Suck it up Buttercup!

Some of the Team!

Cyclists lining up

Looking back from the start line

These are a few pictures from the Tony Serrano Memorial Ride on Saturday

This was the week before recovery week so really feeling the miles and ready for a reduction in miles/time. Just a little over 12 hours of training again this week including ST.

Monday: 3500y - WU 600 as 50 Drill/150 swim, 2 x 300 as build by 100 (0:20 RI), 3 x the following: 400 negative split on T-Pace + 35 secs, 4 x 75 as 25 EZ / 50 Hard on T-Pace, CD 200. I keep my training in training peaks and had written that this workout rocked! It was definitely time consuming but I really like the variety of it. Good swim for sure.

Tuesday: 21 mile trainer ride. Training in HR zones 2&3 so pushed it at times for zone 3. Not much to report here - trainer rides are boring and I watch the dvr to occupy myself. It is nice to get ready at home though since I ride my trainer at home.

Wednesday: 2900y. Went to the pm group swim finally. It was so good to be back with the team and see everyone again. Tonight we were in the 50M pool which is a switch from 25y. We did another long continuous swim, this time 2000M. Every 2 lanes of swimmers combined into one lane to do a mass start and race simulation so lots of practice getting kicked and mouth full after mouth full of water. Combining 2 lanes of similarly paced swimmers, you have a good number of swimmers at about the same pace. Never was alone the whole 2000 meters for the continuous.

Thursday: 6.5 miles. As the title says, Suck it up Buttercup. Thursday has long since been my crappy workout of the week as far as results but probably the best training on running when I'm tired and not fully recovered. I really could've stopped at 3 miles because my head wasn't into it but I just kept thinking of all of the people that would love to be able to run and can't because of cancer treatment or injuries or whatever. Suck it up buttercup, you've got it pretty dang good so get 'er done and turn your brain off. Turned my IPOD up and finished ugly.

Friday: 2200 yards. Thankfully made it to the gym in the early AM again so didn't have to deal with the PM scene at the gym. I got there a little later than normal so at 6:30am I was getting out of the pool as a huge amount of people were coming in. Not sure what the group was but note to self to be there and done by 6:30am unless I want to swim circles.

Saturday: 62mile ride. What an awesome day. I mean REALLY! Got to ride with the team and do the Tony Serrano ride out in Monroe GA. Tony Serrano was training for Ironman when he was hit by a car and killed leaving behind a wife and 2 small kids. This is a ride that is in his honor. There were probably 500 riders. Gorgeous day, nice clean road, rest stops that were awesome. As I was driving to Monroe from Atlanta, the sun was coming up burning off a little fog - had to listen to a little Van Morrison, Into the Mystic:

We were born before the wind
Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won as we sailed into the mystic
Hark, now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic

Sunday: 9 miles. See thursdays Suck it up buttercup message. Today was another one of those. Could be the tired legs from yesterday but started out too fast and then got irritated by someone that kept trying to race me it seemed. Would pass me, I'd pass her, then she'd pick up her pace, pass me again... Meanwhile my pace stayed the same the whole time. You get the picture. I finally dropped her going up a hill for good. Though my pace was consistent mile to mile, it was too fast so I was hurting by the end. I kept looking at my HR and pace and telling myself to slow down but my legs wouldn't cooperate. When in doubt, blame the legs right?

Recovery week starts tomorrow, can I get a Woohoo?! This is going to be a busy week at work so it's good that training chills out while my work ramps up. Please consider making a small donation to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!!