This week was ripe with lingering injury pain, mini bouts of strength, yoga and massage, quality time with the treadmill, challenging hills and a day when you are reminded just how much you love being on two wheels. This is week 11.
Photo courtesy of Coach Paul, five second before my precious last piece of PB&J fell to the ground and I had to make a very serious decision. I ate it.
Mon., 3/25: Strength
Oversleeping = moving your schedule around and just getting in a quick strength training session. The highlight? A Monday evening “hurts so good” sports therapy massage at my chiropractor.
Tues., 3/26: Swim & Hill Repeats
The swims are getting longer and so are the hill repeats. The hill repeats were challenging, but not as much as the foot pain I got at the end of the last repeat. Cue the nerves.
Wed., 3/27: Ride & Swim
Paying close attention to my foot pain, I changed my indoor ride and transition run to a longer indoor ride. Later that night, more time in the water.
Thurs., 3/28: Ride
Another indoor ride. Nice and sweaty, trying to focus on my petal stoke (think oval, not circle).
Fri., 3/29: Long Run
Guilty confession: I’m afraid of running solo in the dark. I will do it only if I know that the majority of my run will be in the light, rather than the other way around. I’ve tried to conquer these fears, but it’s not the night that I’m afraid of, it’s just plain runner safety. If I was with anyone else, it’s not a problem. Just solo running in the pitch black seems unsafe and something I don’t want to risk if I don’t have to.
Thus, with 15 morning miles on tap, I did the unthinkable: I ran 15 treadmill miles. I used to do long runs on the treadmill when I was commuting to my old job, but since then, I have done that sort of mileage on the dreadmill. Thankfully, the ClubSport treadmills all have personal TVs, I had my podcasts, my fuel, and of course, Matt Lauer soon kept me company.
Sat., 3/30: Long Ride
Every so often, you are reminded why you do all of this. This moment came again on Saturday.
75 miles through Morgan Territory, Diablo and beyond, where we climbed for what seemed like an eternity – over 7,700+ in total elevation gain for the day! There were points on the Morgan Territory climb that I thought my bike would actually fall over it was so steep, and the VIEWS, oh the views! I was tempted to stop and take photos, but then I’d have to figure out how to start climbing again and that wouldn’t be a pretty picture.
I heeded Coach Paul’s advice and really focused on getting in the right gear to keep my legs spinning to preserve them, and would you look at that, it worked! I rode for the majority of the ride by myself, just breathing and smiling so hard you could probably hear it. It was challenging, humbling and motivating all at the same time.
I love you cycling.
Oh, and I love you new sushi place that we just found. Thanks for filling my calorie defecit.
Sun., 3/31: Ride with Chicken Face
To top off my cycling high on Saturday, I woke up on Easter morning and made Chicken Face and I breakfast: orange vegan cinnamon rolls (SO, SO GOOD!) and spicy veggie scramble. It was heaven in my mouth.
Just when I thought the morning couldn’t get any better, Chicken Face asked if I wanted to go on a ride. Of course I said YES and we went on our first-ever ride together. 21.5 happy miles for his first “real” ride. I shared a few tips (weight back on the downhill, grip the horns, this is how you signal for debris) and it made my heart wanted to explode! He’s a natural already!
I closed out week 11 with:
13 hours and 33 minutes of training:
5,800 yards swimming
125.43 miles cycling
19.69 miles running
30 minutes strength
15 minutes yoga
While little injuries started to act up again this week, the weekend left me the happiest that I’ve been in a while. There’s nothing quite like finding the joy in what you love again, then sharing it with those you love.
Happy Easter and Happy Running!
, because you need one for obvious reasons. Carpet burn is never cool.
for core and hip strengthening exercises. But you should probably inflate it more than mine.
. I keep this little five pounder handy for core work as it’s cheaper and smaller than a medicine ball, and I can use it for Nike Training Club app workouts.
. Go with the trigger point for some real torture, not just the black foam. Plus, this compact size is much better for traveling (should you be so inclined) because I have no idea how you’re going to pass a three-foot foam roller as a carry on.
. I like the travel size for obvious, space-related reasons.
. I actually won these in a Secret Santa gift exchange two years ago (thanks 
. Truth be told, Coach Paul found me this one as we were doing transition laps around the track. Get one, put your butt on it, and try and roll out the magic.
