Wburg Half Build 5

I did it! I biked Mountains of Misery conservatively, and ended up with a total time of 9:15, 6 hours of which, I was in Z1! I'll have to go back again some day to try a bit harder and see how much faster the day could have been.

So many hills!

After MoM, I was both elated and a little wistful that I'd potentially been too conservative. The next weekend, I turned that around with a hard brick, where I tried out riding at my HIM goal power, and then running how I'd like to run the last hour of the race. I hope that the flatter WBurg course helps me see the speed outcomes that I'd like to see, but at least I know I can put out effort, and as long as I'm not making myself into a non-aero wind-block while working hard, it should be a great day.

Mini-goal assessment

• Build strength - Get to all scheduled bootcamps, and two SolidCore classes - Almost -- I only made it to one SolidCore class, and missed bootcamp the day after MoM. 
• Do MoM in a 2016-brave-flexible frame of mind - Success! Even at the end, when the penultimate hills shoed up, I was ready to see what they held for me.
• Maintain health - Do PT exercises for hip and shoulder 4x per week - Success! I have some tune-up appointments scheduled for this next build, but overall, I've at least been slowing the rate of injury on my own
• Look forward - The "A" race is Williamsburg - start race-specific work with a focused brick - Success! After Mountains I am a little worried that I haven't spend enough time biking and running at a harder effort level, so I dialed it up with a challenging brick

Review of last three weeks

• 8 Yoga
• 4 Strength
• Swam
• 5 practices
• 1 open water half mile at Rock Hall Sprint Relay
• Ran
• 3 Run Lead
• 3 track practices
• 0 midweek easy runs
• 12 mi long run
• 6 mi hard run as part of brick
• Biked
• 3 outdoor bike rides
• 100 mi long ride - Mountains of Misery
• 30 mi long ride
• 24 mi bike commuting

Mini-goals for next build cycle

• Maintain health - Do PT exercises for hip and shoulder 4x per week
• Focus on "A" race - Make a race plan and get a hotel already!

Wburg Half Build 4

The last 3 weeks have flown by. I've definitely been pushing some limits for how much exercise my body can absorb, and did end up choosing sleep over exercise a few times in this build cycle.

I still feel strong, but the tired-ness has made it hard to consistently make rational food choices, so I think I'll be climbing up all the hills of Mountains of Misery with a few more pounds than I'd wanted.

So many hills!

Mini-goal assessment

• Build strength - Get to all scheduled bootcamps, and two SolidCore classes - Success! The strength is showing itself mostly in yoga, but I know my leg muscles are excited for this weekend
• Respect the event - Prep for Mountains with Culpeper ride and two weekday Alexandria-hills-toodles - Partial success. I rode well at Culpeper, enjoying my new 11-32 cassette, but didn't try my new hills-route out at all.
• Maintain health - Make PT appointments for hip and shoulder - Success! My hip is doing ok, and I have new exercises for thoracic mobility for my shoulder. It's exciting to think that after all these years of having a slightly angry right shoulder I could get it to feel better by doing some work on my own.

Review of last three weeks

• 8 Yoga
• 8 Strength
• Swam
• 5 practices
• 1 open water mile at Kinetic
• Ran
• 3 Run Lead
• 3 track practices
• 0 midweek easy runs
• 12 mi long run
• Biked
• 5 outdoor bike rides
• 90 mi long ride - Culpeper
• 50 mile long ride - Kinetic cheering

Mini-goals for next build cycle

• Build strength - Get to all scheduled bootcamps, and two SolidCore classes
• Do MoM in a 2016-brave-flexible frame of mind
• Maintain health - Do PT exercises for hip and shoulder 4x per week
• Look forward - The "A" race is Williamsburg - start race-specific work with a focused brick

Wburg Half Build 3

Tulips!

I can hardly believe I'm halfway through the builds for Williamsburg already! I still feel like I'm shaking off some of the running sluggishness from the winter and might have missed some of the glorious spring track practices when you are winter-run-focus-strong and the weather hasn't yet turned hot. I am pleased that my hip pain hasn't returned, and hope that yoga and strength will keep the imbalances at bay.

I'm feeling very strong on the bike, which is nice. In the last build cycle, we ended up with three long-hilly bike rides and I think that has translated nicely to extra strength. The rides aren't clocking in with a brisk speed, but I certainly feel good for early spring.

