Week 33 or 16 Weeks Away from Placid

Back into a big building week (22 hours not including extra Gym work). Last week was a recovery week (12 hours).

I tend to do really well in building weeks like these because it forces me to be hyper focused and aware of my surroundings (work, training and home). The scheduling, etc has to be perfect in order to pull it off. I have to say, the only real issue I have had this week was with my hunger and diet… Easter candy was everywhere!! I was tasked with putting together the kids Easter Baskets and I swear I ate just about every other item that went into their baskets.. This got me to thinking, that I have sacrificed a lot of really good food items in the past 33 weeks!! My favorite is pizza if you’re wondering. I’ve had maybe three pieces of pizza in 33 weeks.. Now that’s sacrifice!!!! My weight at my last race was 141. Post race week was 148. Today 145. Goal is 142. 8 years ago, 217.. A little yo-yo!!??!?!

This week I’ve been working on the following items that I took away from my last race:
1)Coach was very pleased with my performance and thinks I can improve from race to race.
2)Swim stunk, and I’ve been hammering it in the pool
3)Working on negative splits in training runs (running faster in the second part of the run)
4)Being patient
5)Sleeping more to try and mitigate fatigue and illness before my next race
6)Running sockless
7)Started out too fast on my bike
8)Faster transitions
9)More fluids
10)Stretching
11)More core work to keep injuries at bay
12) More rolling out
13) More massage sessions

Also, after the race I went to figure out why I have had such a hard time breathing as of late. The breathing issue became a major impediment in NOLA during the swim. I had a chest X-Ray and I have some airway restriction most likely from severe bronchitis. It seems to be improving and I’m hopeful that I feel even better by St Croix next week where it will be HOT, HOT, and HOT!! Right now the tentative goal for the race is 5:05 or better. There are Kona slots available for this race. Last year 4:49 got it done. It's time to pull it all together. My run and an average swim will be my key drivers..