Having Some Fun, In Week Twenty-One

Before you read the weekly round-up at the end of this post, let me just say that things were all kinds of screwed up this week. First off, I started the week (Sunday and Monday) in Vail. I may just be a big weenie, but I can't breathe up there doing anything harder than just a easy walk. Pushing Sophie and Lauren up a slight incline in their double jogger made me very out of breath. I understand why, but it makes me feel pretty wimpy to be training for an Ironman but not able to survive a simple walk without side effects. Oddly enough, I can ski without any problem... but that's a whole different story. Regardless, I used Sunday and Monday as rest days, so my weekly totals really reflect that.

I made it home from Vail on Tuesday in time to run with my running group. The rest of my runs this week went pretty much according to plan, just a mile or two less than on the schedule. Getting all my swim time in was much more of a struggle. Getting to Beyer Pool and back to work in a reasonable time period is really becoming a challenge. The swims themselves are going just fine, but they've been cut short due to the hours of operation of the pool and my client schedules. And, the way I had to reschedule some of my workouts for the trip, my bike totals for the week look really weak! But, enough excuses!

On Monday, I left Vail and drove to see a friend (Nick, a CTS coach, who was one of the founders of the Ames tri club 3-4 years ago) in Colorado Springs. Along the way, I made a stop at the Colorado Running Company to make a special purchase. I'd heard about these, but was pretty skeptical, so I had to go see for myself. I asked the store employees what they thought of them and even tried a couple on. In the end, though, I just had to have one! So, I am the new, proud owner of my very own running SKIRT! Designed by triathlete Nicole DeBoom, I think I'm gonna really like my new pink and blue skirt! I'll have to post pictures of that when it makes it's debut!

Nick, aside from being a coach of triathletes, is also a 2-time IM Wisconsin finisher, so I had the chance to pick his brain a bit about some racing questions I've been pondering. We also watched his finisher DVD from a couple years ago. It made me much more nervous than I had expected, but also gave me a chance to see a bit of the course and what the whole could be like. After the IM video, we also watched the video from the year Nick won the Quad Cities Triathlon. It was cool to see, I didn't even know they made a DVD from that! I saw lots of people I know, but (thankfully) no images of me.

So, as week twenty-one comes to a close, I realize that I am one-third of the way through the training. I've come a long way so far, but looking ahead, I realize just how much more I have to get done. For the next twenty weeks, I'll have 3 swim workouts per week (up from 2), two brick workouts per week (one long one and one short one, up from 1), and more interval type running and biking workouts (as opposed to the steady-state stuff I've been doing). I'll also be putting in more hours (obviously), but I feel pretty good and ready to tackle this stuff!

Here are a few more pictures of the weekend with the girls:

Here's how the girls and I spent Easter Sunday

Both girls are smiling a lot more and are very expressive (Sophie on top, Lauren below)

Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 3300 yards
Bike: 1 hours, 40 minutes
Run: 21 miles