Nineteen Down - One Weeks to Go!

Week nineteen started on Sunday, October 23rd with a recovery day.  I hadn't worked out at all during week eighteen so any recovery was already overdone.  However, I only have 2 more weeks to go in my 20 week plan so, recovery it was for Sunday.  I have to admit that the whole thing is making me mentally tired, but physically I feel fine.  No injuries!

On Monday I rode solo, then with another rider, and then still with a group.  I left the house at 4pm headed toward the Epic Bikes store 8 miles from my house.  When I got there I joined up with Junior, a fellow Southern Crescent Cycling (SCC) club rider.  He is training for the 3-day, 375 mile, La Vuelta Puerto Rico in January.  Junior and I rode together until 6pm when we met up with a few more SCC riders and some local Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) folks.  We met at the Trek store on GA20.  The FCA folks haul butt so I stayed to the back of the group (at one point 300 yards back) for the whole 20 mile ride.  Many of the FCA riders rode tri bikes and were on their aerobars during the ride.  I'm usually the only guy on a tri bike when I ride with the group out of Epic Bikes so the change was fun.  The ride took us until dark so one of the other riders was kind enough to haul Junior and I back home.  I rode 55 miles that day.

On Tuesday I ran 8.5 miles around the lake at a 7:24 pace.  The temperature was 54-degrees when I left the house.  After I returned home I got ready for my first swim in almost 2 weeks.  The water temperature was 67-degrees.  I pulled my swim cap down onto my head as far as possible and headed out toward the dam.  The water wasn't so cold that it took my breath away but I can't say that it was refreshing.  It was too cold for that.  I cut my 90 minute swim session short by over 25 minutes.  When I woke up that morning I had planned to swim and then run.  After checking the temperature, a run followed by a swim was definitely the better option.

Water temperature 67-degrees

Ready for a swim

On Wednesday I rode 10 miles with Susan in the neighborhood.  After that warm up I rode 38 more miles around the lake.  After my ride I did a short 10 minute run brick.

My Thursday workout was quashed by an extended Wednesday work schedule and a reduced sleep schedule.  While I got some shut-eye Susan picked up our grandson Cody.  Cody lives in the Philippines but is back in the U.S. while on a week's break from school.

Cody reading while Susan shops for groceries

Caption: 1) Give me five! or 2) Don't take my picture!

Cody was going back home to Manila on Friday to Manila so, my training/taper would resume on Saturday.

On Saturday it was cold and windy, too cold and windy to swim.  I wouldn't want to get sick!  After I got my new running shoes earlier in the day I went for a 12 mile run.

I finished the week swimming 1.7 miles, biking 103 miles and running 20.7 miles.  I did it all in 9 hours and 22 minutes.  That's 6 hours shy of what my plan called for.  Oh well!

Thanks for reading.