Reassessment

Ok, so I've decided the Clemson Tri is not happening. It's not that I can't make it work (I *hate* that word), it's that I am not willing to sacrifice the family time and the sleep that would be necessary to make it work. I  am 100% ok with that and I accept that my priorities are different now than they would have been a couple of years ago.

For now, I'm eye-balling the Cradle to Grave 30k trail race in May. Will re-assess the triathlon situation as I go.

Monday - strength
Had to get this one done lickety-split before an all-day meeting. Warmed up with 1mi on the treadmill, then did lifting of 8-10 reps / 3 sets:

bench press
tri cable pull-down
deadlift
-----
pull-up
hammer curls
squats
-----
standing cable row
overhead press
side-step resistance band
-----

Finished with a set of core:
20x mason twist, 20x toe-touch, 20x heels-to-heaven, 10x pushups

Tuesday - #10kTuesday
HOT. It was hot. It was in the mid-80s when I ran at lunch and boy I felt it. Still miraculously managed to hold a 9-min pace.

Wednesday - bike
Bike ride with Megan at lunch. It was much cooler than Tuesday! We rode the Sherman College loop and held a good steady pace. Felt great to be out on the bike and it was a lovely day.

Thursday - run
Run is going to be this afternoon, so while I'm at work, I'm contemplating... I think I want to make this the Year of the Trail Run, and Year of the Ultra.  !!!
I've already done the Croft Half (well, that was late 2016, but whatever) and the Yeti or Not 25k. So I'm thinking Cradle to Grave 30k in May then working up to the FATS 50k in October. Maybe. MAYBE.
More on this later as I continue to contemplate.
Saving this for later http://running.competitor.com/files/2012/11/46_nat_r1.pdf

Car shopping ended up taking longer than planned, so no afternoon run. But D & I had a nice evening walk around the neighborhood!

Friday - yoga run
Yesterday's run didn't work out, and I know tomorrow's "race" is going to be very casual since I'll have D with me, I decided to get out today at lunch for a run. Did a nice 4.5 miles around the campus, partially on the XC trails. Sub-9 pace! Felt really nice out.

Saturday - Milliken Earth Run 5k
D and I had a great time at the Earth Run 5k this morning! We had to leave the house about regular weekday morning time and stopped at Tommy's Country Ham House to grab breakfast (biscuits!). Got to the race location a bit after 7 due to an almost-puke incident, and proceeded to "help" with the race set-up and packet pick-up. I loaded him into the stroller about 8:45 and we headed to the back of the start area with the rest of the walkers. There was only one other stroller that I saw on the course, which isn't surprising since strollers aren't really recommended on the cross-country course. It's mostly hard packed dirt or very short grass, which isn't bad to run on, but there are a few rooty spots where it gets a little rough. I'd planned to walk the entire thing and maybe jog to the finish, but I quickly got tired of weaving around other walkers and decided I needed to get ahead of the pack. I ended up running pretty much the entire race, except a few really rooty/rocky sections and a couple of uphills. Every time I would pass someone I'd hear a gasp of exasperation. :P
We ended up finishing in just over 30 minutes, and D had a great time on the run, shouting "wheeeee" on every single downhill. I loved running this race with him! Such a great running buddy, and a beautiful day to be out in general.

Sunday - hill run
I went into Sunday not knowing what exercise options would be possible due to prediction of rain all day. Mid-afternoon, the clouds parted and the forecast was no more rain until close to dinner time, so I headed out for a run from the house up to the top of Paris Mountain via Altamont Road.

'Run Happy'

Starting out from the house, I immediately realized my legs were more tired than I'd anticipated from Saturday's 5k. Yes, it was "just a 5k" but the challenge of pushing the stroller over grass/dirt terrain and actually running a pretty hard race took its toll!

Steep winding road!

The views make it totally worth it!

It was a tough climb, and I walked more than I usually do, but I was so glad I decided to do this run.

the "you made it" line!

Took a short break at the top, had a snack, and then headed back down. Took a photo at the bottom.

ALTAMONT = Conquered.

I was about a mile from home when it started raining, which was a lovely refreshing cool-down!

No storms until 6pm? Yeah, right!

Dat elevation tho.

Splits.

Not my fastest climb by any stretch, but happy with the overall run.

