This was our fifth straight BolderBOULDER. Unfortunately, it wasn't our fifth straight PR.
I guess I should go back a few days.
The race is always Monday, Memorial Day. Saturday, I lifted and went for a short run. Sunday, we swam and rode 16 miles on the 105. The new bike fits? Made for a fantastic ride.
Brandon putting his front wheel back on.
Post-ride selfie.
The new bike fit and the comfort level on it aided me in chasing down and catching Mike on the way back - which I was really proud of. Maybe not the smartest thing to do the day before a race, but eh.
After the ride, we went up to Silverthorne and went shooting. Only downside to this is, lunch ended up being a greasy pile of crap. Also not the wisest thing the day before a race.
Monday rolls around.
We wake up and leave for Boulder with plenty of time. I poop once before leaving the house - fairly standard. Get to Boulder, get parked, get to Starbucks. I choose not to have coffee this year, but did eat a blueberry muffin. Went to the bathroom a second time - didn't really do anything. Went a third time - more poop.
Left Starbucks, dropped off our stuff at the FedEx mobile lockers and waited for our turn to go. My stomach still seemed a bit unsettled, but whatever. At 7:22:50, we were off.
Mile one was "easy." Brandon decided to pace us for the early miles - a reversal of what we usually do - and it felt pretty good. It was fairly quick, but it felt comfortable.
Mile two we slowed down a bit, but not much.
Mile three was slow as per usual. Damn mile three. Still sub-10, though, which is good for us on this course.
Mile four ended up also being kind of slow. I feel like I felt a bit better than Brandon - we were running together, but I was holding back a bit so we could run together.
Mile five I felt my shoulder act up a bit, but ignored it and kept going.
Mile six I kept needing to walk because I felt like I was going to crap myself. I gave serious thought to some porta-potties I saw just after turning on to Folsom. That last mile was hell as a result and I couldn't keep up a pace.
Unfortunately, this meant my third-slowest BB time ... and me hunched over trying not to puke after crossing the finish line before finding the nearest bathroom for poop #4 (of five total that day).
Final Stats:
Time: 59:30.70
Pace: 9:34/mi
Overall Rank: 11769/45651
Gender Rank: 3967/24705
Division Rank: 137/634 (F30)
Mike after his first BolderBOULDER and Brandon putting on flip-flops.
My feelings after the race.
Brandon decided my selfie wasn't good enough.
We checked out the expo and then headed home, as Brandon had to head home to Minnesota for a family emergency.
A race that still wasn't *bad*, but again, not indicative of what I think/know I can do right now. So what do I learn from this one?
- no greasy crap the day before
- work out smarter the days prior
- maybe stop eating food at Starbucks the morning of? Did that last year and stomach was also vaguely unsettled ...
- train properly. As always.
For the curious, the mile splits:
Garmin:
Mile 1: 9:06.5
Mile 2: 9:21.2
Mile 3: 9:46.2
Mile 4: 9:48.9
Mile 5: 9:23.7
Mile 6: 9:32.5
Last bit: 2:32.9
(6.29 mi in 59:32)
Official:
Mile 1: 9:07
Mile 2: 9:27
Mile 3: 9:53
Mile 4: 9:55
Mile 5: 9:30
Mile 6.2: 9:52
When we first bought our bikes, we got fit to them. However, we've been reading that you should probably get refit to your bike at least once a year as things change depending on the type of riding you do and how much of it you do.
The bikes seemed comfortable when we took them home (not faulting TriSports here at all), but a long summer and fall of riding probably ended up taking its toll and I know personally, my body found a position it was comfortable in during IMAZ that wasn't where it should be.
So, this year, we decided to get refit. We'd had several places recommended to us, but eventually went with Scott and Fit and Tri. Fit and Tri is Scott's studio that he runs out of the newly remodeled Kompetitive Edge. Scott was affordable - $175 per fit; some places (Retul particularly) run closer to $300 - and since we have a friend that works at KE ... we figured, why not?
Last Wednesday, we took the bikes in for two hours - each of us had an hour-long appointment.
Scott is very friendly and, more importantly, very knowledgeable. He also took the time to explain what he was doing and why he was doing it. The most efficient angle for this to be at is x, so let's get you as close to x as possible ... while still keeping you comfortable. An aerodynamic position is important, but comfort is even more so. Doesn't matter how aero you are if you're too uncomfortable to stay in that position.
