Week 9 Summary

Week 9 was my first week back in the water although I only swam one time.  It was my first swim since Beach 2 Battleship on October 26th.  I started with 300 yards and my triceps were burning something fierce.  After kicking some they loosened up and except for feeling slow I started to regain a feel for the water.  The week was a good one.  I biked 150 miles, ran 51 miles which was my highest weekly total in that discipline so far this year, and swam 2,400 yards.  My total training time was 17.5 hours.  I did a long ride of 60 miles on Friday with local triathlete Dan Ward and it was VERY windy.  We rode almost straight into the wind the first half and then had a comfortable ride home although it seemed like the wind was dying down substantially in the evening.  We didn't begin the ride until almost 4:00 so by the time we turned the evening calm was probably setting in.  Sunday was my longest run yet this year of 13 miles.  It was the best I've felt on a long run yet.  My past few runs of 70 minutes or more all have left the top of my right foot a bit sore in the big tendon that runs over the ankle.  I didn't have any soreness after this long run.  I've been doing more interval work on the bike and while running.  I had 2 interval bike sessions and 2 interval run workouts.  Wednesday I ran a 10 minute warm up and then ran 6x3 minutes hard with 2 minute jog recovery between each.  Saturday I was really pleased with a track workout I did with Jen.  It was in the morning only 14 hours after finishing my long ride and my legs could still feel that ride in the wind.  I ran 4 sets of (600, 400, 200) trying to get some speed work at faster than 5k pace.  I ran consistent times all the way through hitting my 600's in 5:12/mile pace, the 400's in 4:56 pace, and the 200's all in 33 (4:24/mile pace).  I was most pleased by how my legs responded after the long ride.  Jen was very quick as well averaging under 5:20 pace through the entire 3 miles of intervals.  We were able to let the kids run around the track and play in the "sand box" (long jump pit) while we did the work out.  With the kids growing up so fast they are becoming much more a part of our workouts.  On Tuesday we ran 6 miles as a family with Owen on his bike and me pushing Payton in the single running stroller, and Super Mom running alongside.  Owen had his first big bike crash a few weeks back with some road rash scars and a bruise on his head under his helmet (thankfully he knows the importance of wearing that!)  He hasn't let that scare him away from his bike.  The kids are in tee ball on the same team and I found out practices are on Wednesday night.  That created a conflict for me with the Wednesday night group ride I enjoy getting to on the same night.  I decided I will help with tee ball and ride intervals alone before practice so I can be there to help with their practice.  I knew when I began this journey in 2009 that if I was still going strong 5 years later there would have to be changes to the way I trained.  Those changes are in place but I believe my best racing is still ahead of me despite the changes.  It adds motivation knowing I can prove to others that the balance of family, work, and competition can still produce good results.  The start of this week has been very encouraging.  I'll post more on that Sunday or Monday.  Thanks for reading.  DREAM BIG!!