Well we made it through another week of training! I knew this week’s mileage would be down compared to the last two weeks – giving our bodies a little break – which was nice. I also knew it was going to be challenging to fit in all my training since we were going to Philadelphia and Washington DC over the long weekend.

I had a lot going on during the week and our long weekend trip was pretty exhausting. We were up super early everyday to get in all of the sightseeing and events we had planned. At one point from Saturday morning to Sunday night/Monday morning we were up for 20 hours straight! I feel like I was scraping the bottom of the barrel a few times – squeezing in super early or late workouts and just barely making it and falling into bed exhausted after everything was said and done. I caught myself again this week asking “How do people train for FULL Ironmans when I’m barely hanging on with one arm training for only a half?!”

Training week 12 went a little like this:

Monday – First rest day in two weeks and I felt like the laziest person in the whole world
Tuesday –  PM, 10-mile spin and a slow 5K (working on getting my legs more used to running off the bike)
Wednesday – 1-mile swim in the AM and a 19-mile road ride with Cleveland Triathlon in the PM
Thursday – 40 minute circuit training with my coworkers during lunch and a 1-hour spin in the PM
Friday (left for vacay in the PM) – 8-mile run super, crazy early
Saturday (Philly) – Meant to workout – didn’t
Sunday (DC) – Meant to workout – didn’t
Monday (Memorial Day in Philly) – Meant to workout – didn’t

So as you can see Friday, Saturday, Sunday were complete busts during our trip. I woke up Monday feeling cranky and fat (LOL). I woke up at 4:45AM to fit in a quick 6-mile run before my 8AM meeting and felt more like myself afterwards. The good news is we walked over 5 miles every day on the weekend, so it’s not like we were laying on the couch eating bon bons. Still my mileage was WAY down (which I expected), but it still hurt to see.

I’m trying not to let it get me down and I came out swinging this week too, so I think I’ll be OK. I also am planning on doing a pretty long (maybe even the full distance, but haven’t decided yet) indoor training session on Saturday morning. I’m planning on doing all three disciplines and practicing my nutrition. I’m thinking about wearing my wet suit in the pool at the gym too, but I’m a little nervous I’ll get yelled at or people will stare. I guess who really cares though, right? And it’ll be good to practice in considering I haven’t worn it since last July!

Despite the lapse in mileage this past week, I feel pretty good. I’ve got a solid plan this week and my first race of the season is next weekend on Saturday. (The Greast Western Reserve Triathlon – Olympic distance.) We also had a complete blast in Philly and DC and I wouldn’t trade that for anything. I’ll leave you with a few pictures. Happy training week 13!!