Week 9! Base Phase almost done (and mental breakdown #1)

Week 9 was a swim short due to some emergency room visit for the husband and then another for a visit to the immigration peeps. Andy is fine and we passed our interview so missing 1 out of 2 swims for the week was well worth it!

I am still in awe that my short runs during the week are now over 5 miles each time. And with that I'm even more amazed that I'm clearing about 18 miles a week. Being only week 9, I know what is to come soon... which is adding another run into the mix, I'm sure I will be running over 25 miles a week soon.

This week also marked my first total mental breakdown during this training process. I have read that sometimes all this training can cause mood swings, anger, depression, etc. But I just wasn't quite sure if I would fall victim to it because I am generally an even-keeled person who doesn't let things get to her very often. At least, so I've been told! But.. yeah, it happened. I won't go into specifics, but I was just super easily irritated and I didn't know when to just STOP, and the irritation turned into anger, and then that anger made me just feel like knocking my bike over and then I kicked the vacuum that decided to overheat. =/  I never get physical like that with stuff (and I really do mean never), this being the first time,  I'm actually pretty embarrassed even if Andy was the only one who saw. Eventually I blurted out, "I don't know why I'm mad, but I'm really mad!" and then I went and sobbed in the middle of the floor. I lied there for a little bit and relaxed. Felt better and made sure I sat and took it easy at ANY time I started to feel overwhelmed. I went for my run workout that day, and then chilled with some booze... :)

Actually.. now that I've put the week together and how it went with the ER, the interview, and whatnot.. maybe the breakdown makes sense.. like I guess I was more stressed than I thought? Hmm.

Going into week 10 feeling pretty good though I have to admit sometimes I just wish there were two days off in a row let alone maybe two days off in a week..

Week 8 - Recovery weeks seem more difficult

This week was what we would call a "recovery week", which means that basically the week 8 is similar to week 6... I think. This is supposed to give my body a little break before the training program tacks on a little bit more volume for weeks 9 and 10.

What I am finding with these recovery weeks, is that I seem to be much less motivated for the workouts that for the next weeks. I am not sure if that is because I'm having carryover from the weeks prior and my body needs this lower volume for rest or if the lower volume is just unmotivating.

Unmotivating so much, that come Wednesday evening, I just couldn't seem to be bothered with my 60 minute run (a long work day might have had something to do with that too), but instead I just opted to get some dinner and then do the planned run on Thursday morning instead. Yeah, it took away my rest day, but I still got 36 hours of rest in between Thursdays morning run and Fridays bike workout. However, doing this, I learned that my body is really not primed to run in the morning. The legs/knees just felt sore, speed was low, and heartrate wouldn't leave Zone 1 so I just felt lazy, I didn't want to run any faster, and then I cut the darn run short by 9 minutes!

Still feeling pretty good overall though. I've only missed two workouts (1 swim, 1 bike) in the 8 weeks so far. 22 weeks to go!

Week 7 - Training away from home

This week I was away from home and up in Hell Redding, CA where there was record breaking triple digit heat. It were hot!

The workout week seems a little light due to the lack of swimming. It is a shame really since I did purchase some stationary swim gear Aqua Sphere Stationary Swimmer, which I did use at the hotel on  Sunday (week 6), however I managed to forget my earplugs. :(  I really have to swim with earplugs otherwise my ears feel like they are going to explode and I kinda get an earache for about 12 hours and a risk to an ear infection. When I tested it out on Sunday, I swam for 30 minutes and my ears just couldn't take it anymore and I slept pretty terrible. It was hard to be motivated and do another swim during the week, so I just didn't bother.

I also missed out on a 60 minute, low intensity (Z1) 100+ cadence technique ride. The day I planned to do this was the same day I had to fully suit up in hazardous chemical protective equipment with a respirator and SCBA tank strapped to my back in TRIPLE DIGIT HEAT. By the time I got back to the hotel, I really could not be arsed to do that workout on a recumbent stationary trainer where the left foot strap was broken anyways.

The week was mostly filled with my appetite being upset (not getting hungry for dinner and eating at 9:30pm most nights), sleeping pretty late (after midnight, due to eating dinner so late), and eating really terrible (due to Redding have two types of food, burgers or Mexican).

I am really proud of myself for breaking the 1 hour run mark twice this week especially in the massive heat! I hope to do a mid-week post showcasing the Sacramento River Trail/Sundial Bridge before I forget about it. Really great running trail!

Week 6 - First outdoor, long ride with the tri bike

Week 6 is done. (with a swim on Sunday that is going towards week 7)

This week's milestone was taking the tri bike out for the first time! Now, since the first week of training, I have been using the tri bike on the indoor trainer for my brick workouts and my 100+ cadence technique workouts. These usually fell on Tuesdays and Fridays.

This week, however, my Dad came out to my neck of the woods on Saturday, which means we usually ride the San Gabriel River Path. We usually start at iconic area #3 (see the link), and either head north or south. Well, Saturday was shaping up to be blazing hot, so we headed south to Long Beach. Which is awesome we get to see the Queen Mary and whatnot. The path is a multi-use path with no vehicular traffic and no climbing, so it was perfect for testing the tri bike out.

I was a bit nervous, with my Dad out, there was a risk we'd get like 10 miles in and I'd be so uncomfortable we'd have to turn around and dredge back to the car. I am happy to report that was not the case, and I was able to do 50 miles with minimal discomfort for maybe the last 10 miles or so. MY NECK/SHOULDERS GOT TIRED! The soreness went away after 2 days though. So here I sit Monday evening, and I feel pretty good (especially after a 1h15m run in 100 F heat)