Weekend Report

Strava Training Log

Good morning! How are you today?

The picture above is a screen shot of Strava's training log. It automatically takes each workout and compiles this nice little log. I like it because it measures things in hours, which is what a lot of Ironman training programs focus on. I am used to measuring by miles, so this is a little switch for me. Of course the Beginner Triathlete (BT) log still does things in miles.

The BT and Strava logs differ also in the start/end. BT starts on Sunday, while Strava starts on Monday. I kinda like living in both worlds. In the past I always began my training week on Mondays.

OK, on to the report. I got out Friday morning and felt decent, so I decided to do 13.1 miles. Yes, it would complete an August Strava challenge on the very first day, but that's not why I did it. I need 13 miles to get me to 25 miles for the week. I am trying to get to 30 miles per week on the run. I am getting there slowly. The run went well. It was cool but humid, and I did manage to run a late mile considerably faster. Soon I will start working on speed.

Saturday morning I was going to ride 81. Yes, another Strava challenge, but, again, it was more about reaching the nice round number of 150 miles. I had arranged to meet John H on the course and ride with him for a while, but when we woke up Saturday morning it was threatening rain. I had a bad night's sleep, so I decided to change my plans. I texted John, "I'm out." It was a good decision, for it rained and rained here.

John managed to find a path north from Bedford, out of the rain, so he got his 50, followed by a nice 5 mile run. He is ready for Ironman Louisville in less than 3 weeks. I waited on the rain, getting a lot accomplished around the house, things neglected because of Ironman training. I finally made it out early afternoon for an easy 30 miler. I ended up with a little over a hundred miles for the week. Good enough.

The big news comes out of the water. Yesterday afternoon at Kenray several of us gathered. My plan? Do the Iron distance of 2.4 miles, a distance unthinkable, unimaginable not that long ago. I started off planning to do 12 laps of .2 miles each. I knocked them off one at a time, and 1:39:15 later, I had finished the distance without stopping. It was a good feeling and a great confidence builder. I know the ocean is different, but a lot of things are coming together. It is relatively slow, but I have 2:20 to complete the distance. I should make it easily, barring disaster.

I did have an encounter with a pontoon boat. I guess I provided entertainment, unknown to me at the time, to the boat people and friends on the shore watching. I saw the boat come in at a safe distance. I did not realize it was going to turn around and come back out. All I knew was it passed me, seemingly accelerating hard. Evidently it was trying to pass me, while I kept swimming into its path. Oh well...

This week should be another good one to train. Roy is talking about an Olympic distance tri in Columbus. I am thinking about it. IF I do that, then my training will change considerably. If I don't do it, then I am going to try have a big week, pushing past 15 hours. I need to decide today. I will think about it on my run this morning, which starts soon!

Feel free to share your weekend workouts.