An Ode to a Rest Week

You know that point in your training where you have been working out for 4 weeks straight, no rest days, your legs refuse to cooperate, your HR monitor has rubbed you raw, you can no longer sleep, one eye is twitching, and you are having homicidal tendencies towards your coach?

That was Wednesday.

Thursday morning I woke up to an email from Mary giving me the day off. I think she got the point of my ever-increasing desperate emails: "I don't know if I will be able to make it through this week." "I am dying." "I just had to worst run of my life." "Please murder me."

Friday was easy as well.

Saturday and Sunday were not. They were my final 2 big workouts before Ironman Wisconsin. I did them, and they went well, but it was not easy.

Honestly, I'm surprised I made it through. The final push is the W-O-R-S-T.

I am now on a rest week, with 1/2 week of build and then some not-too-extreme tapering to sharpen up before my last (and biggest!) race of the season.

I just want to give a shout out to the rest week!

Unlike most type-A crazy triathletes, I LOVE rest weeks. I like doing other things, getting a chance to screw around and be lazy, to curl up on my couch with a book, to go out to dinner, to actually do something during the day on a Saturday, to be able to run errands.

Plus, I am 100% sure I would have gone insane if I didn't have today off. Like, lock me up in a padded room wearing a straitjacket while I rock back and forth babbling to myself, INSANE.

I really, really, really, really don't want that to happen.

the countdown begins

less than..
2 weeks until Flower City Half Marathon
6 weeks until Memorial Day weekend in Lake Placid
7 weeks until Keuka Lake Tri
10 weeks until IMCDA!

I also hope to be at IMLP to watch/cheer for everyone that I know who is racing. I am still waiting to see if I am able to take that Monday off of work but as long as that is ok, I shall be up there for the weekend! Hopefully I can find someplace to stay, otherwise Solveig and I might be squeezing in between Jeremy and Glenn in the Element! I have never spectated an Ironman before so it should be exciting! I will be there armed with my bright green Train-This t-shirt and visor, my iPhone for updating facebook and the google group, my camera for taking photos, and my little video camera for taking ridiculous videos! Oh.. and my outdoor voice for yelling!!!!! (I always have an outdoor voice).

Monday was a rest day (thank god) and after being up for 27 straight hours (workouts all day on Sunday and then had to work all night) I was a mess when I got home in the morning. I took an ambien (because often, regardless of how tired I am, I just cannot sleep) and was getting ready for bed when a friend of mine start talking to me on facebook chat. Weird for 7:30 am but whatever. Between being exhausted and the ambien kicking in, I can hardly remember what we even talked about, but I do remember barely being able to type anything coherent (I sound like I have some kind of substance abuse problem but I assure you that I do not).

I still am tired, although I have slept better as the week has gone by.

I was watching an episode of The Big Bang Theory, and Sheldon describes Penny's apartment as "..a swirling vortex of entropy." He MIGHT actually be talking about my apartment. I still need to clean Hedwig from Saturday's ride (her gears are dirty), wash the clothes that got wet and yucky over the weekend, and a whole bunch of other things. Ugh, I hate housework. I think I am a boy.

Mary has been basically out of touch for a week straight because she was at QT2 camp and she is now playing catch-up at work. I think I am going through withdrawal. And I am a moody lunatic this week due to the catastrophic combination of no sleep because I am working nights, lack of human contact, rest week, and PMS.

Thank god Kim has the best idea ever of going to get cupcakes yesterday. Unfortunately, our favorite cupcake place RAN OUT of cupcakes (WHAT!?!?!) so we had to improvise.

I realized that my transformation into cat lady has been completed as I caught myself taking this photo on Monday morning. My cat waits for me on the window sill. Kim witnessed this when she dropped me off after dinner/cupcake eating. She thought it was adorable (actually Fiona waits for me on the window sill and then when she sees me walking up the sidewalk, she will jump down and greet me at the door). It is pretty adorable.

Urgh.. is it bedtime yet?

R.I.P.

Goodbye, bless-ed rest week. You were known and loved by all (ok, maybe not all, but at least by me). You were so nice to me when I was tired from working nights. You let me regain some of my sanity and catch up on things that I needed to do (like laundry and going to my yearly doctor's appointment). You made it possible for me to go out on Friday night and sleep late (WAY TOO LATE) on Saturday morning afternoon.

But mostly, you let me demolish my 400 yd swim test time, YET AGAIN. I dropped 5 more seconds off my 400 yd time - bringing it down to 5:43.

You have to remember, I am not from a competitive swimming background. I am from a Red Cross swimming lessons/lifeguard training/WSI background and that is all of the swimming experience I have. So my 400 yd time reflects that. It's not *swim team fast*. But it's fast for me! Considering that at this time last year I was swimming 6+ minutes for a 400 yd TT I will definitely take the 5:43.

I did this swim test wearing my new goggles, the Aqua Sphere Lady Kaimans. I have been swimming in Ladies Speedo Vanquisher goggles since 2007 and although they seal properly (a problem I have normally because my head is small) they also feel like they are going to suck my eyeballs out of my eye sockets, and by the time I am done with an hour swim they are killing me. So I decided to try some new goggles. They are a little more low profile than my vanquishers (meaning I could feel my eyelashes hitting the plastic of the goggles) and I think they are dorkier looking, but they are WAY more comfy. AND they are sparkly! Maybe that will up my game at picking up dudes in the next swim lane over. Or not.

