Week in review July 20-26: Fitting in the big workouts around busy evenings

Still some decent training for a step back week.

Sorry I’m late (something I say quite a bit, unfortunately).

This week is already off to a slow start. I had good intentions to wake up super early Monday and do a recovery ride, but after a lousy night’s sleep it just didn’t happen. I got suckered into invited to another committee meeting last night – believe it or not, I do try to have a life outside of work and triathlon occasionally – and although I had more good intentions to do that recovery ride afterward, I just got home too late. But I did get to bed at a decent hour last night, so that’s something!

ANYWAY, last week was full of meetings and appointments in the evenings and a home-improvement project (which is STILL in progress), and as a result I missed a few easy workouts. But the big ones were good ones, so I’m happy with what I did manage to accomplish:

Swim: Twice, both in the pool, for 7,000 yards in a bit more than 2.5 hours. Eh, nothing special there. I skipped my usual weekend lake swim because I just needed a break from the state park.

Bike: Twice, once on the trainer and one 60-miler on the road, for a total of a bit longer than 4.5 hours. It was a good ride and I even rode in aero for a bit!

Two funny things happened regarding my ride that I forgot to mention in my previous blog post: 1. For the second time in as many rides on that route, a bug of some kind flew down my shirt and stung me right on the chest. I guess I need a higher-necked sports bra! 2. When talking about my ride with my dad, who dabbled in cycling and even completed a century when I was younger, he asked me why I stopped at 60 miles when I could have done 62 and called it a metric century. So, I guess I have to go for 62 on my next long-long ride!

Run: Four times, all on the road, for a total of 37 miles in 6 hours. That worked out to two medium-distance runs – one adjusted from the planned speed run on another 90-degree day – a quick brick after my long bike ride, and an early-morning 18-miler to build up that distance for the fall marathon. I would have liked to get in a few shorter runs, but with everything else going on, those were de-prioritized.

Other: Nothing.

Total: 8 sessions in about 13.5 hours. It’s 4 hours less training than last week, but still a decent volume, so I really can’t be that mad at myself.

This week I am hoping to get back into the routine of evening runs – although it’s supposed to be in the 90s all week again – not sleeping through my early mornings, and doing another long three-sport day on the weekend. I’ll appreciate the step-back long run of “only” 12 miles, and maybe try to have a little fun somewhere in there, too.

Only 26 days until race day and only three training weekends left! Eeeek!