Week in Review- July 9-15

What a great training week. It was a bit of a challenge trying to fit everything in. My oldest kids are away which makes the house MUCH quieter but usually my oldest daughter babysits the other two in the early morning hours so that I can get a workout in. Even with the time constraint I was able to do two workouts almost everyday.
Mon- As mentioned previously I had a 12k run in the hot sun.
Tues- Went out on my bike for 60 min. Swim Total distance 1750 m. (Warm up, intervals,
cool down)
Wed- Bike for 60 min. Run (if you could call it that) 45 min, distance 7k
Thurs- Swim 2500m (Over distance)
Fri-Brick workout. 40 min bike 20 min run

Observations- I feel like such a rookie out on my bike. Over the winter most of my bike workouts consisted of aggressive spin classes. It's one thing to be strong on an indoor spin bike and quite another to be out on a "real" bike. Most of my bike rides this week were all about playing and getting used to gearing and ensuring that I'm not mashing my way around the city. Other than that it was awesome. I went out on all 3 rides at about 9 in the morning, I prefer being out at 5 in the morning but it still worked quited well. It's quite hilly around here so I have no choice but to begin hill training immediately.

Swimming was good this week. I'm really concentrating more on increasing my speed. I'm such a wimp when it comes to fast intervals. I can go and go for length after length when it's an easy over distance workout but I really have to psych myself up to do any speed work. I'm planning on joining the Master's swim club in my area in the fall. I'm certain that this will force me to work on speed. I also noticed some stiffness and soreness in my right shoulder. I had impingement difficulties last fall so I really have to watch my positioning and remember to stretch properly. Interesting that when I begin to work on speed that shoulder acts up. I'll have to watch that.

Running this week. It was a very hot week here in Vancouver and I thought I was impervious to it. My first run in the heat on Monday was fine so on Wed it didn't seem like such a big deal to head out at 1 in the afternoon. Not good. After 20 min or so I felt nauseous, especially in the direct sun. Part of my route was shaded so I continued to run when I was shaded but in the sun I was forced to slow to a walk. I really don't mind running in the heat but obviously this was a bit too much for me even with a hat and sunscreen and hydrating oneself. I also checked out a local run club. I'm already a member of a Tri club but I've never been able to go out on a training session with them because the time frames didn't work so well. This running club starts up in a two weeks and a core group of them are entering a half marathon in Nov. I would really like to do some training with others. I like training on my own, its very meditative but I think the social dynamic would be good for me and training in a group would help push me a bit more.

Today is my rest day. I find it hard to take a rest day sometimes but I keep reminding myself that it's really important to do so or I won't be able to keep up the level of training that I want to. I'm now roped into helping some of my neighbours paint and do some general upkeep around our neighbourhood. I have so much to do today wasn't sure if I wanted to spend 3 or 4 hours painting but it's hard to say no to my neighbour and friend.

Tomorrow I'm going biking with my Mom. My parents are avid cyclists, and train hard with HRM and cadence and the whole bit. I get to try out her old bike. She just got a brand new one. My mom and I are very similar in height so hopefully the bike will work for me. My Dad is going to help me make some adjustments so that it fits me properly. I know it's not as good as being fitted for a bike and ordering it in but I'm a student so my purchase of gear is pretty slow. I really have to scrimp and save to buy an item every 3 to 4 months. (especially bigger ticket items.) It's hard to pass up a free bike. I also plan to swim in their pool that day.

All in all I'm very happy with my week. I've been tired at times and some nights I went to bed shortly after my 3 year old daughter. I've also been very good with eating healthy and balanced. (and I remembered to take my iron!)