Race Report - Triathlon Trilogy #2

I feel like its been forever since I've written a race report.  Probably because it has been.  It's been six weeks since my last race (Trilogy 1) and THAT alone seemed like forever.  The last race I blogged about was Ragnar back in February and I never even finished writing about that.  Sigh.  Have to do better on the balance.

This race was by far my BEST race this season, so far anyway.  Also my best race on this course.  This is my third season doing the Triathon Trilogy, although the course was changed up this season by the return of the Rickenbacker Causeway to the bike course.  I actually miss all the loops of the old course--the Uturns made it a technically challenging course it was slightly longer.  The challenge presented by the climb is fantastic though.

Here's the low-down on the course.

 And how things shaped up for me.

The swim--AWESOME.  I have been spending a lot of time in the water focusing on improving my technique.  My friend Julie is an AWESOME teacher.  This was a PR on this course for me by 1:07.  Which is HUGE for a 400m swim.  The conditions were near perfect too. 

The bike-I had hubby's road bike for this race.  I am flat out floored by what a different ride it is, between the carbon fiber frame and the upgraded components.  The climb over the Rickenbacker Causeway was SO MUCH EASIER on his bike than it was on mine.  Its just crazy.  The pace above is incorrect though (as much as I would like to say I really did break 20) because the course distance is incorrect.  Either way, using his bike shaved 2+ minutes off my bike time from last race.  The only downside is that his bike is a bit too big for me and my shoulders/back are SCREAMING today.

T2-My T2 times used to be under a minute, but since switching to clips on the bike (I used to ride in cages) I can't seem to trim T2 down.  12 second improvement this time, so I'll take it.  I also managed to run in my cleats this go-round, which is a bonus.   Lots of room for improvement here.

Th run- by the time I hit the run course, it was hot.  I ran most of the first mile and then switched to Galloway 3/1.  Best thing I ever did.  I felt physically strong for the duration of the run, and this time was only 3 seconds off my personal best for this run course.  It's a challenging multi-surface run course--part of it is over sand.  Looking forward to breaking the 11 minute mile barrier in September, since I hope marathon training will continue to make me a stronger runner.

All in all, good enough for an almost 7 minute course improvement over last race, a 3 minute PR for this particular race, and 3rd in my division.  My friend Julie rocked it out for 2nd, despite back pain and a nagging knee injury. 146th overall and 47th female. 

This was my first race with my bia.  It's still a work-in-progress, learning how to use it.  I really enjoy the fact that it can automatically post my tracks (it has a built in cellular connection, which is pretty freaking cool).  The Triathlon mode is on rollout and I missed the shout out to get it in time for this race, so I missed getting that in time. As a result I missed the first .6 miles of the run while my bia was doing an upgrade.  But its all good--The go stick stayed snug during every stage of the race. 

The place medals were super fun this go-round--a spinning place number with a spinning multirace emblem inside it.  Loved them!  Here's a pic of the goodies.

 I am totally bummed that I will miss the 3rd round of the trilogy because of our vacation.  I have done every race in the trilogy for the past 2 years.

Marathon Training - Weeks 3, 4 & 5

Well, lookie there.  I'm behind again.  No big surprise.   It's been a CRAZY couple of weeks, but I'll spare you all the details.  This fun little sign pretty much sums up the past few weeks.

Suffice to say I am tired of yelling PLOT TWIST.  But life moves on, and the world keeps turning.

The kids have started sports again, and that sucks up a lot of our time--which is probably why I am again behind on blogging. 

I've been in triathlon mode lately.  Our season is coming in hot and heavy.  Emphasis on hot because HOLY COW it is hot outside in SoFl.  The heat index regularly tips into the 100s and the humidity is excruciating. 

Week 3:

Monday - Spin + Body Pump, Yoga

Tuesday -Yoga!

And then the sickies descended on our house.  ("PLOT TWIST!")   Wednesday and thursday were rest days.

