I never thought i’d be happy see a recovery week coming up in my training, because its been brutal the past week as I stretch the distances and time spent doing training. I have 7 days until a recovery week, and although i’ll be out of the town for most of my upcoming recovery week on the 4th, i’m still looking forward to catching up on some sleep and letting my body rest the best I can. This past weeks training summary looks like this as I prepare for the last hard week until recovery:
- 153 minutes swimming (5500 meters total, one endurance swim, one speed and one distance)
- 163 running (~18 miles, mostly outside)
- 188 cycling (31 miles outside, 65 minutes indoors)
- 95 resistance training (circuit and weights)
Some of the highlights of the week start with the chickens .. I got so many comments on twitter yesterday when I wrote about the 3 chickens that cut me off when I was on my 25 mile bike ride yesterday. It really did happen despite the humor in my comments. I was out on some back country road called Longswamp Road (just about where that map takes you is where I was) and I saw these 3 chickens coming down someone’s front yard towards the road .. I was cruising about 19-20 mph at the time and thought to myself, “ah, those chickens won’t run into the road” and then I thought again … they’re chickens, they don’t know any better, so I quickly slowed down and thankfully there were no cars coming either direction because I was able to veer around them to avoid a wipeout or get hit by a car. I’m not sure who was more scared, the chickens or me .. actually, I don’t think the chickens really cared, they just went about their business like nothing happened… while I stopped and was looking at the ditch along the side of the road that i almost ended up in. I took a deep breath and then got on my way.
The rest of yesterdays ride was a little rough though (even before the chickens).. I decided to adjust my bike seat to be a little higher before I went to help relieve the pressure on my knees and I didn’t realize the complications that would cause with the clipless pedals (that have clips, go figure). I found that I was “just a little too high” to fully wtouch the ground when as I stopped, so when I stopped one time somewhere out there in the country to get a drink, I tipped over because like I always did, I only unclipped one pedal (of the clipless pedals).. Lesson learned. Well, after falling on my face like a fool, I jumped up quick like I planned to do that and got on my way.. I’ve since lowered the seat a bit so that doesn’t happen again.
As a matter of fact, my whole bike is getting tuned up the next two days, she’s at the shop now .. they’re going to fix the front derailleur cable that has been giving me a problem and tear it all apart and tighten it up. I should get her back after work on Tuesday .. it also gave me a chance to use my new Thule bike rack to get it there, it worked perfect. I was glad I spent the extra money on a good roof rack because I had a piece of mind that it wouldn’t fall off and wouldn’t scratch my car.
Some other highlights from the week include my first 1+ hour swimming session .. I managed to swim 1.25 miles non-stop (took me 43 minutes), and then came back for another 600m after that before I was done .. it was crazy although my shoulders were pretty sore afterwards. I did a killer speed swim workout on Wednesday, and I thanked myself that I actually made it so easy.. in looking at what I had planned ahead of time, it seemed easy, but it sure wasn’t.
As far as running goes, its been kind of uneventful since I’m so “good” at running, it comes second nature to me. No big highlight except i’m up past a 7 mile long run again, I haven’t run that long in months .. (which is pretty sad).
Well, next weekend I have my first formal bike ride with other people .. I did register for the Inaugural Let Me Go Charity Bike Ride to benefit St. Luke’s Hospice this coming Saturday, i’ll be doing the 25 mile distance. I figure this is the only way I can get used of riding with other people around me prior to the triathlon. Also, next weekend I have to register for the Lake Wanoha open water swims that start the first week of May (after I buy my wetsuit)… so lots of new stuff this weekend as we’re halfway through the training for the triathlon.
There is one thing I can say about doing triathlons .. its expensive … those of you that do them know what I mean between all the gear and accessories, ugh.