Clemson Tri Training ? - Week 2 of 8

I'm just going to leave the target race with a question mark until I actually register. For now I'm sticking with my standard workout schedule of:

Monday - strength & stretch
Tuesday - #10kTuesday (always)
Wednesday - bike
Thursday - run
Friday - rest/yoga
Saturday - run
Sunday - bike or run

If I ever figure out what to do about a pool, I'll ideally swim Monday & Thursday each week.

Monday - strength
Good strength session today. Glad to get it done with well before lunch so I wasn't hungry!

1mi warm-up on the elliptical
3 sets of each:
chest press (55lb) x 8
squat (75lb) x 10
pull-up (40lb counter-weight) x 8
-----
glute bridges + first 4 exercises of P90X Ab Ripper
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tri cable pulldown (40lb) x 10
lat cable pulldown (40lb) x 10
side-step w/ resistance band x20
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middle 3 exercises of P90X Ab Ripper
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dumbbell curls (16lb) x 8
OH press (50lb) x 8
deadlift (35lb) x 10
-----
last 3 P90X Ab Ripper

Tuesday - #10kTuesday
This morning I looked at the weather forecast... cold and windy... and decided I'd just treadmill it today for 10kTuesday. I packed shorts and a tank top in my gym bag, and had my windbreaker in my bag as usual (that's where it lives). Hopped onto the treadmill and decided I was going to do mile repeats. Warmed up with 1 mile, then did a mile at 7-7:15 pace. After that, I decided I did not want to run on the treadmill, so I grabbed my jacket and went outside to finish the remaining 4.2 miles. Turns out I didn't even need the jacket! It was beautiful albeit quite windy. Felt amazing though.
The result?

How's that for consistency??

Wednesday - bike
My plans to bike at lunch with Megan were thrwarted once again, today by the 15-25mph sustained winds and high temps in the low 40s! BRRR! I'm not afraid of cold, but the wind was even difficult to run in yesterday... trying to stay upright on a bike? Newp. Not gonna try it.
Hopped on the stationary bike in the gym and watched Dr. Oz on the telly. Did the "random" program for 45 mins plus a little cooldown... total of 11.2 miles at average just shy of 14 mph. I can never go very fast on the indoor bike but I guess it's because I don't get the benefit of any downhill recovery coasting!

Thursday - run
Work overtook my workout time. Blergh. Got 30 mins on the treadmill desk while I got stuff done at least.

Friday - rest
Considered running today due to an unplanned rest day yesterday, but ultimately stuck with the planned rest.

Saturday - stroller run
Ran in the neighborhood with D in the stroller - it's been a while since I did that, and man, it was tough! Got 7.2 miles done and felt great, plus it was a super gorgeous day outside.

Sunday - family bike ride
The three of us (Scott, D, and I) biked up to Gateway Park so D could run off some energy instead of the planned ~20mi bike trip to downtown that we'd originally planned. D woke up with tons of energy so we figured being cooped up in the bike trailer for 2+ hours wouldn't do any of us any good. He enjoyed the playground for about 30 mins until we decided it was getting cold (where did yesterday's nice weather go??) and headed home. I took an additional loop through Green Valley at the end of the ride for a total of 13.9mi. I miss being on the bike!

I've also mostly resigned myself to the fact that the Clemson Tri is probably not going to happen. With just 6 weeks to go and I've yet to get into a pool, the tri season may just have to wait until the weather is warm enough for me to swim in the neighborhood pool in the evenings. I've come to the realization that while, yes, I could adjust my schedule to squeeze in early morning pool workouts and stubbornly forge ahead with my original plan for this triathlon, I'm just not willing to sacrifice the time with my family and the sleep that would be required to make it work. Priorities and choices.

Clemson Tri Training (?) - Week 1 of 8

Early week thoughts:
Well, this is going to be challenging because I still haven't been able to join the pool at USC Upstate. I sent an email to the aquatics director to ask if I could join and if there were any restrictions on hours. No reply yet... hoping soon. I neeeeeeeed to get back in the water!


Monday - lift
Almost didn't get to do this workout but wrapped up for the day just in time to get in a good lift before leaving for the day. Also, some jerk left the enormous plates on the squat rack, so I couldn't use it because they're too heavy for me to remove.