He started off by adjusting the cleat position on our shoes and then made tweaks from there - saddle height/position and a lot of moving the front part of the bike - aerobars and the like. If you look at our bikes now, the aeros actually appear to be tilted up ... except when we hop on, and then they seem flat like usual.
You can kind of tell the aerobar tilt here.
We were told there would probably be an adjustment period - the new position would put a bit more stress on the shoulders - yay for more strength - but that everything should feel a lot better.
We took the bikes out to test this yesterday (Sunday; got them tuned right after the fit). I will say that I felt a LOT more comfortable on the bike. Very little adjusting to find a comfortable spot on the saddle (we'll see how it goes in my stupid tri shorts ...), less bouncing around, a natural position in aero - it ended up being a GREAT ride. I had a bit of an odd feeling just below my right knee, but I'm not going to chalk that up to the fit until I ride a few more times and figure out if it's due to that, or other stuff (had lifted the day prior, etc.).
In any case, we are both very happy with our fits. So, if you're looking for an affordable bike fitter in the Denver area and like knowing the whys behind stuff being done to you, check out Scott at Fit and Tri at Kompetitive Edge.
Usually most races begin with me grumbling about having to wake up to go race, wondering why I signed up for this, etc. This race however was highly different.
Because it was completely unplanned.
See, I was originally supposed to fly. Grand Junction to Denver, Denver to Grand Junction, Grand Junction to Denver, and Denver to Montrose. So my schedule looked something like this:
GJT-DEN
DEN-GJT
GJT-DEN
DEN-MTJ
When I woke up, I found out the middle Junction turn was cancelled, so I had nearly a 5 hour sit at Denver. I didn't want to hang around the airport, so I decided I'd go watch T, who was already down at City Park. I tossed the idea of racing the race, and the more we thought about it, the more we realized we could pull it off. I wouldn't get a shower, but I'd be able to bust ass back to the airport and use some wet wipes I had to clean up. So with the decision in place that I would race, I sped to City Park.
Once there, I picked up T and we looked for parking spots. Finding none in the near vicinity and the museum closing off the parking lot, I busted down a side street and parked. I quick got my clothes together from my suitcase since I wouldn't be able to race in my normal race gear, and then we hurried over to registration. I got registered quickly, then we went to T's car to drop off my wallet and get my bib pinned on.
After that, we walked towards the start line. The start corral was immensely packed and we muscled our way to the front. Soon the gun went off and we were underway!
The Race
We busted out the first mile in a ridiculously quick pace, averaging sub-8 for most of it. We realized very quickly that the pace was unsustainable and backed it off slightly. The first mile was quick, 8:34. In the 2nd mile, we settled in and I started believing we could crack 28:00. However, City Park became City Park and the false flats caught up with us, slowing us down. We walked a bit more, trying to keep ourselves together.
The final mile was interesting. T started to break down, which I haven't seen in a long time, and I had to pull her along. We got close to the finish line and started our kicks. I thought I had her as I slowly began to accelerate, but sure enough, she caught me right at the finish, and we literally tied.
Time: 28:05
Recap:
This was the most unusual circumstance for a race I have ever been a part of, but ultimately, I am very glad we pulled it off. After the race, I drove to Aurora to place a bet on the Preakness Stakes, then headed to the airport. I left my dirties in my car and wiped off using my wet wipes. Satisfied I was (sort of) clean, I put on my uniform and resumed my day.
Not a bad way to spend a sit at DIA.
This race was interesting for me.
If you look at the results, you'd think it was a good race.
Final Stats:
Time: 28:05
Pace: 9:03/mi
Overall Rank: 320/1928
Gender Rank: 122/1262
Division Rank: 28/373 (F30-39)
Historically, it's my fourth fastest 5K time (out of the ridiculous amount that I've done). It was also about a 90 second City Park 5K PR.
If you take a look at the morning and the insanity that came with it, it's a great run.
(I got there plenty early. Brandon landed that morning; he had a turn cancelled, so he had a couple hours to kill. He was considering coming down to watch and then decided, why not run? I was on the phone with him as he drove from DIA to City Park; he got to the Zoo parking lot (where I was) about 35 minutes to race start. No parking to be found; we scrambled looking, finally finding something on a side street. He changed in the street; we hauled our asses over to registration - got him registered with 15 minutes to spare. Went to my car, dropped off our phones/his wallet. Pre-race porta-potty stop for him and it was essentially time to line up.)