I did my swim test on Saturday because Thursday (the originally scheduled day) and Friday I was a) tired from C-shift and b) worried about trying to do a legit swim test while fighting my way through the weirdos that I normally end up sharing a lane with. Weirdos include: 400 lb man with buttcrack showing, various snorkelers, man who swims with paddles AND fins at the same time, man who swims the length of the pool along the very bottom and then rests for 10 minutes at each end, man who does butterfly right over my head, variety of large women wearing swimsuits with attached skirts "water walking," etc. These are all difficult people to circle swim with when you're going for as fast as possible. A Saturday swim test was a really good choice because the pool was essentially empty and I was definitely feeling refreshed after a mere 14 hours of sleep. (Once again, the benefits of a glorious rest week). I think  I will repeating both (Saturday swim test and excessive sleep) the next time around!

photo was taken outside of a library..
and we annoyed a guy trying to use the book drop!



crazy horse! but I <3 her

Sunday morning I did a 45 minute run with some teammates and then we all met at a bagel shop to get team gear and take a team photo. It was definitely an invasion of Bruegger's Bagels by athletes in spandex! After the photo shoot I visited my horse (I tried to ride her but she is currently lame) and then spent the afternoon relaxing before nap time and then work time. I have a super crazy brick workout this Saturday and I haven't decided how I feel about it. It's a bike/run/bike/run/bike/run totaling 3:15. Yeah.

...ew.

But I bet it will be worth it when I'm killin' it in Coeur D'Alene! :)





photo circa 2006: I fell down.
Greg picked me up. obviously, drunk at the bar.





Something that is totally unrelated but that I am really excited about - over the weekend one of my BEST FRIENDS from college - Greg, a fellow bio geek at Slippery Rock U., got engaged to his boyfriend Josh!! I am so happy for them! Greg and I were lab partners (or at least at the same lab table) countless times, sat next to each other in tons of classes, wasted time studied at the library together, screwed around in open labs, went to the bar to celebrate birthdays, end of the semester, etc. Now he lives in Washington DC so I don't get to see him anymore but facebook keeps us in contact! :) Congratulations Greg!!!!

I am on Twitter!

News of the day. I am now on Twitter. (Actually, I have been on twitter since 2008 but have not "tweeted" since 2009. Until now). Damn you Mary Eggers.

Soooooooooooo crazy blog friends.. follow me on Twitter at AlexaSwims!!! I resurrected my Twitter account for blog-related purposes! BTW, thank god Twitter allowed me to change my username from what it originally was - which will remain a secret. Did anyone used to use AIM when they were in high school/college? I definitely did. (I feel like I must state, for the record, that I no longer use AIM or any kind of chat client except for the built in chats on gmail and facebook on occasion. I think there should be an age limit to using AIM and having a "buddy list.") Anyways, my old AIM username was what I used for my Twitter handle which is really embarrassing since I have had that username since I was 17. TEN YEARS. Actually that is my username on slowtwitch as well. Super embarrassing.

Alright, that's enough self-promotion for now.

I am resting it up during my rest week which also happens to fall on a week of overnights. (Is that good timing or what??). I am looking forward to actually having some time to myself this weekend. I believe I have a swim test on Thursday so that should be interesting, given that I swim at a new, much busier pool than I used to swim at. It's going to be challenging trying to do a swim test while sharing a lane with someone who does butterfly right down the middle of the lane heading straight towards me. Seriously. This guy butterflied right over my head. Or trying to circle swim with 3 other people that are swimming half my speed. I have yet to figure out the optimum time (AKA quietest time) to go to this pool in order to do a swim test!

I have obtained some new triathlon toys in the last week or so (new goggles, new fins, and a pair of Zoot compression recovery tights) that I will test out and review. I purchased all of these myself (well the tights are a very belated Christmas gift) but I always think it's fun to test out new equipment and give my personal opinion, so look for that soon!

weekly report

Rest week = nirvana for an Ironman. At least me. I'm not one of those people that despises rest weeks. I love them! After a REALLY solid 3 weeks of training, I hurt, I'm tired, AND I'm on overnights. A rest week sounds perfect right now, and I get one!

I tend to not do a "weekly report" because I doubt anyone cares. But I had a really good week training-wise so..

Some training highlights of this past week:

• I did a 3 hour trainer ride with Kim on Saturday morning which was probably the best trainer ride I've ever had. Apparently, having company REALLY helps! And I love Kim. And she supplied Cokes for us when we started to get tired. And she made me lunch. It was totally worth the pain-in-the-butt-ness of taking my bike and my trainer over to her apartment.
• I ran for 80 minutes Sunday morning which was rough. Anything over an hour is still pretty tough for me. This is starting to get frustrating. I try to be patient but I am first and foremost, a runner, and it's not normal for me to struggle with running like this. I am dying for it to be April so that my feet and legs don't get drenched with slush that is thrown off of passing cars and so that I can run without wearing 15 layers. I want my legs to feel the air again!
• I am LOVING the swim sets that Mary has been giving me. Lots of yardage, lots of longish repeats (800s, 500s). Less drilling. :)
• I had a 15+ hour week again this week. I know that hours are irrelevant, but I still feel pretty badass doing 15 hour weeks in early February.

News for this upcoming week:

• I should get my bonus check this week!
• My iphone should arrive at Kim's house TODAY!!!!
• Today (Monday - I get confused when I'm working nights) is a total rest day! I plan to sleep once I get home,  hopefully go get my iphone, play with my iphone, and then go to yoga.
• I have a swim test on Tuesday. I'm a little nervous considering I destroyed my last swim test. I worry that I won't be able to top it.
• I started reading "The Hunger Games" at the urging of Matt Curbeau. Can't. stop. reading.
• I get the keys to my apartment on Wed. Let the moving begin!

You can check out some updates to my blog on the right: a Train-This logo that links directly to the web page, and a coupon for a discount on Crankskins (check the website out if you're curious) that I put up at my friend Mark's request. That's all for now. Hopefully I will be able to come up with something more interesting to blog about in the near future!