Ironman training week 27 - 6 weeks to go!

I took two naps on the weekend, so I think it's safe to say we are entering the peak training weeks here.

Swim: 9050m
Bike: 248km
Run: 66km

I looked it up and that's the most run mileage I've done in a week since I trained for the Mississauga Marathon back in 2014! And then I was only running, not adding in all this other nonsense. That's kind of blowing my mind, to be honest. I remember how tiring I found marathon training, and now I'm running just as much but also swimming and biking? It's amazing what your body can adjust to, really, if you are patient in how you build it up.

Also my highest swim mileage ever, by 50m. (woo!). And a solid week of cycling, too, resulting in my highest training hours ever (18:26). So pretty much firing on all cylinders heading into a peak week this week.

(I really really don't know how I'm going to adjust back to normal levels of activity once this is all over. You can get used to a hell of a lot of training, it turns out, and it starts to feel really weird if I 'only' do a short workout or just one sport in a day).

Monday:  rest

Tuesday: 3000m swim; TR Stromlo +1

Sunrise as I headed into the pool

The husband was home with the kiddies for the week, meaning I was able to head straight to work from the pool instead of having to go back home, which seemed a good opportunity to do a longer swim. Felt solid and then went to work and had two breakfasts, as one does.

(three meals a day are not enough meals at the moment)

Trainer in the evening, short-ish efforts at FTP which probably do all sorts of good training things but I was caught up watching a movie and not paying attention to the instructions. It was good. Glad for a bit of a break from VO2 max to be honest.

Wednesday: 16k run; 2600m swim

Ironman training: Yes, there is a 5 am in the morning, and you should probably get used to seeing it

Do I enjoy getting up before 5 so I can run 10 miles before work? Not particularly. But I think these midweek longish runs are super beneficial, so I'm sucking it up and getting it done.

It helps if you spend most of the run planning out a fun instagram pic

Pool in the evening after dinner. I think this was some sort of form workout with a bunch of drills, but I can't remember. Didn't drown, so I'll count it as successful.

Thursday: 8k run; TR - Ragged

I love getting up at 5 am to run! really! No lie! Kind of a lie! Oh god is this over yet I cannot wait to SLEEP IN for like two weeks straight.

Morning run, evening trainer, blah blah blah etc etc and on until eternity. This is fun. Really. Totally fun.

Friday: 10k run; TR-Whorl

sometimes sunshine DOES fly out of my butt, yes.

Shockingly, another early morning run (I didn't run Monday or Tuesday so had to run on Friday. Rearranging things a bit this week because I really prefer to take Friday off running leading into the weekend). Easy spin on the trainer after work because the plan said so.

Saturday: 140k bike; 5k run

OK now THIS was fun. 140k with Fab and Christina. The weather was on the cooler side compared to last weekend, and the three of us just work so well together on the bike it makes things go so smoothly. We are all right around the same strength/speed level so we can ride pretty efficiently. Totally fun and makes the long hours on your butt in the saddle go by a lot faster! Plus it was a gorgeous day and gotta love enjoying the summer weather on two wheels.

After the ride the family and I went out for lunch, where I inhaled this nonsense in about 30 seconds. Blue cheese burger and onion rings. Yum.

I then regretted it when I went out for my easy 5k recovery run in the evening, but it was worth it at the time.

Sunday: 27k run; 3450m swim

Gosh I wonder if I got up early to go for a run on Sunday. Ha. Just typing all this out is making me feel like I need a nap. Ironman training is dumb.

I appear to be taking the exact same picture over and over again lately. Gotta figure out something more creative...

Long run, very easy paced, took my time. Felt really good through most of it, other than one bathroom stop and the last 2k or so got a little rough, but that seems to happen every run and is more mental than anything else. Stopping at the splash pad to soak down my hat helped!

Later in the morning, a solid swim workout. Felt smooth and controlled through the whole thing, without losing my form much at the end, which considering it was 3000m+ is really encouraging.

So, on to the next week, which is a bit of a bear and is likely to be one of the two biggest weeks of the whole training shebang. Not sure if I'm excited or scared, really, but the only way forward is one day at a time...