Train

I realized recently that I haven’t actually written much about training lately – and considering this is a blog about, well, triathlon training, I figured it was time to reflect on all the swimming, biking and running I’ve been doing lately.

That said, I guess training has been a little inconsistent as of late. On May 8th or 9th I was struck with one of the nastiest colds/flus I’ve had in a very long time. It zapped pretty much all my energy and knocked away most of my desire to do anything but lay on the couch and sleep. Taking Rusty for the odd, 20-30min walk was really the peak of my physical activity for the better part of a week.

On Friday the 13th, I decided it was time to try a light swim. This decision was more based on a feeling of guilt and a worry that I was losing fitness than on an actual desire to do anything, but I dragged myself to the pool nonetheless. I only swam about 1600m that day, but it actually felt really good to move, and so I slowly starting trying to get back on schedule with training.

For the next 3 or 4 days, most of my workouts were done at half the strength or half the duration from what was originally planned, but I found things slowly starting to get back to normal. Swimming felt easiest and was definitely the most enjoyable, whereas running was pretty much hell (but isn’t that always the case? haha - just joking). My chest and head were full of utter nastiness and every time I eased up even a little while running, a coughing fit would ensue.

That said, as the week progressed, so did my workouts and this past Saturday I put in a really solid day of training that I was pretty pleased with. It was just like last year – Kirsten and I hit the pool first thing, followed promptly by a solid (50k-ish) out and back ride on West Saanich, capped off with a short run off the bike. My legs were definitely wobbly on our run, and my chest ached a little, but it felt really good to have had such a good physical day… and we didn’t even get rained on!

Later that night I could tell I overdid it a bit as I crashed into bed, my chest and lungs aching like they haven’t in a very long time. For the most part though, it was a good tired and a good “hurt”.

Sunday I ran about 14k. It was a pretty slow pace the entire time, but a consistent pace (over a fairly rolling route) at the same time. The sun was shining and the roads were quiet, so while I didn’t necessarily love it, it was a decent outing.

Monday I had a scheduled rest day. Obviously, I’ve had lots of those lately, but I still kind of needed it. I did however attend a yogilates class with my Mom and then worked on my bike mounts and dismounts for a half hour or so. My “flying mount” is definitely coming along and I was feeling pretty darn smooth, so here’s hoping that translates into perfection on Sunday at my first race of the season (although something tells me things might be a little trickier with numb fingers and toes, as I doubt the lake is going to be very warm by Sunday).

Anyway, I’m having mixed emotions about this coming weekend’s race. On the surface I would say I don’t have much expectation for myself with how I’ve been feeling the last little while, but deep down, I know I’m going to want to do well and am hoping for a solid performance where everything comes together nicely. The pre-race jitters haven’t really hit yet, but I imagine they will be making an appearance in the next day or two. Fingers crossed for sunny weather and a warm warm swim :)