Work

It's been one of those weeks. You know the ones, you see it on your calendar.  You know it's coming.  And you know why it's there.  Those weeks of intense workouts.  Of swims you grit your teeth through and hope hope hope that is the last set.  Of bike races and tt interval work.  Of track sessions that look something like 4 x 2000.  Followed the next day by a 65 mile bike in the mountains and a 6 mile run, fast and hard.  So as much as you think you may dread the "work" week ahead, you kind of in a weird way can't wait for it to begin.  These are the kinds of weeks I don't talk too much about because I get that familiar look....the are you out of your mind look.  You know the look.  And you've only talked about Monday, the first day of your week.  So with a sense of apprehension, because you know the hurt locker has your name on it this week, you go and get it done.  And you do it with a bit of a smile on your face.  Why?  Because this is the stuff that we love.  The stuff that makes us hurt and beg for mercy.  And most importantly, it's the work that we know will give us the advantage and the confidence on race day.  

Steve put it out there on the schedule.  I saw the work and I knew it would be hard.  I just finished up a 20 hour week, which included a rest day and one day with only an hour swim.  Wednesday was the day we had the crazy brick, Shadow Mountain and a run and I knew it be hard physically and mentally.  I knew I would be tired.  I knew my legs would hurt.  I knew I might want to cry.  A couple of times.  But I also knew that if I could get through this day, it would be a huge building block under my belt.  I've done this ride before (many, many times) where the quads are just begging for mercy.  The intolerable burn, the feeling of not being able to push anymore or your legs will fall off.  But I also did not want to get dropped.  So I was prepared to work and hang in there as long as I could.  And I did.  It was not my best ride and I was hurting like I knew I would.  But I stayed with the group.  And although I was having conversations with myself about not doing the run the last half of the ride I got off my bike and put on my shoes.  I ate my gels and started running.  I won't lie.  It hurt.  I had Holle next to me and we both didn't give up or let up on the pace.   We just ran.  I wanted to socialize with her but not today.  There was work to be done.  The big surprise?  After mile 2 I didn't feel so bad.  Sure, I was working hard but my legs found some hidden strength and I just went with it.  After all was said and done (or in this case rode and run), we biked 65 miles of hills and finished it off with a quick 5.3 miles.  And now, I can look back at the week and smile.  I did it.  I put the work in and had good runs, a good swim Monday, good bike rides, and an aggressive brick.

This week will not be as intense with my first Ironman 70.3 on Sunday.  The 6 days after that will be about recovering and maintaining heading into Loveland Lake to Lake.  

Yee haw and a big Boo Yah:  Race Season is Here!!!