triathlon training: week 9

I’m officially into my last week of training.  Hard to believe that 10 weeks of training have already flown by.  Also hard to believe that my 10 week summer is officially over.  Ugh.  It went by way too fast, and I am definitely going to be missing this little face a TON…

I feel so lucky to have gotten to spend so much time with MacKenna this summer.  I know other working moms don’t get to have that much time off, but I feel like it makes up for the 12+ hour days I work during volleyball season.  It’s going to be a tough couple of months for awhile, but I am hoping I’ve figured out our routines and schedules so that I can maximize my time with MacKenna and Matt and not get as stressed out this fall.  But, I can’t deny the fact that while I’m so excited about volleyball season, I will be counting down the days until the end of October.  (Make that the end of the school year…)

I definitely can’t complain about how this summer went:  I trained hard, got to spend almost 2 weeks away on vacation with my little family, built up my volleyball program, and made a huge decision on selling our house.  I felt like Matt and I renewed our relationship a bit with time together, and I got some much needed Mommy + MacKenna time.  It was an absolutely WONDERFUL summer, and one that I probably will never forget.

My last weekend off was a fun one.  I kicked off my Saturday with a group run for the Mo’Cowbell Half Marathon (I’m helping my friend with the training group she is leading) and ended my night at the Karmin and Nelly concert at The Pageant.  My awesome sister-in-law (Matt’s sister) is a freelance photographer and does a lot of photography for various concerts in St. Louis.  She had an extra ticket to the concert and knowing how much I wanted to go see Karmin (my 2nd all time favorite band, behind Ben Folds Five), she invited me along – and scored me a media pass to go in the pit with her.  I’ve been in the front row for a lot of concerts (mostly Ben Folds) but this was really freaking cool!  Seriously, is Amy (lead singer for Karmin) not one of the most incredibly beautiful people you’ve ever seen?!

And today I’m back at work.  I should note I am voluntarily working today.  I really don’t have to be back until tomorrow for staff meetings, but I have a ton of work I need to get done on my new health curriculum (I’m teaching 7th grade health this year – last year I taught 8th grade) so I am going in to get my stuff organized and to hopefully knock out a chunk of work on that.  Thankfully, fall sports practice doesn’t start until next Monday, so I get to come home at 3 or 3:30 every day and spend some extra time with MacKenna.

Work is going to make getting my workouts in this week a bit tougher, but for the most part, I feel totally ready for the triathlon on Sunday.  I actually was able to get a ride in.  On actual roads with cars.  On an actual road bike.  *gasp* I know, right?!

6 mile easy run
(46:34)

{ CrossFit }
CF Warmup
Back Squat 2x3 @ 105 lbs, 3x2 @ 115 lbs

For time:
Toes to bar 40x
Dumbbell Thrusters 80x, 10 lbs

1000 yard swim
(30 minutes)

4 mile easy run on the treadmill

2x1 mile repeats with 400m recovery walk
(Mile 1 = 6:42, Mile 2 = 6:30)

10 mile ride on the road bike
(40:28)

{ CrossFit }
CF Warmup
Sumo Deadlifts 2x2, 135 lbs

“1/2 Mary”
AMRAP in 10 minutes:
Elevated Pushups 5x
Pistol Squats 10x (5 each leg)
Jumping Pullups 15x
(5 rounds)

1000 yard swim
(30 minutes)

7.1 mile easy run
(55:43)

6x45 seconds on, 90 seconds off

{ CrossFit }
CF Warmup
Shoulder Press 8x2, 55 lbs

4 rounds:
Push Jerk 10x, 50 lbs
Knees to Elbows 20x
Run 400m
(13:30)

4 mile run with the jogging stroller
(35:09)

Rest Day

Um, apparently I recorded my Tuesday on Wednesday – oops!

So, my ride on Wednesday was absolutely AWESOME!  My friend Michelle saw my Instagram post about my rough ride last week on my mom’s hybrid bike and told me that I would be much faster on a road bike and that I could borrow hers if I wanted.  Um, YES PLEASE!

Because I needed to practice first since I’ve never ridden a road bike before, we met up on Wednesday for a ride.  Michelle road her mountain bike while I road her road bike.  She gave me a quick lesson on getting my feet in the straps and how to shift gears.  She had asked me ahead of time if we wanted to go to a local park and ride or if we wanted to do the hills by her house.  My tri is hilly so hills it was!  Which also meant 6 miles on the roads – busy roads with a 45 mph speed limit (or at least it felt like the cars were flying past me).

It was amazing how easy the ride felt!  I learned how to change the gears to make pedaling flat or up/down hill easier for me and Michelle coached me throughout the ride, telling me where my gears should be before going up or down a hill.  And with her in front of me on the mountain bike, I could see just how much harder she was having to pedal than I was.  Basically, I’m totally sold on a road bike and can’t wait to tackle my longest bike ride during my tri this Sunday!  Should be interesting… I CAN’T FREAKING WAIT!

What’s the best concert you’ve ever been to?  Is your summer coming to an end as well?