They make me faster & stronger. Coach Joe said this 3 years ago on my 1st ride on the Madison Ironman loop. Boy has that stuck in my head!! Who would've thought one little phrase could turn into something so powerful for me?! I seriously find myself saying it over and over as I'm climbing hills. Thanks Joe...it really does help!
Last week was my first ride on the Madison loop for this year. Overall, it wasn't as bad as I had remembered. Quite possibly, this was because when I rode it last year, from mile 15-40 I rode it with an arm injury which turned out to be a fractured elbow. So admittedly, last week I was a bit skittish on the downhills and near gravel...but I got in 60 hilly miles. Yes, 60...one full loop & a mini out-n-back on part of the 2nd loop. Note...the course is NOT meant to ride backwards...I found a hill on the backside worse than the 3 you know who's!! It was the only time I verbalized "Oh shit, this really hurts"...The ride went well. So did the short run after. Thankfully, I rode the course on Friday before the heat hit...here's to praying for cool weather on Sept 9th!!
And still loving the cadence on the bike computer. To all who told me last year to get cadence (Coach Jen I specifically remember you chiming in saying YES)...thank you. I love it! Nothing like seeing 5mph w/ 48 cadence staring at you while climbing Madison hills!! With no smaller ring to change down to. Although I'm convinced somehow the speed is off...convinced. The bike shop will think I'm crazy though if I bring it back in :( Seriously though, I think it's a great feature & am so glad I chose to go with it this time.
Sun I had a long trail run. Found the best place to run trails thanks to my friend Holly!! The old Meadowdale Speedway...no wonder she loves it so much. And let's not forget, it is HILLY! Wow, those were some hills. Thank you Holly...you've been raving about this place forever & I finally checked it out. Muncie has a hilly run I'm told so it was practice. And there too, I kept saying to myself "hills are my friends, they make me stronger & faster". One can hope!
And my swims...let's just say this, I've finally graduated to the 3,000 meter mark...seems like a whole lotta laps. One of these days I'm going to figure out how many laps equals 2.4 miles. So I know I can stop there :)
Madison is just around the corner. Why do I have a feeling training has only just begun??
Holy crap! That's just around the corner...I can't believe I've been training for 4 months already & Ironman is less than 4 months away. So much to do, so much to do!! Like get through my 1st 1/2 Ironman...which is Muncie, July 7th...last year, well, maybe I shouldn't talk about it & jinx myself. Let's just say, I'm going to wrap myself in bubble wrap the entire week before Muncie :) So this year my focus is really Madison. Not doing a bunch of little races. Just trying to stay healthy, uninjured & get my training in. And I am. And training is going good.
Last week I had probably one of the best brick workouts ever. I have no idea why...Sat I ran an hour something & did pilates. Sun I rode just under 3 hours then had an hour run. Boy was I dreading that run. And an HOUR to boot (sorry Jen, but this is what I was thinking...LOL). I rode Barrington Hills with some good bikers, which translates into Cathy hauling butt the entire time trying to keep up. The only thing I struggled with was taking in all the fluids I needed to...I really struggled with drinking as much as I was supposed to. Will have to work on that! And normally I get off the bike & well, you know how the legs feel. Like not wanting to run! But I did and the run went surprisingly good. Bonus was the time flew by.
Did I mention too that my new bike computer has cadence? Yeah, I know, many of you have it already. But this is new to me. I likey!! But boy, 90 sure isn't what I thought it was. As with everything else, seeing the actual number sure does something to my effort level!! Very cool to see what my average was after doing 40+ hilly miles. Anyways - new toy, something different to make the time pass during long rides.
Runs this past week felt good too. And my swims, oh heck, yes, they are going well too. I'm never going to be super fast, or probably even fast, but as long as I'm seeing improvement, I'm good with it. A friend asked me a few weeks ago how long I could swim for without stopping (he was swimming due to an Achilles problem). I told him I just need to swim 2.4 miles & not one stroke more!!! And I mean it :)
Wow, what a week! Coming off my rest week but man, I got my butt kicked. More than once!! I took some classes taught by my favorite instructors & overall had great workouts. OK, well, one more day to go...but assuming it doesn't rain tomorrow, I know I'll have a good bike ride.
I've said before, I love my weight training (although admittedly struggling with fitting it into my workout schedule lately). Over the past month or so, I've substituted my Sunday strength training session with a yoga class...one that uses light weights & a ball. I love this class! I'm not a traditional yoga person, but this class I love. I think it's geared towards athletes. I actually work up a sweat :)
And bad timing (day before my 2nd swim test...more on that later) but I took a No Limits class this week also. It's just what the name implies. Full body workout - no limits. Yes, Alisa, if you read this, you kicked my butt. I was sore for 2 days! Love it :) Unfortunately, with my normal schedule, I don't get to take her class, so bonus I was able to this week.
Wed was my 2nd swim test...seeing if I improved on my average pace per 100 meters. Where I'm NOT going to tell you what it is, I will say this...SCORE!!!!!!!!!! I dropped 9 seconds off my average 100m pace. I'm still not a fan of swimming but I'm very happy that I'm seeing improvement. Now to keep my elbow from entering the water before my hand...I've been corrected twice on that, by the same person on top of it and months apart. Still things to work on with regards to form, but at least I know what the issues are so I know what to work on :) Just happy about the swim test.....!
Had 2 good runs this week. Legs felt good, no pain. At this point, I'm not as concerned about my pace as I am staying injury free. Yes, I'm injury prone & there's no way I'm letting some injury screw up my season this year! I have enough other things doing that...LOL Did hill repeats today. Thanks to Donna for suggesting a hill close to home!! Holy steep hill though! I could've done without seeing the snake...yuk, it just laid there on the hill and didn't move. I kept thinking with each hill repeat I'm getting more tired & one of these times he's gonna slither onto me. UGH...but the run was good & fingers crossed tomorrow my shins will still feel OK.
Hoping for no rain tomorrow. I switched my weekend workouts so I could ride Barrington Hills with a group tomorrow. Looking forward to it! Haven't ridden with these guys in a few years so it'll be interesting. And I need to figure out how my new computer works...it has cadence & I've never had that on a bike before. I just hope I don't crash cuz I'm looking down at the computer while riding instead of watching where I'm going!!
So, overall, very good week. Now, I'm going to end with a question...if there are any Ironman. reading this...I have 2 cages on my bike for bottles. That's it. Do I need both an aero bottle as well as the behind the seat cages? I see bottles always popping out of the behind the seat ones...so just looking for opinions. Any particular brands you like? Any suggestions/comments will be much appreciated!!
