Tell us about it!
I’m finally recovering from my bout of bronchitis - it’s kind of depressing/humbling how fast I went from Ironman (May 18) to feeling like “wax paper woman” who just wanted to curl up in a ball and stop coughing ;-( But, I think the worst is over - yay!! I swam this morning - I had to stop every 25-50 yards to catch my breath, so it was a good opportunity to focus on my form and technique. Yesterday I felt well enough to volunteer at a sprint race and it was a blast - lots of newcomers who were so excited and nervous, and then so proud when they finished. I worked the run exit and was happy to keep 10 or 12 people from taking off on the run with their helmets still on 
Glad you’re recovering.
My goals had been 20k swim before I left Oregon (ran long Friday and didn’t get the final swim in… was enjoying the long run too much) and do one last long ride before I left (done).
Food… Tuesday night not so good but fine aside from that.
M - 8.5 mi run + 5300 yd swim
T - 6.5 mi run + 5300 yd swim
W - 7 mi run + 5500 yd swim
Th - 48 mi bike
F - 17 mi run
S - 8 mi run
S - 10 mi run
Totals - 16,100 yd swim; 48 mi bike; 57 mi run. Also an hour and a half of walking (dog)
Swim access is harder to come by here, so my goals for this week are 1-2 swims, 4-5 rides with one long, and in general to have bike time about equal to run time. So far I have banked 21 min. in favor of cycling 
until Friday of last week I had more swim time than run time…
I fell short on my running goal because of the bike racing I did over the weekend and travel. I missed a 3mi run and my long run.
I also just didn’t make the morning swim. 
So I didn’t swim AT ALL last week. I think I have myself resigned to having a bad year of swimming this year. SIGH.
It just sucks because I love it. I love swimming.
On the positive, I had fun doing a lot of biking over the weekend. And traveling to a new town. There was some awesome pizza on Fri. night that was just ‘crack on the tastebuds’. Heck yeah!
12 weeks left of my 1 year residency. I have put out a couple of resumes but apparently I need to do a blast of them. Ugh!
This week - get back to goal run mileage. Swim. Have a nice bike ride and get something for my dad for father’s day.
3 solid hours of biking and the best part, a new bike! My old hand-me-down served me well, but since my fave part of the training is the bike, we decided it was time for an upgrade. I found a beautiful Specialized Ruby with Shimano components that is not only a work of art, but FITS ME.
2.4 hours of training planned this week before my 2nd sprint tri on Sunday. A De Soto two-piece rental should arrive tomorrow - after being choked by the xterra for 30 minutes straight, I am hopeful for this suit fitting better. I also won’t be afraid to pop in the water as soon as possible and acclimate (since I acted like a cat in need of a bath at my first tri). My goal is to knock 15 minutes off my race time, 5 in the swim, 2 in transition, 5-6 in bike (the route is 2 mi shorter but has a nasty hill), and 5-6 on the run (which I bonked and walked most of last time), which would have me finishing in 2:15.
Pics of new baby:
Big news was that Eagleman was a 12 minute PR at 5:18. I haven’t PR’ed there since the first time I did the course five years ago, and I worked seriously hard on my run for it. I was thrilled to watch it pay off. Now, onto my bike split…
I’m still trying to get a hold of balancing training with my job and my social life. For two years it was job and training and zero social life, then for 18 months it was job and zero training and social life. Still looking for the sweet spot, but when I can manage to train for a PR, still have friends, and still have some level of professional satisfaction, it feels like a little victory. Baby steps.
Now on to recovery. (I have cankles today)
Busy week, lucky to work every day, as the school year is coming to an end, last day for students is June 20. I don’t think I’ll be working too much next week.
“Tapered” this week for a small local sprint.
Bike 1x spin class
Openwater swim 1x
Saturday & Sunday worked a swim meet (left early Sat to pickup packet 40+ miles away, and arrived after finishing triathlon on Sunday)
Sunday- Redondo Beach Triathlon–overall time was about 2 minutes faster than 2011 (last time I did this race), each split was 2+ minutes faster, except swim which was only about 1 min faster, so my transitions must have been slower. All of my training buddies were in a later wave, but I couldn’t switch due to the fact I had to be at the swim meet at a certain time. Swim was good, nice and calm, bike was okay, run is what it is. Tweaked my knee going up the stairs on the course, dang I should have used the elevator (RD made a comment about the elevator during pre-race talk.
When I was finishing the first loop of the bike, I saw an ambulance and lifeguard trucks coming to the turnaround point and thought someone had wiped out on the turnaround (it’s at the bottom of a little hill), then tonight as I was browsing FB I find out that a competitor died, not on the bike, but “finishing” the swim. Local newspaper said he collapsed as he was finishing the swim, so I don’t know if that means running out on the beach, up the asphalt/concrete path to transition or on the way in while still in the water. It’s a scary thought.
I’m thankful that my training buddies all were okay. It was the first open ocean/beach (with waves) swim for one of them, so a couple of the gals stuck with her on the swim, saw them coming out of the water as I headed out to run. We train open water regularly, but that is usually in a protected bay, and conditions the week before didn’t allow for us to get out to our usual “wavy” spot.
