Alright, I am
finally sitting down and forcing myself to write a training update so I can
continue with all crazy peak week training that will be coming up. So, as briefly as possible, here’s what I’ve been doing the last few weeks.
Week 22: 4/23-4/29 (the week right after RAGE):
I really didn’t do any training this week, I
fit in a 20 minute swim Wednesday morning, but I was so stressed about school
that I wasn’t getting anything out of the workout and headed home. There, I proceeded to have a mini-breakdown
before finally asking for help with my grant proposal (I have a hard time
asking for help with pretty much anything…).
I was up all Friday night finishing the proposal, so I only ran 3 miles
on Saturday (on my way to a BBQ), biked for 1.5 hours on Sunday (I intended to
do more but my tire ripped as I was getting back to my car at the end of my
first loop) and ran for 45 minutes.
After
eating way too many cookies and gummy bears this week I decided to really focus
on a healthy diet until Ironman; without the stress of school this should be a
lot easier. Quick note for those of you
not in Salt Lake and therefore aren't all too familiar with my dietary changes: I
essentially became vegan January first. I prefer to say “whole-foods, plant
based” diet, because “vegan” makes me sound like an animal activist (I’m not –
I work in a mouse lab). There’s a good
article on what that entails here. Even
though I cut out meat, dairy and eggs, I’d been allowing myself non-vegan
cookies and cakes to make the transition easier (no cheesecake or ice cream
though, my rule was: if I can't see it, it doesn’t count). However, now, no more
cookie exception! I’m going to make
healthy bars and cookies at home and bring them to lab meetings or other times
when I know there will be tempting, non-vegan, not-healthy desserts.
Week 23: 4/30-5/6
(slowly reintroducing myself – 9 hours total)
- Monday:
normally a rest day, but since I got plenty of that last week I did a ten mile
trail run (1.5 hrs). I also got an iPhone over the weekend, so now I can take
sweet pictures during my workouts to post on my blog!
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| Pipeline Trail in Millcreek Canyon |
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| At the end of the trail, the other direction overlooks the city, but this was way prettier. |
- Tuesday: Swam
for just over an hour, no weight lifting this week.
- Wednesday:
Met Holly in Draper for a 6 mile run (50 minutes), which was a lot of fun. I’d been in a bad mood all day and probably
wouldn’t have had the motivation to get out for a run on my own, so I’m really
glad we had planned that. As usual, I
felt much better at the end.
- Thursday: 1
hr bike on trainer
- Friday: 1:20
run in morning
- Saturday: Volunteering
for IM St George! (more on that later) I went for a 2 hour run around Sand
Hollow Reservoir in between shifts. It
was so windy; my legs were getting sandblasted and there were drifts of red
sand up to a foot deep on the road in some places.
- Sunday: I was
too emotionally and physically exhausted to do much (also more on that later); I managed a 1.5 hr bike
ride before I got too cold and sad. I
went home and watched The Help with Sarah (great movie, I highly recommend it) and worked on post-Ironman tattoo ideas.
Week 24:
5/7-5/13 (only 7 weeks til the race! 17 hours total)
- Monday: rest
(didn’t feel like I deserved it, but figured I’d need it for the week ahead)
- Tuesday:1:15 swim and
weight lifting/core in morning and 1 hour run in evening, I did some intervals in a cemetery, which was kind of fun
and made me appreciate the burning in my legs and lungs.
- Wednesday: 45 bike on
trainer to 30
run
- Thursday: 1:05 swim and
weight lifting/core in morning and 1:30 bike up
Emigration Canyon in evening (10 miles/1 hour up then 30 minutes descending)
- Friday: 40 min swim
(cut short because of Saturday) in morning and 1 hr run in
afternoon with Chase (made me run fast!).
- Saturday:
I got up at
5:30 to start my long run and met up with the lab at the Susan G. Komen Race
for the Cure after 1:30, did another 22 minutes of running during the race, ran
home (10 minutes), took off my shirt (yay!) and did another 17 minutes (yes,
those 17 minutes were important). I met
up with lab for breakfast, bought new bike tire finally (it had been patched,
but not very well for the previous outdoor rides) and headed to do an open
water swim with some women from work. We did a few laps across a nice calm bay
(probably around 1.5 miles). One of the
women had done St. George the week before, and even though she finished the
swim and has completed lots of Ironmen, she had a hard time getting back in the
water. By the end she was fine but
seeing this made me a little apprehensive;
CdA could be as windy as St. George was, I need to swim in something a little
rougher than a pool before then.
- Sunday:
I drove over
Big Mountain to East Canyon reservoir, rode to Henefer and back, put on
sunscreen, then to Morgan and back for 5 hours total. I sunscreened up and ran
for an hour, which was really challenging; my legs didn’t have much left by
then. It was the hardest and longest
workout I’ve done so far; there was lots of chafing, more hills than I really
expected, and despite all the sunscreen my back still got burnt. My shoulders and neck were really tight by
the end; I could barely shoulder-check getting on the freeway to come
home. I had been planning on including
Big Mountain in the ride but talked myself out of it after driving up it. I’m sure it’s doable, but I might wait until
after the race when my legs aren’t perpetually sore.
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| Not a bad way to spend the afternoon... |
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