Month in Review: LOTS OF BIKING!

I don't bike much. But last month (May), I logged my 3rd highest total in the last 5 years. (My 2nd highest total since having kids.) It's only 192 miles, which is normal weekly milage for many, but it's a lot for a month for me. I also hit the trainer for 3 hours and 13 minutes. All the trainer riding was "workouts" (not just "spinning"), and if you use my average pace outside for the month (18.32 mph), my trainer time equals about 59 miles. That makes it over 250 miles which is EASILY the highest mileage month in years.

Actually, it was a solid month all around. Here's what my BeginnerTriathlete.com log looks like:

One of the fullest months I've ever had.

4 notes on those totals:

• I think the swim, bike, run, and strength totals are pretty self explanatory.

• The purple "sport" minutes are time spent on the trainer.

• Swim and run totals are a bit low (or at least not impressive). I nearly pulled another 2-a-day this past weekend just to boost my monthly swim total, but being it's 1 week until Duathlon Nationals, I didn't want to overdo it.

• My strength work is a bit low too because I've been spending time at the Y stretching and foam rolling after many workouts. I HARDLY did any of my old physical therapy leg work this past month because the month started with 2 races, and then my mileage really increased. I didn't have much time for those exercises. (Gotta make sure I get back into that routine after next weekend.) But I did what was best for my overall endurance health, and that was taking care of my legs and not worrying about logging another 20 minutes of core work.

Oh, and can you tell which weekend we were gone for a wedding? It was my brother-in-law's big day, and I was actually the photographer, so you could say I got in a big workout that Saturday. Here are 4 quick pics of mine from the day:

'Merica.


My in-laws growing family. (There's us to the left.)


My cute wife and adorable son on the dance floor.

So anyway, May was a REAL all-around solid month for me. I'm hoping that pays off with a speedy finish at Duathlon Nationals in 5 days. I did very little running speed work this past month, which could be a bit of a detriment. (And 4 out of the 8 runs since my last race were with the boys in the stroller.) But I planned it that way for 2 reasons: first, speed work tends to injure me; and secondly, I knew it'd be more important (and more beneficial) to spend some quality time on the bike. I'll post more of my race plan and personal goals for Du Nationals in a few days.

p.s. If you're doing Du Nationals or curious about its brutal course, check out my race course preview that I posted over the weekend. It's gonna be fun/killer.