Muskoka base build week 3 + Around the Bay race week!

Another solid week in the books!

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 1900m swim; TR Owens (60 minutes VO2max) + 3k brick run
Wednesday: 8k run; 2100m swim
Thursday: TR Phoenix (90 minutes tempo)
Friday: TR Petit (60 minutes aerobic) + 8k easy run
Saturday: 17k long run
Sunday: TR Makalu (3:45 aerobic) + 9k brick

Ended up flipping a few things around on the schedule due to Easter travel commitments, and I wasn't able to fit in a third swim. But overall, a great week!

Just standing in the rain after a brick run, as one does.

The Tuesday brick is feeling pretty good, and gives me a way to add a few more run km into the week without being too taxing. After ATB I'll likely continue that and eventually build it up to 5-7k. It's also a nice way to recover after the VO2 workouts - my legs seem to feel better with that little bit of running, rather than just collapsing directly onto the couch.

Cootes Paradise on my Wednesday run

I had a couple of really good swims this week, and the trainer rides felt great too. Starting to get really antsy to get back outside, though! Still a ways away from open water swimming, but hopefully after ATB the long rides will move outside again. I will likely stick with the trainer on weeknights. Partially because there's a lot of benefit to trainer rides (can hold steady effort, targeted workouts, catching up on movies and TV shows, safe), but also due to scheduling. It's a lot easier to schedule my trainer time around the kid's activities than it is to schedule riding outside.

(I also kind of want to knock out a 100k trainer ride, just to say that I did it. I guess we will see what happens with the weather in April!)

Saturday I got to run with my husband and brother on the country roads near my parent's house, which was a lot of fun. Even though they are both faster than me so it ended up being a little more tempo-ish than was probably ideal. And there was the little matter of the giant angry dog that chased us early in the run. He didn't get any closer than about 150m or so, but he was a very large german shepherd-esque beast and we really weren't sure how we were going to deal with the situation if he caught up to us. So we got some unplanned speekwork there.

My husband looking back to see if it had stopped following us while I'm all 'nope, I'm out of here, losers'. Not sure why my brother was taking pictures. Maybe he was going to throw his phone at the dog.

With my brother, pre-dog attack.

Too many damn hills in the country. Stupid glaciers.

Sunday, after my stupidly long bike ride and brick session, it was off to the inlaws for Easter dinner. I restrained myself from elbowing any small children or elderly people out of my way to get at the food.

Man, holiday meals after a big workout are the greatest thing ever. ALL THE FOOD.

Next up, Around the Bay. The weather is looking increasingly shitty, but I can't do anything about that. Goal is to get that sub 2:45, hopefully by a few minutes rather than a few seconds. Plan is keep calm, cool, and collected for the first 5k and NOT GO OUT TOO FAST LIKE I ALWAYS DO. This race is an especially bad one to start too fast, because you will pay hard on the Northshore hills. As I've learned. All four times I've done this race.

Time to rest up to have the best shot at another PB for the year:

Monday: rest
Tuesday: swim; pre-race interval run (6x400m @ 5:00/km with 400m recoveries)
Wednesday: TR (60 minutes - either a easy sweet spot workout or an easy aerobic ride, depending on how I feel)
Thursday: swim; 9k run with 5k at race pace
Friday: rest
Saturday: TR Taku -1 (30 minute easy)
Sunday: 30k Around the Bay; TR Recess 40 (recovery)

If anyone out there has any pull with the weather, please to turn off the wind for Sunday morning. Thanks every so much.