This weekend was busy and productive and now I am tired 🙂  A good tired though.  Friday was pretty uneventful, the Dr. appt was fine – my blood pressure is good, weight is the same as my lowest recorded (although those dumb stupid scales STILL weigh more than mine at home… why don’t they just tack on 2lbs to the scales they sell at the store because they always seem to weigh less than the ones at the Dr’s office?), and I also learned that my Dr. just did his first full Ironman two weeks ago.  He gave me some great tips for race day and after talking to him, I felt much more relaxed about race day.  Even though I switched jobs and he’s considered out of network, because he does multisports (not just casually, this guy did an 11:41 Ironman, woah!) and understands endurance athletes, I know (and have in the past) that if I go to him with an injury, he’ll give me legit advice and won’t just say, ‘you need to stop running/biking/etc’ or ‘you’re just doing too much’.  Totally worth the extra copay.  That night I turned in early to prepare for the busy planned weekend.

Saturday I woke up a bit later than planned, but because of the cooler temperatures I wasn’t worried about the late start for my long run.  The 14 miler went fairly well except for the last two miles which my entire upper back cramped up causing extreme discomfort while running and breathing, so those miles were a bit sad pace-wise.  I also ran (literally) into my neighbor at Forest Park and talked with him a bit about how training was going and race-day goals.  He shared a bit about his half that he did a year or two ago and any tips he had to offer; it was a nice break in the run and helped give me the energy for the second half of the run.

After the run I had half of a peanut butter sandwich, filled up my water bottle with enduralyte fizz and headed to the pool to swim my longest swim of the training cycle.  2,650 yards… sounded daunting to me, but once I got going (and with the help of the waterproof ipod for a slight distraction), it was over before I knew it.  Boom!  Plus at a good pace, 1:59/100 meters, well good for me 🙂

When I got home I drank my protein shake and lounged on the couch (I layed a towel down so I didn’t get it all gross with my sweaty funk) and when I finally heard JMR’s car, I decided I better hop in the shower.  We had plans to go to the Clayton Art fair, an annual art fair that attracts a lot of different types of artists with all kinds of varying art.  There are also food and drink vendors, so it’s a good way to spend a long afternoon or evening.

After several wardrobe changes (with the cooler weather I couldn’t decide what to wear), we were off and enjoying art.  I was very good and restrained from purchasing anything, as two years ago I bought a painting and last year I bought a ring, so that was a small victory for me (the stuff there isn’t cheap!).

Several hours later we left to get dinner and on the way stopped by my aunt’s house to drop off a bike helmet that I had borrowed…. a year ago.  Yes, I cringe typing that.  I love my mom, but on her side of the family, she has gained a reputation of being a ‘black hole’, as in if you leave anything at my parent’s house too long, it just up and disappears.  Apparently, I’m slowly carrying on that legacy.  Argh.  At least I did find the helmet and returned it, just a tad late.

Dinner was good, we went to our usual place, Lesters, and had a couple of beers afterwards watching the end of some college football games and then headed home.  We then took the little guy on a walk and finally headed to bed.  11p-ish was the last time I checked the clock, a tad late for a 6:45a wake up call for my club bike ride!

I did manage to get up in time, let the little guy up, pack up ALL of the gear, and head to Columbia, IL for a 40-ish planned ride.  I also packed all of my planned nutrition for race day (spoiler: I didn’t eat the gels, too busy trying to keep up with the fast group, but on race day I plan to eat them as well)

Planned Bike Nutrition for Race Day

The weather was cooler (low 60’s) when we started so I finally got to wear my arm warmers I bought well over a year ago with the intent on using for a run… not ride.  At that point in time, I thought riding a bike was ridiculous and I would never do it 🙂 Never say never!  I think the me that bought those arm warmers would be shocked to see what I’ve been doing recently.

Arm Warmers…hooray!

The ride was great, awesome weather, just a bit of headwind the last 15 miles, but all in all, the 48 we rode were pretty good miles on the bike 🙂  My training buddy was able to make it to the ride, as the past few weekends she’s been out-of-town, so it was good to see her as well.  When we hopped off the bikes, four of us ladies went off for a quick 4 mile brick run.  We averaged around a 9 min mile which makes me laugh because it felt effortless, yet there are days where ALL I am doing is a four mile run, and I can’t hold a 9 minute pace.  So… either I’m going to rock the run after the bike on race day, or the first four miles off of the bike are magical for me and then I’m in for a fun long run on race day.

I finally made it home around 1p, showered and put on nice, not-smelly clothes and after driving to the store for some food, I have been promptly parked on the couch and watching tv since.  Lazy?  Maybe.  I feel a bit guilty because I was hoping to swim after the ride/run, but it’s been a long weekend, and I haven’t gotten a lot of ‘rest’ time (especially being on my feet for 2+ hours at the art fair), so I feel like my body needs a bit of rest.

Next up: 5a wake up call for a long swim at the Y…hooray, it’s finally open after a 3-week hiatus.  It better be super-duper clean for all of the time it was closed for maintenance!!