Well. It's July 1. Race month. Less than a month to go. Less than 4 weeks to go. I go through a pretty extreme range of emotions about those facts on a daily basis these days. Those emotions can best be summed up in pictures from the [iconic] television shows and movies of my youth.
At first, I am all Pollyanna - yeah! I can do an Ironman! I am ready. Bring on the workouts!
And then I am like ... mmm ....
And then I get past the whole OMG and am kind of like um ... what am I doing?
And then I get all ...
And finally I'm like screw it:
This is pretty much my daily progression of feelings. It's always a good time around here these days. Things are completely normal and sane and good. Everything is Awesome!
One bit of exciting news is I replaced my sneakers! They were pretty old (got them in early April) and I've put a ton of miles on them. I could feel the need for new sneakers, which means it was probably a bit too late. Amy got a new pair recently and hers were gorgeous purple. I consider this a good omen. So, you can imagine my delight when I went to the running store I love and they had my favorite style of Saucony in bright ruby red. Yes! A good omen for me too!
Onto the workouts.
Week 32: 14:26:33 hours
At first, I am all Pollyanna - yeah! I can do an Ironman! I am ready. Bring on the workouts!
And then I am like ... mmm ....
And then I get past the whole OMG and am kind of like um ... what am I doing?
And then I get a little annoyed ... a little like ...
And finally I'm like screw it:
One bit of exciting news is I replaced my sneakers! They were pretty old (got them in early April) and I've put a ton of miles on them. I could feel the need for new sneakers, which means it was probably a bit too late. Amy got a new pair recently and hers were gorgeous purple. I consider this a good omen. So, you can imagine my delight when I went to the running store I love and they had my favorite style of Saucony in bright ruby red. Yes! A good omen for me too!
Onto the workouts.
Week 32: 14:26:33 hours
Swam: 2:34:43 hours (3.9 miles [6,913 yards] - all open water!)
Biked: 8:27:39 hours (99 miles outside; rest on trainer)
Ran: 3:15:54 hours (21 miles)
Workouts:
Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: Easy brick
Wednesday: Open Water Swim - long
Thursday: Easy brick
Friday: Bike - long [100 miles]
Saturday: Open Water Swim
Sunday: Long run [15 miles]
Monday was a rest day after a hard week at camp. I enjoyed it.
Tuesday and Thursday were both easy bricks: 50 minutes endurance bike and then 3 mile run. Both felt good. Both were pretty unremarkable.
Wednesday was an open water swim at Marsh Creek. Considering the last time I swam there in week 29 I saw a snake, I was a little nervous. But thankfully, no snake sightings this week. Amy and I went together. As usual, we got changed in our respective offices and then came out and ...
Work twinsies! This is not the first time this has happened. We were wearing the same shirt and shoes ... I kind of wish we had the same shorts too. But close enough. We both did the Iron distance swim: 2.4 miles. It was good. My swim was a little sluggish, but it was fine. I also completely blew off a buoy by accident and cut diagonally across the course. Whoopsies.
Friday was our long ride. We all took the day off and decided to ride on Friday, since it was a 100 miler. I am so glad we did. 100 miles is a looooong time to be in the saddle, and I was a little nervous to be out that far and that long solo. Bill came up with a great course that took us all over the area: from our area, out near where we did the French Creek iron tour a few weeks ago and all the way into Philly and back. I got attacked by gnats ... check out my arms and decolletage. Gnat city. Yes, I know I just directed the internet to check out my chest. Probably not the best decision.
Gnats aside, the ride was good. It was really hot, but that's all part of the deal at this point. I walked off the bike and thought I could do a long run now. Yay.
Saturday was a 1.5 mile open water swim at the lake in NJ where my coach offers swims. It was great and best of all, I ran into some new friends I made at training camp.
Sunday was my 15 mile long run. I did it in my hometown, and I decided to do a little tour - I mapped out a route that included a bunch of the lakes where I grew up swimming and my high school. The run was the now familiar (and welcome!) 9 minute run/1 minute walk. Even though I left at 6 am, it was really warm. But still ... a good run. Here are some sights:
Around Mile 2 - Terry's Ice Cream. Best ice cream ever!