Speaking of biking, I just got some new bits for my bike, including an 11-32 cassette. I'd thought I had an 11-28 and wasn't strong enough to aerobically get up big hills, but once I took my bike into the store and took a close look at the rear wheel, I realized I had an 11-25, and am now super excited to take the strength I have an use physics to help me toodle lightly up steep inclines.

I also smushed in a few free trial CorePower yoga classes during this build cycle, but the classes I would've liked more didn't fit well with my schedule and I'm loving the yoga instructors I already have access to, so I didn't continue after the free trial.

I am feeling pretty tired, and if that doesn't turn around in the next few days, I might scale back a bit, but I'm hopeful that it is a transient thing related to regular training, not a symptom of looming over-training

Mini-goal assessment

• Build Strength - Get to all scheduled bootcamps, and two SolidCore classes - Success-ish! I made it to 4 TeamZ bootcamps, 2 CorePower "Yoga Sculpt" classes and 1 SolidCore class.
• Respect the event - Prep for Mountains with optional Culpeper ride - Success! This ride ended up being changed to a route that I believe was even harder, so I certainly did that!
• Celebrate spring - Get out to Cherry Blossom Parade or National Arboretum to see azaleas - Success! A rainy morning tried to derail my azalea trip, but a leisurely lunch at Union Market gave the skies time to clear up. It was beautiful!

Review of last three weeks

• 10 Yoga
• 7 Strength
• Swam
• 6 practices
• Ran
• 3 Run Lead
• 2 track practices
• 1 midweek easy runs
• 14 mi long run
• 12 mi long run
• Biked
• 4 outdoor bike rides
• 50 mi long ride - Harp Hill!
• 60 mi long ride - Ice Cream Social!
• 70 mi long ride - Hamburg!

Mid-ride break, with icecream and sunshine

Mini-goals for next build cycle

• Build strength - Get to all scheduled bootcamps, and two SolidCore classes
• Respect the event - Prep for Mountains with Culpeper ride and two weekday Alexandria-hills-toodles
• Maintain health - Make PT appointments for hip and shoulder

Wburg Half Build 2

Spring with all of it's transient beauty and temperamental nature has been in full force this build cycle, with a cold blustery weekend morning that was rough enough that the bike ride was postponed, and then snow during a run the next weekend.

Back in the day (2 weeks earlier), we rode in anything, including snow flurries. That was both a wonderful and terrible ride -- wonderful because it revisited a route I'd done in December, and I felt much stronger, and terrible because it snowed a bit towards the end and I was in shorts since I'd been solidly denying the winter-y forecast for the day.

But it hasn't been all terrible weather surprises. There have been a number of clear days and bright, post-DST evenings that are designed for evening playtime. I found some great tulips on my runs, and also found an epic hill near work that will be with me long after the daffodils and tulips have gone for the year :)

Mini-goal assessment

• Do work - Increase swim practice participation - Success! I made it to 5 swim practices which is a lot more than I had been doing.
• Respect the event - Prep for Mountains with 60 mile bike ride on Easter - Success! I was planning to do this on my own, but was surprised to find friends out riding the same loop, so I got some great company and got the work done
• Celebrate spring - Get out to kite festival, rugby game or stay up to see fireworks - Success (barely!) I tried to sabotague getting to the kite festival by locking myself out of the house and having to wait for a locksmith. 

Review of last three weeks

• 9 Yoga
• 2 Strength
• Swam
• 5 practices
• Ran
• 3 Run Lead
• 3 midweek easy runs
• 10 mi long run
• 10 mi long run
• Biked
• 5 outdoor bike rides
• 60 mi long ride
• 50 mi long ride
• 10 assorted commute miles

Mini-goals for next build cycle

• Build strength - Get to all scheduled bootcamps, and two SolidCore classes
• Respect the event - Prep for Mountains with optional Culpeper ride
• Celebrate spring - Get out to Cherry Blossom Parade or National Arboretum to see azaleas.

Wburg Half Build 1

Whew, back at it! I've signed up for "A" races for the year, and am ready to work on improving some stuff! According to my calculations, there will be 6 build cycles to get me from my post-IM/post-Disney "fully recovered" state back to trying to compete in a Half-Iron, and also build up my biking to be ready for Mountains of Misery (Mountains and Misery? in the same event? and I paid for that??)

