Week 21: Review

While the scorching heat this week made things a bit challenging, the weather was more or less stable so it was easy to fit everything in as planned. I did scale back some of the running mileage as the heat is still getting to me, but on the bike I managed to squeeze in my best week in a long time - logging a little over 150 miles. That included a lot of time in 40C+ weather as well as two individual rides longer than 50 miles (Monday and Saturday).


Yesterday's ride turned out great, as the heat and humidity abated for the day so I could enjoy the session a lot more than the previous rides this week. The winds were a bit strong, but they were relatively steady so it was just a matter of pushing a bit harder on the northbound segments of the route. I also picked a bit of a hillier route than normal, as that is one aspect of my riding that I still have to work on.

The stretch along St. John's Sideroad between Yonge and Dufferin offers a couple of long stretches of unrelenting climbs that do a good job of getting the legs burning. A small downhill segment in the middle looks promising, but unfortunately the traffic lights at its base mean that it doesn't really help much (just means you have to re-climb that lost altitude). Either way, it's difficult to find a good sustained climb like that in this area so I'm hoping to give it a few more shots this summer.


Regardless, thanks to all of that this week reaches a number of milestones with my YTD running total popping its head over 500mi and cycling over 1000mi. My cycling mileage this month is also the highest that I've recorded, with a little under 380mi/611km. I would have liked to add to that total tomorrow, but unfortunately it doesn't look like the weather is going to make that feasible (will have to see - may be able to head out in the morning).


This morning the temperature and humidity decided to climb back up, so it made my planned 14 miler a bit more challenging. Fortunately, it didn't hit me quite as hard as it did last week so I was able to manage a decent pace for the distance. The temperature was a bit higher, but the humidity was much lower so it wasn't quite as bad. With that said, after a week of training in these conditions I think the body is starting to get used to it a bit. Naturally, running with humidex readings in the high 30s is never fun, but once the body acclimates to it it does get a lot easier.

Week 21 Totals:
Running: 46.9km (29.1mi)
Walking: 1.0km (0.6mi)
Cycling: 249.0km (154.7mi)
Swimming: 6.5km (4.0mi)
Total: 303.4km (188.5mi)

Year to Date:
Running: 838.8km (521.2mi)
Walking: 43.9km (27.3mi)
Cycling: 1616.5km (1004.4mi)
Swimming: 131.2km (81.5mi)
Total: 2630.4km (1634.5mi)

The upcoming week is going to be a bit more unsettled, although fortunately it looks like the temperatures will be falling quite a bit. It will make scheduling a bit more complicated, but I could really use a bit of a break from getting back home soaked every time I go out ;) I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Saturday will clear up a bit, as we weren't able to get a group ride in this week due to scheduling issues (lots of races this weekend) and I'd like to get back into that this week if at all possible.

Tentative Schedule:
Mon 32.3K Ride (if I can squeeze it in, this will get me to 400mi for the month)
Tue 3.25K Swim, 6mi Recovery
Wed 30K Ride, 6mi Recovery
Thurs 3.25K Swim, 6mi GA
Fri 50K Ride
Sat 4mi Recovery, 80k Ride
Sun 15mi (24.1K) LSD