week in review, 2/5-2/12 (Ironman Training week 1 and cold weather exposure!)

Highlights from this past week include:

-I love the new shoes!! The on-again, off-again complaining knee I've had since November is a complete non-issue now. The calves aren't as crazy tight. I'm worried about the strain/PTT making a comeback because there has been some general b!tching from that area, but I'm trying to take care of it and I think, hope, and pray that it's hit its peak and it'll start to calm down now. The more minimal style REALLY helps with a midfoot strike. I'm realizing how much I had to work for a midfoot strike in the old shoes and how natural it feels in the triumphs.

And they pretty much glow in the dark!

-It's COLD. Last weekend, I was riding my bike in near 60-degree weather. This weekend was the coldest of the winter. I ran 8 miles on the local bike trail as part of a valentine's chase run (girls got a head start, guys had to catch up) - it was through the store that puts on the Pig training group, so some of the group members did it in lieu of a hilly 8-mile group run. I ran with one of the coaches and a few other girls, and we took it nice and SLOW since the trail was pretty slick. Post-run, I had chunks of ice frozen in my hair.

-Which leads me to the best part of the week!! I signed up for this event about a month ago, in the middle of our uncharacteristically mild winter. Little did I know it would be the coldest day of the year. But it was SOOOO fun and for a good cause - some of the kids affected by the disorder were there, and they provided education. Oh...and there was alcohol and lots of crazy people. What was this event, you may ask? I bring you.........Cupid's Undie Run!!!

(Running Buddy and I are both in that video somewhere. No, I'm not telling you where, but I will tell you we didn't cheat by wearing underwear outside of clothes or flannel pajamas. We were in skivvies. And hat/earwarmer and gloves...but skivvies too!)

It really really really wasn't as bad as you'd think. The anticipation was awful, the first two minutes sucked, and then....I really wasn't that cold. It was no worse than the 8-mile run I did in full cold-weather gear. (RB says this is because we went numb, and she may not have been too far off.) All the guys in speedos were part of a rugby team, and they raised $17k for the run. Their team name was "Speedo Mustache Dance Party", which they repeatedly chanted in time with every song that was playing at the pre/post event party.

Did I mention there was alcohol involved???

You've gotta admit, it's a heck of a way to bring awareness to a cause!


This past week was the first OFFICIAL week of my 30-week IM training plan. (I did add in an extra week for a tentative vacation.) I've pretty much worked up to doing the plan before now, anyway, but now it's for real, ya'll. So far, so good. I've been a bit tired though, but this past week was way stressful in other life domains, and I think that's been why. I skipped yoga today to lie on the couch and I'm trying to take care of myself. Hopefully some of the other stress decides to lighten up....

Here's the report:

Monday: ran 5.87 miles in 56:50

Tuesday: 30 minute trainer ride, swam 2600 yd in 1:00:29 (400 w/u and c/d with 24 sets of 25 fast, 50 slow. LOVED that workout. And my first 400 was in under 9:00 - my fastest yet!)

Wednesday: swam 2000 yd in 59:14, doing sets of 100 free, 100 pull, 100 kick, 100 drill, and finished with a 400 free set. I need to get on that coach thing. I'm finding very few drills that seem to help, but I think I'm doing them all wrong...however, I am still making tweaks to my form that I really think are helping. Wednesday pm was speedwork with the group. We ran 6.4 miles in an hour, give or take. (My Garmin was full and missed the middle 1.5 miles!)

Thursday: 45 minute spin class followed immediately by a 3.56 mile run in 36:05. I was exhausted!

Friday: rest

Saturday: slippery 8 mile run in 1:23:19. Undie run - 1.1 miles in 10:03! (estimate on the mileage - Garmin didn't get it all!)

Sunday: 1 hour spin class


Totals:

swim: 4600 yd in 1:59:43
bike: 2:15
run: 24.85 miles in 4:06:17
wasn't able to get yoga or pilates in the schedule this week. Planning on it for next week!

Total time: 8:21:00