Countdown to B2B: 7 weeks

I have to say, I am a little embarrassed that I am posting yet another weekly recap before finishing my Hood to Coast recaps. Between travel and choosing to READ blogs instead of WRITING posts, I just haven’t gotten to it yet…

Back to this week: I found my training motivation again! Just in time for a overseas trip for work…But no worries, I am getting good at figuring out how to squeeze it all in. It was a great training week, capped of by some great runs. I am definitely head over heels in love with running right now.

Monday – 1:18 trainer ride w/8×5:00 hill climbs (~15 miles): After the extra long weekend and some solid workouts, I just could not convince myself to get out on the bike before leaving the lake Monday morning. I had sort of written the day off as (yet another) unplanned rest day, but once I got back home, I decided that I should do the workouts while I know I have the access to a bike. I hit the trainer while catching up on Bachelor Pad and while I really wasn’t excited about the workout, I was very, very glad I got it done.

Tuesday – Master’s Swim (3000 yds) + 23.2 mile bike, ~1:29, (15.4 mph): Dragged myself out of bed to swim and ride, with the main motivator being that I would be on a plane for the next 12 or so hours. I was (as usual) not excited to swim and was counting down the minutes, but still ended up with a decent workout.

The sky was a little iffy when we took off for our ride, but the weather held out for us. We started reallllly slow, but after the first 5 miles (about 13 mph?), we held a pretty solid pace and were able to get the average up for the ride.

Wednesday – OFF – Travel day: I had hoped to get a run in when I arrived in Hamburg before having to go to my meetings, but a change in my original flight on Tuesday had me arriving only an hour and a half before I had to be at the office. Then when my bags didn’t arrive and I spent the majority of that time buying a new outfit to wear to work, the run was definitely sidelined. A late day in the office, followed by dinner with a colleague didn’t allow for a run later in the day either, so unfortunately this was a day off.

Thursday – 8 mile run w/6 miles @ HMP: With only 4 days left in the week and 3 hard runs plus a brick left in the schedule, I knew I had to get a run in right away. I had an awesome 8 mile run around the lakes in the center of the city, on a beautiful morning (cool, dry) and was reminded once again why Hamburg is my favorite city in the world to run. Miles: 7:52, 7:54, 7:50, 7:51, 7:43, 7: 47

Friday – 14 mile run (8:24 min/mile): I typically wouldn’t put a tempo and long run back-to-back, but since I knew I wasn’t getting my borrowed bike until Friday night, this seemed like the best way to use a pretty free morning work schedule. It was overcast and SUPER windy, so my first 7 miles of the out-and-back were pretty tough. I felt good and was enjoying the run, but was drained by the constant wind in my face and pushing against me. When I hit the turnaround, the miles really flew by at the end. My legs were fatigued, but the flat terrain and cooler temps definitely made this one of the best long runs I have had in a very long time. I hope that the back-to-back tough run days don’t come back to haunt me in the form of an injury later…

Saturday – 32.57 mile ride, ~2:02 (16.0 mph)  + Speed work: 1k, 2K, 1K, 1K: After two hard days of running, my original plan was to do these workouts on Sunday to give myself a lighter running day before the speed work. But because a slight twinge in my knee (only mildly annoying when running, very sore to the touch), I decided that doing the brick, with a semi-hard run, wasn’t the best idea either. I ended up switching the brick to Sunday and scrapping the speed work all together and just riding. And the ride was great…once I figured out where I was going. I used Strava to map a route, but missed a turn and got a little lost. It was a very windy day, on a flat route, but this is excellent practice for Beach 2 Battleship, which should be very similar. The constant wind really takes a lot out of me. Some views from the ride…

Sunday - Brick: 25.2 mile ride, ~1:32 (16.5 mph) + 6 mile run (7:56 min/mile): This ride went much better than the day before! After sleeping in until 11:30, I headed out on a rare sunny, beautiful day. It was very windy again, but I knew the route and was able to just enjoy the day and the scenery. The overall paces for both weekend rides were slower than I would expect on flat terrain, but getting in and out of town (about 3.5 miles each way) requires a ton of stopping and starting, so it was tough to keep a good pace. After the ride, I dropped the bike off in my hotel room, grabbed my run stuff (that I had all ready to go) and headed out for the run. Because it was such a nice day, the lake path was packed with people! Fortunately it is wide enough that the amount of people just made for good people watching and wasn’t too much of an annoyance. I don’t think I have ever felt this good running long-ish after a ride. The was definitely a confidence building brick. And my favorite sight on the ride…a field full of sheep! (Look how blue the sky was!)

• Swim = 3000 yds
• Bike =  96 miles
• Run =  28 miles
• Time = 11 hrs. 10 min.