Week 9 of base building for races next year

Another week, more base building completed. Same old same old. The theme for this week was once again reminding myself of the big picture and not getting upset at day to day stuff. I didn't hit the duration goals I had this week for workouts, but I had a week full of fun events that usually don't happen this frequently. I know that come January I'll settle back into a nice groove with my training and eating, and that's only a few weeks away. Until then, I really just need to not get upset about sleeping in (which if I do is rare and likely needed), eating out and drinking with friends because, life.

In other news, I signed up for the Carmel Marathon. I had been thinking of doing this race as a confidence builder/ capture the unicorn BQ race before IM training begins a month later, but was on the fence because my #1 goal is getting to the start of IMWI healthy. By the end of the week I was convinced it was a good idea, and L was on board so we booked the hotel and I registered. Bonus: some good friends will also be running it. Double bonus: I can transfer to the half if I have to. As luck would have it, I went for a run a few hours after registering and it was abysmal which instantly made me regret this decision. I've since come around and am now moderately excited about it.. I'm just in a funky mood lately/hate the shortened daylight/not a fan of the holidays.

Workouts:

Monday: 16 cycle miles

Tuesday: 3 cycle miles, 6 mile run 

Wednesday: 10 cycle miles, 3 mile run {brick}

Thursday: 15 cycle miles, with 30 sec intervals every 4 min

Friday: 3 mile run with the pup

Saturday: 5 mile run

Sunday: REST

Total: 61 miles, for 5:13
Cycle: 44 miles, 2:52
Run: 17 miles, 2:20

Goals for the week:

Swim. The cough has been lingering. Between that and the weekends events, swimming was put on hold this past week.

Running speed work. Was on hold after the bike fall. My knee and hip were feeling off during the week and I didnt want to risk it.

Continue with bike speed work stuff.

Write out a plan for the next 8 weeks to get me to the start of marathon training/ continual IM base.

Snapshots:

The sunrise was so beautiful for a few days last week. It made me so happy to see the vibrant colors  in the morning.
Thursday I went to the Christkindl market with Vicky. We had Gluhwein and then caught up over dinner. With the temp at almost 60 degrees, it was enjoyable to be outside in Chicago.
Friday morning I took the CB dog for a run. I had been promising him for a while and we finally made it happen. He had so much fun trotting down the lakefront.

Later on in the weekend, we were in he elevator and a small kid pointed to him and asked me what he was. I said "What do you think he is?" the kid replied " He's a dog, but looks like a cat..."

Sunday evening when we returned home we opened the door and CB wasn't waiting for us. Sometimes he will come running from the bedroom, but this time we didnt hear him at all. I started thinking the worst, or where the hell was he- so we walked into our place and I saw the bathroom door was shut, so I opened it. Out flew CB.. He managed to shut himself in the bathroom, and thankfully did not destroy the door trying to get out. I have no idea how long he was in there.
After going for drinks with friends on Saturday night, we decided to wake up early Sunday and go stand in line for the Half Acre "Big Hugs" release. It was nice outside but not so fun to be standing for a few hours while hungover and still drunk. We got loads of Big Hugs and Vanilla big hugs and went to Northdown for foods.
The Northdown burger hit the spot hard (as well as that runny egg) and we were happy to chill and drink a few beers a the bar before heading home.
I'm looking forward to another good week of workouts and life stuff. 
-Xaarlin

Week 8 of base building for races next year

This week was a lesson in patience. I started off the week with a bad cold- congestion, low grade fever and an annoying as hell cough so I did what any smart person would do and take a few rest days and pound the NyQuil/DayQuil. That regiment of rest, meds, and hot baths paid off because by day 4 I was nearly good as new. Was I frustrated I couldn't continue building my workouts, sure. But taking care of myself for the big picture was way more important. One week of greatly reduced workouts isn't going to impact the long term goals I have.

This past weekend also marked our 11th Mikkeller Running Club run! As always, a great group of folks showed up for our 3 mile run + beer afterwards. We also had a white elephant exchange which was a blast. Our next run is January 2 at Northdown. Join us & bring your friends!