I've been starting to get ready for MoM with more bike rides and am super pleased with how much better the 50 miler felt than the 40 miler after a winter of very little biking, and also pleased with how much stronger the 50 felt than when I'd last ridden the same route in December. I have to keep the momentum going, but at least I have some now!

This year, my annual goals include a big stretch goal of stretching, with a goal to attend 100 yoga classes. I have lots of chances to do yoga, and so far am on track for the goal, so I really want to keep that going as well, even when the rest of the workouts ramp  up.

Review of last three weeks

• 9 Yoga
• 3 Strength
• Swam
• 3 practices
• Ran
• 1 Run Lead
• 1 Shamrock Shenanigans Games Day
• 0 track practices
• 8 mi long run
• 8 mi long run
• Biked
• 3 trainer workouts
• 2 outdoor bike rides
• 40 mi long ride
• 50 mi long ride
• 40 assorted commute miles
• 20 mi cheering for RNR racers

Mini-goals for next build cycle

• Do work - Increase swim practice participation
• Respect the event - Prep for Mountains with 60 mile bike ride on Easter
• Celebrate spring - Get out to kite festival, rugby game or stay up to see fireworks

Disney Half Build 4 recap

Fatso helps with baby quilt #2 construction

I went home during this break and did nothing active, just a lot of baby quilt making. I welcomed the new year back with an easy 6 mile run, but otherwise was inactive from Dec 16 - Jan 2. While my hip stopped hurting with the inactivity, the ache came back once I started running again, so I got a PT assessment and started trying to fix the problem.

Looking back at this three weeks, especially with the perspective from a few months later, I'm thankful that my body let me run the Disney Half Marathon at all

Mini-goal assessment 

• No goals last time, so no assessment

Review of last three weeks

• 0 bootcamps
• 0 Yoga
• No Swimming
• Ran
• 6 mi long run
• Biked
• 28 miles long bike

Disney Half Build 3 recap

The slide into un-exercising continued through this build.

I did manage to follow through on my plan to finish up some belated baby quilts and got one completed, and started the second.

Jaxby wants to help with the quilt making

Mini-goal assessment 

• Clean & organize linen closet - Nope.
• Have Cookiefest! - Success! Marshmallows, fudge, and cookies galor
• Do PT/Hip stretches 10 times - Success! The ache continues, but stretching is better than not stretching

Review of last three weeks

• 1 bootcamps
• 5 Yoga
• No Swimming
• Ran
• 2 run leads
• 1 track practices
• 8 mi long run
• 10 mi long run
• Biked
• 0 spin practices
• 50 miles long bike
• 17 assorted commute miles

Mini-goals for the next build cycle (Dec 19-Jan 12) 

• ...

Disney Half Build 2 recap

I'm having a hard time being committed to working out. It's easier to sleep in in the morning or just go straight home after work. When it's a group workout, except for swimming, I can still make it out, but the winter self-motivation of the last two years is sort of lacking.

However, I'm not just sitting around idle! I cleaned my house enough that I was able to have people over and have kept it up! I've also tried some new recipes, and am most pleased with the deliciousness of pickled red onions. My cranberry sauce recipes were good this year as well, one with slices of ginger and the other with walnuts and crushed pineapple.

Finally, in non-workout news, with the clean table, I've been able to start working on the backlog of baby quilts I feel like I owe my friends. That consumed most of Thanksgiving weekend, but if I hadn't been crafting, I probably would have just watched TV, so that's not an excuse for not exercising.

Mini-goal assessment 

• Bike commute 30 miles - nope! I let laziness win and also this was a really high number to pick!
• Get to 4 yoga sessions - Almost! There were 4 available, but I made it to 3.
• Do PT/Hip stretches 10 times - Success! This was going really well during the build weeks, but I slacked off during recovery

Review of last three weeks

• 1 bootcamps
• 3 Yoga
• Swam
• 3 times
• Ran
• 2 run leads
• 1 track practices
• 1 weeknight bonus short run
• 10 mi long run
• 11 mi long run
• Biked
• 2 spin practices
• 2.5 hours long spin
• 30 miles long bike
• 0 assorted commute miles

Mini-goals for the next build cycle (Nov 28-Dec 19) 

• Clean & organize linen closet
• Have Cookiefest!
• Do PT/Hip stretches 10 times

Disney Half Build 1 recap

Post-Ironman, I wanted to recover while not forgetting how good it feels to be strong. This last month was mostly focused on that. I can feel the difference between my strongest self and my current self, but overall am pleased with the amount of fun I was able to pack in while not focusing on exercise, and hope that the differences I am seeing in performance will help motivate me when I'm ready to chase

