weekly workouts | july 23

Monday, July 23 – such a luxuriously lazy rest day! Not kidding, I sat my arse on the sofa as soon as I got home from work and barely moved until I crawled into bed. Oh, post-race relaxation joy… 🙂

Tuesday, July 24 – back on the bike for a recovery ride. Spinning my lead-like legs felt pretty fantastic, too. Summit to the Greenway gets a bit monotonous – because we bike it all.the.time – so Nick and I took a different route today…

cycling perspective.

cycling smiles.

Bike stats: 30.18 miles, 1:48:57.

Also, Nick can’t be trusted with my iPhone…

Wednesday, July 25 – there’s been a LOT of #bikegang talk on twitter lately, and tonight I discovered it was legit. Not only did KJ and Kristin already name their road bikes – Old Blue and Greg, respectively – we also rode in the rain.

(As an aside, I’ve had my Project One Madone for three – yes, three – years and it remains unnamed… suggestions?)

#bikeganglove

Bike stats: 35.18 miles, 2:17:20. Our route.

Thursday, July 26 – the first run post 70.3… my legs were definitely more tired than usual. My P2 teammates and I started out with a 20-minute warm-up run, which was followed with a track workout at Macalaster. Rather than pushing through all six one-mile intervals, I listened to my body and just did four. Hooray for negative splits!

Run stats:

• Warm-up: 2.1 miles, 20 minutes
• Workout: 4 x 1,600 meters – 7:24 / 7:23 / 7:21 / 7:10

Today’s fun fact: Nick and I met one year ago tonight while we were biking down Summit Avenue in Saint Paul. I was waiting for the stoplight to change at Summit and Hamline when he biked up, we started chatting and then pedaled together to the Cathedral. A pretty wonderful meet-cute if I do say so myself 🙂

Friday, July 27 – today’s rest day highlight: dinner at the Happy Gnome with this guy (where we had our first date exactly one year ago!)…

my fave 🙂

Saturday, July 28 – bright and early, Nick and I packed our bags and bikes and headed north for the rest of the weekend. After setting up camp at the Finland campground in the Finland State Forest, we headed back south to bike the Gitchi-Gami State Trail from Beaver Bay to Gooseberry Falls State Park (when finished, this trail will stretch 86 paved miles along Lake Superior). In between stops at Split Rock Lighthouse and Gooseberry Falls, shimmery blue water peaked through the trees as the trail winded up and down along scenic Highway 61. A stunning ride (and a must if next time you’re at the North Shore), despite sucking wind for much of it – and not just a head wind.

Signs that I’m still recovering from Sunday’s 70.3:

• Too many miles in the small chain ring. Normally, regardless of grade, the big chain ring is how I roll. My legs just didn’t have it in them today.
• High heart rate. I wish I would have wore my heart rate monitor because it was up there, pushing too high for a lower-key ride.
• My eyes were glued to my Garmin, counting down the minutes and miles. This never, ever happens, as my Madone is my happy place.

Bike stats: 27.45 miles, 1:47:34, route.

bike break near gooseberry falls.

b2 love.

madone love.

iPhone shadows.

i was *almost* tempted to jump…

Sunday, July 29 – following a morning walk along the Baptism River and bacon and eggs on the camp stove, we packed up and hit the road again for a quick 20-mile loop from Lester Park in Duluth.

morning walk along the baptism river.

ice bath.

camping adventures… many more to come…

biking into duluth along lester river road.

Bike stats, ride one: 20.2 miles, 1:13:58, route.

Bike stats, ride two (a quick spin to Macalaster to watch Nick’s soccer game): 4.28 miles, 18:27, route.

Weekly stats: A bike-centric week, which is a-ok! A swim or two would have been good for my tired legs…

Bike	117.29 miles, 7:25:51
Run	6.75 miles, 1:00

This week’s goals: Though it’s technically a rejuv week, I plan to do a couple swims, a longer bike ride and log a few more running miles. Even though I’m tired, it’s hard to rest!