A big Week including Paris VI/2011

This post is going to be all over the place, I do have a lot of ground to cover because there wasn't much time for anything this week besides work and working out.... And working out I did.

It's Thursday evening now and I have logged 8 hours of physical activity since Monday. That also means that I have a huge pile of laundry sitting in the laundry room that desperately needs my attention and the house needs some TLC in general. Before I take care of my domestic diva duties, let me run down this week for you.

MONDAY - Rest and Walk

Desperately needed rest after our Mitchell attempt. I woke up sore, but after sitting on my butt for most of the day, I was also pretty stiff. To shake things out a little, I took the dog for a longer walk.

She gave me quite a scare, when she stepped into a bee and then ended up eating the bee. I already pictured her having an allergic reaction and me carrying a 50 pound dog home... At this point we were around a mile from the house. After some initial head shaking and paw licking, she was fine.

Ms Karma, looking a little dumb here.

TUESDAY - A.M. Swim, P.M. Ride

The swim on the training plan was quite a number and sounded scary hard, so I was relieved when the coach suggested to take it easier that day because of our long ride on Sunday. I ended up with 2,100 yards. On days like these, the cold pool is actually pretty enjoyable and I think it helps with the soreness.

At the top of Paris Mountain.

 For the ride, I decided to conquer Paris Mountain at least once and try for another time if I am feeling alright. I rode a 10 mile warm-up lap, then climbed Paris all the way up to the antennas. I took this whole ride pretty easy. Actually, I felt good once I was up, but I was loosing daylight fast, so instead of climbing it a second time, I took a couple of small detours on my way home to hit some shorter climbs. At home, I finished up the ride on the trainer, giving me around 2 hours of biking in total.

Looking up Paris Mountain on my way home.

WEDNESDAY - A.M. Run, P.M. Ride

I joined the team's track workout in the morning. The warm-up is running the two miles to the track and I was exhausted by the time I even got there. So once again, I got a modified workout and ran/ skipped 2 miles on the track and then another 2 miles back to the Y. While I was supposed to do 8 miles, 6 miles is pretty good before breakfast too! ;-)

For the afternoon ride, I selected a flatter route close to work. The ride had a couple of intervals, but was mostly just about being on the bike. I found a couple of nice roads to ride on, that I have never tried out before and that always makes me happy. Overall, I felt pretty good, just my neck is giving me some trouble due to the high mileage of the last week, I assume. Really makes me think to invest into a professional bike fitting, but if I want to do that, I need to pull the trigger fast in order to get it done in time for Mitchell and still have time to adjust to it.

THURSDAY - A.M. swim

Today I felt like my usual grumpy self again. The soreness and fatigue seemed to finally have given in under the pressure of training demands! ;-) We had a fun workout on schedule... If you ever feel like adding an extra layer of challenge to your swimming, just asked somebody to push down on your shoulders while you are treading water and then hang on to your ankles while you make it to the other wall of the pool. After that, swimming without a human anchor feels like nothing!!!!

Those blossoms are gone by now, but they were pretty while it lasted.

Okay, gotta go... I need to carbo load, because we have a 100 miles on the bike on tap for tomorrow. Hopefully the weather is going to halfway cooperate... Oh and there is also still the laundry waiting for me.