Mini-goal assessment

• Keep TSB score positive while starting to move again - Success! I was able to overcome the "all exercise all the time" mentality for a few weeks. I could have used a bit more balance, but it worked out well with life
• Go out to weeknight events! (Movie, book reading, theater) - Success! I went to see The Martian and enjoyed the full movie theater experience with popcorn and also went to see a show at Woolly Mammoth. The book reading was superseded with other events, but that's ok.
• Cheer for friends! (IMMD and Tussey) - Success! IMMD was great fun cheering and volunteering, and at Tussey, I ended up relaying in a team of 4, so it was mobile cheering!

Review of the weeks since Ironman

• No bootcamps
• 2 Yoga
• Swam
• at only 3 practices
• Ran
• 4 run leads
• 0 track practices
• 1 weeknight bonus short run
• 6 mi at long run - should have been 9
• 13 miles at Tussey
• Biked
• Tough 10 miles the week after IM
• Recovery 2 hours at PWF
• 67 delicious miles at Great Pumpkin Ride
• 30 mi long ride
• Night out at 80's concert
• Night out for Halloween

Mini-goals for the next build cycle (Nov 7-27)

• Bike commute 30 miles
• Get to 4 yoga sessions
• Do PT/Hip stretches 10 times

Great Pumpkin Epic Tussey Weekend

The Great Pumpkin Ride was great, as advertised. I met up with some friends (who had just done IMMD the week before!!) and we rode the 67 mile route together. I had a little ego battle riding from the first to second aid stations and really paid for it at the end of the ride by completely running out of energy.

There were three aid stations, so 4 segments of the ride, and for the third and fourth segments I was dropped by my teammates pretty terribly. 2 lessons learned - 1. Don't ride too hard if you don't want to pay for it later, 2. Don't expect much from your biking power if you take almost a month off.

From there, I drove up to Tussey to meet up with my teammates to relay 50 miles through the woods. It was amazingly beautiful, and cheering for our friends who were racing the 50 miler as individuals was also amazing. Autumn woods are almost my favorite scenery, right after spring daffodils, and this course definitely came through in that respect

With three legs each for us relayers, it was easy to run too hard, which made Monday after this epic weekend pretty tough. My legs were screaming almost as much as they do after an A-race, but I'd done it to myself by scheduling too much fun in two days. I hope to talk people into this relay again next year, and just have to remember not to assign myself the role of the second person in the rotation. I think that was definitely the hardest position of the day.
Besides that, I've also transitioned to a new job within my company, which is adding a lot of non-workout stress to my life. It's very hard to go from being really good at your daily job to being a novice, but hopefully this will continue to get better week by week.

IMCHOO Build 8 recap

So this was taper. Mostly it still felt like work, but thankfully not like my real job since I wasn't smart anymore and couldn't hold a thought in my head.

I worried a little that I wasn't feeling bad enough, after listening to friends complain, but if my body wants to combat fatigue with stupidity instead of with failing to meet exercise goals, I guess that's what I'm stuck with.

Mini-goal assessment

• Focus on nutrition, really this time - At least the eating was more controlled than the previous 3 weeks, but it was not easy to control food-wants when tired, so I know I caved in to some unnecessary eating.
• Do at least 2 2.4 mile straight swims - Un-success. I had good yardage at the 90 minute swim practices, but only did 1 long straight swim, and that probably came in around 2 miles (forgot Garmin, see stupid taper brain above)
• Finish packing checklists - Success! Thank goodness I worked on this. I am packing bags and car tonight and tomorrow and am so thankful for these lists that I have been putting together.

Review of last three weeks

• 1 Monday bootcamp
• 1 Weds bootcamp
• Swam
• at 6 90 minute swim practices
• 1 time at the outdoor 50m pool
• 1 time at a warm lake, in full wetsuit. Great practice in staying steady to avoid overheating.
• Ran
• 3 Monday night run lead
• 3 track practices
• 6 mi at long run - should have been 16
• 12 mi long run on "light weekend"
• 6 mi long run on last weekend
• Biked
• 3 flat workouts
• 1 hills workout - got the 5x hill
• 44 Skyline miles
• 50 mi on "light weekend" - complete with bike "fall down"
• 30 mi on the trainer on last weekend
• 14 assorted commute miles

Goals for race

• Swim relaxed
• Stay in Z2 for the bike
• Stay focused on the run
• Cheer for others
• Experience the day

Race day is next Sunday. I'll be printing out the athlete guide, the TeamZ Cheer Guide, my race plan, and stashing them together in a binder, and hopefully, that plus all this training, will get me through the day!

