How Hard Can It Be? 5.0

[Veronica]

I am just about recovered from Sunday's race. The muscles in my feet and my ankles have really been sore. Yes, it's the muscles. They ran 6.2 miles on almost all gravel and single track, which my feet are not very familiar with. Poor Thom has been stuck with my feet in his lap while we watch the Dauphine coverage. The massage really makes them feel better.

Today is the last day of school. I managed to not cry at our promotion ceremony yesterday. A couple of my kids cried and a lot of parents were teary, including our principal.

I have a week to train and then we're off to mountain bike Telluride to Moab. I'm a little nervous about so much riding at elevation - 8,000 - 10,000 feet most days. But I know how to moderate my effort and it will make me look at the scenery.

Veronica

[Veronica]

The Telluride trip was awesome. Pictures are here. It was some of the hardest riding I have ever done. Every day I just worked at staying in a zone where I could ride. I think it turned out to be some pretty good training. I know I came home with some wicked huge calf muscles.

It took a few days for me to recover from the trip. I found myself napping for a couple of hours both Monday and Tuesday. But by Wednesday I seemed to be back to normal. My workout with Shawna on Wednesday was just awesome, lots of plyometrics. My favorite exercise being hold on to two 12 dumb bells and jump up onto a bench 15 times. I kept focusing on how quietly I could land.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday (today) were run days. Thursday's run was hard since I had not run in 2 weeks. Friday felt better, of course it was shorter and not as hilly. Today I went out for 8.5 miles and it was perfect! I just got into the zone where I felt like I could just keep going. It wasn't fast, but you know if I could run that pace for my entire HIM in 4 weeks, I'd be thrilled.

Shawna is heading off to Alaska with her dad for two weeks, so no trainer sessions. I've got a week and then we're heading to Maine. While there I plan to get in an ocean swim and run the course of our race in August. Not sure yet if we'll bike or drive the bike course. My sister lives on a small pond so maybe I'll work on my open water skills a bit.

4 weeks until Barb's Race. I don't feel ready. That's nothing new; I've never felt ready.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Maine trip was great. I ran three times, including part of the course for Rev 3 Maine. It's a fairly flat run course with a section on the Eastern Trail through Scarborough Marsh. OY!!!! Running through the section of marsh was like running through a sauna! It's a good thing it's flat, because there is no way I want to walk through the section.

We biked about 45 miles of the bike course, picked up some pretty decent rental bikes at Gorham Bike and Ski in Saco. Oddly, they don't have a Gorham location. None of the climbs are very long, a few are fairly steep. Thom is doing this part of the relay and I expect he'll have a pretty good time. We averaged 16.5 mph without pushing ourselves and with me sightseeing along my old school bus route.

I had my first trainer session with Shawna in two weeks today. I expect I'll be a little sore tomorrow. My first set included Burpees and push ups, just ten of each, not bad. But the second round I had to do twenty and you guessed it. The third round was 30. Burpees are worse than push ups!

My HIM is less than 2 weeks away. I really need to go swim...


Veronica

[Wahine]

Good luck V. I'm looking forward to hearing how the race goes.