Ironman Canada - 25 weeks out

	IMC: 25 weeks to go (Feb 2-Feb 8)	Challenge: 25 weeks to go (Feb 24-Mar 2)
Total training hours	14:18	12:02
Swim	2:32 / 5550m	4:42 / 9500m
Bike	3:21 (spin class + 16.8 km on the trainer + 30.3 km outside!)	1:45 (trainer time + spin class)
Run	7:05 / 67.7 km	3:34 / 33.2 km
Strength training	0:20	1:00
Yoga	1:00	1:00
SBR Total	12:58	10:02

So I continued to run my ass off… figuratively… not literally. Not that my ass needs shrinking but there are other parts that do and none of this training and saintly eating is doing a damn thing… Oh, oh… we’re heading back to Crazytown!

Monday was another of those frustrating “nothing-at-all” rest days. Look how they show up in my plan, with a smiley-face as if that’s supposed to make it fine. It’s not that I was opposed to getting a day off from SBR, the day before on my long run I’d been thinking I could use one, but I could really have used a yoga class…anyhoo, bygones.

Some thoughts on the week:

• Tuesday was an uneventful swim before work, then a trip to the track for some speed work after work. I hate speed work.  More specifically, I hate track sessions. Tempo runs taunt me from the training plan all week leading up to them but I can usually tackle them and feel successful.  Track work, not so much. I think I’m not built for speed. I certainly don’t know how to suffer well. Tuesday’s session called for 6 x 800m hard and I went out hoping to be fast and consistent with each effort. The only consistency was in running each one slower: my 800s were run in 3:43, 3:49, 3:53, 3:54, 3:58, and 3:57. Gah!  Driving home from the track, I tried to calculate how many more times I’ll get sent to the track this year… I’m guessing twice more before Napa…then maybe nothing until after tri-season. Too good to be true? Probably.
• Wednesday morning, I started the day with an early morning zone 1 shuffle. I love running first thing in the morning. I love it more when it’s summer and it’s light out but I get very few summer early morning runs on the plan – that’s swim time. Wednesday, I was out the door before 5, head lamp flashing around my waist, reflective clothing on and… can you guess at which point in my run a douchebag in a red mini-van nearly ran me over on a cross-walk?
  
  To the people living by PME that I may have woken with a blood-curdling scream at 5 am… Sorry-not-sorry. I am starting to feel like there is an inverse relationship between the efforts one goes to in order to be visible, and the likelihood that one will have a close call… And crosswalks. Really. Motorists don’t care. Today, I had someone honk angrily at me just as I left the cross-walk to get back on the sidewalk. I can only assume that she was angry she had to wait while I exercised my right of way… and that I wasn’t RUNNING fast enough for her. Sheesh. McDonalds getting cold on the seat there lady?
• Saturday morning I had my biggest swim since Challenge. Tough workout. But a good workout. And nice to get a big swim in and reassure myself that I can. I wasn’t even that disappointed in my time (1:22 for 3050m). One thing about that morning though: about a dozen Cross-fitters showed up at the pool, most with complimentary passes (they were ahead of me in line). When they hit the pool deck, they got in the shallow end, then got out, milled around a bit, and then went and spoke to one of the lifeguards. Said lifeguard then proceeded to shrink one of the existing lanes to open up a lane just for these guys. But wait, it gets better. Lengths swimming is a challenge …most pools have only a few windows where you get any real pool real estate for swimming lengths, it’s usually at noon or first thing in the morning. The rest of the time, you get a wee bit’o’space and the rest of the “swimming” pool is for people who want to play in the water. So when these guys showed up at 7 am on Saturday, when ALL of the competition pool is reserved for lengths swimming, and then were gifted a lane, well… because they weren’t swimming lengths. No, they all lined up on the side and then jumped in, climbed out, jumped in, climbed out, jumped in, climbed out. You get the idea. I tried to stay zen about the resulting water turbulence by telling myself it was good practice for open water on race day. They occasionally did lengths but it was clear they were here for a bit of cross-fit cross-training that included the in & outs, and a considerable amount of time spent as a group treading water. And while I’m glad I didn’t have to share a swim lane with these folks, I’ve got to say, I just don’t think this was OK. I might feel differently if they got their very own lane for swimming but that’s not what happened. And even then, if I showed up with a bunch of my tri friends during lengths swimming and asked if they could shrink a lane to give my little gang exclusive use of a lane… well, come on, we know that would never happen. So… shame on you Maple Ridge Leisure Centre. And will I rant every week about a local pool? God I hope not.
• Fast forward to today… yes, fast forward a whole day… and what a day it was! Sunny, dry and so warm for winter. I snapped this pic before heading out for my run this morning, it was about 7:30 and 10 degrees.
  
  I had a fabulous run and followed it with a text to my coach asking if I could go out for an easy spin in the afternoon if the weather held. I got the green light for 75 minutes! A fantastic “winter” ride… 30 km easy, and 13 degrees? More, please! Post-spin, I had just enough time to change and head out for my second run of the day (a little 5K shuffle) before another quick change and a one-hour Gentle Hatha class. The perfect way to cap a day of run-bike-run.
  

Here is a summary of the week:

Monday	SFA
Tuesday	2500m swim before work 11km run – speed work at the track after work
Wednesday	5 km early morning zone 1 run Strength work at home – mostly core, some squats & lunges PRM Spin Class
Thursday	13 km run after work
Friday	“Bench press for cyclists” x 18 - trainer workout after work
Saturday	3050m swim 10 km run
Sunday	22 km run in the morning 30 km ride mid-afternoon 5 km run post-ride Gentle Hatha Yoga Class

Note to self for next week: strength! More strength!