Tell us about it! Canadian Thanksgiving + Columbus Day (New England)…
My goal had been to bike 100 miles. I forgot when I made that goal that I had to be at school early every morning, and I’m not into riding in the dark. I got a lot of swimming instead.
I am doing really well with eating! I am back to stickers-on-the-calendar and am at … let me look … nope, don’t want to because I don’t want to focus on numbers. Anyway, lots of days with stickers. There have been some tense moments but I am HANDLING IT.
M - 7 mi run, 2700 yd swim
T - 11 mi run
W - 8 mi run, 20 min. stairstepper, 2800 yd swim
T - 8.5 mi run, 6000 yd swim
F - 8.1 mi run, 5500 yd swim
S - 8 mi run, 2 mi walk
S - 10 mi run, 8 mi bike
Totals: 17k swim, 8 mi bike, 60.6 mi run, a bit of ‘other’
Goals this week: still trying to get a handle on the school-and-workout schedule and bus schedule (I am from Maine… taking the bus everywhere is quite the novelty!) so the goal is 1-2 swims, 2-3 rides, running takes care of itself.
Terrible really. I managed a 14mi run yesterday, but was travelling for work (auditing a factory in MEX) and got very little running done. I did pretty good on the wheat-exclusion diet, and felt a lot better for it. But mileage this last week was supposed to be ~50mi, was closer to 30mi 
Oh well. Get over it and move on.
This week: Keep good in the diet it’s helping!!!
M: off (post big run & drive home)
T: 5mi (am); 5mi (lunch)
W: 10mi (am)
R: 5mi (am)
F: 5mi (lunch)
St or Sun: 16mi.
Other day: 5mi
Stretch, eat well, sleep well.
TC: How is OSU so far? I’ve been wondering how you have been making out?
AP
OK. I did an hour each day I worked (either run or bike or a little of both) except the day I work all day and then drive home for the weekend.
Did a 5k last Saturday. I hadn’t done an open 5k since I started monitoring my iron intake and how I felt, after my spring anemia.
I wanted to GO FOR IT and see where I was at, see if maybe I could do a new PR. A guy friend was doing the 10k - I told him I was going under 23 for sure, and we hugged. He was going for a possible win. Everyone started together. I was using my Garmin in a race for the first time too, since I always take off too fast. Mile 1 proclamed 7:05 and I was worried that was too fast. But I felt really good.
Again, I took off too fast. However, I saw this on the watch and dialed the effort level back. I never ‘blew myself up’. Good! It thinned out at the split for the 10k-5k. I thought of my friend in the hospital and decided this one was for her.
Then something odd started to happen, I started to catch a couple of younger guys who had taken off way to fast and were obviously blown. When my Garmin bleeped mile 2, I thought, man, this is going by really fast. Mile 2 bleeped 7:15, I figured that was still pretty fast but it felt comfortably hard.
I charged on to the finish. I mis-guessed where the finish was. We took an extra turn to go through the ‘haunted’ ending to the run. It was hilarious. I didn’t look at my split for mile 3. I charged on to the finish. I saw the clock and couldn’t believe my eyes. I stopped my watch at the finish and had a swell of emotion. New PR for sure. And for some reason, mile 3 didn’t hurt like heck.
I won my age group and was 5th female overall. Chip time 21:43. Garmin claimed the course 3.05 miles, but it still would have been a major PR as my old PR was 23:58.
Age group prizes were printed toilet paper. Hilarious!
I am astounded. I have worked so hard for so long and never seemed to see results or improvement. I almost worry this came out of nowhere and will never happen again - some type of fluke. I hope the real reason is that I now know to monitor my iron.
I hope I don’t wake up from this wonderful dream.
5 more weeks of ‘off-season’ until I take my first round of exams (11/15-16). Then my work week will turn into work train eat sleep.
