* First of all, out of curiosity, I asked the Life Guard if the lane distances are in yards or meters.  The answer I got was, 25 yard”ish” and all the lanes are different – some are longer and some are shorter.  hmmmm. ok, thanks -not the specific and exact answer I was looking for…but ok.  So, all my measurements will be yard”ish” from now on.

* Swimming at 8:30 AM at the Y is a bit different than swimming at 5:30 AM:

5:30 AM -Nice and quiet, usually only 1-4 people there.   I always get a lane to myself and everyone is pretty much doing their own thing. On Wednesday’s I am usually the only one there – me and the Life Guard.

8:30 AM – I get there and no one is there..Great I thought, a lane to myself.  I comment on the lack of people to the Life Guard.

Me – “Not many people here at this time”

Life Guard – “Yes, but Water Aerobics starts in about 15 mins.  You should swim in that lane (pointing to furthest lane)”.

Me – ” Ah, ok sure”

And then I get into the water…the warm bathtub water. Yikes, I think – this is pretty warm.    I start to swim, already feeling pretty suffocated in the really warm water.

One by One the ladies are showing up for the class.  And about 8:45, the water starts to get a bit wavy.  I start to smell different smells – someone has some really strong perfume on!!

And then at around 9:00 AM, when the class starts, it gets really wavy – I feel like I am swimming in open water!  And still smelling different smells – some of them not so great .

But all in all, I had a great 8:30 AM swim – I got in one full hour  (2600 yard”ish) because I didn’t have to rush home to get the kids ready for school.  And I still got my own lane .  I am just going to have to get used to the differences.

And just when I had all my workouts planned  – time, location, etc…..EVERYTHING CHANGED.

Yes, I do not deal with changes very well and I am a baby about it.  But my work schedule changed and I have to support clients in both Europe and Asia Pacific.  So that means really early morning 5:00 AM calls (during my early morning workout time!!).  I have had to rearrange my entire workout schedule.  I really love getting up early and getting at least one of my workouts done. There are so many things that come up during the day that it’s always a possibility I won’t be able to work out (like Tuesday when I had meetings get scheduled all day long).  And that stresses me out.

But, I need to think positively about this.  I have blocked off time during my workout schedule to workout after I drop off the kids, so 8:30 AM.  This gives me the opportunity to run during the day (trail running!), go to spin classes at the gym, get a tan while swimming.  Positive thoughts, right?  Also, I am very lucky to even have a job right now, so who am I to complain?

Like my husband said, there will be obstacles along the way…I need to learn how to deal with them.  And that I am.  But a girl needs to vent every now and then!

Wow – what a week!  I did all my workouts…quite an accomplishment for me .  I am getting into a routine, but still need to figure out how to get all the double workouts in.

I got to admit, I am so excited for the Ironman.  I love this stuff..I love the the challenge.   Here is my workouts for week 35:

Monday – Day Off

Tuesday – 5:30 AM run.  My body is getting used to waking up at 5 – not as tough to get up anymore.  Only taken like 5 or 6 months to get used to…yikes.

Wednesday – 5:30 AM swim.  I did 2050 yds today in 45 minutes.

2:30 PM – strength for 30 mins.  My plan for strength training is to get it done during the day at home.  I have weights at home and I work at home. Often times I find myself not taking breaks from work during the day, but if I put a  30 minute break on my calendar, I will take the time to lift weights.  The meeting notifications make me feel guilty if I don’t do it!!  Working great so far.

Thursday – 5:30 AM – 45 mins on the bike trainer.

5:30 PM – 45 min run once my husband got home from work.  Went around the neighborhood 2X…nice little trail run.

Friday – 5:30 AM – swim 2300 yds.    That afternoon I was supposed to ride the trainer for 30 mins…but I literally forgot to do it.  I remembered about 8 PM and was too tired….so I decided I had to get it in – I would get up early on Saturday.

Saturday – 4:30 AM – yes, that is right – 4:30 AM.   I rode the trainer for 30 mins then did a 7 mile run!  I was so proud of myself for getting up early and getting it all in – even the trainer ride I missed on Friday.  I had baseball at 9 and soccer at 11, and soccer pizza party at 12:30, so it was a busy day. Early morning was the only time to get it done.  The run felt great, even after riding the trainer.  I just love to run .

Sunday – I also forgot to do strength training on Friday.  So I did 30 mins of strength on Sunday.

Also, I rode my bike outside for the first time in 2.5 years!  It was a big accomplishment for me, even if it was only for about 30 mins.

Over all about 7:15 hours

This week I didn’t get all my workouts in because of my wrist (see previous post).  I am still unable to swim or do upper body strength training this week.  But I am not going to stress because the “A” race is so far from now.  I also don’t want to burn out before the race…… I want to be  mentally and physically prepared for the really high volume weeks.

I decided to do the Intermediate 30-week plan from “Be Iron Fit“.  I read a lot of good reviews about this book, so decided to give it a try.  I need to be realistic though, I don’t think I can do the Competitive plan, although I’d really like to….I will keep it in the back of my mind though.

I need to do my max heart rate tests to get a better understanding of my heart rate zones.   I also need to get a heart rate monitor.  I have never been technical in my training, but rather just ran/biked/swam.  I would really like to be a bit more technical this time.  I figure now, with my limited time, I need to get pretty technical as every workout needs to be quality.

I am a runner at heart, so my default workout is to run, as you can tell from my workouts this week :

Monday – Swam for 50 mins for 2450 yards.  I have been doing 350 warm up, 3 X 500, 5 X 100.  100 cool down.

I fell and hurt wrist on Monday also.   My wrist hurt so bad on Monday night, there was no way I could workout the next day.

Tuesday -  Went to doctor – REST

Wednesday – Not motivated to workout, wrist was hurting – REST

Thursday - 4.5 mile run in the morning. Wrist started to feel better.

Friday – 4.5 mile run in the morning

Saturday – bike 30 mins on trainer

Sunday - 5 mile run

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Total – 3.67 hours