The "Week of Pain" Continues....

Ok, so the "week of pain" has actually turned out to not be so painful. But I'm keeping the name because it sounds kind of awesome.

Friday night storms derailed the run or bike plans I had, so I opted to eat an entire frozen pizza instead (cooked, of course). Not the same after effect as the run, methinks. But it was very fun. Saturday meant a very early wake-up (5:30am), as I was meeting BDD for an early morning swim/run. Thankfully the weather cooperated for us, and we were greeted with an absolutely beautiful morning. There was no one else in Alum Creek Lake when we arrived, so we got the whole thing to ourselves. I'm still working on making it from one end of the swimming beach to the other. Damn, that's a long way. And to think that we have to swim down AND back for the July 31 Giant Eagle triathlon? ugh. I can do it, right? (::gulp::)

After the swim, it was time for a ride. This was my first ride out on the 23mm tires, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The ride was definitely faster - and bumpier. Not riding on "couches" as one friend put it, definitely changed the feel. But I'll take it due to the increased speed. We made a loop from the Alum Creek lot, and as we were cruising back in, I thought "Wow! That ride went fast - these tires are making a HUGE difference." Turns out we missed a turn somewhere - and rather than repeating our former incident of going to far out on a route - we went too short. Eleven miles. Eleven. Bah humbug. To make sure we got in some additional mileage, we acted like little kids and explored the side roads of Alum Creek State Park. We saw lots of little bunnies, some chipmunks, and many potholes. Our exploration (plus two laps around the Alum Creek parking lot) got us to 17 miles. Not the world's longest ride, but hey - it was a Saturday morning mini brick!

We parted ways and said "see you later" as were attending the HFP Racing/ roll triathlon clinic at Easton. The guest speaker was Tracy DiSabato-Aust, a local professional. She gave a talk on transition setup and managing training with life responsibilities. Turned out to be a very nice talk overall. It made me feel completely gear deficient - seeing a sponsored athlete with top of the line gear from head to toe makes one kind of feel like a tri-hobo.

Post clinic, I hung out with a friend for a bit before heading home.

This is where the "week of pain" really began. I got home around 4pm - after being out almost 11 hours. I sat down on the couch and said "What do I do now?" I missed my hubby. Even though I spend a lot of time out training, he's always there when I get back. i didn't have anyone to tell about my day, and it honestly made me a bit sad. And lonely. I indulged rather than mope and had a huge slice of Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookie pie from Westerville's Just Pies. And I watched Reality Bites. Great way to spend an evening, right?

Sunday morning was run club. Due in some part to the previous evening's indulgences (did I mention I also had a half bottle of merlot? And a Negro Modelo?), the run was kind of horrid. We ran Sharon Woods, which is only about a 3.8 mile loop. I averaged just shy of a ten minute mile, but I was struggling. I even had to take a nice little walk break along the way. ouch. Not very good.

Afterwards, I headed over to Alum Creek to get in a swim. I had the opportunity to swim with my run and spin coach at around 2:30pm, but it was only about 11am at the time and I was hottt. Getting into a cool lake just sounded too awesome to pass up. So, I headed over to the lake where there were a few other swimmers, and lots of folks on the beach for Fathers Day. Evidently lots of people were out on boats for fathers day, too, as the water was choppy!! I stayed close to shore - no deeper than being able to stand up shall I panic or get too tired. The cold water felt great, but I struggled through the length down the beach.

I now realize that Alum Creek's beach is where you go to see every local triathlete. I ended up running into a couple guys from COTT I met at the previous week's swim. Chatted with them a bit and headed home. A nap was in order after that.

The hubs is in Florida til Friday, so I am going to try and keep a rather intense schedule while he is gone. Cause I found out that the "week of pain" isn't coming so much from the training but not having someone to share it with.

Come home soon, sweetie. I love you!

PS: In NON painful news, a huge congrats goes out to my good friend Becky who ran her first ever half marathon this past weekend in Minnesota. Beyond the awesomeness that automatically comes with completing a half, she gets extra cool points because the temps and conditions at the start were so crappy that signs were posted warning runners of hypothermia. At a race in JUNE. You can read all about it here. Congrats, Becky! So proud of you!!!!!