Category: Calendars

Here is some good news: peak training is over and it’s time for taper! My ankle is still bothering me from the crash a few weeks ago. Hopefully, two weeks will be enough to get it back on track. Yesterday, I was supposed to run actually 10 miles, but I started to get lightheaded due to dehydration and low electrolytes and had to call it quits. I do feel encouraged that I can do it though, even if the run will be more like a walk/jog at some point. I checked the weather for the race: it’s supposed to be partially cloudy with a high of 72F. That may not sound totally awesome for the swim, but it will definitely make biking and running a lot easier than the 90s I’ve been getting in here!

Scorching week! The heat is definitely a killer and plenty of my workouts had to be done indoors. Unfortunately, my morning run on Wednesday caused more damage to my neck. Good news: it’s back to ok today. My ankle, on the other hand, still leaves a lot to be desired.

Back to heat: it was so hot that the indoor pool last Friday was uncomfortably warm. I still made it through my training. It got really bad over the weekend. I went to the pool with my daughter on Sunday and water there was so hot that I am still not convinced that it was any better than the hot air. And then there were nasty storms in the evenings that didn’t bring relief. We are promised some relief tonight, but it’s going to be back to ridiculously hot by the weekend. It’s my last week of peak training before taper, so it will have to happen, one way or another!

This week had one serious low: I crashed on Tuesday really badly. We had flash floods on Monday and on Tuesday morning, I lost control over my bike. It’s pretty bad, mostly in form of whiplash or something of that sort. I am slowly recovering, but it will take time before I’m back to 100%. In the meantime, I have only 4 weeks left until the race! I’m definitely freaked out about that. I have to say though that my Sunday workout made me feel a bit better. Running was a struggle, but I keep reminding myself that I know I can handle the running, even if it’s just a slow jog. I am really working on having some confidence in my ability to finish Ironman 70.3. I really am… But I guess we all get some form of performance anxiety before a big race, right?

Long weekend meant some fun travels 😊. I went with my daughter to the Great Wolf Lodge and had so much fun! In case you think I just relaxed and lounged around: I did like 20k steps per day! And being in a water park with a kid like mine is not all about sitting around. We had some intense fun! But next week is all about going back to solid, regular training. As much as I love the regular training, those breaks with alternative physical activity are a fun, necessary change, which allows me to resume regular training with renewed motivation 😊

Word ‘pre-fatigued muscle’ is still my favorite new word… That stretch of training between Thursday and Sunday was definitely quite something, especially with the sun, heat and humidity! I have fewer than 6 weeks left until the race and doubts whether I can do the Ironman 70.3 are getting worse every day. I looked at my training schedule and there is definitely a session that confuses me. It has a training ride that’s more than twice as long as IM70.3 distance and is supposed to be followed by a run. I honestly can’t imagine myself being able to complete it any time soon. The schedule is making an amazing job convincing me that I can’t do the race 😢 Hopefully, I will feel better about this endeavor soon…

Monday was busy with work stuff, so I didn’t get a chance for a workout. I was also still pretty hurt from the fall last Sunday. I still wasn’t up to running on Tuesday or Wednesday, but by Thursday, I was back at it. That 1 mile run was actually two half mile runs to the outdoor pool and back. I decided to try out my wetsuit. Lesson for the future: it gets really hot in it. I overheated badly, but I did get a nice swim in. I think I will also have to practice breathing in it – a bit tight around my chest (which I am pretty sure it’s supposed to be).

The weekend was nice – my daughter had birthday parties to go to both days, so I was able to get a ride and a run done. They were pretty challenging workouts – it’s getting hot around here and when I went was dictated by when the parties were. Which, as usual, was during very hot part of days. But I felt accomplished after 😊.

Let’s have another week of awesome training!

Last week started well and ended badly… I had a fabulous ride on Skyline Drive on Saturday, although I still don’t feel confident about biking on hills. Or that I will successfully finish my Ironman 70.3 in August for that matter. I am getting really stressed about that and I think I overdid it on training my legs. And as you can probably guess from this week’s calendar, it all came crashing on Sunday. I was planning on running 20 miles on Sunday. Or at least 13 miles. Sadly, on mile 6, I stepped wrong and fell. My pants ended up torn and my knee scraped. I chose to take it as a hint from my body it’s time to go home. Sadly, over 5 miles of walking home takes forever. I jogged a little bit on and off, but it was definitely not much of a training. After I rested a bit, I found out that I rolled my foot as part of the fall and it feels exactly as it did when I injured it last winter. Good news: I know how to fix it. Bad news: I will have to take a few days off from legs workouts.

Last week, somebody told me that for most people, spirit gives up before their body gives up. Clearly, I am not most people… My legs gave up on my running before I was done with my workout and I had every intention of finishing it (even if I was not overly happy about it).

Wish me quick recovery!

Running with my daughter was so much fun! It involves a lot of walking, but it’s nice to help her become a runner. She made her first mile in 12:37 and I’m proud of her 😊! Other than that, it was a rather uneventful week of training. I just get out there every day and try my best. I promise next week will be more interesting!

Saturday looks like no challenge, right? Just another 40 mile bike ride (I know, most people don’t ride 40 miles in one try), so how could this be progress? Easily: it was on Skyline Drive and included 4,686 feet of elevation gain. Sunday was challenging to say the least. I am really awful on uphills when it comes to bike riding, so I am currently obsessing about working on it. I am working on a regular blog article about it. I think I should be able to post it on Thursday!

First off: happy birthday to me! (Sunday). I had a weekend full of indulgences, since it was a long weekend and my birthday. I am getting a lot of use out of my research on working out in heat though! Crazy hot weather has arrived. I am trying to keep up the effort, but I have to admit that hiding from the heat is attractive. But work needs to be done and I am back to working hard!