Howdy friends! I hope you had a great 4th of July and are getting back into the swing of things after the holiday. My weekend in a nutshell was a nice brunch with B before he had to fly out of town, finishing my night stand, painting one of my dressers, lots of sleep and then working on Monday. I was thankful for a nice weekend of rest and relaxation! So was this girl
Triathlon Training
Monday marked the beginning of Week 4 of my triathlon training. Obviously things have not gone as planned since I am now sporting a cast but Iโve tried to keep up with things as much as I can. Hereโs an update on how Iโm doing!
I was actually in my bike accident before my training plan technically started, so Iโve been dealing with an injury since day 1. I was in so much pain up until I got my cast put on that I didnโt do any workouts for the first 2 weeks. This is obviously disappointing to me, but it was it is. I just modified my workouts at first instead of jumping right into week 3.
Cycling
One major bummer for me is that Iโm not going to be able to cycle outside until my cast comes off, whenever that may be. So all of my cycling workouts have had to move indoors. I have 2 cycles on my training plan each week: one is part of a brick workout on Wednesdays and the other is a long ride on Saturdays.
As much as I hate not feeling the breeze in my face, one consolation has been being able to watch TV on the bikes at the gym. I love me some Real Housewives but I donโt have cable at my apartmentโฆ. so watching it at the gym is a nice compromise for me.
I tried to pick up my road bike from the shop the other day but made the mistake of going on a Saturday afternoon when the line was practically out the door. I wanted to talk to them about getting a trainer tire so I just decided to come back another day. Iโm hoping to pick it up in the next few days. Iโm kind of confused about whether I should get a trainer tire or an old wheel/tire. Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this.
Run
Iโm so happy to write this section because running has always been my weakness.
When I found out I was going to have to get a cast on my hand, I immediately thought my running was going to go right down the shit hole. I absolutely HATE the treadmill and the thought of running in the Carolina heat with sweat collecting in my cast was not appealing at all.
This would have been the perfect opportunity to completely scrap my running and possibly even ditch the triathlon training. But Iโve been trying to stick with this saying: If you want something, youโll find a way. If you donโt, youโll find an excuse. I really dislike the treadmill, but there is nothing on a sprint triathlon training plan that I cannot handle on a treadmill temporarily.
I have 3 runs on my tri plan: a short run as part of my brick workout on Wednesdays, a long run on Fridays, and another short run combined with a swim on Sunday. I canโt even believe Iโm saying this but I have actually really enjoyed my runs.
#1- running in air conditioning is way better than running in the heat
#2- I find that I pay a lot less attention to the time/distance on the treadmill when Iโm watching TV at the gym. Iโm constantly checking my Garmin when Iโm running outside.
Iโm getting ready to order a new pair of running shoes, also. The best part of running!!!!
Swim
Obviously I cannot swim right now and Iโve just come to terms with that. The swim in my sprint is only a 500m, and Iโm hoping I can build up enough endurance before September to not die during the swim.
I had 3 swims on my tri training plan. One was a set of sprint workouts every Tuesday, another was an open water swim every Thursday, and then the brick workout with a run on Sunday (shorter swim). Iโve yet to complete any of that, but Iโm hoping to pick up where I can whenever I can swim again.
One silver lining is that I have turned my swimming days into strength-training days. I had always planned to formally incorporate strength-training into my plan, but I like that I have 2 dedicated days to distract me while I canโt get in the pool. I use 1 day to do leg weights in the gym and the second day has been variable. On Tuesday night this week, I just spent an hour doing my leg PT exercises at home.
Wrist
I have an ortho follow-up next week and my doctor said that I may get some follow-up x-rays and come out of the cast. Iโm keeping my fingers crossed. My follow-up is actually with his PA, and she is a 3x ironman! I am really looking forward to chatting with her.
I need your help:
Iโd really like to start listening to podcasts on my workouts (and my commute to work!). Any recommendations?
Also, Iโm going to go ahead and order my tri outfit so that I can start training in it. If you have some favorite attire then Iโd love to hear what you like!
What did you do over the 4th??
If you watch Real Housewives, I HIGHLY recommend Bitch Sesh. It’s a recap podcast and it’s hysterial.
I also really enjoy TED Radio Hour and Invisibilia for more of the learning genre. Ladies Who Lunch is really fun and interesting as well.
Serial, Undisclosed, and Happier with Gretchen Rubin are also ones I listen to. I really enjoy podcasts :)
Thanks, Ange
Yay, I’m so glad that you’ve been enjoying your treadmill runs! I pay less attention to pace/distance too since I’m almost always watching something. I like to watch things related to sports because it inspires me in the moments when I most need it, haha!
It’s definitely the TV for me… I had to get a treadmill without one the other day and it was not as bearable. Maybe I need some fun playlists for my iTunes.
I love Podcasts! I’ve recently gotten into 10% Happier by Dan Harris and Nutrition Matters
Those sound great! Thanks :)