Ironman Louisville Week 22...

Two weeks until race day!  Last week I officially tapered off of Cross Fit which makes me so sad.  Can't wait to get back to it post-Louisville!  I struggled so much in the last workout I did there I knew it was time to phase it out until after the race.  I was just so tired...  Just hoping I don't lose too much of the fitness I gained by the time I get back.  

Monday 
Run (PM):  10 miles  Weird I can't really remember doing it but I know I did...  All the training is running together at this point.

Tennis (AM):   Prep for State Championships over the weekend.  Ideal timing, don't you think?  (yeah, not really...).  Anyhow, I felt obligated to hit some tennis balls since it had been a while.  It actually felt good to do something other than swim/bike/run.

Tuesday
Swim (AM)  2400 meters.  It apparently was an all freestyle week this week.  

Run (PM):  5 miles. It has finally gotten toasty hot here so enjoyed (?) getting out in the heat and sweating it up.  For the record, I normally wouldn't call a 4 PM run in August something I enjoyed but felt like it was contributing to my heat acclimation for Louisville so was happy to get out there and get it done.  

Wednesday
Swim (AM)  3500 meters.  
More freestyle.  It felt a little like the movie Groundhog Day training-wise today. I shared this on FB so some of you may have seen this already but thought it was worth sharing...  This swim involved 3 time trial swims and I was a little disappointed with the times. Towards the end of the swim there was a heavy set woman next to me. She would do a length and rest at the wall for several minutes. When I was done, I stood at the wall drinking water and questioning my readiness for Louisville, my decision to add strength training into the plan this time and whether I should have been spending more time swimming (I went bike heavy in the plan this time). Anyhow, as I was having my little moment of stress the woman next to me says "you are such a strong swimmer, just beautiful to watch... I struggle to get from one end to other I wish I could swim like you". Yep. A reminder to be grateful for how far I have come. So easy to focus on what you "aren't" when training (I can't run 8 minute miles, I can't do double unders...). Sometimes you need to be reminded that you are better than you think. I chatted with the lady a bit more, encouraged her to stick with it and it will get easier. Thanks pool lady, needed to hear that today 

Run (PM):  5 miles. More sweating.

Thursday
Bike (AM):  30 miles at Stone Mountain.  The ride was a mixture of everything - heat, hills, humidity and the last 3 miles or so were in a torrential downpour.  I am fully prepared for all situations...unless it snows.

Friday
Swim (AM) 2000 meters.

Saturday
State Tennis Championships in Augusta.  Not the perfect activity to drop into your IM training plan but I had a great time and it is always fun to be able to make it to state!  I only played a couple of matches so I wasn't playing from sun up to sun down.  Sweated a lot, laughed a lot.  So much fun!

Check out my foot in the pool pic.  I am the one in the white hat.  Clearly I have feet designed for swimming!  LOL.  I am part frog.  That explains why my breaststroke is almost as fast as my freestyle :)

Sunday

State Tennis Championships in Augusta