We couldn't help but laugh at how crazy we've become. Brandon has a few hours to kill, so why not run a 5K with the wife? A 5K that he had initially won a free entry to, but didn't know if he'd be guaranteed to run it and, indeed, shouldn't have been able to. Yet, there we are, both lining up for the start.
Yeah, all things considered, it was a good race.
Except it wasn't.
We started off, ideally taking it easy, but clearly the pace was too fast if we had to walk in that first mile. The funny thing was, we were talking some during that first mile. Looking at the Garmin later, though, a lot of the first part of the first mile was sub-8 or very low 8s. Mile one comes and it's an 8:34.6.
Mile two is harder. Consciously slowing it down, getting into the grind of City Park. A bit more walking, but paces still solidly in the lower-8s. The split comes and it's 9:00.2.
Mile three I fell apart. Completely. I hadn't eaten much the week prior - exhausted a lot which meant afternoons curled up in bed and no dinner - and hadn't worked out much either. Maybe the constant racing has finally started to take its toll on me. It was one of the very few instances that Brandon had to pull me, rather than the other way around. 10:01.4.
The last bit is where it got weird, Garmin/split wise. Brandon started his finishing kick first in the finish chute; I started later, but still ended up crossing the finish line at the same time (yes, he was a tad grumbly about this).
I looked at my Garmin as I stopped it and it said 28:59 (for 3.19 mi; final split being 1:23.1). With the way the day had gone, I was more than happy with sub-29.
Then I talked to Brandon later that night when we were both at work and he tells me the official results had us with a 28:05. I get the .08 discrepancy in mileage - it happens often with racing. But a whole minute off, almost? That didn't make much sense.
(I will say that usually my runs with the Garmin are on local time; this one had me on Greenwich Mean Time, which was really odd, so maybe that explains the time discrepancy?)
I posted later on social media that it was the first time in a long time I had crashed and burned in a race, but I was actually happy about it. You learn a lot more with the bad races than you do with the good races. I learned, once again, that I have to keep fueling myself the week before a race or I will bonk, regardless of distance (a lesson I should have learnt years ago). I learned what constant racing can do to me - something that will be useful for later this summer, when I also race a lot and at longer distances.
I also learned that I am faster than I think I am (we are faster than we think we are), and the only thing holding us back is us ... but that's discussion for another day (has to do a bit with my thoughts after my Barkin' Dog podium, too).
This race was awesome in that OMG FINALLY NICE WEATHER!!!!
Other than that, I really didn't want to wake up for this race. Transition opened at 5:30, so my first alarm went off at 3:45 am. Then my next alarm. And my next few. Needless to say, I finally rolled out of bed a little after 5. I got ready, ate breakfast and left the house at 5:45.
Thankfully, I live right down the hill from Cherry Creek High School where parking was, so I got up there and parked in about five minutes. I pumped up my bike tires and walked into the park to pick up my packet. I would estimate I was probably in transition about five after six.
Sunrise over the bike out arch.
Only one on my rack.
There were two races going on - a long course race (5k-30k-5k) which also happened to be the Rocky Mountain regional championship for USA Triathlon and a short course race (1.2 mi-12.8 mi-5k) which I did. My rack was the short course rack and we were also some of the last waves to go off, which is why no one was there that early.
(There was a double transition close - at 7 for the first two waves and at 7:25 for the last four waves.)
I mostly hung out, tried not to freeze and waited for Jenna to show up as she was racing the long course.
Her wave went off and eventually ... mine which was a bit after the scheduled time of 7:50.
Run #1:
My wave was all short course females. We had a 1.2 mile run - out the arch, around on a trail, short out-and-back, meet up with the long course athletes and then into transition.
It seemed really short ... because it was. I was pushing it pretty hard and on the edge of being able to manage breathing and all that and on the edge of crashing and burning. Made it back ... barely.
Time: 10:14 (40th overall; 18th gender; 2nd division)
T1:
In, out, whatever. Duathlon transitions are so nice and simple.
Time: 1:10 (32nd overall; 13th gender; 2nd division)
The Bike:
The bike course was a two loop course. It was supposed to be inside on park roads, but the weather/flooding last year caused problems with the irrigation (or something) so there is a lot of construction going on ... forcing the bike course to be loop course on the Dam Road instead. This actually worked in my favor as it was a flatter course.
So the reason I signed up for the short course as opposed to the long course was because I'd barely been on my bike in the past month (34 miles in April) and I knew I could BS my way through 13 miles ... but not 18. The first loop and half of loop two felt really good - keeping my cadence high and my speed fairly ... speedy. Second half of loop two? Felt like crap, making me really happy I only signed up for the short course.
