Week in review Aug. 10-16: Through flat tires and sore backs, just keep swimming

I don't think I've ever had such a swim-heavy week before!

It's been one of those weeks. I was excited to put in one last solid week of training between my sister-in-law's wedding and my upcoming 70.3 (eeeeek!), but sadly the bike and run gods both smote (smited? smittened?) me down.

I had to cut short an early-week road ride, sadly the only chance I'd had all season to get on the road during the week, due to a flat. And of course I put off trying to fix it and my backup tube didn't fit on my rim, so I couldn't ride on the trainer. My lower back, in the area of my SI joint, is still bothering me a bit, so I haven't run since Thursday and plan to take today and tomorrow off, too. It hurts after I've been sitting a while, and more so after I stretched the crap out of my hips and hamstrings last night, but I am hopeful rest and gentle movements will help me feeling normal again soon.

Bike and run issues led to what I'm pretty sure is the only week I've ever swam more than I did anything else. By the numbers:

Swim: Four times, three in the pool and once in the lake, for a total of just more than 10,000 yards in 4 hours.

Bike: Twice, both on the road (!), for 56 miles (!!) in just longer than 3.5 hours.

Run: Twice (sigh), both on the road, for 12 miles in just less than 2 hours. My back was hurting to the point that it was affecting my gait and I knew it would be dumb to push it.

Other: One 45-minute self-guided yoga session of forward bends, twists, pigeons, triangles... anything that might open up my lower back!

Total: Nine sessions in about 10.25 hours. Eh, I was hoping for more, but there's only so much you can do with flats and back pain.

So, the countdown is on: Less than six days 'til race day. I have about 157 lists of things I need to buy, do, bring and otherwise take care of before we leave town. I'm stalking the 10-day forecast (right now it says hot and possibly stormy). I get butterflies when I realize that HOLY CRAP IT'S ONLY A FEW DAYS AWAY.

The hay is in the barn. Now the focus is on staying calm, sane and (relatively) healthy for the next week. And planning that post-race meal, of course!