Blue Skies Above

Glorious sunny days filled with activity = one very sore, but happy triathlete.

This weekend was Spring! Mother Nature listened to my plea last week for a dry day of biking and delivered with two of the best weekend days we've had in a while. It was sunny. It was warm. The wind was calm and life & training were feeling good.

The previous weekend I really struggled through training. As per usual, Saturday called for a long swim and bike, followed by a long run on Sunday, and while I know we are all entitled to ‘off’ days, they can still be a bit of a bummer. I felt clunky and tired on the bike, then sore and low-energy the next day on the run. It certainly wasn't the worst weekend of training I've ever had, and I was actually pretty happy with myself for how I handled it mentally (as in, I knew it would pass and better days were surely ahead) but it still isn't the most fun to force yourself through a less than joyous “gotta get it done” weekend.

The week following was a little bit of a ‘regeneration’ week (yay!), and while I felt pretty tired at the start of it, things began clicking and falling back into place as the week progressed. The highlight being a pretty stellar 6x 1km @ 10k RP run on Wednesday evening. With that, I could feel myself bouncing back ever so slightly.

Enter this past weekend.

Saturday we were up early to head out onto the bikes. It was a cold morning, with the night's frost still lingering on the cars, but the forecast was for sunshine and warm temperatures, so we knew we were in for a good day.

Out around Shawnigan Lake we pedaled, through Cobble Hill and then onto Hwy 1. Once on the Island Highway, we headed north. Really, it was a pretty uneventful ride (which I think is always a good thing). The pace was comfortable but not easy and the time flew by for me. I had some weird achiness in my hips that I could have lived without, but it wasn't anything that ruined the ride for me.

Before I knew it, we were at the Nanaimo airport (and the 70km mark in our journey) and it was time to turn around.

The way back was just as good as the first half. My pace was consistent throughout and the sun continued to shine.

The worst part of the ride was the nearly 5km of climbing we had to do right at the end to get back to our house. I should be used to this by now, as any ride that starts and ends at home has a pretty big hill to tackle, but it certainly wasn't my favourite part of Saturday's ride. That said, I'm sure it was good for me.

Saturday afternoon was spent running a couple errands and chilling at home with Shane and the pooch. I was supposed to swim, but the lure of the sun soaked couch and time with my two favourite guys won out. So I skipped it, comforted by the false promise to myself that I would swim the next day after my run (spoiler alert: that did NOT happen).

Sunday morning was another early one that saw Kirsten and me meeting up with the Trail Guys for a jaunt around Gowlland Tod Park.

A 35km road run was on the schedule, but we both decided we needed a change of pace, location and scenery and that the trails were calling our name. As such, we decided to do a time based run in the hills. 35km on the road would likely take us about 3.5hrs, so that was the plan for the day.

And so, 3.5hrs(+) of up, down and all around is what we did ~ Caleb Pike, Holmes Peak, Jocelyn Peak to Mount Work and back.

By the end of the run, my legs were like Jell-O. I felt like a baby animal that was first learning to walk. The serious fatigue in my legs made it seem like every one of my stabilizer muscles completely forgot how to function (and I'd say the soreness in my legs today is a good indication that I was using some forgotten muscles yesterday). By the end, I was sweaty, dirty and tired – it was a good kind of tired though.

The afternoon was spent in the sunshine, hanging out and doing some chores. So, while the weekend was full of training, it was also pretty productive in non-triathlon areas as well (which doesn't always happen) and I can happily say, I'm feeling pretty mentally refreshed.

Here’s hoping that feeling will carry on through the week. :)

Also, to end this post off, here are more of my #100happydays.

Day 2

I know I already posted a 'Day 2' in my previous post, but that evening Shane and I rediscovered an old road/trail across the street from our place and had a glorious walk up in the hills. Oh, and I couldn't choose just one photo. Oops.

Day 3

The perfect parallel park job – on the first try! A rare happening when I’m behind the wheel.

Plus: a night out at the theatre seeing some amazing dance.

Day 4

Toot Speed. Enough said.

Day 5

Random dinosaur sighting at the mall.
Pretty much the coolest (and most unexpected) thing ever. 

Day 6

Post-ride nap time with the Colonel. Thanks to Shane for capturing this moment.
Also, pretty sure that poor Rusty woke up covered in my drool, haha.

Day 7

Summit rewards = a glorious day and some of the clearest views I've ever seen.

Day 8

A beautiful spring wander at lunch along a mostly empty causeway.
While I have nothing against tourists (as they help make our city tick), it sure is a treat to have the harbour to yourself on a sunny day.