Just an Average SKIRT

Weekly Totals: 5000 yds swimming, 70 mi cycling, 22 mi running

Week #2 is complete and I’m now on a stabilizer week. My body and mind are grateful, I’m in need of some stabilization. Craig has given us the tools to calculate an overall stress number each day which provides me data behind the way I feel. By Thursday of this week I was at -56 which according to my husband is a lot for week 2. Its the combination of training for an Ironman and being a massage therapist that makes it dip so deep. Although I do pride myself on the self-care I practice, this will help me realize sooner when I need to start taking extra care. My job is one when I get sick, I can’t work and that is a difficult place to be especially when I have to cancel on clients who need the work. It is extremely important for me to stay as healthy as I possibly can. That is why my life is filled with regular epsom salt baths, essential oils galore, a stretching regime, massage, acupuncture, wellness herbs and rest. Without consistent self-care there is no way I could maintain my schedule.

So here’s how the week ended up - Friday 1750 tempo swim. I felt like a grease monkey gliding through silk. The pool felt incredible, my main sets are still very ‘doable’. Friday it was 3×100 at my all out pace plus 20 seconds. I decided to do them on 1:35 - in the past I’ve based them on 1:40. I did them as follows: 1:30, 1:34, 1:32 Felt good to get the lead out but my lungs were feeling the push. Same as last week I hit a wall at about 3:00 - here I am at 3:20 on Friday suited up in my donut pjs with slippers to match, I hope now you can see why I am so smitten with my flannel friends.

Saturday I headed down to Denver (yes, I actually left Boulder and headed east) to meet up with my sis for a 10 mile run. There was much more snow in Denver than in Boulder, we had dry streets and sidewalks and Wash Park had about 2 fresh inches and some sweet icy spots. I had warmed up 3 miles on the bike before I left home but that warmth was far gone and we started out with a sharp bite in the air. ‘Another long run in the freezing cold snow’ I said to my myself, I never quite shook the annoyance I embraced when making this statement. It stuck with me throughout and along with the fact that my body felt like it was weighted down, yesterday’s run was harder than it should have been. We got it done and headed to the pool for a 1000 yard drill swim. Finished the day and felt mentally cooked. After getting home and into warm comfortable clothing (donuts are in the wash), we turned the TV room into a crack den and settled in for the night. I stretched more, massaged my legs with arnica, massaged my golden, ate dinner and crashed hard.

A few pics I found as Harry when he was a puppy - pretty damn cute dog.

Feeling like I need today off but recovering well I feel. Got up early and walked up to Sole for huge coffees and scones. Busy day today around the house and then I’m making Deena Kastor’s Avocado Enchiladas for the Super Bowl. I can’t wait, we’ve been salivating since seeing Spirit of the Marathon. I’ll report if they are as good as they sound but any recipe that calls for 8 avocados and a pound of cheese is a sure thing as far as I’m concerned.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 3rd, 2008 at 10:19 am and is filed under Triathlon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.