The schedule wasn’t quite just flowing into place this week. I had to do some back-and-forth and sessions alone in the cycling room to work it all out!

Sunday – Off. This was good for my ankles and shins to have a day off. I was feeling some soreness and twinges from all the cycling the week before. I did some concentrated foam rolling and calf stretching for a few days and am feeling good!

Monday – Swim session with McKenzie. The kids had the day off of school, and Jake had a playdate in the morning, so McKenzie and I headed to the pool to swim together. I warmed up and then did 6 x 200. McKenzie was swimming, and swimming right past or under me, and messing around with my fins. Then, she decided she was done swimming and sat on the edge of the pool. Soon after she got the brilliant idea to help me prepare for open swims. So, when I’d swim past her she’d kick her legs and splash me. It was actually some good practice for a few laps. Then, it got more and more wavey and splashy. I was cracking up. I couldn’t even swim in a straight line or breathe at all when I passed her. = 45 minutes

Tuesday – 60 min bike in cycling studio on my own, followed by 20 minute run. = 80 minutes

Wednesday – Swim 40 minutes Main set = 2 x 300. Then I did a call (all wet in the gym café sitting on a towel), followed by a 30 minute run. (I was supposed to do a 25 minute run, run I tacked on 5 extra minutes since I didn’t do the workouts back-to-back). Making it work! = 70 minutes

Thursday – Biked 10 minutes (after a call and before the group strength class I wanted to do.) Full body architect class. Then jumped back on the bike for 30 minutes (before I ran down to the locker room for my next call). = 100 minutes

Friday – 50 minutes on bike in cycling studio by myself (see pic!), followed by swim session. Main set = 2 x 500m. = 100 minutes

Saturday – 6 miles fast. It was unseasonably warm out, I was hot! I took a couple breaks, yet the 6 miles of running time averaged 8:53. That’s not race fast for me, yet pretty fast. = 60 minutes

TOTAL = 455 minutes = 7 hours, 35 minutes

• Swim – 135 minutes – 30%
• Bike – 150 minutes – 33%
• Run – 110 minutes – 24%
• Strength – 60 minutes – 13%

I started out doing monthly assessments and have fallen out of rhythm with that! So…Monthly Assessments are now being renamed “Assessments”!

I sat down a couple days ago (while on the bike!) to identify what I wanted to get done regarding overall progress and logistics for my training. Since I’m headed to Texas for my first triathlon on April 15, below is a list of what I want to accomplish by April 15.

Before the list of items to address, let’s first acknowledge some recent accomplishments!

Recent Accomplishments

• Got my bike all set up on my bike trainer
• Have been eating better during the day – apples with almond butter; hard boiled eggs, edamame, almonds and steamed veggies are staples)
• Focusing on stretching and foam rolling more – doing a good session of each a few times a week
• Figured out my early season sprint triathlon! More about that here.
• Rented a bike in Texas for my sprint triathlon (no easy feat)

Items to Handle by April 15

• Get bike rental or shipping logistics figured out for Hilton Head vacation
• Bike maintenance
• Bike tune up
• New bike pedals
• More outdoor riding
• Order Gatorade Endurance (what will be on the Ironman course)
• Buy wet suit
• Packing list for tri
• Look up my longest sessions for each sport and ensure they feel good/sufficient
• Register for VQ rides on Ironman Wisconsin course
• Couple more shifts in eating

2 weeks ago was a heavy swim week, last week was a heavy run week, and this week was a heavy cycling week! The big week of cycling seemed to go pretty well. You’ve heard me angst over swimming and rave about running, cycling is my neutral Switzerland.

 I enjoyed the cycling time this week. It is a little trickier to figure out the logistics. It snowed a little early in the week and then was hovering around 0 with 12 mph winds in the second time of the week, so even though I had visions of doing a least one of these biking sessions outdoors, it didn’t happen. I’m not too comfortable maneuvering on a little bit of frost or slick on the roads and I’m not terribly sure of how much I need to wear to be comfortable in the cold on a bike. So…I did it all indoors.

Sunday – Swim session, a fairly short and easy one.

Wu – 50 right left; 50 side kick; 50 383 shark fin; 50 swim w fists

Workout – 5 x 100; 50% bi, consecutive

Cd – 25 catch ups; 50 kick; 25 catch ups; 50 fins w 8s; 50 right left

= 30 minutes

Monday – Cycling class. I had a software training class to attend all day and a conference coaching call to do before that, so I got up at 5am to do the 5:45am class. This is the earliest I’ve ever gotten to the gym. And, guess what?? The electricity wasn’t on in the cycling studio! And management – with the keys to the appropriate breaker – wasn’t coming in for hours. So…there were 7 of us who – with the door propped open – did the class in the dark with songs playing softly over our instructor’s phone. Making it work! Got 45 minutes in, instead of the planned 60 minutes. But there was only 45 minutes on the plan, so I was a-ok.

In the evening, I did a swim session. Wow, this snuck up on me! 8 x 300 didn’t sound too bad. I didn’t do the math!! This was 2400 = my longest swim session yet!! I was in the water for 1 hour and 50 minutes. I had to move lanes twice as the kid swim team had practice and then as the Masters swim folks started setting themselves up. Yikes! I decided to skip my planned cool down and call it a day. It was good practice swimming with splashing on either side of me.

Wu – 50 right left; 50 shark fin; 50 383 side kick

Workout – 8 x 300; 50% bi (50 bi, 50 right left, etc)

Cd – 50 kick w 8s; 50 catch ups; 50 right left – DIDN’T DO

= 155 minutes

Tuesday – 7am 45-minute cycling class. Up early again! = 45 minutes

Wednesday – 70-minute bike ride at home on the trainer. = 70 minutes

Thursday – On Wednesday afternoon I saw my friend Dana’s name in my contacts as I was going through my database. My friend Dana passed away 2 years ago and for some reason seeing her name this week got me upset and crying for a bit. I emailed my 2 other friends who were best friends with her, and I tried to let the feelings out and process it. Unfortunately, on Thursday morning I was feeling down, dimmed, and tired. I went back to bed. More on that and my process of grieving here.

The plan was to do a 45 minute run, a 1-hour strength class, and a 30 minute swim session. Instead, I got in the 45-minute run and did 30 minutes of strength on my own. It’s hard for me – a Type A Planner – to shake it off when I don’t do what’s on the training schedule. Mixed with my emotional state, it wasn’t a great day for me. = 75 minutes

Friday – 90-minute bike ride. Showed up to a 60-minute cycling class 30 minutes early. Followed by a 20-minute run. =110 minutes

Saturday – 2 hours on the bike. Showed up 45 minutes before an hour cycling class, then stayed 15 minutes after. = 120 minutes

TOTAL = 605 minutes = 10 hours, 5 minutes

Ahhh, no wonder! No wonder I was feeling tired the second half of the week! Didn’t realize it was going to add up to this much. Although cycling hours don’t feel as tough to me as running or swimming hours… (wait till I get outside on the hills, right??!)

• Swim – 140 minutes = 23%
• Bike – 370 minutes = 61%
• Run – 65 minutes = 11%
• Strength – 30 minutes = 5%