Tri Training: Week 13 The Home Stretch!

The 14 week tri-plan I've been following had 2 weeks of taper at the end, which seemed a bit silly for a sprint tri.  I decided to go "off plan" again this week and make up another peak week from training (so what I'm reporting is the week I repeated).  The week went well and I hit about 43 total miles.  It's no wonder I was tired by Sunday night!

Monday 7/30/12 - Scheduled OFF - Completed OFF.  After the previous weekend's long bricks - I needed this.

Tuesday 7/31/12 - Scheduled Run 0:30/Strength 0:30 - Completed Run 0:40/Strength 0:15. I switched things up because of the heat/humidity and headed to the gym to do a treadmill ladder workout.  It was challenging and left me in a puddle of sweat at the end.  I had about a .6 mile warm up/cool down (10 minutes) and then 2.8 miles of running during the ladder. I finished with a 15 minute abs workout.  I was toast.

Wednesday 8/1/12 - Scheduled Swim 0:30 - Completed Swim 0:37. Set a new distance record of 1200 meters (or yards, I'm never really sure how the pool is measured). 

Thursday 8/2/12 - Scheduled Bike 0:40/Strength 0:30 - Completed Bike 0:45/Strength 0:30. Rode 11 miles in 45 minutes.  I picked a very hilly, country road route to get used to streets again.  It kicked my ass.  Then I did a 30 minute abs workout that further turned me to goo.

Friday 8/3/12 -  Scheduled Swim/Bike Brick (0:20/1:00) swapped for Saturday due to scheduling - Completed Swim/Bike Brick (0:20/0:53).  The swim was fine - just basic laps in my friend's pool, but I was not feeling this ride.  I went 12.4 miles (about a full mph slower than the hill ride from Thursday) and this route was pretty flat.  It pissed me off that I was biking worse on an easier route.  I think I wasn't well hydrated and I had a migraine during the ride.  Not very confidence building for the last weekend before a race. 

Saturday 8/4/12 - Scheduled OFF - Completed OFF.  Needed to pick up the kids from band camp so my workout consisted of sitting in the car for 3 hours, sitting in a stadium watching marching band shows for 2 hours, and then crashing on the couch when we got home. 

Sunday 8/5/12 - Scheduled Bike/Run Brick (0:55/0:25) - Completed Bike/Run Brick but struggled. I biked 12.74 miles in 0:56 (13.5 mph average) on a slightly hillier course than Saturday.  I woke up early to get this done before church and before the major heat of the day, but I never felt like I got my groove.  It was very humid (85%) and around 75*.  I was surprised how much this affected me on the bike.  I also think I drank too much because I got done with my ride and I had to pee.  Ended up coming in, going to the bathroom, and then watching the top finisher's of the Olympic Women's Marathon.  You'd think watching these women run a full marathon in a much faster time than I can even run a half would motivate me, but it didn't.  The run sucked donkey dongs. 2.06 miles in 22:51 (11:05 pace).  I walked about a bazillion times and yelled at myself for every one.  I mean, seriously, it was ONLY 2 MILES but I couldn't pull it together.  Sucky way to end my week but it happens to the best of us.  Just wish it didn't happen so often to me. Dear God, can I please start loving to run again and feel like I'm getting back to my "old" self? Love, Me.

So, I'm officially into the home stretch. A couple easy brick workouts on the schedule, plus I'm throwing in some extra swimming and biking because that doesn't kill me and I really don't think I need to taper much for this.  Now, if I was doing an Olympic distance or more, you bet your ass I'd be tapering.  For this distance I don't think it's really necessary and neither do my "coaches".  Next week at this time, hopefully you'll be reading a race report :)

Thanks for all the love and comments - I'll definitely be channeling any mojo you can give me next weekend!