Week 49 wrap-up and Tales from the Road

This week was nuts...in the past 9 days, I've spent somewhere between 32-34 hours in a car on a road trip of some sort--first to Minneapolis last weekend, then to Medford, WI for work this week, then to Ames this weekend. Frankly, my butt, back, legs, and brain need a break from the road...ugh. It's been a long week, and I'm tired--and I can tell from my training and how I felt during my runs this week. Note to self--sleep is a good thing...no longer an optional thing.

The Medford trip messed up my training a little--we were at the plant for a solid 16 hours on Wednesday and actually on the floor working for all but maybe 1/2 hour of that...my feet, knees and everything else were screaming at me by the time we were done. Add to that the time in the car Tuesday and Thursday and the general lack of sleep surrounding the trial and you'll understand why I skipped my 3-miler on Thursday...the first training run I've missed since starting the marathon training program. I just couldn't do it--I was exhausted and had work to do to catch up from the trip. I was back at it Friday, though--got in my 6-miler, but my heart rate reflected my tired state--it was brutal trying to keep it low.

This weekend, I was back in Ames for the football game--the 'Clones blew it against Baylor, of all teams, but at least the majority of our tailgating crew was back for the game. I met Vardo, Sparkle, and some of their running group buddies for a run Saturday morning pre-tailgate--it was fairly chilly (35-ish), but a good run. Vardo ran 8 miles with me--we pretty much talked the whole time, so while my heart rate was higher than I wanted it to be, I figure the fact that we were both able to talk is probably a decent sign that neither of us was pushing it too hard. Vardo's hamstring has been giving her fits lately, but it's apparently doing better--it was awesome having someone to run with, so I'm glad she was up to the task. I ran the last 4 miles of my 12-miler on my own while she perused the IM WI 05 participants' guide that I had stashed in my car (actually, it was at the bottom of the pile of crap I haven't cleaned out yet).

I also spent time with my parents (who, conveniently, retired to Ames a few years ago)--finally told them I was doing IM WI 06 Friday night. It's not that I wanted to keep it from them, but it's hard to explain why I want to do this to the two people who have known me the longest and are probably still trying to adjust to the fact that I'm no longer the person I was. They seemed to take it OK, though...they've always been extremely supportive of me and my endeavors and so far, this whole triathlon/marathon obsession is no exception. My mom's excited that my Christmas and birthday wishlist this year will be very specific (wetsuit--just have to figure out the brand/size thing)--should take the guess work out of what I want...

As for the training wrap-up, here's the story...not sure how to count the 16-hour plant trial, but I'm pretty sure that qualifies as cross-training somehow...

Run: 4:27:14, 27.21 miles (3 miles short of the program...oops)
Bike: 0
Swim: 0
Strength: 0:10:00 (all core--Kellie worked obliques HARD on Tuesday)

Tuesday, I leave for vacation, so this coming week could also be an interesting one from a training standpoint. Vardo and I are meeting up at the Denver airport, then headed to Vail to visit her brother and sister-in-law, then to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park to hike our cares away, and finally to Colorado Springs for the weekend where Vardo will be attending a conference on, fittingly enough, endurance training. I'm also going to meet up with a friend of Sue's in Colorado Springs who has done several marathons and has done Kona twice--we're hopefully meeting for coffee at some point next weekend so I can pick her brain about the world of endurance sports.

The crazy thing about this trip is that Vardo and I have had this trip in the works for about 6 months...I took a week last year and went hiking in the White Mountains in NH by myself, which was awesome, but had decided to hike in the Rockies this year. I made mention of that to the whole Clique (the group of friends that includes Vardo, Cara, Sondra, Robin, Danielle, Betsy, Sparkle (aka Crystal) and me) at some point this spring, and Vardo mentioned she had a conference she wanted to attend in mid-October, so we figured we'd combine my vacation and her conference and do some hiking together as well. It's funny how life works--we've had this thing in the works for a long time...before I even did my first tri and certainly well before the thought of IM had ever crossed my mind...and now we're using it as our planning retreat for IM WI 06. Plus, the fact that she'll be at a conference on endurance training is crazy...darn near perfect for getting all of our random questions answered. It's funny how life works sometimes...just one more example of the fact that the master plan is most definitely in effect.

My goals for the week--1) relax; 2) hike and take lots of pics of the Rockies; 3) get in at least 3 of my runs without keeling over from the altitude (thankfully, it's a step-back week); 4) figure out the basics of my training plan; 5) compare those basics to Vardo's basics; and 6) have a fantastic time away from the office, home, and real life with one of my best friends.

Week 48, here I come...