IMCHOO Build 7 recap

Time moves forward, so I have known all summer that eventually, I'd be checking off the longest long-workouts of this training season, but it's pretty amazing to be on the other side of them.

The mental reprieve that came from my camping vacation has continued. I'm not nearly as peaceful as I was while taking a week off, but I am also not nearly as cranky as I was before the vacation.

The left hip aches have continued, but continue to disappear within a few days. I have a massage scheduled tonight, so hopefully that will help reset my muscles for the last push of training.

Mini-goal assessment

• Focus on nutrition - Absolutely an un-success. While not lashing out at the world with a cranky brain, I have been giving into every eating desire I have had. This includes lowlights of a Slurpee and 3 Musketeers for dinner one night and Panda Express + Haagen Daaz another.
• Leave the cranky-pants at home for 20 mile peak run - Success! There were a lot of ways I could have complained about the 20 mile run, but I tried really hard not to focus on them, and ended up having a lovely run where I met my goals.

Review of last three weeks

• 2 Monday bootcamp
• 2 Weds bootcamp
• 2 Yoga
• Swam
• at 6 swim practices
• 2 times at the outdoor 50m pool
• 1 time at 20m outdoor pool. Tiny pool means super fast!
• Ran
• 3 Monday night run lead
• 2 track practices
• 6 mi at long brick
• 14 mi long run on "light weekend"
• 20 mi peak run
• Biked
• 1 flat workouts - skipped one with tummy ache
• 1 hills workout - thunder canceled the week where I was going to go for 5x hill
• 58 mi at long brick
• 80 mi on "light weekend" - wonderful to repeat Monocacy 80
• 118 mi peak bike
• 14 assorted commute miles

Mini-goals for next build cycle

• Focus on nutrition, really this time 
• Do at least 2 2.4 mile straight swims
• Finish packing checklists

IMCHOO Build 6 recap

This last three weeks flew by! I love how well my body is handling the training load. I'm having some left hip aches after long or fast runs, which I also remember from marathon training, but it's not bad.

My brain is having a harder time with the training, and I have reached new levels of ongoing and pervasive crankiness. After vacation last week, I feel a lot better, so hopefully I can maintain this mental equilibrium for a while.

Mini-goal assessment

• Visit Mile marker 21 at Skyline - Success! I rode out to Hogback. I had a bit of disappointment when I realized I was almost exactly the same speed as I was last August, but I believe I did this ride at a more appropriate intensity.
• Do hilly Gran Fondo 100 miler -Success! I started off too strong and cocky, and paid for it in the last 17 miles, but it was a "learning experience" not a "bad day"
• Focus on nutrition - Success-ish! Except for vacation, I met my nutrition goals 13 of 20 days, which is a pretty good record when it comes to food and long training days.
• Celebrate recovery with a camping vacation - Success! 2 camping nights, including a three mile hike-in to Lena Lake. Hike-in sounds easier than backpacking.

Review of last three weeks

• 2 Monday bootcamp
• 1 Weds strength training
• 1 Yoga
• Swam
• at 3 swim practices
• 1 mi at lake swim
• 1 time at the outdoor 50m pool
• Ran
• 3 Monday night run lead
• 1 track practice, only one of which was "track"y, the other was 40 minutes easy
• 10 mi long run on "light weekend"
• 18 mi long run on build weekend
• Biked
• 2 flat workouts
• 1 hills workout, and proved the 4x hill wasn't a fluke
• 44 mi on "light weekend", at Skyline
• 102 mi at hilly Gran Fondo
• 20 assorted commute miles

Mini-goals for next build cycle

• Focus on nutrition
• Leave the cranky-pants at home for 20 mile peak run

IMCHOO Build 5 recap

I finished this build cycle feeling strong and confident. The 100 miler went really well. I tried out the DeSoto 400 miler bike shorts and had no negative feelings towards them.

I've recovered from my 90-miler induced hamstring ache, and have a number of new exercises to add to my PT regime.