Friday - 4th of July, I was off my food and feeling under the weather.  3.25 miles, excruciatingly miserable miles, but in the done column.

Saturday - Weights

Sunday - 9 miles

Week 4 looked like this:

Monday - Weights/Spin

Tuesday - 3.25 miles on the bridge (hills for SoFl people), 400 m Open Water Swim.  This day included yelling "PLOT TWIST" many times, but I saw a school of spotted eagle rays from the bridge--twas AWESOME!

Wednesday - 40 min spin, 400m swim, Body Pump

Thursday - 4 miles (including wu/cd)

Friday - Body pump

Saturday- 2 miles (with our cute lil foster puppy)

Sunday - 1 mile OWS

This was the first time I hit a mile in open water, so I was super stoked.  And super pooped.  I had four miles on the calendar for Sunday but pushed it back due to time and ya know, LIFE.  

Week 5:

Monday - REST (Because whoopsie, I went 10 days straight after the sickies came to call.  Because I have issues balancing, and also because working out is my stress relief.

Tuesday - 4 miles + Yoga

Wednesday - Discovered my bike had been stolen from my garage. ("PLOT TWIST") - Processed this information with a 70 minute spin session and an 800m swim.

Thursday - 3.1 mi bike+400m swim.  13 mile bike in the evening on my hubby's too big, but nice bike, just to make sure I could manage on it. Because Sunday was a race day.

Friday - Body pump - Easy

Saturday - Rest

Sunday - Virginia Key Triathlon Trilogy #2.  (400m swim, 8 mi bike, 5K run).   Race report to follow, but here are my awesome neighbor and I after the race.  

I have 10.5 miles on the calendar for Sunday, but that's going to be shifted to either early in the week or just be pushed back a week, depending on life. And the number of times I need to yell "Plot Twist" again this week. Lets hope not at all. 

Have an amazing Monday!

Marathon Training - Week 2

Since I'm doing Galloway's marathon plan, each increase week is followed by a recovery week.  We started a few weeks into the actual plan, which is why week 1 had 7.5 miles.  This past week was a recovery week so the "long" run was only 3 miles.  I love this because it allows for tri training and for my chaotic life.  Like this week-when I had to conduct my monthly sampling for work, which involves a bike ride in the Everglades.   That ended up being my long run this week.

My son got sick on the back half of the week, and it threw things off. Its still lingering, and STILL throwing things off.  Thank you Jeff Galloway for coming up with a marathon plan that won't stress me out when LIFE HAPPENS.   Because let's be real--life happens ALL. THE. TIME.

The theme for this week was beautiful scenery:

From Tuesday's 3.75 mile sunrise bridge run on the Rickenbacker Causeway (check out the moon and Venus in the first pic!)

And from Sunday's 30 mile bike in the Everglades--which felt like I was on the surface of the sun, by the way.  It was in the lower 90s and the humidity was INSANE. 

The river of grass--so cool to have such ready access to one of the world's most amazing ecosystems. 

 And yes, that's an alligator

 Its the rainy season here, which means everything is flowering!!

This was one of those weeks when it was lovely to be outside, even though it was excruciatingly hot, to see the beauty that nature has to offer down here.  

So, anyway, the week looked like this:

Monday - 50 min Spin, Body Pump, 30 min yoga

Tuesday - 3.75mi hill repeats (3/1 intervals)

Wednesday - 40 min spin, 1200 m swim (ladder workout), strength training

Thursday - 3.25 miles (HOTTER THAN HOT, ended up so slow)

Friday - Rest day thanks to a sick kid, but lots of puppy walks

Saturday - "Rest" day, and by rest I mean 2 birthday parties and several hours volunteering in the sun

Sunday - 30 miles in the saddle, 14.2 mph average pace.  First time I've hit 30 in a long while. 

So, really low mileage on the run side, but one hill workout.  I thin 

So far this week has been rocky--we ended up with a foster dog and my son has been under the weather again.  But its all good, because I've got this.  158 days till 26.2.