This was another big week, and I got in both of my swim workouts. I think my coach gave up on having me swim 3x a week, just getting in 2x is a victory for me.  Although maybe if I actually keep it up and don’t skip them, she might start adding in a third. 😉

Monday – Rest Day.  It’s starting to feel weird having a day where I don’t do anything…maybe I should make it a ‘cleaning day’. Eh, I think ‘couch day’ sounds better for now. 🙂

Tuesday – 2,500y swim in the morning (it took forever, soo many kicksets), followed by a 45 min run in the afternoon @ 9:34 pace.

Wednesday – 1hr spin on the trainer followed by a 30 min run.

Random trainer shot I sent to JMR. I love that we have a designated spot in our basement for our bikes and workout equipment. I do not love the faux wood paneling.

Thursday – swam 2,100y in the am at a VERY SPEEDY (for me) pace, 1:49 sec/100y.  I don’t know if I have ever swam that pace before during an entire workout.  I will say that having zero kicksets did help speed up the average pace.  Now I’m very interested in seeing how the swim goes during my first race in June.

Not really training related, but at lunch I went to both the social security office AND the DMV in less than an hour (driving time included) and finally changed my last name!  I’m making my maiden name my middle name, so it’s not entirely gone 🙂  Also I cannot believe how easy and fast it was.  I figured I would just go to the social security office on Thursday and the DMV on Friday because it would take so long.  Impressive.

Friday – 1hr tempo run with 3 miles at Half Marathon pace.  I was dreading this run since the last time I did it, it was tough.  I managed to get it done with the 3 miles at 8:13, 8:15, 8:04 (I was happy for it to be the last mile), and an overall average pace of 8:43.

FAIL. Can you tell I was tired and ready for the weekend?

JMR drove to Quincy Friday night for a half-marathon he was running there on Saturday, so after my run I took advantage of a night solo and rented a redbox and may or may not have had a few chicken fingers for dinner.  Hey, I had a salad too, I was somewhat healthy!

Rented ‘Still Alice’, if you want a movie that will make you cry, I highly recommend it. Really though, it was a good movie.

Saturday – Vino Fondo.  I came into the race knowing it had some tough parts on the route since this is the third year I have done this ride (year 1, apparently I didn’t care writing about year 2).  But every year they change the course and mileage options so there are always some surprise hill(s) and challenges.  This year I was riding the 75 mile route, they offered 45 miles and 105 miles as well, but 75 seemed the most doable for me right now and worth the price.

The ride started off at 8:30a  Sugar Creek Winery where we descended the hill from the winery, rode along the katy trail for a mile and then the real ride began.  Within just a couple of miles there were several really steep hills.  Talk about getting warmed up quickly!  After being only five miles in I felt like I wanted to die.  Oh boy.  I’ve been training hills in Columbia, IL but not hills like this.  The route gradually calmed down to small rolling hills and I finally got settled in.

At the 25 mile mark we hit the first aid station and boy was I happy for a break!  Restroom stop, refilled on water and we were on our way.  The next 8 miles were flat, which was a nice break to just get into aero and push the pace, although it was very bumpy.  So bumpy that at the next rest stop we had to stop because my buddy who I was riding with realized his seat was about to fall off!!  All of the bumps loosened the main screw under his seat making it very wobbily.  Fortunately he had his bike tool set with him (note to self, I need to get one), and 15 minutes later we were ready to roll.

The next 25ish miles were pretty uneventful with a few heart-spiking climbs.  We made one more stop at the aid station at mile 64 for water and we were off to do the last BIG climb, Schleursberg, and finally head back to the winery.  The Schleursberg hill isn’t as steep as some of the earlier hills, but it is looong, and it is also a timed segment on the route for riders to compete for the fastest split of the day.  I however, just wanted to get up that darn hill!  It felt slow but I was :30 seconds faster than last year.  Not that huge of a difference but I’ll take it!

Finally it was time to hop on the katy trail for a little less than a mile and head back up the winery hill.  I was dreading this hill throughout the whole ride.  I remembered how steep it was when leaving and with every additional hill we kept climbing I felt more and more tired and worried about this hill.  Well, I turned right off the katy trail to immediately start climbing and realized I stink at sharp turns and made a very awkward wide turn in the other lane (there were cars, thank goodness they were stopped and didn’t run me over) and once I was back over to the right side, I realized I wasn’t in a low enough gear and pretty much toppled over.  Thank goodness I was able to unclip fast enough and my left foot stopped me from hitting the pavement (and embarrassing myself in front of cars and other cyclists).  So, I walked my bike up that dumb hill, and then continued to walk it through the finishers chute.  I was done.  I wanted my pint glass (finishers received a ‘Vino Fondo’ pint glass), bbq and a post-ride beer!

Maybe it will get filled with an IPA this coming weekend…..

I met up with my buddy and we headed back to the cars to put up our bikes, put away our gear and change out of our smelly, wet cycling clothes and shoes.  Once changed I felt much better!  We went to get food, a drink and hung out for a bit with fellow club members and finally around 4p I hit the road to head back home, ready for a nap.  Yes, you are reading that right, 4p!  We didn’t even get finished until 3p.  I figured the ride would take close to 5 hours, which it did 5:10, but I didn’t account for stopping as well….so we were out there for 6.5 hours!  I couldn’t believe it was 3p when I finally rode walked through the finishers chute.   What a long day.

Once I took a short nap I got a second wind and met up with my tri ladies for dinner.  I am certain that the burger and fries I ate definitely outweighed my calorie deficit from the ride, but oh well, it was a rough ride and deserved it 🙂  Back to healthy eating on Sunday!

Sunday – 1hr 15min run.  Boy was that rough.  My legs were angry and pretty beaten up from all of the hills the day before.  I think around mile 4 they felt a little less sluggish, but they managed to still feel pretty bad throughout the whole run.  Averaged a slow 9:37 pace, but I was glad to just get it done.

Total Training Hours: 11:10

Patrick says hello!  This is his new favorite spot.

I wonder what he’s looking at….