Muskoka 70.3 specialization plan: weeks 2 and 3

Kind of missed blogging last week! So now I have two weeks to catch up on. And the explanation for why nothing got written last week is below...

Week 2

Monday: 2200m swim; 9k run
Tuesday: TR Washington -2 (1 hour threshold intervals) + 3k brick run
Wednesday: 9k Interval run; 2k open water swim
Thursday: 1750m lunch swim; TR White +2 (1:30 tempo/sweet spot)
Friday: TR Townsend (1:30 aerobic)
Saturday: 25k Sulphur Springs trail race
Sunday: 116k Brian Smith Charity Ride

Now I have to try and remember details about what the heck was going on that week. I can remember every detail of an embarrassing Valentine card I sent to a unrequited crush in fifth grade, but I can't remember a damn thing about two weeks ago. Thanks, brain! Very helpful!

*Consults calendar* Oh right, Monday was the Victoria Day holiday, and with my husband away on a work trip for part of the week, it made sense to swim and run that day and free up some time. Operation run in the heat in full effect (it's not getting any easier).

Tuesday was threshold intervals on the bike with a short brick after. I don't even want to talk about threshold intervals. Trainerroad is the worst (I decide this every week during the Tuesday night Hell Workout. I generally change my mind when I get outside and realize just how much stronger I've gotten thanks in part to those hell workouts. My relationship with Trainerroad is complicated).

Wednesday I did some intervals, in the heat. The less said about that, the better. Wednesday night, two loops of the lake at Gullivers. Open water swimming is feeling amazing!

Club swim! Big group out that week, everyone eager to get back into the water! Not entirely sure how I ended up right in the middle of the picture (holding the orange cap). 

Thursday an easy swim at lunch, and long tempo/sweet spot ride in the evening. I remember nothing about either of these so they must have been ok!

Friday the usual easy aerobic ride, which fortunately still feels pretty easy even with the updated and increased FTP.

Saturday is when the weekend got fun! Off to Sulphur Springs to 'run*' some trails with the girls.

*it was really, really hot. not so much with the running.

Team Runbow! Always good times with Sam and Nicole. 

There was a lot of this on the uphills...

Finished in just over 3 hours! Nowhere near the time we did last time, but last time it wasn't 8 billion degrees.

Even though it was face-meltingly hot, we had fun. It was great to cover that distance again and remind myself I can. Plus we had a constant stream of people telling us how awesome our socks were, and really looking good is 90% of what is important at races anyway. Always love to run with my friends!

@secondwindcoach Brian Smith Charity Bike Ride! Great cause, great people! pic.twitter.com/NTXvGvBfje

— Kat Clewley (@UltraFitKat) May 29, 2016

Sunday was the Brian Smith Charity Ride. I rode to the start, marshaled the 82k flat group with the amazing Kat Clewley, then rode home, for a total of about 116k of riding on the day. It was, overall, a really great ride - but I was so distracted by herding along our group, which had a lot of people in it who hadn't really done much group riding before, that I completely forgot to eat. Fortunately I'd mixed Skratch and NUUN into my water bottles, and I did drink those, so I wasn't totally without calories. But by the time I got home I was exhausted and depleted. And that carried over into Monday, where it took pretty much all my mental energy to get through the work day, leaving no real ability to write a blog post. So that's why I skipped writing last week - I figured the job that pays for all this silly stuff is a little more important.

Kat taking our group selfie

On to week 3 -

Monday: REST DAY SO HARD
Tuesday: TR Jacks -2 (1:15 threshold intervals); 2000m swim
Wednesday: 9k easy run; 2k open water swim
Thursday: TR Polar Bear (2 hours tempo)
Friday: 2000m swim; 10k easy run
Saturday: Muskoka 70.3 course ride (94k) + 4k brick run
Sunday: 16k easy run; TR Townsend (1:30 aerobic)

Monday I was fit for nothing but eating and hydrating. Tuesday, more of those oh so lovely threshold intervals on the bike.

So those were fun.

Wednesday, running (ugh) and swimming at the lake with the club (yay!). I can almost keep up with some of the speedier club swimmers now! Just a minute or two behind the second fastest group after two loops. This is pretty awesome.

My photographer needs some training. Of course she is only 7... #triathlontraining #swimming #openwaterswimming #xterrawetsuits

A photo posted by Emma I (@egrrrl) on Jun 1, 2016 at 4:42pm PDT

Thursday, my longest ever tempo workout on the bike. 2 hours total, with 1:45 at tempo effort. Physically it was fine, but the mental struggle to hold that effort that long was massive. I ended up watching The Barkley Marathons for the second time to motivate me through it. That movie is just as good the second time through! I have to do that workout again next week so I'm saving another documentary, Inspired to Ride, for that one. Hopefully it will be as motivating!

Friday the kids were home for a PD day, so I got in a swim and a bike early before spending some time with them. I skipped the usual Friday ride to be ready for an adventurous Saturday. Danielle and I got up ridiculously early, drove to Deerhurst, rode the 70.3 course, did a short brick run, and then drove home. It was a long day, but previewing the Muskoka course was 100% worth it - it wasn't quite what I expected. The hills up there have a different flavour to them than the hills around here, and knowing what to expect at the race has me pretty excited to go out and ride that beast at race effort.

The Deerhurst staff were very welcoming. Note: they do charge $20 for parking on weekends, but you can use their changerooms and towel service/showers/pool if you want.

Hills are fun!

60k in and still smiling!

Such a pretty route.

Thanks Lake of Bays Brewery! Perfect spot to refill our bottles. WITH WATER.

It's a little bit hilly in Muskoka.

Still smiling but a lot sweatier halfway through our brick run.

It won't be easy but it's going to be really, really fun. Have I ever mentioned how much I love hills?

(can we not talk about the run, though? that part is going to suuuuuuuuuuck).

Sunday, a decent long run, although something was wonky with my GPS. I ran a route I know really well and the paces it was telling me made no sense. Like I know I wasn't running 7 minutes per km at any point yet that's what the watch kept showing! Sure enough when I got to the point that it should have read 10k it said 9.5. So something was wonky there. But hey, I finished off the 16k feeling not entirely terrible. Which really, with running right now, is all I ask. Me and heat are still not getting along at all, and my SI joint is cranky again. I'm settling at the moment for just putting in the miles and trusting it'll all work out on race day.

So fingers crossed running feels better this week, and hey, the bike workouts are marginally easier since it's 'recovery week'! Which in Trainerroad world means 'do a race on Sunday'. Wait, that doesn't sound like recovery...

Monday: SO MUCH REST DAY
Tuesday: TR - threshold intervals; swim
Wednesday: EZ run, evening swim (pool; kids have a school thing so no open water for me)
Thursday: swim at lunch; TR - tempo/sweet spot + tiny brick run
Friday: EZ run
Saturday: rest day!
Sunday: Race simulation (2k swim + 60k bike + 15k run)