes with a 1 minute walk break. Then I have varying sets either at my marathon or threshold pace. Tuesday I had 3 sets of 8 minutes at my marathon pace with 5 minutes at my easy pace in between. Sometimes it's 2 or 3 sets of 7 minutes at threshold, or this week it was 3 sets of 9 minutes at marathon pace. Every week is a little bit different, but the set up is the same- all the speed work is done at the end when my legs are tired.
This whole year I have struggled with the speed work at the end of my long runs. I've had to cut it short by a minute or two, slow the pace down, or eliminate one of the sets.
Tuesday? I did all 3! And at times I was going faster than my marathon pace.
I ended up running a total of 13.2 miles and I felt like I could have kept running. I won't be running this distance again until the race, which is making me even more excited for the race because I already miss it just knowing it'll be awhile since I do that again.
Wednesday was just a swim day so my legs got a break. And it was a repeat of Monday- I felt strong in the water and was faster than what's usual for me.
Last Thursday I got to ride out on the roads finally. Tonia took me around some quiet back roads for a bit. There were 20 mph winds with 30 mph gusts!
I was so nervous going into this ride. I was excited and relieved to finally be getting good experience, but the winds and potential thunderstorms were making me so nervous. I kept telling myself it was good practice for the race because the race is historically windy. But still, I would have preferred to have time to get comfortable before the wind tried to knock me over.
But, I'm happy to report I actually had fun! There were hills and debris and dogs and wind and some cars, and even a few wrong turns, but I had a lot of fun. That's promising! We rode for 1:45, so I finished my ride on the trainer when I got home... for a total of 3 hours and 55 minutes- 20 minutes more than I was scheduled for. (I even considered sticking it out for 5 more minutes for an even 4 hours but my butt wanted off!). And then I ran for 30 minutes. And then I ate a lot of food!
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| We survived the wind! |
I just felt really good the whole week- it was amazing. After months of feeling horrible with my training, things have turned completely around.
This week hasn't been as great as last week, but it's still been good, so I'm trying to not let it get to me. I had to work on Monday and I was really worn out and skipped my swim, but really- that's all I've missed so far, so that's not bad.
Yesterday's (Tuesday) run was tough- and it was only 9 miles. It felt harder than my 13 from last week- probably due to the humidity... and the wind. I felt like I was being pushed backwards a few times. The wind here has been crazy lately.
Last night I met up with the Speedy Turtles group for a 12 mile ride. It was fun meeting new people, and I'm slowly getting more comfortable riding on the roads. I realized I really like climbing, so if I could just get comfortable descending, I might actually be okay at this bike riding thing. I just hate going so fast down those hills!
Today at some point is my final race rehearsal swim. Then tomorrow is my last long rehearsal bike and run. I'm a little anxious about tomorrow, but I know I'll feel better once it's over. Maybe one day I won't get so nervous about riding on the roads.
My bike needs to be adjusted again- it's so close to being right, but not quite there yet. It would have been best to get it adjusted before tomorrow's ride, but the timing didn't work out. I'm hoping to get it taken care of on Monday, though, so I'll still have plenty of time before the race to ride it and make sure it's comfortable.
And just like that the race is only 18 days away.
Seriously? I'm tapering already?
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