Down the hill into the park back into trans.
Time: 42:56 (37th overall; 16th gender; 1st division)
T2:
So I'm really bad about not loosening my laces when I take my shoes off, making it harder to get into them when I try to put my running shoes back on. I need to not do this anymore.
I also ditched my ear mitts as it had warmed up nicely outside.
Time: 1:09 (31st overall; 11th gender; 2nd division)
Run #2:
The second run was a 5K and oh lordy, my lungs did not want to cooperate with me. The run starting uphill also didn't help.
This was a weird run. It was on fairly familiar territory - the one mile marker was about two miles away from the house - but I never felt like I could get a decent stretch of running in. Stupid walking.
Still, a 5K is a 5K and thankfully, they're over pretty quickly and soon enough, I was rolling on into the finish.
Time: 31:57 (42nd overall; 20th gender; 2nd division)
After the race, Jenna and I grabbed a picture together
and then waited around for the official results to show up. Subway was the post-race food; I ate a cookie and tried a bite of sub - nope, wasn't happening.
Then, the results got posted ...
Overall Stats:
Time: 1:27:28
1/7 division (F30-34)
13/39 females
34/71 overall
Yep, I actually won my age group. It was a clear fluke - all the speedy people in my AG raced the long course - but still! I won!
I got my first award - a Barkin' Dog pint glass - and got to stand on my first ever podium.
I have a lot more musings on my reaction to this random win ... but I'll leave those for another day.
In any case ... I'm starting to think I should avoid triathlons and stick to duathlons because I seem to do better when I don't have to flail around in water ...
When we found out there was a race with the name Dino in it, and they gave you a dinosaur medal when you finished, how could Team Baby Dino not sign up for this race?????
Pre-Race
We left for Vernal early Thursday morning, planning a detour into Vail so we could see our friend Nic who was in rehab for her hip. She used to have old hips and now she has new hips. :-) We had coffee and good conversation as we always do, then she wished us good luck and told us to get back on the road.
We pulled into Vernal Thursday afternoon, and were too tired to do anything. So we did nothing, and it was glorious. After all, this was my vacation!
Friday we went to Dinosaur National Monument and saw a lot of cool old dinosaur bones. We did a bit of hiking in the park, and saw the museum as welll. Lots of dinosaurs! Then we headed back to the hotel to pick up our race stuff. Our hotel was the site of this, which was kind of nice. However, they weren't the most helpful people in the world.
After that, we ventured out for our breakfast dinner, which was hard to do in Vernal. Dennys was packed, and some diner didn't serve breakfast. We found a place in some hotel that did. After that, we found the elementary school where we'd board a bus to the start of the race. Headed back to the hotel after that where I watched the Wild lose to the Blackhawks in round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. What is it about me watching my team lose the night before a race??
Race Morning
We woke up early enough to head downstairs for breakfast. We were down there right at 5:55 because the buses left the elementary school between 6:00 and 6:40. 6:00 comes and goes, and there's no eggs or bacon. We waited nearly 15 minutes for scrambled eggs, which were gross.
Then we hightailed it to the school, where there were...no buses. We sat around waiting, and 6:40 came and went with no buses. They rolled into the parking lot just after 7:00, where I lamented that the race was not going to start on time. We boarded the first bus which more or less just followed the course. Along the way, we kept wondering about the hills and how we'd handle them.
Eventually we parked, disembarked, and threw our clothes bag into a Budget Truck. Then we waited for a bit longer before the race started. It was cold; desert, early morning, etc.
Finally, a weak-ass airhorn blew and we were on our way!
The Race
For the first couple miles, I didn't feel undertrained at all. In fact, I was feeling strong and confident. But pretty early on, my bowels betrayed me and I had to hit a porta-potty mid-race. I felt bad about it for T, because we were both moving well. But around mile 4, she had to re-tie her shoe, so we both got our stop.
Like I said, we were moving very well. Pretty much until Mile 8. I was overall very impressed with how we felt, and realized my goal of 2:30:00 would easily fall. In mile 9 though, we fell apart, and we fell apart hard. I'm not surprised given the training, but still. The views we got though were pretty amazing. It was a deep canyon in Utah, and the rock formations were unlike anything I had ever seen before. The scenery was great. And the hills were not bad at all; in fact, it turned out to be a downhill race.