Looking forward, I feel like if I woke up tomorrow and the Ironman was this weekend, I would be able to finish. It would be rough, but I'd finish. Over the next weeks, I want to bring a little more intensity back to my running so I can feel more optimistic about my dream run pace.

Mini-goal assessment

• Go to 2 Monday bootcamps - Success! I think I've gotten this back in my regular habits.
• Do 1 bike hills workouts with unprecendented 4x trippple hill - Success! I even paced it well so the 4th was the fastest. Having a day about 20 degrees cooler than the 3x hill workout helped a lot
• Responsibly address new leg ache with preventative PT - Success! Some new hamstring exercises and some ART and the acute ache has receded.
• Be independent with a long run on the holiday weekend - Success! I aimed for 10-12 miles, and came in at 10.5. Good enough
• Celebrate summer at 4th of July party - Success! Two parties and lots of celebrating! I managed to miss most fireworks, but that can be a goal for next year.

Review of last three weeks

• 2 Monday bootcamp
• 3 Weds strength training
• 2 Yoga
• Swam
• at 6 swim practices
• 3 times at the outdoor 50m pool. Only once was warm enough to feel like staying in a long time though. Brr!
• Ran
• 3 Monday night run lead
• 2 track practice, only one of which was "track"y, the other was 40 minutes easy
• 10 mi long run on "light weekend"
• 16 mi long run on build weekend
• Biked
• 2 flat workouts
• 1 hills workout, and nailed the 4x hill
• 60 mi on "light weekend"
• 100 mi -New longest! I was on my own (within the group) but felt great
• 56 assorted commute miles

Mini-goals for next build cycle

• Visit Mile marker 21 at Skyline
• Do hilly Gran Fondo 100 miler
• Focus on nutrition
• Celebrate recovery with a camping vacation

IMCHOO Build 4 recap

The search for the bike shorts continues. I was really enjoying the Coeur shorts, but the way I sit on my bike led to chafing on the rear seam. I think the DeSoto 400 milers have a wider rear seam, so hopefully will get the pad under my weight instead of a seam in the middle of it.

I really like the look of the Coeur shorts and expect I will wear them often for shorter things and maybe even change into them for the IM run.

Overall this was a great build cycle. I've talked with other Choo people and we are all slower now than we were at the training camp, so I'm going to try to not worry about whether my race goals need to be changed based on my week-to-week training performance.

Mini-goal assessment

• Go to 2 Monday bootcamps - Success! I felt pretty rough on the one after the brick, but made it.
• Do 1 bike hills workouts with 3x trippple hill - Success! Not my best times on the course, but I did it three times
• Celebrate summer at post-biking picnic/potluck - Success! It was a gorgeous night and we hung out until like 9pm, enjoying a pink sunset and the magic of fireflies
• Celebrate friends marriage - Success! A beautiful afternoon in a park with great company.

Review of last three weeks

• 2 Monday bootcamp
• 2 Weds strength training
• 2 Yoga
• Swam
• at 6 swim practices
• at 1 post-run welcome-to-outdoor swimming
• at 1 Friday afternoon HH swims
• Ran
• 2 Monday night run lead
• 2 track practice
• 7 mi in long brick 
• 14 mi long run completed
• 0 run commute miles, but 1 right-hand-run recovery run
• Biked
• 2 flat workouts
• 1 hills workouts
• 1 trainer ride when thunderstorms cancelled the hills workout
• 50 mi in long brick
• 90 mi - New longest! Great until the end when my shorts got too irritating
• 28 assorted commute miles

Mini-goals for next build cycle

• Go to 2 Monday bootcamps
• Do 1 bike hills workouts with unprecendented 4x trippple hill 
• Responsibly address new leg ache with preventative PT
• Be independent with a long run on the holiday weekend
• Celebrate summer at 4th of July party

IMCHOO Build 3 recap

This build cycle introduced the need for the occasional car-nap during the work day. I need to figure out how to get more sleep into my day. I took the recovery week very seriously, with a massage to work out some potential hip aches and some more real-food eating and prep that I hadn't made time for in the work weeks.

Mini-goal assessment

• Go to 1 Monday bootcamp - Nope! Memorial day group bootcamp was cancelled and I did not motivate myself to do it on my own.
  
• Do 2 bike hills workouts with 2x and 3x trippple hill - Nope! All the fun extracurricular activities came on Thursday night this build cycle, so I missed these, and then did not make them up.
  
