Weeks 13 &14: Review...

Didn't manage to get around to writing up a review for last week, so I'm just combining the two together to simplify things. Unfortunately, both weeks were well short of mileage targets due to a combination of factors. Either way, I did what I could to make the miles I did put down count for as much as possible and as I'm still in base training it's not really a huge deal.

Week 13 started out a bit rough due to time commitments in the early week. We got in a great group run on Wednesday, however directly following that my right glute was feeling a bit tight. With the Harry's 5K on Saturday, I decided to play it safe and skip the sessions until the race and stretch it out as much as possible. I was worried that I'd be dealing with another injury, however it didn't bother me at all during the race and it's felt fine since then so it looks like I dodged a bit of a bullet.

On Sunday I ended up missing my long run as we went out to a family Easter party, and there just wasn't enough time to fit it in. Normally I'd just reschedule to Monday, but with the race on Saturday and the muscle tightness before I elected to just write it off and continue on as planned. I generally try to avoid missing this run at all costs, but without a specific goal I figured that the recovery was more important at this juncture.

This week worked out very well for cycling and swimming, however I missed one mid-week run for my yearly physical and my Saturday recovery run due to scheduling issues. The group run on Wednesday was also a bit shorter than normal as one of the group members was tapering for Boston, so that cut into the mileage total a bit as well. Other than that, the weather this week was quite good so the sessions that I did get in were quite productive. Thankfully the race was a big confidence booster, so I allowed myself to push a bit harder than I've been doing in previous weeks to get back up to speed.

Fortunately, I was able to get in my long run this morning under near perfect conditions. I did overdress a bit as it was a bit cool when I left (8C with a cool breeze), but rapidly got pretty warm (18C with full sun and little wind). It wasn't too bad, but it was enough to elevate my heart rate a bit more than usual. Either way, I brought along extra Gatorade in case I needed it and that kept me fighting through to finish off the planned 11 miles. I was thinking of adding another mile into the mix as things were going well, but decided against it as I was already pretty soaked.

Additionally, due to the rescheduling I ended up doing another brick session on Friday. As I've yet to trigger the lead legs feeling that I've been told you're supposed to get in these sessions, I picked up the pace a bit on the bike to target about 260w (a little under 33km/h). That certainly made the bike leg more challenging, but again I still felt great for the run leg so I'm likely going to have to push a little harder next time.

On the cycling front, I'm likely going to bite the bullet and get the bike shifted over to outside use early this week. The long term forecast is looking relatively good, and our cycling group has been talking about getting out on Saturday so it's likely as good a time as any. The weather today in particular was spectacular, and I would have loved to have gotten out there in these conditions. With that said, the weather can be unpredictable in April around these parts, so I may be regretting it down the road ;) Getting outside, however, will allow me to do much longer rides than I can mentally take inside, so even if I do end up missing a few sessions I'll likely still be ahead of the game.

The other upside to getting out on the road is that I'll finally be able to try out the new cycling computer and aerobars. I've been using them for a couple of months now, but taking them out on the road will realize a lot of potential that sat idle when on a fluid trainer. The aerobars are likely to take some getting used to as the handling is a good deal more complex, but the more time I have to get used to them before the races start the better ;)

Week 14 Totals:
Running: 34.2km (21.3mi)
Walking: 1.3km (0.8mi)
Cycling: 100.3km (62.3mi)
Swimming: 7.4km (4.6mi)
Total: 143.2km (89.0mi)

Week 13 Totals:
Running: 16.7km (10.4mi)
Walking: 0.0km (0.0mi)
Cycling: 40.0km (24.9mi)
Swimming: 3.5km (2.2mi)
Total: 60.2km (37.4mi)

Year to Date:
Running: 510.3km (317.1mi)
Walking: 34.7km (21.6mi)
Cycling: 640.5km (398.0mi)
Swimming: 81.5km (50.6mi)
Total: 1267.0km (787.3mi)