Shhh.....training in progress

Swim, bike, run, repeat.  Throw in work, sleep, eating, dog walking and lots of laundry and you pretty much have a synopsis of the past few weeks.  I honestly feel sometimes like I have 3.5 spare minutes a week!

Yet, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  It is my last build cycle before the taper into Boise 70.3 and although I've been admittedly negligent at blogging, I feel very focused on the workouts.  With a few more weeks of hard work left, focus will soon shift to recovery and race day preparation.  My run and bike workouts have been challenging me as of late, with more attention to strength and speed than last year.  Training for my first Ironman last year was about survival.  This year, with my goal race having only half the distance, the focus is on speed, endurance and fine tuning.

(Well, except for the swimming part....which is still about survival.)

Interestingly, I have noticed some adaptations to the training schedule.  Even with the number of hours I am putting in, there is definitely less a** dragging than last year and more tail wagging.  Whereas at the same time last year I was battling fatigue and constant hunger, the biggest challenge this spring has been the incessantly brutal weather...rain, rain, cold, wind, rain, hail, yeeeeech.  Waking up to my long ride last Saturday and hearing the rain pounding off the work required more than a little mental game to get going.  Thank goodness for training partners....that ride was definitely brutal to get through!

I have also realized that I have now sunk pretty far into the triathlon lifestyle and think it is pretty amusing.  Can't imagine the last time I bought myself some jewelry or new non-workout shoes, but I did get pretty excited about a spanky new torque wrench that I just treated myself to.  Yes, a torque wrench.  Manicures and lip gloss?  Ha.  Let's talk chamois cream and SPF anti-chafing lip balm instead.  Wednesdays are hill repeats, Friday evenings are bike maintenance and Sunday afternoons are about compression socks.  Carbon, not diamonds, are this girl's best friend.

May long weekend will mark my second pilgrimage to Penticton this year (we had an incredible training weekend over Easter).  Fingers are crossed for more Okanagan sunshine and I'm looking forward to a fun weekend with friends, perhaps the first lake swim of the year and some great riding and running!