6 months. 6 MONTHS. JUST 6 Months to Augusta 70.3. It seemed like just yesterday that I signed up and I had almost 10 months to get ready. Now it is down to 6 months. 

I could look back at this week’s training and as a worry-wort, wonder how I am to ever accomplish this huge goal. Or I could look at the steps I’m taking and continue to take the steps and try to have a *tiny* bit of patience. 

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”
― Vincent van Gogh

Monday was logged as a complete rest day. I was exhausted from the kids activities the weekend before and just wanted to have a relaxing morning. I took advantage of that to drive the minions to school – always my favorite time of the day when I can squeeze it in. 

In the evening, I went down to listen to plans for a kids tri program in summer and had a nice dinner with Shawna afterwards. And fell in love with this bike at All3Sports. The sleekness, the color and the paint, I suppose, because I know next to nothing about bikes.

Tuesday started off with my usual 45min trainer ride. 

Followed by lunchtime swim. This was the first time swim was going up to 1600yds with drills and all. I *thought* I was swimming nice and smooth until I saw the time and I hadn’t completed the whole set. So I was a bit alarmed. A bit was an understatement there. I went unto full blown panic mode while driving back. I was *this* close to sending Coach a panic frenzy series of texts, but I knew that it was too early to panic and talked myself off the ledge. 6 months minus 2 days to get to 1.2 miles in under 1hr 10min. (I know Augusta is a downriver “easy” swim, but I still want to be able to do the regulation swim in the allotted time)

Wednesday, I liked to call my “monster run”. 3 time 2 mile repeats. At first I thought it was an April Fool’s joke, but then knowing coach, he probably was more than dead serious! Another early morning where runners seem to be scarce. My usual place was deserted at 6am and so I waited about 20-30min to see cars start pulling out of the driveaways before starting on the run.

There is something about the 2 mile repeats that is more mental than physical. My mind (and body too, to be honest) is ready to stop at 1 mile and have to keep going at the same pace is a hard transition. 

Thursday was a repeat swim. I went over the time allotted again, but atleast got better than Tuesday by 1min 🙂

When I started the hard trainer ride, I kept in mind that I had bonked on it the previous week. So I took the initial part steady to leave me enough oomph to finish it off!

After the hard back to back Wednesday and Thursday, both in terms of workout and work load with late nights and early mornings, by the time Friday rolled around, I was exhausted and slept in. Sleeping in means that I unfortunately missed my 45min base run.

Saturday morning was the much awaited swim clinic at Dynamo with THE Maria Thrash. I even took time to shave. Hehe.  

The lowlight of the clinic for me was not even the clinic. When we jumped in to warmup, I panicked in the cold water. Ugh. I haven’t done that in AGES!! And it wasn’t even that cold!!!! So frustrating. Luckily the clinic was moved to the warm pool and that helped me focus better. But HATE that I panicked in the cold water. It’s not like Augusta swim is going to be 84F, I better learn to cope and SIUP!

To give a short takeaway, I over-rotate my hips (Hips don’t lie!!) and my pull is too shallow. Two little things to work on, before the rest. 

I planned to run around noon after the swim, but I fell asleep on the couch; literally mid-text!! I woke up after a bit, completed the text and promptly fell asleep again! Luckily the weather was gorgeous and I was able to get my run in and my stomach stayed settled. We timed my run so that the minions could join me at the end and we had a good time at the playground and around the trails. 

 Sunday was my long bike ride and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I was super nervous. It was my first “real” ride over hills and rolling terrain. I rode there once last year – and I fell because I wasn’t able to get up a hill and I was done by mile 20-22 of the 31mile route. I knew I was stronger than last year but the scars still remained.

It turned out to be a beautiful but super windy day! Crosswinds would push even not-so-lightweight me to wobble. And it felt like we hit headwind all the time! During the first 5 miles I thought that there was no way I would last even the first loop of 27 miles. But once we got back to the start and I was only at 2:15, I actually asked to go back and ride some more. I practiced taking one hand off the handlebars and I could ride and by the end of the ride, I could shake my left hand! And use the left hand for turn signals. 

Apart from our little group of Barbara, Marietta, Gail and Lia, I met Shawna and Stacy during the ride who hi-fi-ed me for the hill we had just gotten up. That put a smile in my heart and I ended up feeling pretty good about myself. After Barbara and I finished our extra 45min, we saw Brad getting ready to start out. I must say that meeting people during runs/rides is my favorite part of training! And getting together after the ride for some good conversation and pancakes at Cracker Barrel! 

My overall pace was pathetic and way below what’s needed during the Augusta bike portion, but I don’t want to think about that now. I’ve got 6 months minus 1 week to work on that and for now, I’ll celebrate the small victories. 

Areas for Improvement

Meal Prep – It wasn’t that bad of a week for my nutrition, but with the 6 months looming ahead, there are a LOT of improvements that I can do with my food. And I want to. But when I’m overwhelmed with work and training, food is the first area that suffers. I ended up with no lunch a few days and dinners were sort of hurried, which meant I hardly noticed what went into my mouth. 

Discipline – My power word for 2015. Who knew it would be so difficult to stick to! I constantly wonder why my type A+ training personality does not bleed over to other areas. The lack of proper meal planning meant that I ate whatever whenever. NOT a good idea when you work at a great office environment like mine. I am putting the lapse behind me and looking forward to this week. (Maybe a sharpie ‘tatoo’ of the countdown on my eating hand would help?!)

Honorable Mention

(Not training related) My older minion’s solo in her performance. 

 

How was your week in training?
What do you do to recover from food lapses, especially if you haven’t planned and prepared meals/snacks properly? Do you have some staple go-tos?

I’m Linking up with Tara from Running’n’Reading for the Weekend Update. And for #MotivateME Monday co-hosted by Fitness Cheerleader and Running Rachel . 

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