Rachel's IM Canada training: week 14 (of 24)

Posted by Rachel

Time flies! This Ironman just keeps getting closer and closer. This was a pretty good week, and I kept a positive mental attitude for all the biking (which was my goal!) Tomorrow I'm headed off on a one-day business trip to Santa Barbara, and I'm not actually sure if I'm prepared for it but I do know that I have all of my running things. Priorities, you know?

Here's a recap of my week 14:

Monday
am- 5000 yard swim. I'm not really getting any faster with more swimming but I am feeling stronger at the end of 5k, which is definitely progress! My last 500 at the end of the workout was 6:35, which means I wasn't dying.
pm- Trainer Road/Owl (60 min trainer ride). I like Owl the day after a long run to get a little bit of speed and threshold, but nothing crazy.

Tuesday
am- 3000 yard easy "bonus" extra swim, lots of pulling
pm- 9 mile run (7:35) w/ 4 x {1.5 miles tempo (7:17) + 0.5 mile recovery}

Wednesday
29.7 mile bike commute. It was headwindy and I'll admit I didn't give a whole lot of effort here. 13.2 mph/2400 ft climbing.

Thursday
am- showed up late to spin class- 12 miles/33 min + 15 min core class
pm- 6.5 mile run (8:30)

Friday
master's swim practice 4100 yards

Saturday
Epic Oakland to Mt. Diablo round trip. 90.5 miles biking, 9500 feet of climbing, 12.0 mph. Thanks to my training buddies, we got some great pics at the top! Matt and Katie have the group ones :)

It was good to practice hill pacing knowing that there was significant climbing throughout the ride. I did pretty well on fueling but did take Chen up on her offer to buy me a giant Snickers bar at our emergency gas station rest stop, bringing my calorie intake to about 1900 for the ride. I wonder if we're the only people who have ever looked at the nutrition facts for a snickers bar and been disappointed that it "only" has 220 cal/serving. I feel better about the ride in Whistler after having finished this.

Sunday
In the morning we volunteered for the "Tilden Tough Ten", and got a scenic but freezing cold spot right near the eucalyptus grove.

Afterward, I agreed to a trail run with Travers. I had forgotten (but now I remember) that I HATE trail running! On the way down, I had to walk a quarter mile section because it was steep, hole-y, and I was worried about falling off the side of a cliff. Then my legs were itchy from going through the grass. Then we passed a sign that said "warning- there are ticks out here"... no big deal. I suppose the redeeming quality of trail runs is the beautiful views. This is true, although it turns out if I take my eyes off the ground to appreciate the views for a split second, I fall flat on my face (like I did at mile 11.5). Luckily, I was so mad about it that I charged up the tough hill that was the last mile and ended up finishing a 12.5 mile trail run with 1395 feet of climbing in 9:18 pace. Great views and good training, but I won't be doing it again. Maybe for a hike instead.

And it wouldn't be a week of IM training without way overeating (at least our dinner was healthy). Time to watch the LAST episode ever of Mad Men!