When we hit town, we agreed that we were going to cross the finish line together. T was stronger and could have beaten me, but we decided Team Baby Dino was crossing the line together.
And we did (almost, she beat me by .6 seconds!)
Race time: 2:21:49.6
Post-Race
Overall, I feel pretty good about this race. I think we could have done a bit better (always) but with where we are at in training, I'll gladly take it.
I don't have a lot of racing on my schedule this year. Based on a reserve schedule and commuting to Kansas City, for the time being anyway, it's put me in a position where I don't have a lot of free time/weekends dedicated to racing. So when I was able to snag the Cherry Creek Sneak off, I was excited. I've done this race every year sans 2011, and it was the first ever organized 5K I ever did. So in a funny way, it holds a special place in my heart.
Normally, the weather for this race is great. It's usually sunny and warm. It's a way to kick off the racing season. On 4/27? Cold. Overcast. Rainy. If I didn't love this race so much, I would have silenced the alarms, crawled back into bed, and slept 2-3 more hours. It didn't help that the night before this race, the Minnesota Wild lost to the Colorado Avalanche, in overtime, and I was in attendance at the game.
Anyway, I woke up, grumbled as I usually do, and got ready to go. I made my standard egg and toast and off we went to Cherry Creek. We got there very early due to construction around the Cherry Creek area and I swear they close off the roads earlier every year. Regardless, we found our usual parking spot in the garage by the mall and walked to registration. After that, we hit Safeway where I grabbed a banana and a bottle of Gatorade. We walked back to the car and just sat tight for awhile, staying warm and for me, reading recaps on the poor Wild game.
Eventually, we decided to leave for the start line. I saw a whole bunch of people hanging out in Safeway, so I made the decision we should stay there for a bit. But unfortunately, the pre-race poop caught up with me, and knowing the porta-potties were empty, strutted over there. Then we decided to just hang out near the start. I found a sweatshirt on the ground and wore it. I didn't care; it kept me warm.
We moved over to the left side of the median, acquired the satellites for our Garmin, and the countdown began. My racing season was finally underway!
The Race
We started off like I swear every Cherry Creek Sneak starts - in the mass of humanity. Even though we started closer to the front, it still felt like lots of people. One thing I've noticed though; as we get better and closer to the start lines for our races, the amount of talking and laughter is way down. People are more focused and you hear more heavy breathing as people are working harder.
Anyway, we like taking the first mile easy, but not too easy. Until you make the turn on Colorado and get on Cherry Creek South, it's tough to get open space and settle in. My Garmin said 9:00 for the first mile, and I was feeling fine.
In the 2nd mile, we subtly picked it up a bit. I noticed our breathing a little more labored, but truly, I was happy to be out there. Like I said above, I love this race, and my motto is if I'm racing, I'm not at work! T was slightly ahead of me, and she probably could have gone faster but we stay together on this race. My Garmin said 8:57.
In the final mile, we both started falling apart. It became pretty obvious that the lack of (proper) training was catching up with us and we walked a bit. Turning towards the finish, I picked it up waaaaaaay too early and paid for it. T finished 4 seconds ahead of me and my little toe on my left foot seized up and I limped my way across the finish line. Garmin said 28:36 total.
Post-Race
I loosened my shoes and we walked around. It turns out my toe was just numb. No idea why, and not a big deal. We saw a couple friends, ate 1/2 a bagel, and headed home. I was very content with the way it went, given it's the first race of the season. Always a great debut to our racing season!
Total time - 28:35 (9:11 pace)
Last Saturday, we raced our first (of three) half-marathons of the season. As we are Team Baby Dinosaur, it was only fitting that we signed up for the Dino Half once we heard about it. Duh.
We took a few days off to drive up to Vernal, Utah (where the race was) so we could see Dinosaur National Monument while we were out there. We left early Thursday morning - drive took a lot out of us - and hiked around Dinosaur on Friday. That was essentially our pre-race taper/warm-up. Packet pick-up was at the hotel we were staying in on Friday afternoon/evening. We padded downstairs, got our stuff and went back up.
I will say right now that, for the most part, I like local races. They're usually cheaper and fun. That being said, the one thing the big races have going for them is organization. The race was a point-to-point; park at an elementary school in town, get bused to the start, run back. I asked the volunteers at packet pick-up the best way to get to said school from the hotel ... they had no clue. Not helpful, thanks.
