April Round-Up

Despite how the month started out, April ended up being okay.

The very start of April was the last of the final death plagues and was then spent driving to Minnesota. We managed a few workouts in Minnesota (two runs, a cycle, a lift) and a few after we got back, but it took until the middle of the month to somehow kick-start ourselves and get going.

For me, I think it was my miserable bike commute to work one day. The weekend after we got back from Minnesota, I found out I was filling in at another store. As said store is still a decent haul away (about eight miles), it is nicely accessible off a frontage road and I wouldn't have to get on the interstate like I would if I wanted to bike to my normal store.

Of the three days I filled in, two were commutable. The first got thwarted due to nasty, nasty winds, but I forced myself to do it the other day. It was hard - I hadn't done that ride since last June - and I forgot just quite how bad some of the hills were. Still, I did it.

And from that point on in the month, I was a (relative) machine which is now making me feel pretty good.

Onward to numbers!

Running: 23.31 miles (average went down about eight seconds/mile)
Swimming: 1.86 miles (first recorded mileage! swim times seem kinda fast, but are deceptive as i stop my watch a lot so i can breathe)
Cycling (outside): 71.63 miles (average speed went down about half an mph from feb, but loooook at the miles)
Cycling (trainer): 19.92 miles (including one of the most miserable sessions ever on skippy)
Lifting: five sessions
Other: fail. but that's okay.

For not really doing much the first half of the month, the numbers for April turned out pretty well. May should see those numbers climb a lot higher, as we're three months out from Boulder 70.3.

We do have a few 12-week training programs for the half-IM distance and are considering following them, but I don't know if I feel like they're going to provide enough for me. Swimming twice a week with my craptastic swim right now does NOT feel like enough. That and those seven days a week training plans don't really work all that well with people who have non-traditional jobs (like both of us have). The plans have the off day as Monday ... well, what if Brandon can't work out at ALL on, say, a Wednesday because of a long day of flying? It happens. Then what? Therefore, we're probably going to have to tweak some stuff.

That, and the plans don't account for other races and we've got several (as you can see by the handy dandy sidebar).

Anyway, very glad to have salvaged April and am looking for good things out of May.