Around Mile 3: Sunset Lake. Sadly, the field of grass behind it was once a lake. A few years ago, my hometown had a really nasty storm called a derecho. It dumped an insane amount of rain in the area and made all of the lakes overflow, which overwhelmed the town's water "raceway". They are working on fixing that, and supposedly, once it is fixed, the lakes will be refilled. Here's hoping! Because Sunset Lake needs to have water in it.
I took this picture on one of my walk breaks. This is the field adjacent to my high school. If I've ever told you that my high school was in the middle of a cornfield, you now know I wasn't kidding.
I saw these pretty purple flowers on the same walk break. I have no idea if they're actual flowers or weeds, but I thought they were pretty and snapped a pic. I may have been a little delirious from the heat at this point too: "ooh pretty flowers ... take picture ... purple ..."
See you swoon,
Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: Easy brick
Wednesday: Open Water Swim - long
Thursday: Easy brick
Friday: Bike - long [100 miles]
Saturday: Open Water Swim
Sunday: Long run [15 miles]
Monday was a rest day after a hard week at camp. I enjoyed it.
Tuesday and Thursday were both easy bricks: 50 minutes endurance bike and then 3 mile run. Both felt good. Both were pretty unremarkable.
Wednesday was an open water swim at Marsh Creek. Considering the last time I swam there in week 29 I saw a snake, I was a little nervous. But thankfully, no snake sightings this week. Amy and I went together. As usual, we got changed in our respective offices and then came out and ...
Work twinsies! This is not the first time this has happened. We were wearing the same shirt and shoes ... I kind of wish we had the same shorts too. But close enough. We both did the Iron distance swim: 2.4 miles. It was good. My swim was a little sluggish, but it was fine. I also completely blew off a buoy by accident and cut diagonally across the course. Whoopsies.
Friday was our long ride. We all took the day off and decided to ride on Friday, since it was a 100 miler. I am so glad we did. 100 miles is a looooong time to be in the saddle, and I was a little nervous to be out that far and that long solo. Bill came up with a great course that took us all over the area: from our area, out near where we did the French Creek iron tour a few weeks ago and all the way into Philly and back. I got attacked by gnats ... check out my arms and decolletage. Gnat city. Yes, I know I just directed the internet to check out my chest. Probably not the best decision.
Gnats aside, the ride was good. It was really hot, but that's all part of the deal at this point. I walked off the bike and thought I could do a long run now. Yay.
Saturday was a 1.5 mile open water swim at the lake in NJ where my coach offers swims. It was great and best of all, I ran into some new friends I made at training camp.
Sunday was my 15 mile long run. I did it in my hometown, and I decided to do a little tour - I mapped out a route that included a bunch of the lakes where I grew up swimming and my high school. The run was the now familiar (and welcome!) 9 minute run/1 minute walk. Even though I left at 6 am, it was really warm. But still ... a good run. Here are some sights:
Around Mile 2 - Terry's Ice Cream. Best ice cream ever!
Around Mile 3: Sunset Lake. Sadly, the field of grass behind it was once a lake. A few years ago, my hometown had a really nasty storm called a derecho. It dumped an insane amount of rain in the area and made all of the lakes overflow, which overwhelmed the town's water "raceway". They are working on fixing that, and supposedly, once it is fixed, the lakes will be refilled. Here's hoping! Because Sunset Lake needs to have water in it.
Around Mile 5, I hit Mary Elmer Lake. This lake still has water in it, but there is a sign that says no swimming. Sad.
At about Miles 10-12, I did a big long loop around my high school.
I took this picture on one of my walk breaks. This is the field adjacent to my high school. If I've ever told you that my high school was in the middle of a cornfield, you now know I wasn't kidding.
I saw these pretty purple flowers on the same walk break. I have no idea if they're actual flowers or weeds, but I thought they were pretty and snapped a pic. I may have been a little delirious from the heat at this point too: "ooh pretty flowers ... take picture ... purple ..."
This week is more of the same: a rest day on Monday (yay!), a bunch of easier workouts and some pretty tough ones. At this point, in order to survive and not freak holy heck out, I'm going to just keep my head down and keep on keeping on.
See you swoon,
LOL! You're almost there...it will be here before you know it. All the hard work is pretty much behind you now. Soon it will be time to reap the rewards of it all! I think you are more than ready to have a great race.
ReplyDeleteone day at a time and you'll kill that Ironman!
ReplyDeleteNice post, the girls in the pic are so funny.
ReplyDeleteThe posts are so funny and interesting, it makes me laugh.
ReplyDelete