Nothing's a Bore, in Week Twenty-Four

Highlights of the week:

All three of my swims this week went really well. Monday's swim just flowed. Everything felt good, the workout kept my interest the whole time, and I felt well-rested after having Sunday as a rest day. Tuesday's swim (with the tri-newbies) was encouraging as we swam 100's for time. I surprised myself at the times I was swimming, and I wasn't really pushing myself. Then on Wednesday, a friend in another lane said my stroke had improved, I looked smooth in the water, and my hips were in a good position. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better week in the water.

The IronMaiden and I hit the road twice this week for training rides. I played hookie from work on Wednesday and fought 20mph headwinds in order to enjoy the somewhat spring time temperatures. It was just a quick 50 minute ride, but it was enough to prove to me how much I like the IronMaiden and irritate Roehr and Sparkle who were both at work at the time! Yesterday, I went for a nice ride (no wind!!!) with the tri-newbies. It wasn't quite as warm as Wednesday (and my toes were little ice blocks by the time I got home), but it was great to get out on the open road!

My running is still going fairly well. I had to use the treadmill more than I'd care to admit, but I think treadmill season is nearly over! Saturday's "long" run with the training group was 5. This week I decided that I would do my extra mileage before the group run, so I left the house about 30 minutes early and got 2.5 miles in before meeting the group for the 5 miler.

I finished getting signed up for all of this year's triathlons. After having to beg the race director to let me into the already full Quad Cities Tri last summer, I decided I'd better get thigs taken care of earlier this year. I also signed up for the Dutchman (Pella) Tri and the Spirit of Racine Tri.

There was a big (HUGE, if you live in Iowa) announcement for the triathlon world this week. Des Moines is hosting a ITU World Cup race in June 2007. This is only the 4th (or 5th, I forget) time that a World Cup event has been held in the United States, and it's gonna be right here in central Iowa. Even bigger is that there is a $700,000 purse for the race. That's basically unheard of in the world of triathlon. So, we'll have a bunch of pro triathletes competing in a Sunday afternoon race, and the rest of us mere mortals will get to race that morning. They expect that race to fill up very quickly - a year in advance, so I went ahead and signed up for that one, too!

Low points of the week:

A big round of thunderstorms came through Ames on Thursday night, knocking out power and making it impossible to go out for run. So, my week's planning was a bit thrown off... I took Thursday off, ran long on Friday morning, then had to run long again on Saturday morning.

My hamstring hasn't been exactly perfect lately. It's not like it's been, but I can certainly feel it back there. I get a massage tonight, so hopefully that will help a little bit.

Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 6000 yards
Bike: 2 hours, 20 minutes - all outside!!!
Run: 24 miles
Cross-Training: 25 minutes on Elliptical Trainer and about 30 minutes of lunges, squats, and core with various clients throughout the week.