Congrats on the PR! That’s a great time.
Taper week for me, leading up to the Ches Bay 4.4 on Sunday. Between my status as an adult onset swimmer, and pampering injuries, this is the first race in a couple of years that I’ve gone into with the mentality of “completing” vs. “competing.” I practiced by talking about my upcoming “swim” (vs. race) and correcting those around me if they referred to my “race.”
I finished in a respectable time (top of the bottom third of the field), but probably could have swum a bit harder. Stopping to chat with a volunteer on a boat is probably a sign that I was lolly gagging about a bit too much.
Conditions were about as good as they can get for this race, with minimal current until the tides reversed, so for the last 1.4 miles or so, and very light wind. Water and air temps were a bit warm for wetsuit swimming–thank goodness there was some cloud cover or I would have been broiling. The local health department issued a water quality warning prior to the race because of storm water runoff; I did not care for the RD’s cavalier attitude about the warning.
So, I’m glad I did the race, but it’s a one time event for me. First, it’s very expensive. Second, race shirts were the usual unisex tent, and I’m of the mind that when I pay several hundred dollars in race fees, I ought to at least get a shirt that fits. Finally, I have to say of all the ows races I’ve done, I think this was the most boring. It’s basically a straight line between the bridge spans. Maybe if I was faster I would enjoy competing in this race, but as a recreational swimmer, I’ve done a lot more interesting swims at a much lower cost.
So I don’t know what is up next. Saw the sport doc on Thursday. She offered a cortisone shot in my hip so I could kick on the swim, but I declined. MRI should happen this week, and based on those results, I can make some decisions about the rest of the year.
Congratulations to everyone on their amazing races last week!! And good luck to those racing this weekend! I can’t wait to here how it goes.
Last week was average for me. I hit all of my goals - 6 runs totaling 48 miles and some yoga/stretching. But I didn’t execute the week the best I could have. I ended up missing a run midweek and instead of just dropping it, I just moved everything around and ran Th-Sun pushing 43 of those miles into those 4 days. I think my body would have liked me more if I would have had a rest day on Friday and got to spread out the mileage a bit more. The one highlight is that I did an orienteering meet on Sunday and either I am finally getting better at orienteering or the courses are getting easier. I am thinking it may be a mix of both. My teammates and I are considering leveling up at the next meet.
This weeks goals are 6 runs, 2 yogas and OT/PT for my wrist. I am on a huge deadline at work so I need to have great time management skills to be able to get everything I need (and want) to do done - workouts, coaching, work, blackhawks hockey and gardening.
Congrats to everyone on some great racing!
Last week’s goals:
Run x 6: WIN, including the last long run before half IM taper.
Bike x 4: WIN, though I didn’t ride my tri bike at all.
Swim x 3: WIN, especially really getting my stroke back on Saturday
Core/strength x 4: WIN
The metric century was a huge WIN as well - Tanker and I had an awesome day!
This week’s goals:
Run x 7
Bike x 3
Swim x 4
Core/strength x 4
I have ill advisedly decided to try my hand at the Cambridge Classic Mile on Friday, never having run a stand-alone mile before. For the $4 entry fee, I can’t resist, and the crowning touch of the evening will be watching Canadian Olympian Nate Brannen attempt to break the 4 minute mile on a cinder track!
Cheers!
-mistress k
Go Bruins!
Huge congrats on the PR!
The balance game is SO difficult - my fiance and I blew off 2 weeks of swim sessions before we realized there wasn’t enough motivation between us to swim at 6am. We have since joined a 7pm group and love it.
I hope your recovery is quick and painless Yay for all the ice packs in the world!
Tri3 - good luck with the MRI
mistressk - watching the pro race sounds really cool!
Just got home last night. I still have to do a RR but am doing not much of anything but walking the dog, weights, elliptical as my big Right toenail hasn’t decided if it’s coming off or not… early in the race, I toe-punted one of those hiway reflector markers and MAN OH MAN that hurts!!!
This week is all about getting back into some better sleeping & eating habits (ahem!) and easy non-running cardio. And doing that RR
The real challenge now will be: what next?
Some things I am debating include:
- fall marathon (this is a no-brainer in some respects)
- fall XC season (~8 races, super hard but fun)
- running the perfect 5k race
- working on my mile time (just sub 7 now, not really fast…)
- Berlin marathon 2014 (another check-box race for me, always wanted to run under the Brandenburg gate as a race finish; 2013 is full)
AP
Welcome back. I am excited to read your RR when it’s posted.
The XC races sound fun. I’m on a 5k/10k kick right now… trying to set some PRs
GL on the toenail - yowie!
The Brandenburg Tor is SO gorgeous - that whole area would be amazing to run (quite flat as I recall, too). I vote this 
Hey that’s awesome re: miler. I am really curious to hear how it goes! Good luck!
AP
ooooOOOhhh beautiful!
welcome back! SO waiting on the RR.