😒

5 min elliptical warm-up
-----
pull-ups
goblet squat
curls
-----
core superset:
glute bridge
med ball toe touch
mason twist
reverse crunch on stability ball
-----
cable tri-pulldown
side-step w/ resistance band
OH press
-----
core superset
-----
one-arm upright cable row
deadlift
chest press
-----
core superset

Tuesday - #10kTuesday
First: DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) are strong today. Guess that means it was a good lift yesterday.
My tentative plan was to run over to USC Upstate to register at the pool, but since I haven't heard back yet, I just went out for a standard run on the road. My pace got progressively faster over the first 4 miles until I settled into a nice 8:30 pace for the final few miles. Felt good, sun was warm and breeze was comfortable. I can't believe it was below freezing for my run just 3 days ago, and today I ran in shorts and a tank top! Crazy.

Wednesday - bike ride
My butt is still sore from biking on Sunday. Clearly I haven't been on my bike enough lately! I rode solo today and enjoyed the sunshine, but the wind was a little bit challenging. Did the hill + USC Upstate loop plus an extra out-and-back at the edge of the college campus for a total of 11.25 miles at average 15.3 mph. Pretty happy that my speed hasn't gone away as much as I thought it would have!

Thursday - run
No plan for today, ran the cross-country trails at work. I got tired in the middle and walked a bit. It was warmer than I'd anticipated, and I waited until almost 1pm to start my run, so I was hungry. And thirsty. And tired. I'm glad tomorrow is Friday.

Friday - short walk at lunch
Basically today is a rest day. Scott and I took a ~20 minute walk after lunch just to get some fresh air and actually catch up with each other. It's a super beautiful day outside so it was nice to get out.

Saturday - run
I got out early for a quick 5-miler through Green Valley before I had to leave for all-day chorus rehearsal. It was chilly (mid-30s) and perfect for running. Felt good, nothing special, just a solid run.

Sunday - run
I would have liked to get out on the bike, but the "winter weather" (we got a piddly dusting of snow that quickly turned into rain in the morning) kept me off of the two-wheeled conveyances and I decided to do another run. I headed out to Furman's campus from the house, did a loop through it and around the lake, and came back. I'd only intended to do 7, but I kept doing extra little bits here and there so I ended up with 8 miles.

This was the height of the snow's brief appearance today.

End of week thoughts:
I still haven't found a pool. I had several thoughts of just scrapping tri plans altogether but I really want to make it happen. Going to attempt actually visiting the USC Upstate pool in person this week to see what the situation is like, and if it doesn't work, I'll have to explore other pool options in the area. Westside Aquatic Center is ~15 mins from my house, and is reasonably priced, but working in a swim outside of the workday is going to be extremely challenging. It opens at 5:30 so I could swim and still get to work by 8, but that means staying later in the workday and not carpooling with Scott.

*sigh*  Logistics are hard!

Recovery Week

Giving myself one week break between training cycles before I pick up with 8 weeks of training for the Clemson Triathlon on 4/29. (Note to self: register for this race) 😏

I also registered this week for the Peachtree Road Race on July 4th - it'll be the biggest #10kTuesday in the world!! 🎉

Monday - rest
Busy day at work, didn't get down to the gym. Quads still pretty sore from Saturday's hard race efforts.

Tuesday - #10kTuesday
A slow 10k on the cross-country trails. Knee hurts after getting rear-ended Monday night, so took it slow. #diditforthehashtag

Wednesday thru Friday - rest
Recovery Week turned into outright rest week. Oh well, there's been a lot going on and I think I needed the mental and physical break. Plan to be back in the saddle next week.

Saturday - run
Got up and out of the house early this morning, excited about a cold weather run. Between a lack of cold days, and needing to run with D in the stroller most of the time (therefore waiting until later in the day), I was really missing out on those brisk mornings. It was around 25F when I started out (yes!!) and I headed out the back of the neighborhood for a Green Valley run. I don't run this road with a stroller (hills + busy roads with no shoulder) so it's a rare treat for me on a solo run. Didn't have a goal pace in mind, especially since this is a "recovery" run of sorts, so I kept the pace comfortable and steady. Total of 7.1mi at 9:45/mi average pace. My knee is a little sore now (several hours later) so it's not fully healed, but certainly feels better than it did on Tuesday.

Sunday - mountain bike
Scott and I took D and headed to Pleasant Ridge to do some mountain biking. We took a picnic and alternated turns doing loops on the trail. I got 1 full loop of the JFA trail, then let Scott take a turn (he did 2 loops in little more than the time it took me to do 1), then I finished up with a shorter loop. Total 10.1 miles averaged just under 7mph.

Dem hills