I might have to change the weekly title to something more interesting than a weekly count… it will be a pretty big number as it gets closer to IMLOU… maybe just the date of the week.  Anyways, on to training last week!  It was a big one, and this week is even bigger if all goes according to plan.  Earlier in the year I had thought that the biggest change as training ramped up would be weekend volume, however that has not been true. The week day volume also has increased a bit as well as intensity (well that I did expect), which I am able to manage but am realizing I need to get better with my time management!  I might have to enforce a 8:30p bedtime at this rate, I usually get in bed around 8:45/9 but read and play on my phone until closer to 10, and as the training hours go up, getting enough sleep needs to be a higher priority for recovery.

Week 23: 6/4-6/10

Monday – I started off the week with a 3825y swim which included a main set of 2×20 minutes (I’m starting to get some arm definition with all of these long swims, woohoo).  That evening I did hot yoga where someone in class fainted!  It was pretty scary (I’m sure much more for her!), I’ve been going to hot yoga for a long time and have never had anyone faint during a class.  Fortunately we had a nurse and a Dr. in our class and after  getting her some water/having her lay down she seemed to be doing better.  I will now remember to be better about drinking water in the afternoons before class!

Tuesday – Speedwork on the track before work: 1 mi w/u, 12×400 @5k pace, 1 mi cooldown. That evening after work I rode an hour easy easy easy on the trainer.

Wednesday – 2850y swim in the am with some surges/intervals, followed by a 1.5 hr intense trainer ride after work.  I’m going to have to start bringing two water bottles and two towels downstairs with me as I really sweat it up during these intense mid-week rides!

Thursday – I went into the office that day so I did my tempo run after work…in the heat.  It was rough and I didn’t hit all of the paces perfectly, but I got it done. The usual suspect: 1 mi warmup, 3×1 mi @ 7:30 followed by 2 mi @ 8:20 (in reality more like 9 minute pace…I was dying), 1 mi cooldown.

Friday – 2525 yd swim in the am, followed by a youtube yoga at lunch.  I prefer taking classes but I wasn’t able to fit it in, so a youtube was the next best option!

Saturday – 12 mi run with 10@ marathon pace.  I’m digging this ‘slower’ long run pace compared to trying to hit sub 8’s!  I will say though by mile 11 I was definitely feeling the fatigue set in, and it wasn’t as easy as I expected the run to feel since it was a slower than usual pace.  After the run I showered and JMR and I headed downtown for my cousin’s wedding.  Wearing heels after a long run is tough!  However dancing in them later in the evening is even more tough!  We got home around 11p and I was out by 11:30p.

Sunday – 4 hour long ride.  I had planned to get up at 5:30a to start the ride by 6:30, but with such a late bedtime, I slept in an extra hour.  I am going to title this ride ‘The ride of dying batteries’.  After parked and got my bike/bottles/etc ready I tried to calibrate the powermeter however it wouldn’t sync with my watch.  Sigh.  Several tries later with no luck I figured the battery was probably dead, since it was about the time it needed to be replaced.  Luckily I had an extra battery with me, unluckily I could not for the life of me get the darn cap/cover off to replace it.  Boo.  So off I went with no power (which isn’t the end of the world, but is a ‘nice to have’), and as I started my ride, my watch beeped ‘Low HR Battery’.  Ok, now it’s getting a little less than ideal.

Halfway through the ride I stopped at a convenience store to get water and some much-needed coke (sugar!), and noticed my watch battery was at 25%.  I realized I probably should have charged it the night before, but getting home so late I didn’t do a great job prepping my stuff for the ride the next day.  I hoped 25% would equal more than 2 hours of riding, and on I went.

The only photo evidence that the ride occurred.  This was to let JMR know I was still alive and halway done.  I feel the need to check in when riding solo… not that he has any clue where I ride in Columbia, IL.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, and I finished with around 71 miles in just over 4 hours.  I changed into my running shoes and started my 20 minute run only to sadly hear my watch beep with the message ‘Low Watch Battery’.  Oh man.  I was hoping it would hold out for the remaining 18 minutes and it did.  Phew.  Lesson learned, make sure batteries on all electronics are ready to go the night before long training sessions (or well any session).

By Sunday night I was pretty darn tired.  I rallied and went to my niece’s 6th birthday party but I was in bed by 8:30p.  Party animal.  See below about the peanut butter m&m’s though, that’s a bit wild.

Total Training Hours: 15:19 <– I may have eaten way too many peanut butter m&m’s and licorice this past week as a ‘reward’ knowing I had some extra calories from the training volume.  I kid you not, Sunday night I ate an entire bag of peanut butter m&m’s in bed while reading.  Guessing I might need to pay better attention to nutrition during the day so I don’t get crazy hungry like that at night again!

Happy Tuesday!