Workouts:

Monday: REST
Tuesday: 14 miles cycle
Wednesday: REST
Thursday: REST
Friday: 16 miles cycle
Saturday: 10 miles cycle, 3.3 mile run
Sunday: 15 miles cycle

58.30 miles total, 4:08.09 total time
55 cycle miles, 3:38
 3.3 running miles, 29:17


Goals:
Continue building, but with more focused workouts.

Ride outside again (if the weather is agreeable!)

Practice clipping in/out of my bike so I can avoid falling like I did on Sunday.

Snapshots:

The first half of the week was a whole lot of nothing because of the cold, I even missed my company holiday party {sad face} but life got way more interesting as the week rolled on.

Goofing on the CTA platform on our way to MRC Chicago. I squealed with excitement when I saw the holiday train approaching, but it blew by us. Womp womp.


Sunday the weather was high 30's so I took my bike outside for its 2nd ride. Everything was smooth sailing for a while. I stopped around mile 5 to fix my gloves and continued on. Around mile 11 I decided to take a photo of the skyline from Jackson Park because it was a gorgeous day. When I stopped, I unsuccessfully tried to unclip from my pedals- my weight shifted the wrong way and I fell over in seemingly slow motion on my left side. My elbow/hip were hurting, and my knee suffered a scrape- all from a ridiculous fall!

I took my photos and rode home. The bruise on my hip is awesomely grotesque. A strange thing about this fall is my right knee and hip are hurting worse than my left side. Today I saw a bruise on the inside of my right knee where it hit the frame. Sheesh!

After cycling, we went out to enjoy the weather and the remainder of our Sunday. We started for brunch at Corridor Brewing where we enjoyed their delicious beer and food. Post brunch we found some unicorns- some bourbon county regal rye at a local store, and then went to the Goose Island taproom for a few more beers. Ending the night at Urbanbelly for some soul hugging ramen was the perfect ending to this week.



-Xaarlin

Week 7 of base building for races next year

After coming off a small cutback week, I was pumped to keep chugging along with training. I knew this week would be super chill due to a reduced work week + some fun events we had planned. But, as the week went on I started getting a dry cough which was not fun and started impeding workouts- plus I knew to back off a bit to not over do it and let myself recover properly.


Monday: 15 mile cycle
Tuesday: 6 mile run
Wednesday: 15 mile cycle
Thursday: 11 mile cycle
Friday: 15 mile cycle, 2 mile run
Saturday: 4 mile run, 2000 yard swim
Sunday: 8 mile cycle

Total: 77 miles, 6:27

Swim: 2000 yards, 41:55
Run: 12 miles, 1:33
Cycle: 64 miles, 4:12

Goals for this week:

Now that i've delayed writing this post for a few days, my only goal for this week is to get over the bad cold/sinus shit i've acquired. Saturday I attempted some running 400's and had to bail because it just felt like way too much effort for the pace. I did go swimming afterwards and noticed my endurance was shot. I couldn't go more than 150 yards at a time without coughing. So yeah, getting over this crud is #1 on my list- unless hot baths and coughing equates to PRs and 6 pack abs... *

Snapshots:

Thanksgiving morning I made some cinnamon buns. Absolutely not from scratch, but delicious none the less.

Wednesday was "date night" and we went to Trenchermen. It was delicious as always. We finished the night at Violet Hour.

Saturday I went swimming. L told me that it would be good for my lungs. All was good for the most part unless I went over 100 yards at a time or if I inhaled some water. I only had one coughing fit due to a combo of water inhalation plus the sinus issue. *

The rest of the weekend was spent chillin. We went to some bars and randomly ran into some good people we know. I love how things like that just seem to happen here in Chicago.
*And at the time all I had was a dry intermittent cough. No fever, no real sickness otherwise I wouldn't have gone to the gym or pool because it's a dick move to go to public places like gyms when you're clearly sick. 

-Xaarlin