In Full Swing

Last week was absolutely crazy. It was my biggest volume week of training I have ever done. When it was all said and done I worked out for 18 hours. That does not include any prep time or post workout travel. That is the actual time spent either swimming, biking or running all around this town.

The week included an 1:50 ride with the Thompson's on Monday. Roger HAD just got his new bike and was out to see what it could do. I will just say that his new bike is extremely fast and Jessi and I were hanging on for dear life. All in all it was a great ride in some pretty warm weather and all except for the part of me trying to ride my bike through sand, it was nice to get out on the road without rain and snow.

Tuesday's interval run was pretty tough. Had multiple intervals of 10K pace throughout the hour run and was glad it was over. I have been wondering if I was going to start any speed work. Well I guess it has begun...CRAP:) I struggled a bit in the Tuesday swim and I think it has to do with the late start and eating before the swim. I have been struggling with my nutrition on these 6:00 pm swims but I am now swimming in the mornings so hopefully they go better. I am usually pretty wore out and seem to have a lack of energy.

Wednesday was highlighted, not by a great workout but by Tim and Andy welcoming Baby A+ Elise into the world. Tim and Andy are extremely excited and I think Tim may have already entered Elise into her first triathlon. Do they have an age-award for a 3 month old. As in true Ironman training and with snow falling from the sky, I still jumped on my trainer for 2 hours. Thanks to Tiffany for riding the first half and to X-Men for getting me through the last half.

Thursday was a nice relaxing tough run with an awesome dinner afterwards at the Byrd's. Though at this point I was feeling pretty tired, I really had no idea what the next three days had in store. Well I did because I had my schedule but numbers are one thing and actually doing the workouts is another.

So Friday began with me trying to figure out how I was going to get in a 1.5 hour swim and a 2 hour bike ride. The weather was not all that great and since the Master's swim is at 4:00 pm it would have been difficult to get outside anyways. The swim was pretty tough. I wasn't feeling great but I was able to hang until the end and finish the 3,900 yard workout just in time to head home and jump on the trainer for yet another workout. Nothing like spending your Friday evening on a bike in front of the TV. The bike ride was tough with a 60 minute tempo but it did EVENTUALLY get over.

Saturday was my first chance of the season to get over to Coeur d' Alene and ride the Ironman course. I am pretty lucky to have the race right in my backyard and having the opportunity to ride the bike course whenever I want. Greg, Natalie, Trish, Dave, Greg's neighbor and I met up and head out for a 3:30 minute ride followed by a 30 minute run. The ride was great, the weather was perfect and the company made it all worth while. I know in a couple of months the course will seem a whole lot different but after the ride, I am excited to see what Ironman Sunday holds. Well at least I am after only riding one loop, I have a feeling the second loop might be a different story. You can watch Dave Erickson's video recap of our ride on Saturday at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTjVJhQAqyo. Hope I don't get in trouble for using this:)

So if Saturday wasn't enough, Sunday was full yet again with another 4,000 yard Master's swim and a 1:20 minute run. It was great to get out and run in only a long sleeve shirt and could have probably gotten away with shorts and a t-shirt. I ran the first part with Jessi and Dave and then continued on with Ron. We finished the 10.75 mile run in just over 1:20 and average mid- 7:30's.

Week Totals:

Swim: 4:30

Bike: 9:20
Run: 3:55

This was by far my biggest week and there are rumors that this is only the beginning. Ohh Boy!