Fall 2014: Week 4

'Rest' week. Rest in the sense that I didn't do any quality workouts. I did, however, sign up for a duathlon at the end of August. Eeeeeeeek. I'm already agonizing about wardrobe options. What the hell do I wear that will be comfortable on the bike AND the run and that won't cost me a small fortune? I've got to try running in some of the lightly padded discount cycling shorts I already own (Marshalls for the win!). They might work.

Monday: Rest day. Mondays suck enough without getting up at 5 am to run, basically, so I usually like to take Monday as my weekly full rest day.

Tuesday: I didn't feel like getting up at 5, and the weather was supposed to be on the cooler side, so I ran 8k on the rail trail at lunch. It was a bit of a guesstimate because I managed to forget my watch (THE HORROR) so I ran a familiar route where I know the distance. It was kind of nice not to be staring at my wrist nonstop.

Naked wrist! #NSFDOR*
(*not safe for data obsessed runners)

Tuesday evening I left the kid's bedtime in the capable hands of my husband and did a 30k ride in North Burlington. I feel like I need to take advantage of these chances now, because the days are already getting shorter and soon evening rides won't be a viable option. The ride felt great, and I finally solved the 'what the hell is squeaking so much on the uphills?' mystery. Turns out when you ride clipped in you need to lube your pedals and cleats occasionally. Duh.

I just can't even with some of the scenery up there. That's Mount Nemo, which is also a nice spot for hiking/trail running.

Wednesday: Easy early morning 8k run. Nothing fancy.

Thursday: 24k on the bike before getting the kids ready for their day at summer camp. Kept it super easy for one of my slowest rides on the road bike, but this is supposed to be an easy week after all!

8k lunch run to Princess Point. Again, easy. The scenery was pretty. Legs were surprisingly peppy considering the morning bike ride.

Dam at Princess Point/Cootes Paradise.

I still haven't figured out how to balance my run training with my desire to pretty much be on my bike 24/7. When my husband asked me Thursday night if I was going out for another ride I seriously considered doing it. Tone it down there girlfriend, how about we not overtrain into an injury? Sheesh.

Friday: As much as I was super tempted to sneak in an easy 8k, I decided to drop that one from the weekly plan. Another full rest day because this is a rest week, and next week is going to have some big numbers Mon-Thursday. So best to get in a rest day before all that starts.

(I'm pretty much just making all this up as I go along, in case that's not obvious. When I do get to the point of a triathlon I think I'm going to have to hire a coach. I'm pretty comfortable with writing up running plans, but this multi sport stuff is complicated! and I haven't even started swimming yet!)

Saturday: 68k ride with Sam. It was somewhat hillier than anticipated. I'm not sure she's forgiven me. We did stop and eat coffee cake at a bakery halfway through, so there's that! North Burlington just has some fabulous cycling. My Strava account now has about 20 routes planned for long rides exploring the area.

In case it's not already obvious, I LOVE MY BIKE.

Sunday: Up early for an easy 15k run by the lake. I wasn't really feeling this one, but I put on a Radiolab podcast and got it done. Super humid, blech. I was liking the cooler temperatures this week and hoping they would stick around! Dang.

Yep, that's the lake.

Weekly totals
Run: 39.7 km
Bike: 123.2 km
Total: 162.9 km in 8 hours, 56 minutes

Pretty much went perfectly. I knew I needed an easy week, and I think lowering the run number and keeping the cycling easy got me there. I feel very ready to tackle some big numbers and tough workouts this week.