ironman canada | week 16

Last Saturday I got a friendly little email reminder: Three months until Ironman Canada! How is that possible?!! Although last week was a bit meh – an unplanned rest day, fewer training hours than Coach Joe had planned in Training Peaks, endless rain and no sunshine – overall I feel great and am excited about the next few months of big training. I am ready!

Here’s my week!

MONDAY. A rest day today finally meant I had time for shoe shopping. I wasn’t overly impressed with the options, and I tried on Noosas like I always do – love the neon – hoping they’ll feel good (they never do). About an hour later, I left with a similar pair to what I’ve been running in: Nike ZM Elite 6.

TUESDAY. Tuesday Night Time Trials week two! Cold and rainy, but seven seconds faster than week one. Must be the wheels!

WEDNESDAY. I was pretty tired from TnT, but got my bum outta bed for an early morning swim test. Glad I did, too, because I cut another four seconds off my t-pace, and it’s now at 1:34. Progress in the pool feels good. The best part of my hilly seven-mile run after work: all the wonderful sidewalk poetry along Lexington. One of my favorites… (also, the new shoes feel great!)

THURSDAY. After a little aqua fit snafu at the two nearest LA Fitness gyms, today ended up as an unintended rest day. Guess I should have dragged myself outta bed at 5a…

FRIDAY. Helloooooo, four-day holiday weekend! It kicked off with the 2,400-yard swim I was supposed to do Thursday, followed by the longest run I’ve done since Grandma’s Marathon training in 2008. Not as fast as I’d planned (dang you, GI issues and humidity), but I’m still happy with it!

SATURDAY. Just a quick 90 minutes on the trainer followed by a quick 30-minute transition run before coffee with my sister and cousin Margaret.

SUNDAY. Best parts of today’s ride: lilacs everywhere, lots of hills (1,909 feet of climbing in 30 miles) and drafting off Nick’s wheel at 25 mph. Worst part of the ride: dropping and wrecking my chain climbing out of Afton. Thankfully we were only a few miles from my sister’s house, so I hung out there while Nick biked 20 miles home and then drove back to pick me up. A big thank you to Omnium Bike Shop for the quick fix!

In non-training news…

Saturday coffee dates are the best. Apparently Finley needed some coffee, too! (This is the very first picture of the three of us… Finley is three months old!)

Weekly stats: 10 hours, 40 minutes.

Swim	4,100 yards, 1:34:30
Bike	76.67 miles, 4:33:39 (one trainer ride)
Run	30.55 miles, 4:20:56
Strength	10 minutes

This week: More of the same plus the Endless Summer Trail Run Series 10K at Hyland Park on Wednesday (provided it doesn’t storm!).

Happy swimbikerunning, friends!