Familyless Week!

Last week, my boys had their spring break. My wife took off work, and she took the boys to Florida on a trip with her Mom from mid-day Monday until Saturday night. They sent me pics like this:

Selfie at the gulf!


The following day with Grandma!




The boys and Grandma are in the front seat here.


The boys loved the pool at their AirBNB.

So I had less responsibilities as I didn't have to get the boys to-and-from school, there was no homework and no bedtime duty, and I could eat meals WHENEVER *I* wanted to. My wife was so happy with how many random things I got done around the house.

It also meant I could train however and whenever I wanted to around my classes. Here's what the week looked like:

It had the potential to be a BIG week, but once I decided mid-week to race a 5 mile race on Saturday, I ended up (obviously) having to take it a bit easier later in the week. Here's what I did (and how it compared to "normal"):

• MONDAY: long run, good leg exercises, and normal biking to-and-from work. This day was pretty normal. My long run was actually slightly on the shorter side but it was good - I posted about that over the weekend.

• TUESDAY: long swim and decent upper body. My upper body routine wasn't anything special, but that's because I was fried after my longest swim in probably over a decade! I had forgotten this last week when I hit the pool, but just 2 months ago, I went for my longest swim in a long time, which was 3100 yards in about 64 mins (the first time crossing over 1 hour in YEARS). Well, I had the time so I went 3200 yards in 1:05:34 on Tuesday. I did that broken 400s and 200s swim workout that I like (which is longer to begin with), then some kick drills, then I added in some more effort with 4x100, then some pulling with a buoy, and finally a longer cool down to hit 3200 yards:

WU then broken 400s and 200s, then 4 slower kick drills.
Then 4x100, some pulling, and a longer cool down.

• WEDNESDAY: easy 6+ mile run, extra bike commuting, and good legs and core. There are only slight differences here from a normal/good Wednesday. First, my run was SLIGHTLY on the longer side, and I included some "pick ups" as this was the first serious thought I had about racing a few days later. Second, I biked to-and-from work as normal, but I also stopped at Target on my way home and rode home with groceries in my backpack and hanging from it. And finally, my core and legs were just slightly on the longer side. All just subtle shifts from the norm.

• THURSDAY: slightly easier upper body, and a quick 3x10 min effort on the trainer. This day would have been a LOT bigger had I not planned on racing in 2 days. I took it easy with both of these. I actually did a quick soak in the tub after my spin to help keep things loose, and then I stretched well after that. Starting my pre-race prep!

• FRIDAY: easy core! Total rest day because of the race. Normally, I would have done some speed work, good core, and good legs. But I got a lot of other things done around the house because I shortened my workouts AND my family wasn't around.

• SATURDAY: a 5 mile PR race, easy upper body, and good legs. Obviously the first thing was the race. Then after the race, I came straight home and did 90 mins of good legs (I always like to do legs after running). And then just shortly after that, I did an hour of upper body: a slightly shorter version of what I would have normally done that morning.

• SUNDAY: an easy spin and some core. Normally, Sunday would be my rest day from endurance sports with just some core. But my legs were feeling good post-race, so I spun them out for about an hour before doing a good stretch. And I got some core in there as well.

Over the course of the week, my swimming was GREAT, my running was pretty normal, my strength time was pretty normal but just shifted around, and my biking was a bit lacking: easing up on Thurs and skipping a good workout on Saturday for the race and then throwing in a shorter/easier spin on Sunday.

I actually need to make it a point to get in some better bike workouts! I was biking a lot a month ago, but then things cooled down a bit again. Can't ease up on the biking!