Weekend Recap & a Tri Training Update
With our race just three weeks a way (!?), this weekend was pretty much dedicated entirely to training. Well, training and beer (i.e. carb loading!).
Saturday we planned to set out early to beat the heat. Unfortunately, Courtney’s bike had a flat and the bike shop doesn’t open until 10:00am, so I set out on a solo ride while he set out to get the supplies to fix his bike. I headed down the Mt. Vernon trail, and felt so good I decided to get 20 miles in. When I got home, Courtney and I headed out on a run and decided to go all the way to the Lincoln to get the full 10k distance in. The heat was brutal, and I actually felt like I might pass out by the time we got home. Hopefully this is good training, and race day will be much cooler! Last weekend we did a 15 mile bike ride and a 5k run, so we are gradually increasing our distances, and gradually increasing our confidence as we do.
Afterwards, we stopped at Pineapple and Pearls for a quick snack before heading to the pool to swim laps. If you haven’t tried it, you definitely should!
We did a 1,500 swim, no problem. It turns out what grandmas everywhere have always said about eating before your swim leading to inevitable death by drowning is fundamentally false. Turns out they meant inevitable happiness.
Then we lay be the pool for two hours, working on our tan while talking about how many chores we had to get done around the house. And hey, more people see the tan than the house. (Yes, I can justify anything – let me know if you ever need a hand with that).
Speaking of justifying things, having burnt 1,500+ calories we were in pretty dire need of a giant steak. We cooked this beauty in the smoker, brushed with olive oil. We also smoked the avocado, with olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika. We paired this with an Imperial Porter from 3 Stars, and binge watched Netflix without talking about how much we had to get done around the house, because talking during movies is rude.
Sunday we went to National Harbor for an early morning Open Wave swim. Although I wasn’t eager to pay $25 each for an hour swim workout, it felt important that we get the feel for swimming in the open water with a bunch of other swimmers around. The course is 310 meters between the three buoys, and I ended up finishing six laps for a minimum of 1,800 meters, but probably closer to 2,000 since I definitely wasn’t swimming a direct course. It took me considerably longer than it has been taking me in the pool, and the open water takes a little more out of you. I definitely want to get a couple more open water swims in before the race, and potentially get a wet suit for some extra buoyancy.
Sunday night, we had Rachel, Holly and Jason over to try the team brew they made with Courtney as one of Rachel’s 30 before 30 bucket list items. We were really excited for them to try it, because it turned out amaaaaazing. In fact, I’d been rationing myself all week to one 4 oz pour with dinner to make sure we didn’t drink it all before they got to try it. I decided to make pretzels with the spent grains from the brew (I store them in the freezer), and they were stellar. I love the texture and the nuttiness beer grains add to bread.
I also made an almond-crusted fried goat cheese salad, with nectarines from my Hungry Harvest box and figs from Trader Joe’s (they’re finally in season!) I read that hefeweizen goes well with goat cheese, but well, what doesn’t? We finished it off with Jason’s key lime pie, paired of course with more hefeweizen.
Last week in workouts:
Monday: 10k run
Tuesday: AM Spin class, PM Chisel
Wednesday: Rest day!
Thursday: AM Spin class, PM Chisel
Friday: Rest day!
Saturday: Bike/Run Brick (20 miles/6 miles) + 1,500 meter pool swim.
Sunday: 1,800 meter open water swim.
+daily 6 mile bike to work
Up next: we are headed to Miami this weekend, so we’re probably only going to be able to run… and mostly from mosquitos. I still really want to get a couple more open water swims in, and one full sequence of swim-bike-run (not the full distance). The other priority is making sure we have all our gear in order.
I’ll leave you with this…
