Nothing to do but improve

So I’m thinking that things are finally coming together, at least in the pool they seem to be. Today’s 1500 seemed easy. The last 500 felt better than the first 1000, I think a lot of that had to do with the bilateral breathing. Something I’ve always struggled with, it only took living in the pool for 2 months to fix it-self. I have to be honest; I really find the pool outrageously boring. My day dreaming is curbed by the need to keep count, meaning that every breath means I’m muttering the number of the lap I’m on. There is no one to talk to and really nothing to see. It’s still too cold to hit the open water and the Y comes with free babysitting so I try to keep my complaints to a minimum (I know I’m failing at this) So with nothing better to do I started to play around with my breathing and was pleased to notice how that little tweak seemed to almost instantiously increase my speed and power. I toyed with the idea of playing with a flip turn but didn’t want to bite off too much too soon. One new skill per pool session is enough for me. The real test will be if I can keep it going next week when I get back in water.

Swam for 45 minutes
Ran 7.5 miles

They are all long

One of the major differences btw marathon training and training for the 70.3 is the idea of a long workout. Even during my most motivated periods I have never loved the idea of a long run. Much past 7 miles and the excuses start to come out. With marathon training I only had to worry about this once a week. With the 70.3 every time I turn around there is another long workout, never mind on "short" days I'm almost always pulling a double session. Today's long swim caught me by surprise, I hadn't really thought about it till breakfast this am when I glanced at the training schedule. The other big difference btw marathons and this, is that the 70.3 training is fairly inflexible. With marathons (and really any other kind of running plan) I was notorious for skipping workouts, rescheduling workouts till later in the week and combining them into 1 day. Now that's a distant memory. Given the unpredictability of the kid, I'm really kind of married to the program and getting a workout in when I have the chance regardless of my desire to do so. All of that said it's pretty nice when the flow comes together (like today) and it's 11:30 - all workouts are done - I'm showered and the kid is still snoozing.

Trained 45 mins in the pool followed by 30 mins on the trainer

Brick interrupted

At baseline my training is always a bit touch and go with the kid. Often I think I have a workout set and then am changing plans last minute. This week is no different. Combine that with returning from vacation and yet another night of no sleep and it’s a miracle I haven’t thrown in the towel completely. So today was going to be 60 mins on the trainer followed by a 30 min run, ideally back to back. And it was back to back, if you ignore that hour and 40 minute break that involved a diaper change, bottle, meal and trip to the bakery for a smoothie and visit with Melissa. Yes, I could have skipped the smoothie and social stop but after a sleepless night sometimes you just need a friendly face who will tell you it’s going to be fine. By the time we started running the sun was out and temps were climbing. Not ideal but come race day, I’ll be hitting the run course late morning and will have to get used to this. The best part of all of this, peeking over at the kid who spent the run chomping on his toes for all the world to see.

Trained 60mins on the bike and a 30 minute run

No time to train.

4 weeks into training for this 70.3 and it's become my job, which is sad because I'm slow and not going to get any money for this. My life is being scheduled around training, last night I refused dinner plans so that I could get my bike in. We are going out of town at the end of the week and I'm too busy scouting out gyms and pool schedules to think about packing. Since I have too many weeks left of training to count I've decided to focus on what could change for this to feel a bit more manageable.

• Things would be easier if the Y would just gaurentee me a pool lane for private use whenever I want it. Oh, that private pool lane would have to come with free babysitting at times that work for me.


• I need nice weather, just like today, for all my runs.


• My husband needs to get off my back and allow my phat whip to become a fixture in the living room M-F instead of insisting that I lug it back and forth to the mud room when not in use. I've offered to move a couch out for the next few months and we can watch TV on my ride but he's not interested.


• I could also use 5 of the same outfit I worked out in today so laundry can sit for more than 24 hours.


• The kid could also learn how to use a toilet and nap on command.

That's all I need for this to be a little easier.

Trained 30 minutes in the pool and ran 3.7 miles.

Trying to stay present

So although I've been getting the workouts in lately, I haven't been focused on them. My eye is always on the clock. How much time til I have to pick the kid up? How much time before I finish this damn race? How much time til I can get off the bike? I'm rushing through the workouts with little thought about what I'm doing other than being able to check them off in my log book. I had to change my workout schedule today as the kid is sick again and I found myself at a 7am yoga class. I caught myself there.....I was scanning the room for a clock wondering how much time I had left before I had to get back home. I gotta stop doing this, I need to focus on being present in the moment. Not just when I'm getting these workouts in but when I'm living the rest of life. Stop eyeing the clock and focus on what's happening right now where I'm at. Easier said than done. It might also help if I started to slowly decrease my caffeine intake as well but we are taking baby steps here.

Training today included 60min yoga class and 30min run.