Cramming it in before Travel

Only in Austin would it be freezing cold one day and 75 degrees the next! That is how the week before Christmas goes around here. The winter blankets of snow seem a far cry from beautiful days we've been having this week. Of course, it also serves to weaken some immune systems and I'm fighting the powerful urge to succomb. Hubby has fallen prey to the nasty cold monster, complete with coughing, sinus pressures and runny noses.

The only thing running on me this week are my heart rate and my legs! I actually hit both Gazelle running workouts this week making me feel like an official runner again. I'm trying to squeeze most of my training hours in early this week so that I can actually relax a bit in Ohio. Plus, I'm not really sure what type of access to a gym, pool or running I'll have.

Monday AM Gazelles: Spring Creek Hill repeats. We ran from Runtex to the Hill and did 5 forward repeats, 3 backwards and 3 sprints half-way up the hill. I struggled on this hill workout (duh--my legs were creaking from the day before), but got through once I decided it was ok to slow it down a tad.

Monday PM Gazelles: I hit the T3 15-min core workout at the track across the street from my house. Of course, I took some crap from Logan when I told him I was only there for core and not the running portion since I had already done Gazelles that morning. Naturally, I got the "you think your better than us" jabs. After that :15min, I came home and did :15 more minutes of core and ab exercises.

Tuesday AM T3 Swim: Hard workout this morning with a lot of long swim sets (i.e. no toys). 1 x 600 swim, 1x 400, 1x 200, 1 x 100 and then a few 50s. As I mentioned before, it feels so wonderful to finally be getting control of my swim. A few weeks ago my one length stroke count was 38. Yep, it took me 38 strokes to get from one end of the pool to the other. That's atrocious. Yesterday, I was averaging between 28-29 strokes per length. For someone my height, that's pretty good. Obviously, a 6ft tall person will take fewer strokes than this 5'1" peanut. I hit 3,000 meters for the morning and left with sense of confidence.

Tuesday PM T3 Spin: I didn't make it to the core portion on time, so it allowed me to hop on the trainer at 6pm and get a solid 1hr 30min spin workout. The coached portion was a bee-otch with a combination of 100 rpm recoveries, stand/sit combinations, big chain ring, time trials, etc. While it was incredibly difficult, I just kept thinking about focus...focus...focus...find the cadence. Work the legs. Think about pedal stroke. Anything to pass the minutes. I love the energy of these classes, but there are 3 girls that drive me crazy because they don't shut up the entire time! It's like they're purpopsely not trying to push themselves. I think it pisses me off because I can barely breath and they're discussing their Christmas list! Anyways, that's just my quick vent. I know these classes are making a huge impact.

Wednesday AM Gazelles 800m Repeats: I didn't want to go. I really wanted to do an easy run. I even emailed Amy Farley the day before and said, "You may or may not see me tomorrow" to which she promptly replied, "Suck it up and do the work. You'll thank me after Ironman." Damn you Amy Farley. Am I that transparent?? Apparently so. She convinced me to show up, slow it down a tad and pace her. Ha....I don't think these repeats were much slowed down from my usual times. I ran the 1.5 miles from home to the track and immediately started the workout with Farley who has shown up early and was a couple of repeats into her workout. Umm...I don't think these are much slower than normal!
3:21
3:22
3:20
3:16
3:23
3:21
3:21
3:14

Thank you Amy Farley. I didn't even have to wait to Ironman to say that!