The only appropriate time to duckface…

The last two Saturdays have been cold and windy and/or rainy.  Perfect weather for running.  I had long bikes on the plan, and HTFU’d through them.  This Saturday was 80 degrees and sunny.  Perfect weather for biking.  I had 15-20 miles of running on the plan.  Sigh….

You know it’s hot when you’re laying on the tile to cool off.  In February.

This training cycle, my mantra has been HANDLE YOUR SHIT.  It might have different connotations to different people, but what it means to me is problem solving.  I am not going to win this race, that’s for certain, unless an asteroid hits at least the top half of my age group and somehow leaves me unscathed.  However, I will finish strong if I am constantly problem solving along the way, even if it takes a few seconds longer than just trying to ignore whatever is wrong for 14-17 hours.

So, when I was overheating in the 80+ degrees and humid conditions around mile 11, I did some things.

First, I stopped chasing Zliten who thrives in this weather (if it were last weekend in the cold *I* might be dragging HIM).  I let him go.  I only slowed 10-15 seconds average per mile in the second half but it made all the difference.

Second, I took some time and laid on the tile floor to cool down between bottle fills and stopped for just a moment every so often in the shade to catch my breath in the later miles.

I know if it were a race situation I’d spend less time effing around (there would also be aid stations with ice…), but even with my total elapsed time (with ALL the breaks), I’d have put down a slightly over 6 hour marathon.  I’m hoping to do a little better than that if I can, but that would still put me across the line in plenty of time.

My goal was 15-20 miles, and I was able to talk myself into 18.  I could tell I was badly adjusting my gait by then for various reasons, and I didn’t want to push through 2 more and risk not be able to train for a while.  Considering my longest run this cycle so far was 13.1, I’m totally happy with it.

All in all, this week’s training was rough to get through, but I completed everything as assigned and topped out at 14 hours this week, even without a long ride.

• 28.5 miles running – (5.5 hours)
  • 2×5.something miles easy hour runs
  • 18 mile long run
• 80 miles riding (6 hours)
  • 90 min endurance cycle class
  • 2 hour trainer (6×4 min intervals)
  • 2.5 hour recovery cruiser ride (with some decent hills)
• 5000m swimming (1.5 hours)
  • 1500m steady swim
  • 3500m long swim (with the last 250m of every 1000m with drills).
• 2 weights sessions (1 hour)
  • 1 lifting session at the gym
  • 1 dozen set

Rule #368 – the only appropriate time to duckface is when you’re actually posing with a duck.

I have been told (by my husband) that I’ve been a crankypants lately, and I suppose it would be hard to disagree. I honestly feel like I’m just pointing out facts, and a lot of those facts happen to be negative, but you know when you have to revise every single email you write three times or else you sound like the queen of the bitches?  Yeah, that’s where I was last week.  There was no big reason that my mood was subconsciously in the toilet a lot of the time, but it’s the 1000 cuts syndrome.

• My knee, for no reason, started to be cranky on Wednesday afternoon.  It’s been on and off since then.  The long run Saturday actually made it feel BETTER but the bike ride yesterday made it feel worse and it’s better today but my knee is broken, y’all *whine*…
• Lots of little stuff going on at work and everyone is having their Moon Moon moments (including me) missing obvious stuff because we’re just trying to keep it all together, barely.
• My enthusiasm for training is waning a bit.  It’s all good once I get going, but I had to talk myself into a lot of last week’s sessions.  I’ve been so smashed after weekend training lately that I barely feel like I get any time to relax.  This weekend was BETTER so I’m adapting, but the struggle is still real.
• We legit got to the pool on Wednesday, in swimsuits and all, and it was so crowded with a line of people waiting to swim, so we just turned around and left and got groceries and drank whiskey instead.  Making it up on Friday night with the pool to ourselves was actually quite nice, but it still changed my week from a nice 40-ish hour period off training before my long run to… NOT that.

I’m. just. tired.  I’m tired of my pit of hell stomach NEEDING not wanting 5 meals a day.  I’m simultaneously tired of SO MANY workouts and also feeling like I’m somehow not doing enough.  I’m tired of no time, never any time for anything.  I’m tired of ironman brain.  I’m tired of being bitchy for no reason.

So, it’s totally time for a rest week.  And hey, it’s here!

This one involves:

• Lots of swimming.  It’s hard to push it on other weeks, so recovery periods are going to be swim-focused.  I want to do 3 swims, and a long one of 4-5k.
• Fun cycling.  Mostly commuting and group rides.  While I’m nervous that somehow I’ll forget to ride long by not doing it two weeks in a row, I need the time off serious riding because riding for almost a workday is kind of draining.
• Run commuting and a run test.  I want to get my zones re-established for this new watch and I’d like to not just use what I tested a few years ago.
• Weights twice, stretching, rolling, all that good stuff.
• 7.5 hours planned.  I’ll be angry with myself if I top out over 9-10 and don’t have at least one full day OFF.

Nothing long, nothing taxing, just a reasonable amount of physical activity per day to stay sharp.  Hopefully this will refresh the energy and motivation and I’ll be ready to get back to it.

The flipside of Austin in Feburary.  It was a MISERABLE recovery ride, let me tell you.  😉

Life Stuff:

Last week I did Chapter 15.  This week it’s Chapter 16.  This is the last one!  After this, I’ll spend some time reviewing and then take my test.  It’s entirely possible that the next time we talk, I’ll be a certified ITCA Triathlon Coach! …but it’s also possible I may take next week to study.

I tracked my calories for 2239 average each day with -990 deficit.  My ratios were 107g protein, 65g fat, 29g fiber, and 254g carbs per day.  Mostly the right way for everything, honestly, except carbs.  I do really well keeping the fat lower on weekdays, but the weekend comes and I indulge.  I had about a quarter of a baguette and wayyyy too much garlic butter, probably like most of a stick of it.  Oh well, baby steps.

My average weight was 188.3, which is 0.8 down from last week.  The encouraging thing was the beginning of the week was 192 and 190, and I ended the week with a 186 and 185.  I didn’t swing up as much today after a weekend of training like normal, so we may actually be making progress here.  8 lbs to go to 70.3 weight!

4 drinks on Wednesday night, 6-ish (normally I use a shot glass and keep track but we were free pouring) on Saturday, and one Sunday beer at lunch.  I’ll call that a win!

Sleep and recovery continue to be prioritized.  I actually feel like a big kid triathlete for doing this stuff instead of forgetting it and then wondering why I get injured.  Me and my foam roller are BFFs, and I use the puffy legs a lot.  I could stretch more, though.  My sleep average is almost 9 hours per night, and over 4 of that is deep sleep.  My worst night of sleep was 7.25 hours and I was TIRED that next day.

Last week I did all the things! This week, being rest week (and a 3 day weekend to boot), I would like to get a *little* more done than normal but still, let’s not get crazy.

1. For the love of all that’s dear and fluffy… clean out the cars already.  Sheesh.
2. Spend at least a little time working on the office and/or pain cave.  Mount the monitors.  Clear out enough in the office to move the table in.  I don’t want to spend a whole day on it, but baby steps.
3. Get to Costco.  Organic chicken is REALLY expensive if you buy it at the grocery store!

And with that, I’m off to find more food, as usual.  At least a lot of it has been fruit and veg today!