2 Weeks of Workouts

Mon, 5/10:
- Good weights and core session

Tues, 5/11:
- Hauling a ton of rocks (we’ll call that “strength work”)
Notes: In the past 2 weeks, I hauled back 2 loads of field rock from my parent’s farm. Pharmie and I used them along our bushes in the front yard where there’s a little incline. Here are 2 shots before we did anything:

Weedy and washed out

I hauled the first load of rocks back in the rain, and we got to work putting them in right away. I moved the stones and got them dug in, and Pharmie planted some plants between some of the stones:

This is what it looked like when we wrapped up that day:

And now that a few more plants are growing between the rocks and the bushes are greening up more, this is what it looks like this morning:

Thanks for the stone Mom, Dad, and Ian!

Wed, 5/12:
- Intervals in the pool in the AM (2700 yards)
- 3x1600 at the track in the PM
Notes: Swam with Julia and the gang in the morning. It was a good workout with lots of intervals in the 200 yard range.

Then in the afternoon, I hit the track for 3x1600 with 90 seconds rest. Here were my splits:

2:50 + 2:43 = 5:33
2:46 + 2:44 = 5:30
2:44 + 2:42 = 5:26
Average of 5:29.66 / 1600

Thurs, 5/13:
- “Endurance” spin class
- Lift weights

Fri, 5/14:
- 1500 swim
Notes: Nothing fancy. Started the swim with Julia and Kelly, but told them I’d be doing less than them because of the race the next day.

Sat, 5/15:
- RACE: Oakdale Duathlon
Notes: Matt and I teamed up to get ready for the Gear West Duathlon tomorrow. I did my first 3 miles in 16:44, and my second 3 miles (which was more like 2.93 miles) in 16:32. Matt held about a 23 mph average on the 13.5 mile ride.

Sun, 5/16:
- 33 mile bike ride (the Gear West Du course twice)
Notes: Matt and I headed out to ride a nice hilly course. We met Chad out there, and the 3 of us got ready to ride:

Matt, Chad, and me

(Funny story about this photo: a big red SUV from the Fire Dept came rushing into the parking lot right as we were taking this photo. My first thought was that we were going to be kicked out of the lot and asked to park elsewhere. But the reason this firefighter was rushing in was because he wondered if we needed someone to take our photo [instead of using the self-timer with the camera on my car]. We laughed and told him we were good.)

Matt and Chad pulled me nicely on the ride. I was rarely in the lead: I was usually sucking one of their wheels. It was a nice ride! We ran into Catherine Lee (a local triathlete I just recently met) out there, and we chatted for a few miles before pulling away. We finished with about a 20.1 mph average, and we called it a day.

Chad and Matt talking post-ride


DQ stop later in the evening!! (Matt’s idea)

Mon, 5/17:
- 2750 yd “ladder” swim in the AM
- Lift weights in the AM
- 7.7 mile run in the PM
Notes: The ladder was a good workout. PLUS, it started with a pretty big warm-up, and I even did a few hundred of kicking!! (I HATE kick-drills, but I KNOW I need to be doing them!) Here’s Julia, Steve, and I after our good swim:

I don’t know what Steve’s doing...

Then in the evening, I headed out on a roughly 8 mile long run. I picked it up a little in the middle, but I didn’t push too hard throughout this run. Nice solid run in 51:02 (6:38 / mile). I was all sweaty when I got done, so Kemit (my cat) licked the sweat off my arm after the run. Liked my “styled” arm hair?

Tues, 5/18:
- Good core session at the Y in the AM
- Hill repeats on the bike in the PM
Notes: I met Erik M (a former classmate and now a bike racer) for some hill repeats. I’d NEVER done repeats on a hill before! I’d done “hilly rides,” but not repeats. He brought his neighbor Bianca, and we headed for “the hill.”

Heading down Summit Ave


Riding the trail along Hwy 13 in Mendota Heights

Here’s the map and elevation chart of Ohio Hill:

Erik and I did 5 repeats. Erik did his first 1 or 2 in the big ring! For my 5, I sat, then stood, then sat, then did a mix for the final 2. Erik was impressed with my climbing! He told me I should race bikes! (That’s NOT what I needed! I needed to be beat-up by a cyclist so I’d feel like I needed to get out for more rides. I didn’t need to hear “Oh, you’re good at this. Why don’t you race bikes?”)

Here’s shot of Erik starting the decent. This is near the second blue arrow on the map, before we were actually back on Ohio:

Wed, 5/19:
- 3x1600 (with an extra 800 at the end) at the track
- Lift weights
Notes: It’s been starting to warm up in MN, so I actually hit the track in the morning to avoid the heat of the day. I did 3x1600 with 90 seconds rest, and then I did an extra 800 once I was done. Here are my splits:

2:48 + 2:42 = 5:30
2:43 + 2:42 = 5:25
2:44 + 2:43 = 5:27
Average of 5:27.33 / 1600
1:13 + 1:12 = 2:25 (the final 800)

Thurs, 5/20:
- 25 mile hilly ride
Notes: Matt wanted to get in one last ride before this weekend’s race, and he invited me to come along if I wanted to. He joked that we’d “hit every hill in St. Paul,” and he didn’t disappoint. Here’s Matt climbing a little hill on the Mendota Trail:

Matt had some minor bike issues, and neither of us had our multi-tool. (What a bunch of noobs.) So we stopped at 2 gas stations to see if they had any allen wrenches:

We finished the ride with a bunch of rollers and 6 good climbs! Thanks for the ride Matt! Hope your bike is doing better!

Fri, 5/21:
- Easy 1000 swim in the AM
- Lift weights
- Easy 3 mile run in the PM
Notes: Pharmie got up for a swim before work, and I headed to the pool with her. She did about 3 times what I did, but I just wanted to have a good little swim:

Then I had an easy run in the afternoon with a few “pick-ups” to get ready for tomorrow’s race.

Matt and I ("Team Happy Pants") are racing the Gear West Duathlon tomorrow, and Pharmie's racing it by herself!! It's going to be hot and sticky!! That race course can be hell, but it's always a BLAST!

As soon as I can post-race, I'll tweet with how we did. And I'll make sure to put up a quick post tomorrow afternoon with the results of "Operation Find Matt a Lover." We'll see if Matt can get any phone numbers from local sporty woman at the race. Wish us luck!!