TGIM. Thank Goodness it’s… Tuesday? Yep. Tuesday. Tuesday is awesome because we’re moving right along in our week but there’s still so much awesome to look forward to. Let’s talk about the week’s Run, Bike, Swim. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
But let’s back up for a second – when last we met with a training recap, it was Thursday. I told you in my Thursday training update post that I was sitting in my cycling clothes before the kids got up, writing that blog post instead of doing a trainer workout, remember? I told you that you’d probably see a late-night bike trainer selfie on Instagram, didn’t I? And didn’t you?
Yes.
I do not disappoint with the late night bike trainer selfies! I started that workout at 9:36pm after having some issues swapping bikes on the trainer.
Because this doesn’t look right, does it?
No. No, it does not look right.
That’s my old road bike, in case you’re keeping track. And as you can imagine, it was not fun to swap the bikes that evening, prying a spring out of a crevice, but I finally got on the new triathlon bike for my hour workout.
And as I pedaled away watching Parenthood on the trainer, I did the math on the workout sets on my training plan and realized it added up to 75 minutes, not 1 hour. But the total workout listed was 1 hour in Training Peaks. So since it was about 10:40pm, I stopped at one hour, and I was okay with that. Truly.
It had been a busy day.
Earlier in the day I left work early to attend my middle’s Mother’s Day Tea at his Pre-K. It was lovely and sweet and special. And 100% worth taking a half day off work.
So let’s talk about Friday. Masters Swimming again – twice in one week.
This was the day when swimming clicked for me.
This was the day when I felt amazing and proclaimed “I heart swimming” all over the internet.
I have changed a few things about my stroke and form over the last few months, and suddenly swimming isn’t exhausting, it’s invigorating. I felt like I could keep swimming forever, so when Masters was over and I realized I was only at 1700 yards, I swam some more to even it up at 2,000.
And after that lovely start to Friday, my husband and I had to go car shopping. My beloved Honda CRV had seen better days, and so we decided it was time to buy a minivan. We have three adults (me, husband & au pair), three kids, a Great Dane, soccer coaching gear, hockey gear bags, bikes, and other things that we need to haul around.
And frankly, if I never hear “his leg is touching my leg” again, I’d be a happy person.
That was the kids checking it out, after which we put the car seats in and the youngest promptly threw a temper tantrum in the driveway because he liked sitting in the car with no carseat and didn’t quite get it that it was just for fun. Sorry, neighbors, for the screaming.
I finally made it to work after an exhausting time car shopping, and worked all day through an evening concert. I got home at about 1am.
Which meant I didn’t get up for Saturday’s ZOOMA Preview run. I feel so awful I missed it – I had been looking forward to it. But when the alarm went off at 5:45am and I hadn’t even been asleep 4.5 hours, I just could not get up to drive an hour to go run in Annapolis.
After a busy morning or other stuff, I took the kids to a birthday party, then my daughter went to her soccer game, and as soon as my husband came back with her, it was like a relay race – I headed out for my long run.
I ran 8 miles right at dinnertime, and my legs were not happy about it. Nor my stomach – it’s so hard to smell everyone’s dinner being grilled when you’re running. It was a slow and steady race with leaden legs.
On Sunday, Mother’s Day, the first thing I did was change a poopy diaper. Lucky me.
As a Mother’s Day treat, I didn’t want breakfast in bed or flowers – I really wanted to get in my long ride without getting a text saying “do you think you’ll be home soon?”
I feel like every week my long ride is cut short for one reason or another, so it was great to get in a solid 40 miles on the bike. I joined the Princeton Sports group ride of the Columbia Triathlon course for 25 miles, then went out and did more of those “fun” hills for another 15 on my own.
After that I came home to lovely handmade cards and paper flowers from the kids. They were so sweet! I took the older two kids to ice skating lessons, then we grilled for dinner.
Then my boys had their usual challenging bedtime – no Mother’s Day break for me! – and I fell asleep at 9:15pm, totally exhausted.
And that brings us full circle to Monday. Swimming. I’ve come to look forward to Mondays since I go to Masters Swimming at 6:30am and frankly, lately I’m bordering on addicted to swimming on Monday mornings. There’s something about waking up and getting the week started off right by donning bathing suit and swim cap, and hopping in the pool with a group of people who push you one notch beyond what you would be doing on your own in the pool.
And after I swam, I went to Muffins for Moms at my daughter’s school. She’s the sweetest.
So here we are on Tuesday. My plan calls for a ride and a run. But my legs are screaming for rest.
If I do anything, it will be a late-night trainer ride because I need one morning each week to just put away laundry and be “normal”, without rushing around squeezing in a workout.
I’m feeling a little anxious about my first triathlon of the season this weekend – the Columbia Triathlon. It’s an Olympic distance race. I’ve done two Olympic triathlons – the NYC Triathlon and the Reston Triathlon – and they were both so completely different from each other. This will be an interesting race – I’ve ridden the course 1.5 times now, and I think some of the run course is the same as the Iron Girl Columbia course I did last year.
Hilly.
It’s time to try on the wetsuit, organize my nutrition, and mentally prepare for Sunday’s race. Meanwhile, I’m totally distracted by Ironman 70.3 Eagleman – the bib numbers and swim waves have been posted, and I’m starting to get nervous!
Do you do any visualization or mental preparation for a race?
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