• Race the lake swim mile with good sighting and body position - Success! A lake swim PR!
• FTP test on the bike - Success! It hurt, and I did a 20 minute test instead of pacing better for a 40 minute test, but I earned the numbers I wished for.
  
• Enjoy evening off for theater - Success! This was one of the Thursday extracurriculars, but it was worth it. Complete with pre-theater dinner and great company
  

Review of last three weeks

• 0 Monday bootcamp
• 3 Weds strength training
• 1 Yoga
• Swam
• at 6 swim practices
• 1 mi lake swim
• Ran
• 3x Monday night run lead
• 2x track practice - got the whole workout done, but it was rough with the heat
• 10 mi long run completed, but it was rough
• 12 mi long run in solid Z2
• Skipped recovery week run, and no run commute miles
• Biked
• 2x flat workouts
• 0 hills workouts with 2x and 3x trippple hill
• 70 mi - New longest! Felt great! Great company!
• 80 mi - New longest! Getting toasty, got it done.
• 12 assorted commute miles

Mini-goals for next build cycle

• Go to 2 Monday bootcamps
• Do 1 bike hills workouts with 3x trippple hill
• Celebrate summer at post-biking picnic/potluck
• Celebrate friends marriage

IMCHOO Build 2 recap

I had a big confidence booster when I relayed for a half iron. I did the bike leg and mostly stayed within Z2 and had a resulting time that was much, much faster than I had hoped for. Following that up with a 70.3 in Chattanooga showed that the relay was not a fluke. Hooray!

Mini-goal assessment

• Go to 1 Monday bootcamp - Success
  
• Do 2 bike hills workouts with 2x and 3x trippple hill - Success, including getting it done on my own
• Drop bike off for annual tune-up over a vacation weekend - Success, including getting a hand-me-down power meter installed
  
• Run 11 while on vacation - Nope! Late night catching up with old friends instead
  
• Eat rationally while on vacation and on race weekends - Nope! too much deliciousness, too little control
  
• Race Chattanooga 1/2 as an Ironman/2- Grand Success!
  

Review of last three weeks

• 1x College reunion weekend
• 1x Monday bootcamp
• 3x Weds strength training
• 1x Yoga
• Swam
• at 6 swim practices
• 1.2 mi at Choo/2
• Ran
• 3x Monday night run lead
• 2x track practice - one derailed with a lingering side stitch
• 1 hr brick during Kinetic race weekend
• 13.1 at Choo/2
• Biked
• 2 flat workouts
• 2 hills workouts with 2x and 3x trippple hill
• 56 relay miles at Kinetic race weekend
• 56 at Choo/2
• 21 assorted commute miles

Mini-goals for next build cycle

• Go to 1 Monday bootcamp
• Do 2 bike hills workouts with 2x and 3x trippple hill
• Race the lake swim mile with good sighting and body position 
• FTP test on the bike
• Enjoy evening off for theater

IMCHOO Build 1 recap

While I haven't been slacking so far this year, Apr 6th saw the start of the first "IM Choo" build cycle, and somehow naming it makes it more real.

There are going to be 8 build cycles, which doesn't sound like much. 24 weeks to get from "pretty good base" to "ready for an Ironman"?!

Like all of the other TeamZ IM athletes that have come before me, I'm repeating to myself "do the training, trust the training". Hopefully, I'll see some reassuring signs as the summer goes along.

Review of last three weeks

• 2x Skipping Monday bootcamp
• 3x Weds strength training
• 2x Yoga
• Swam
• at 7 swim practices
• at 1 swim meet with a PR at the 1000y FR
• Ran
• 2x Monday night run lead
• 1x Monday Run to Happy Hour
• 2x run commute
• 2x track practice
• Broken 9 miler in between other Saturday events
• Broken 8 miler in between cheering at event
• 1x recovery birthday party trail run
• Biked
• 1x Uphill toodle
• 1x trainering
• 1x hills workout with a single hill and 1x trippple hill
• Hilly 52 miler out of Monocacy
• Daffodilly 55 miler out of Boyds
• 1x recovery long bike
• 30 assorted commute miles

Resolve for next build cycle

• Go to 1 Monday bootcamp
• Do 2 bike hills workouts with 2x and 3x trippple hill
• Run 11 while on vacation
• Drop bike off for annual tune-up over a vacation weekend 
• Race Chattanooga 1/2 as an Ironman/2
• Eat rationally while on vacation and on race weekends