Back on track, but how to proceed?

After shaking off my Nyquil hangover after about three days of sleeping off a nasty cold (seasons, I appreciate that you changed, but you did it too quickly) I looked at the date on my phone, did some quick math and cringed a little bit.

The Keuka Lake Triathlon, a .46 mile swim, 13 mile bike and 5K run is 27 days away. The Musselman half ironman is 69 days away.

Because I might ship this blog out to a few pros for advice, I'll start from the beginning. I was crushing it with my training. I was following the Beginner Triathlete half ironman plan from March up until two weeks ago. Prior to that I wasn't doing much cardio but I spent about six months working with a trainer focusing on weights which really helped my speed and helped me get ready for the pool.

The only thing I hadn't been following closely on the plan was the bike, mainly because up until just a few weeks ago it wasn't feasible to get outside. I've been on the spin bike a lot though, teaching a lot of classes, but really couldn't stomach more than 90 minutes at a time. I was doing 2000 in the pool in about 50 minutes, and I did the Flower City Challenge (more on that in a second.)

So that was all up until two weeks ago. Then, I took a taper week for the Flower City Challenge. All I did that week was two spin classes, one short bike ride and two short runs.

I crushed the Flower City Challenge. Day 1 was a duathlon, a 5K run, 20 mile bike (with a few killer hills) and a 5K run. Day 2 was a half marathon. Felt great for both. But then the sinus infection came on, and I had to skip my trip to Ohio where I should have done another half marathon Saturday. All I did last week was two cycle classes with hardly any resistance on the bike.

I'd love some advice: How to proceed? 

I probably still can't get in the pool, not for a few more days anyway, because of my sinuses. Maybe I'll put in some time on the rowing machine just to do something. I've still never swum in open water.

Here's what my training plan calls for this week, lots of bike time. I can imagine I'll scale this back, today maybe I'll run instead of swim.

TODAY - SWIM WU 2 x 75 last 25 each breaststroke; MAIN 2 x 600, CD 150 easy (will skip); BIKE - 75 minutes with hills
TUESDAY - BIKE - 60 minutes, aero for middle 40 time
WEDNESDAY - 75 minutes w/ long tempo - 15 mins, 50 mins, 10 mins
THURSDAY- OFF
FRIDAY - SWIM - 400, 4 x 100, 200, 2 x 100, 100; RUN - 1 hour
SATURDAY - BIKE - 90 minute bike use aeros; RUN - 30 minutes after bike
SUNDAY - BIKE - 2.5 hours easy (I'll shoot for 50 miles)

Strength on the road: Spring forward 15K

As any runner knows all too well, race registration fees add up. So I had full intentions of sitting out the Spring Forward 15K Saturday.

But Friday I stepped out to walk Liz, and I saw that strange bright yellow shiny thing in the sky that we haven't seen much of this winter. So I drove over to Fleet Feet and wrote out a check.

It was freezing Saturday morning in Mendon, but the sun was shining which instantly put me in a good mood. I ran most of the 9.3 miles with Traci from work, which was great motivation to keep going up the hills (of which there were many.)

We kept a steady 9:50 pace that I felt comfortable with, further proof that I'm speeding up, yay! I still like training at a slower pace, but enjoy being able to race faster.

Since I have two half marathons back to back, I'll take one at a 12:00 pace.

Getting prepared for another long week of training, adapted from Beginner Triathlete:

MONDAY
S: Warmup 5 x 50
Main: 2 x 1000, both are RPE 4
Cool down: 250 easy
B: 45 minutes easy
MAYBE DFC Athlete

TUESDAY
10 mile run with Megan


WEDNESDAY
Cycle, sculpt and center class
S: wu: 300 continuous- (alternate 25 swim, 25 kick)
main: 20 x 75 hold constant pace for each-so judge pace in the first few,
cd: 200 easy

THURSDAY
OFF

MAYBE DFC Athlete

FRIDAY
Performance cycle and core - teach

S:  wu: 200swim, 200kick, 200pull, 200swim
main: 1 x 1500
cd: 4 x 50, each slower than last


SATURDAY
B: 2 hour long ride, hopefully outside!
R: 6 mile easy run--not immediately after the bike

MAYBE DFC Athlete

SUNDAY
OFF