Weekend Warrior

Wow! What a superb end to a really productive and satisfying workout week. Yesterday, our workout consisted of a Swim Ladder (i.e., 400m, 50m, 100m, 150m, 200m, 250m, 300m, 300m and back down). This was the first time that my training partner and I totally rocked this type of workout. In some of the previous ladder workouts, we've not felt as accomplished at the end and in the beginning, we didn't work to completion but rather rationalized skipping a set. This time it was totally different and overall felt good. I continue to work on consistency. I noticed yesterday that as I get tired, my lower torso begins to drag a lot more than it should and forces me to work harder to propel myself forward. I worked on powering through the early stages of fatigue and made sure that I was keeping form as best I could. We swam this in right at an hour including the short rest intervals in between sets.

Today, we rode with a co-ed group of cyclists. There were 11 of us and of the group, 7 IM athletes in training. We biked a very, very consistent pace for 48.3 miles making only one real pitstop (bathroom break). Average speed was 17.7mph and overall time 2:41. I thought this was really good for this group size. The entire group was a very poised and strong group of cyclists I thought. It was truly a pleasure riding with them and being challenged.

I stayed out in front as much as possible either solo or two abreast. Not necessarily to pull but more so not to draft. I am finding that I am getting stronger and stronger and it felt really good, especially being able to hang with one of the faster guys (Darron). He's a very strong rider and I thoroughly enjoyed pedaling next to him out in front for a good portion of the ride. I continue to say that to be a better cyclist, you gotta bike with better cyclists. Awesome, awesome, awesome day and really, an awesome training week.

I continue to say over and over that the cycling/triathlete community is a phenomenal group to be a part of. I can't tell people this enough. Hanging out after the ride, celebrating the completion of a good ride, talking and sharing stories just reminds me why I love this sport. Yes, it's ultimately about you and achieving your personal best but it's also more than that, I think. It's about being a part of something on a grander scale. We learn from one another, laugh at one another and grow with each other. (It makes me smile writing about it!) I remain impressed and proud of the people I have met along the way that make this community what it is while representing it so well!