Week 44 Wrap-Up (just a bit late)

Week 44 was a wake-up call for me in terms of the amount of time this whole training thing requires. I had two 8-milers during the work week...pretty rough to fit those in before morning meetings, but I did it. It's going to take some serious planning, though, to fit in my mid-week IM stuff--at least I'll have daylight on my side for the majority of the build and peak phases--that'll allow me to get workouts in after work as well. It's also been a rough couple of weeks at work, but I'm finding that the breaks from reality that I get while running have actually helped me calm down--always a good thing.

This weekend, I went to the Bike Shop in Glen Ellyn and started doing some serious bike shopping--talked with a very helpful guy and looked at some awesome 2006 models...all out of my price range, but definitely eye candy. I scheduled some time with Chris to do a bike fitting session--that's next Tuesday--I'm hoping that will simplify both the shopping and fitting process down the road.

When I got back from the shop, I watched IM Hawaii on TV...got chills from the opening credits and found myself crying at the end where Jon Blase made it across the finish line in spite of his having ALS. If he can do it, I can...and I'm going to. It was pretty cool to watch--not that I'll ever get to Kona to race, but still--pretty amazing.

Sunday, I did my 17-miler with Michele and her neighbor Kerry--turns out Michele had warned Kerry about my lack of pacing ability (as determined by the two pace runs I've done with Michele), so they both helped me pace better by kindly letting me know when I was going too fast. The run wasn't bad--actually a very pretty route through the Lake County Forest Preserves--but the fricking wind was brutal. There were apparently 20-30 mph winds, and it seemed as though we hit the worst of them coming back. The last 5 miles were basically into a headwind the whole way without a lot of tree cover to help break the wind--pretty rough, but probably good training for other uncontrollable circumstances. Sue, Michele, and I celebrated (or just recovered) afterward with really yummy pizza, good beer, and Edy's Slow-Churned Ice Cream (aka my WW nemesis but worth every damn point--plus I lost weight this week regardless, so giddyup). Good day...and I think I may be able to admit that I'm becoming a bit of a runner...

So far this week has been OK--had a great swim Monday night where things just felt good and then fought the elements again this morning for an 8-miler outside with Jeremy--again, very windy and pretty cold...but at least it hadn't started snowing yet at that point (although it sure was tonight). Should be interesting to fit longer runs in amidst crappy weather--may end up doing 8 miles on the treadmill Friday (definitely will do 5 on it tomorrow), but I'll have to suck it up and do my 18-miler outside Sunday. Ah, the joys of marathon training in Chicagoland in the late fall...

But back to Week 44...here's the summary:

Run: 6:35:30 / 41.37 miles
Bike: 0:35:00 (all on trainer, and I still don't have my computer on my back wheel yet...)
Swim: Big fat zero...opted to forgo swimming until my cold cleared up, which, thankfully, it has
Strength: 0:30:00 (all core)

Week 43 is the longest training week thus far...but so far so good. My goals are to hit my mileage and figure out this whole cold-weather training thing...may have to procure some additional winter clothing and accessories, but I'll get it figured out. Also, I'm hoping to do some wetsuit shopping this weekend to complete my Christmas list--should be an interesting experience to try those on. As always, every day's a new adventure, so bring it on!!