I am getting back into the habit of a structured training program and have been doing my best to be a “good” athlete (also know as following what the coach puts in the plan and not doing what I want when I want). I am actually finding myself enjoying having detailed workouts (X minutes at X power, X miles at X pace) as it seems to make the workouts go by much quicker. And I am back to consistently running double digit length runs at a decent pace on the weekend. I am still not sure how I am going to get in marathon shape before Tecumseh in December but I am going in with the idea that it will be ugly so maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Last week was something like this:
M: strength/ recovery run
T: bike/ recovery run
W: swim/pace run
Th: recovery run
F: strength/run
S: long run/swim
Sun: Missed my bike due to volunteering for 12 hours at the Chicago marathon. I really need to find a new aid station. Being at mile 18 means we get there about the same time as the Mile 3/5 stations but stay a whole lot longer. And to brag a bit, I coached 7 women to their first marathon finish this season. They all rocked it out on Sunday and had terrific times.
This week looks similar to last week but with a bit overall less volume as its a recovery week.
OSU is awesome. It is INTENSE but I am really happy here. I miss my little brother, and some of my professors at Maine, but I am doing well! Thanks for asking.
7 athletes, wow! That’s fantastic.
I am astounded. I have worked so hard for so long and never seemed to see results or improvement. I almost worry this came out of nowhere and will never happen again - some type of fluke. I hope the real reason is that I now know to monitor my iron.
I hope I don’t wake up from this wonderful dream.
Definitely not a fluke! Congrats 
last week’s goals:
- run x 6: WIN with a solid last long run before vulture bait
- bike x 3: FAIL. i rode around the block a couple of times to see if i’d got rid of the creak in my mtb seatpost
- swim x 4: WIN - i even laid down about my fastest 100 time since mid-summer, let alone since i broke myself!
- core/strength x 4: WIN
the other big WIN was making thanksgiving dinner for myself, my husband and my mum on sunday. it meant a lot to her because she hadn’t really known what to do about thanksgiving (dad always used to make a big turkey dinner), and we did all the cooking and eating at her house so she wouldn’t have to drive an hour home afterward.
this week’s goals:
- run x 4
- bike x 1 (done yesterday - nice easy 40k mtb on rail trail)
- swim x 3
- core/strength x 3 w/focus on mobility/stretch
vulture bait 25k trail race on saturday - hope it goes well, since i just signed up for a 6-hour ultra on the 27th!
oh, and i got my cast off last wednesday; have only needed a brace for cycling, and i’m seeing improvements with strength & mobility. doc is super happy with its condition, amazed i was able to swim already (let alone do an olympic distance tri + 50k mtb race), and is very optimistic for full recovery! he’s also pleased with the physio i’ve been doing myself (using therapy putty, elastic bands & baoding balls), so gave me a couple of other stretches to do and sent me on my way with a consult scheduled 7 weeks out just to see how things are progressing.
cheers!
-mistress k
misstressk–glad the healing is progressing well
determination–I’m not surprised you had the PR. Lore has it that the taper was discovered when athletes injured a few weeks out from an A race took time off until the race, and went for it anyway.
Speaking of injury… have had to dial back my swim yards and resort to pulling more often than not. The increase in swim volume, combined with re-injury, set my recovery back by at least 4, and possibly more, weeks. When I embarked on my swim adventure I was worried how my shoulders would hold up. Instead, it’s been my legs that have given me hell about it.
Plan now is to step down yards each day, mostly pull, and go for it on race day (this Saturday). My first 5 mile ows race.
That is AWESOME! I’m in a similar boat as you were and I still can’t quite crack 23 for a 5k yet. Very close but not yet. Huge improvement, glad to read it can be done!
AP
Good luck!!! That sounds awesome. Please let us know how you do.
Last week was a recovery week. I took the first three days totally off. I still have some nagging issues, but it was worth it.
M - walk the dogs
tu - walk the dogs
Wed - walk the dogs
Thurs - 9.6 run
Fri 7.6 run - bike 40 min
Sat 10 run - bike 1 hour
sun 17.5 - hills
Goals for this week
runx 5 days for 55 miles total
Bike x 3 days for at least 3 hours
Core x 2.
Have a great week everyone.