Trainer time

With just over eight weeks until Ironman Coeur d’Alene (wow- typing that just gave me heart palpitations), I’m pretty pleased with how many training is going considering my late start and a few bumps along the way.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the saddle (although it’s an indoor saddle), my swimming is steady, and I’m hoping to slowly increase running mileage (since five miles is nowhere near 26.2).

Over the last three weekends, I’ve pedaled away on my trainer for just under 16 hours. Here are some interesting numbers:

• I watched five movies, five tv episodes, and parts of two pro bike races (Paris-Roubaix and Amstel Gold).
• I tested two chamois butters (dznuts bliss and  chamois butt’r).
• I sweated buckets.
• I drank 5.5 litres of liquid (water and Nuun).
• And I ate a lot.
• My dog came down for kisses no less than a dozen times.
• I broke a new record: five hours straight on a trainer.
• I rode two bikes and love the fit and feel of my new one.

On Saturday I rode on my trainer for five hours. It definitely took some mental toughness, but overall I’m not struggling with riding inside yet.

I think I’m enjoying it for a few reasons:

1. I know it needs to get done. Living in Alberta and signing up for a June Ironman may not be the best idea since our weather isn’t conducive to long outdoor biking before mid-April, if we’re lucky. If I want to make it 180km on June 23, I need time in the saddle regardless of whether it’s inside or outside.
2. I feel safe. Sometimes I get pretty scared riding on the highway. Every fall, I thank my lucky stars that my husband and I had another safe riding season. Riding inside is cutting down on the dangers of the highway.
3. I enjoyed a nice physical and mental break. When we were in Asia, I had five weeks off of biking (minus our fun day riding cruisers in the hutongs of Beijing). Training wasn’t a priority. I felt fresh coming home and have been looking forward to training sessions.

There are also cons:

1. No wind or other natural elements to work through.
2. Chafing seems to be worse inside without wind to dry sweat!
3. I miss the fresh air, farmers’ fields, and actually riding somewhere!

I’ve said it a few times before, but hopefully I can get out on the road soon. Technically I could ride outside right now, but when it’s barely above freezing on the weekends, I just can’t make myself get out there and freeze for hours.

I went out for an hour last Thursday and plan to ride outside for an hour this evening. We’ll see what the weekend has in store!

What’s your drink of choice for fuel? Do you prefer indoor (trainer, treadmill) training or outdoor? 

Doing what I can training

While most people are writing about their strong weeks preparing for Ironman Coeur d’Alene or other spring/early summer races, I’m following the ‘doing what I can’ training method. Have you heard of it? It’s not as popular as most methods out there, but I hope it’ll work for me! (Don’t get me wrong- I love reading about people’s training and all their amazing progress and workouts!)

I knew that coming back from five weeks away from home, structure, and proper training would be tough. I was looking forward to it! However, I didn’t expect to be sidelined again.

The good news is that it’s not {currently} my knee. The bad news is I’m on a running hiatus.

I’ve been a biking machine the last week and am not detesting the trainer yet. (I think it helped to step away from it for those weeks.) My bike is definitely a work in progress, and probably always will be, but it’s been fun to get in some mileage.

I’ve also been waking up in the 4am hour to get in the pool.

Today I aqua jogged for the first time in years. And I had fun doing it! When my knee hurts, even pool running hurts. So it was nice to be able to mimic running today!

I just really hope to make it to the start line in less than 12 weeks, whether I can run or not. I’m trying to be smart, keep my knees and hips healthy, and trying to get the rest of my body on the same page!

Did you have a nice long weekend? I had four days off for Easter and loved every minute of them!

Do you ever pool run? Like it or loathe it?

Thanks for taking the time to read my three Thailand recaps! I’m hoping to get my China posts written and up this week being that we’ve been home for nearly three weeks now!

Snippets from my week

Trail run in the river valley. The leaves are falling off the trees and there isn’t a much better time to run than in crisp weather with the crunch of leaves.

Helping my sister coach her junior high cross-country team.

Second ride since IM Canada and last outdoor ride of the year. Of course I got a flat! I was so proud that I changed it and didn’t get any grease on my new bike sweater.

We celebrated our fourth anniversary on Sept. 27!

Kelly surprised me with an incredible new trainer! Once I ride it a few times, I’ll write up a review as I think I’m going to love it. I also forgot how good it feels to ride on a trainer and get super sweaty!

Unpictured but worth mentioning, I also had a nice shop at a local Farmer’s Market, had fun at a girlfriend’s stagette, and chilled at home with husband and pup.

What are some highlights from your week?