Week 4 Wrap-Up

Well, it was supposed to be a rest week, but with an extra bike ride, a full day of skiing, and an extra hot yoga session it ended up being a pretty big week. I did drop the intensity to some degree, and the fact is, I feel amazing. I feel so much more confident and stronger and faster than I did at this time last year - so I'm thinking as long as I listen to my body and respond to its needs, whatever they are, I'm okay.

I have no pain. I have no soreness. I remember last year at this time, marveling at how Danielle could go from workout to workout to teaching exercise classes to working out some more to bike-commuting 100 miles in a day and reporting that she felt no soreness. I didn't get it. Now I do - my body is making adaptations to heavy load, and responding positively to it.

So, specifics from the week:

Nutrition: So-so, again. I'm not eating more calories than I'm burning, at least, but I'm also not eating much less. So my weight is stable. I'd still like it to be lower, but there's all that Easter candy in the house!

Swim: My longest swim ever happened this week, and I was pleased with the result. I'm feeling faster and smoother in the water, but that doesn't matter too much. What matters is I now know for sure that I can go the Ironman distance before the cut-off time - which is really all that's important to me at this point.

Bike: Man, hills are my best friends. I can't believe how much fun it is to climb on the tri bike. And I definitely do not need to change the crankset to a compact double - the geometry and size of the bike combine to make a regular double just fine.

Run: Nothing spectacular happened this week in my running. I didn't do the intense run because I didn't have the right mentality, clothing, whatever - I just didn't want to, so I didn't. But it was great to run outside in daylight last Friday afternoon!

Skiing: I love Spring skiing. Next season I'm not doing an Ironman so I can get more Spring skiing in. Seriously. Fewer hours to train in the early part of the season = more Spring skiing.

Anyway, since it's Monday, I'll just throw in that I did my moderate bike ride today - 14 miles with a couple of reasonable climbs in an hour - and I went to a 90 minute hot yoga class which kicked my butt while I was doing it and made me feel tingley and happy and calm when it was over. I can't believe four weeks of training have been completed, though - that means only 20 weeks left!!!