Tri Training Weeks 13 and 14

by - Monday, May 21, 2012

In the excitement of completing my first tri last week, I completely forgot to recap the week leading up to the race. I figured the easiest thing to do would just be to recap the last two weeks together.

Week 13:

Week 13 was sort of a taper week for my first triathlon. Not that I know the first thing about tapering for a tri, so the week ended up being a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of week. Plus with a day trip to NYC in the mix, I was doing my best just to get as many workouts as possible in.

Monday: Strength training

Emily and I had to switch things up and do our weekly lunch time strength workout out on Monday since I wasn't going to be in the office on Thursday.

Tuesday: Brick - 60 minute bike, 20 minute run

Last brick before the race!

Wednesday: FitBlogNYC

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Photo by Steven Meyer

Between waking up at 3:30 a.m. and not getting home until 9:30 p.m., there was just no time for workouts. Oh well, it happens.

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Rest

Saturday: RACE!

I did it!!

It was awesome!

Sunday: 60 minutes of bike drills

The day after I finished my sprint, I was so worried about how I would fuel on the bike, so Coach Zach taught me how to ride one handed so I can get to my water bottle and GU. It was frustrating just doing drills to pick up what seemed like such a basic skill. After 20 minutes of riding I was starting to get the hang out it. And by the end of the ride, I could successfully pull the water bottle out of the cage, take a drink and put it away. I have to go pretty slow when I do it, but whatever, at least I got the hang of it.

Week 14:

The week after the race should have been a just a regular training week where I could hit the workouts hard. However, that wasn't the case. Between the start of softball season and a weekend out of town for a work trip, I ended up having a meltdown on Friday about how I was completely failing at my training. Coach Zach talked me off the ledge and assured me that I wasn't missing any of my key workouts and that I still had plenty of time training left before the Philadelphia triathlon. I still feel like I lost some valuable training time last week, but there's not much I can do about it now, but move forward and keep kicking butt.

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 4.5 mile run with Evan and the zombies.

Hands down the most fun workout of the week. It wasn't a super serious run, and it was with friends. It was the way all workouts should be.

Wednesday: Softball

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I love softball more than anything. It's my favorite part of the week in the summer, but it does eat up my entire Wednesday night and leaves me exhausted on Thursdays. I would never give up softball for anything in the world, so I just need to find a way to make it work with my training.

Thursday: Unplanned rest.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 60 minute run

I was in Philly for a conference for work this weekend, so I had to wake up super duper early to get my run in Saturday before the start of the conference. Luckily, I woke up to absolutely gorgeous weather in Philly and had one of the best runs I've had in ages. I did 6.5ish miles in an hour along Kelly Drive.

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One of the famous boathouses

I love running along Kelly Drive, it's mostly flat, right along the water and full of other runners and bikers. I ran while listening to the zombie app and just let my legs move at whatever pace was comfortable for them. It was one of those perfect runs that makes me fall totally in love with running and especially early morning runs.

Sunday: 90 minute bike

As soon as I got off the train in DC, I headed out on my bike to get in my last training session for the week. I met Coach Zach along Beach Drive, and I could immediately tell the ride was going to suck. My legs were dead weight. I felt like I was spinning and spinning and just not getting anywhere. I was seeing my pace on my Garmin and couldn't believe I was moving so slow for how hard I felt like I was working. Near the one-hour mark, I was at the turn to head back home and ready to throw in the towel. Coach was having none of it though. He told me he'd throw a rock at my helmet unless I finished the workout. (Nice guy, that coach.) I finished out the workout and was so, so glad to be done.


There are just about four weeks until my Olympic distance triath. I'm confident that I can do all the distances on their own, but I'm a little bit nervous about stringing them all together. Good thing I still have a few more weeks to figure that all out!

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