Whoa! I can't believe that Week Three is already over and it's only 13 days til the race! I continue to be pretty tired in my workouts, but that is to be expected. And, I am in the midst of the taper period. Tapering is a mighty funny thing. You are used to putting in tons of time and working very hard, then just as you are starting to feel like you are getting somewhere (and feeling stronger and faster), you have to cut back. Don't get me wrong, I love the taper period and I always look forward to it, but I think everyone wants to keep pushing, trying to eek out that last little bit of fitness before the big race. Plus you have to deal with things like watching your caloric intake, not sleeping quite as well, getting crabby, etc. Actually, I think the taper might be harder on the people we triathletes come into contact with than it is on us! Watch out people, tapering triathlete in the room!
Coming off last week's high run mileage and low bike mileage, it was time to change that around for this week. For various reasons, I only ran 7 miles all week. I am supposed to be tapering, but not quite that much! I did get my butt back on the bike, though, and had a few decent rides. I decided not to head down to Des Moines on the weekend to ride with that group, so I asked around to see if anyone wanted to ride with me. Most everyone weenied out on me, except for Kevin and Crystal. They each picked a couple hour window, and I did a 37 mile loop with each one. It was a great morning for riding and the weather was nearly perfect. I'd never ridden the route we took and it turned out to be awesome - little traffic and smooth roads the whole way.
By the middle-end of the week, I was just wiped out. I had not desire to workout, and even when I did, it seemed something thwarted my efforts. It was really hot on Thursday, and I needed a 6-mile run and a swim. The plan was to drive to the pool, run, then jump into the pool both to cool-down and get my workout. I pulled up at the pool and it wasn't open. I forgot that it was the first day of school, so the pool didn't open til the evening. I was already there, so I just decided to do my run anyway. The wind was like a blast-furnace and my heart rate spiked after about 10 minutes of running, so I tried the walk-run method of keeping the HR down, but it didn't work. After about 30 minutes and about 2 miles of running, I called 'er quits.
That was fine in my mind. I headed home, took a long shower, got dressed and headed to DM to go out with a friend. I stayed out til about 11:30pm and even had a couple of beers. It was the first time I'd felt like a "real" person in a long time. It was very good for me mentally!
More on a personal level, I had some other big news this week. Apparently I decided that 3 part-time jobs are not enough for me, and I have a friend who had an opening for a 20-hour/week position. I applied, interviewed, and was hired. So, my new title is Employee Wellness Program Assistant for the Des Moines Area Community College. I get my own office, I can do personal training and teach fitness classes there as well, and make a few extra bucks. The only bummer is that my new office is in Ankeny, which is about a 30 minute drive from Ames. Not bad, but I'm really used to my 5 minute commute. This means that I'll be working WAY less at Custom Upholstery, but still doing my normal hours for the City of Ames and picking up a couple of hours for the City of Huxley. Nothing like training for an Ironman and working 4 jobs at the same time...
Week 3 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 4600 yards
Bike: 7 hours, 30 minutes
Run: 7 miles
Cross-Training: about 30 minutes of core and strength work.
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