17:30

As always, I'm typing this up Sunday night before bed and I'm exhausted and I'm not going to do myself justice with this recap. This is once again my biggest week of training ever. I rode 107 miles yesterday and eliminated any remaining doubt that I can do the 112 mile ride in the Ironman. I had a couple spectacular runs and one awful one. I didn't swim much but that's ok. I'm really feeling good and while I'm maybe getting a little sick of all this training, I am feeling confident. It's not that much longer, I can get through this.

Here is the quickie summary and then a few pictures.


Monday: rest

Tuesday: Run
10.0 miles/1:20:01/8:06 average pace
Fantastic run in Forest Park. The first 5 miles were 8:42 average pace and the last 5 were 7:18 average pace. It was effortless, even on the hills. Definitely one of those runs that reminds me why I do this shit.

Wednesday: Bike
1:00
Spin class, no Alisa since she was in Hawaii!

Wednesday: Run
4.5 miles/44:55/9:59 average pace
Easy run with Deana. She ran the 4.5 PLUS she had already run from her house which is about a mile away. That's maybe one of her longest runs so far? Awesome.

Wednesday: Swim
2700 yards/1:10
Class started late so even 10 minutes extra was actually like 20 minutes after. That was as long as I could make it because I was starving.

Thursday: Bike
22.5 miles/1:33:45/14.4 MPH
Really annoying ride. The Springwater trail had a detour set up right in the middle of where I like to do my repeats, so I had to come up with a different route which didn't work out, and I ended up riding around the parks and trail segments and through traffic that all resulted in a super slow ride. It was very frustrating.

Thursday: Swim
2000 yards/1:00
Zach finally came to Masters! We did a lot of drills and non-freestyle stuff but whatever. It's all beneficial I think.

Friday: Run
9.0 miles/1:18:17/8:42 average pace
Marine Drive after work. I made a point not to look at my watch the whole time and was just running by feel. I felt great! It was really neat to look at my splits after because I ran the middle five miles at exactly 8:40-8:42 pace. Talk about consistent!

Saturday: Bike
107 miles/7:12:45/14.8 MPH
Harvest Century
I was pretty nervous for the century ride since Zach wasn't going to be riding with me and Anne decided to skip it too. The distance was intimidating and I was just not into it. I got up about 5:15 and ate my usual breakfast and Zach drove me out to Hillsboro. It was COLD at the start- 40 degrees. Thankfully I had purchased some shoe covers and a warm head band the day before and that completely saved me! I stopped at all the rest stops and ate and called Zach to check in. I took it really easy and the first 40 miles were like nothing. It sort of warmed up and I continued to feel good for the middle miles. At mile 70 or so, a bee flew down my shirt and stung me on the boob. I found and killed the bee at the nearest rest stop and just didn't think about it until after. It wasn't that bad actually, but really weird! We stopped at the final rest stop at mile 82 and I was still feeling good. Pushed hard to the end and then ended up missing the final turn and rode a couple extra miles at the very end. I was feeling really good and thought it was kind of cool, the more the merrier! Zach was waiting at the finish and hung out with me while I ate my burger and chugged my beer. All in all, this ride was not that hard. That's good!! We went out to dinner with some friends and I didn't get to bed until about midnight.

Sunday: Run
14.0 miles/2:11:15/9:23 average pace
I was pretty sore this morning of course, so I decided to take Kim's advice and delay my long run for a few hours. I think this was good for my legs but it was hard to get motivated later in the day. I'm definitely a morning person for this kind of stuff. I finally drove up to Lacamas Lake and started my run about 2:00 pm. The run was pretty brutal- I was tired, bored, and just not that into it. It was slow going but I got it done. Headed over to Emily's after for fireside cocktails and Halloween crafts.

totals for the week:

swim: 2:10 (4700 yards)
bike: 9:45 (129.8 miles)
run: 5:35 (37.5 miles)

total training volume: 17:30

wow.

6 weeks to Ironman Arizona. Hang in there.




Pictures!

Harvest Century Ride

Before the start: Do I look excited? Cause I'm not. I'm nervous and freezing cold.

Off I go:

First rest stop at 16.5 miles:

Lunch stop at mile 41 at an elementary school:

Taking the Canby Ferry across the Willamette at mile 70:

Finally finishing. Check out the guy behind me with a finger gun to the head. He wasn't as OK with the extra mileage as I was:

BBQ:

Dead Guy Ale:

Banjo and band in background:

One last item is that I found out this week that Maritza, Deana, and her girlfriend Dana are all flying down to support me in Phoenix for the Ironman. My other best friend Inga lives there and will be housing the whole gang and there will be lots of family in town too. I feel extremely grateful and blessed for the support of my wonderful friends and I know it will really help me to have a great race. It really really really (x 100) means a lot to me to have them there. :)

Thanks for reading. Have a great week!