After that, we had issues finding a place to do our typical breakfast-for-dinner thing. The Denny's in town had to have been new and fresh and exciting because it was PACKED at 7:00 on a Friday night. We tried some diner; didn't serve breakfast. Finally we found some place in a hotel - wasn't great, but it did the job. We then found the elementary school ourselves; did it to gauge how long it would take us in the morning and so we knew where we were going.
Saturday Morning
First alarms went off around 5ish; buses left the school between 6 and 6:40; breakfast started at 6. We were down there at about 6:01; not everything was out. We delayed as long as possible for the scrambled eggs ... they finally came out about 6:15; they were NOT worth the wait. I had a bite before I gave up and went for a hard-boiled egg. I was also feeling fairly nauseous - no idea where that came from.
We got to the school about 6:25am; no buses. Took the opportunity to do my second race-morning poop and mostly hang out at the car.
Kidlets looking at the race arch.
6:40 rolls around. No bus. 6:50. 6:55. 7:00. Finally, at some point after 7 (I forget when exactly), several buses roll into the parking lot. We are on the first one. We attempt to scout the course from the bus - "okay, so slightly uphill here, ugh, this looks like three miles of climbing, downhill to start, great."
Sometime after 7:30 we get to the start. It was a relatively chilly morning (canyon in the shade in the desert; it happens) and I felt bad for the other half of the field that had been up there for at least a good 40 minutes. In any case, off the bus, put our stuff in our drop bags and pretty much start the race ... 15 minutes late at 7:45.
First few miles were fast. Probably faster than they should have been. Slowed down in mile four - Brandon needed to use the porta-potty and I had to loosen my shoes. Five was also a bit slower. Picked it up in six and eight ... and from nine on, everything pretty much went downhill.
The hills we thought we saw on the bus? Never ran into them.
The lack of training (we totally crammed for this race) caught up to us in the later miles like we thought they would. The lack of racing caught up with Brandon - he just mentally couldn't go in some of the later miles. If I had left him to run on my own, I maybe would have finished a few minutes quicker - but no more than three, I'd say. But this was the DINO HALF - ain't no way Team Baby Dino wasn't gonna cross that finish line together!
And we did - .6 seconds apart (i was quicker. woo!). This meant I didn't do my typical sprint to the finish, but I'm okay with that.
Medal table!
Final Stats:
Time: 2:21:49(.0)
Pace: 10:49/mi
Overall Rank: 86/215 (total guess looking at results. remember: i can't math)
Gender Rank: 67/125
Division Rank: 21/30 (F30-34)
Probably one of my worst average placings in a running race in a while ... but it was small and I was undertrained. And it still wasn't my worst half-marathon time ever, either. So really, I'll take it.
Plus we got to see dinosaurs and get a cool medal. TOTALLY worth it.
If you're interested ... Garmin splits (for the 13.15 mile - close enough - race)
Mile 1: 8:49.9
Mile 2: 8:56.4
Mile 3: 9:43.1
Mile 4: 11:18.6
Mile 5: 10:47.0
Mile 6: 9:31.1
Mile 7: 10:51.7
Mile 8: 10:01.4
Mile 9: 11:45.9
Mile 10: 11:55.8
Mile 11: 11:47.0
Mile 12: 11:50.5
Mile 13: 13:00.3
Finishing bit: 1:29.0
The end of April came about almost abruptly, it felt like. The month felt pretty good in the midst of it but now, looking back on it, I'm actually pretty disappointed with it. Read on ...
Running: 36.52 mi
Swimming: 8000m (4.97 mi)
Cycling: 34.16 mi
Lifting: six sessions (2:22)
Other: three walks (2:15)
Going back to what I wanted to do this month ...
Did I add in a second lift per week? ... twice, I did.
Did I swim twice a week? ... I did one week. I also swam thrice one week. So not really.
Did I stick with three runs per week? ... well, two or three runs per week.
Did I add in a second ride per week? ... ha, no.
Did I do something not S/B/R related? Unfortunately no. As I said earlier, the end of April came at me and I realized on May 1st that crap, I didn't meet this goal. Really beat myself up for this one.
Am I strength-training regularly? Thankfully, yes.
Am I injury-free? Also thankfully, yes.
While I am ultimately disappointed in my April, I'm actually fairly happy with how the start to my racing season has gone, and I think that's good enough for right now.
That being said, I think I want to make speed my main goal for May as well as keep building on volume. The crazy back-to-back that we were hoping to do doesn't exist anymore so that weekend may just end up turning into a 70.3 distance race instead ...
