Last Wednesday morning, Jenny and I rode for 10 miles.  We kept the ride short because we had an event at the TradeWinds later that morning. (Details about that event soon!)  The ride was quick and so was I!  My speed is definitely am improving compared to a 10 mile ride about a month ago.

10.41 miles
Time 41:56
Ave Speed 14.9

Thursday morning, I met the Suncoast Striders for my tempo run.  I paced with my friend Tara for the first 2.5 miles around an 8:15mm. Since I’ve misplaced my headphones, I was gratefully for Tara talking to me through that run and pulling me along.  After the first 3 miles, she sped up and I dropped my pace to about 9:30, which is still pretty fast for me.  I hit reset on my Garmin at 6.2 miles to record my 10K time, but I continued to run.

6.41
Time 1:00:30
10K Time 58:19
Ave Pace 9:26
Max Pace 7:22

Thursday night, I joined my St. Pete blogging friends at Tour De Pizza.  The owner, Matt, specializes in healthy pizzas and wanted to test out a new Paleo crust on us.  In exchange, we gave him some medals to hang throughout the restaurant to fit his triathlon theme.

The dense paleo crust consisted of millet and flax seed.  My favorite Paleo pizza was the Greek.

Though all the pizzas were delicious, I could only eat a few slices due to the dense, heavy Paleo crust.

Friday, I burned off that Paleo Pizza and Pura Cycling and this week, I dragged my friends, Jenny and Marlene, along for the ride of LuAnn’s mad hill and interval workout.  We cycled uphill quite a bit and I’m not sure if we ever made it off the hill.  My legs were so sore.

Saturday, I had organized a bridge run in Clearwater with the help of my friends, Scott and Tara.  I had never run the bridges along the beach before, so I needed a bit of guidance from them.  We started at Sand Key Park ran over the first causeway into Clearwater Beach to the Clearwater Causeway and then back again.  The whole distance was about 9 miles.

Since Iron Girl Clermont will have lots of hills, I wanted to make my legs experience a real hill work.  I ran an easy 11:00-12:00 mm over the bridges and ran about 10:30 downhill.  I picked up the pace between the bridges at about 9:30-10:00, but of course, I occasionally stopped to take photos.

In all my years of running, that was truly the hardest workout I’ve ever put myself through and my legs cried.  They screamed.  By the last incline over the final bridge back into Sand Key, I was done.  Between the heat and the hills, I was toast and I thought I would vomit.  But I did it and I’m ready to plan another one next month!  If you live in the Tampa Bay area, watch for the next event on Facebook.

8.9 miles
Time 1:46
Ave Pace 12:00
Max Pace

Unfortunately, I returned too late to join in the yoga session with Alicia.  To celebrate our bridge run, I brought bagels as promised.  I also brought coffee and beer for a true runner tailgate, but first we cooled off in the Gulf.

After our swim, we replaced all our bridge calorie burn with breakfast at Clearsky Café.  I enjoyed the Mexican Flatbread Breakfast and washed it down with a pomegranate mimosa.

After breakfast, we headed back to the beach for an open water swim.  Between the buoys, we swim ¼ mile interval.  The water was choppy and I struggled.  I only swim two laps for a total ½ mile distance because my shoulders were screaming.  But again, I did it and now I have an OWS and hillwork under my fuel belt.

Sunday, I opted to rest. My body needed it.

Monday, I ran shake out 3.1 miles with my friend, Mica.  My legs were still so sore and stiff from Saturday’s bridges.

3.1 miles
Time 33:47
Ave Pace 10:54
Max Pace

That night, I attended a fitness class at R.A.W.  R.A.W. stands for “Real Athletics and Wellness”.  Since I’ve only just started to take my fitness to the next level with the variety of group fitness classes, R.A.W has like nothing else I’ve ever done.  R.A.W. doesn’t even describe it! I was feeling like ground beef at the end of it!  Sandy, a blogging friend, joined me for the R.AW. experience.

Our R.A.W. fitness instructor, Jamil, explained he likes to hit Mondays harder because people have a tendency to slack off on the weekends. Our work-out was no joke.  Any workout with the word suicide in it can’t be good.

Jamil wanted us to finish the R.A.W. work-out under 33 minutes.  I couldn’t do it.  It took me about 35 minutes.

Seriously, I died.  My legs and my arms screamed, but I survived and I would totally do it again, but not the evening before my intervals.  I definitely need a different work-out to push my body.  R.A.W. delivered that.

Tuesday, I returned to the track.  My legs were still so sore from R.A.W. and my sprints reflected that.  Not the best sprints, but there’s always next week.

1 mile warm-up, 10:44
1 mile cool down, 10:11

I missed my bike ride with Jenny this morning.  I was exhausted!  After intervals and then walking around Bush Gardens with my kids, I needed rest.  I didn’t argue with my body.

Tomorrow, I plan to run 6 miles and then resting until Chaotic CoteeMan this Saturday.  I’m really nervous about it, but I’ve trained the best I could.  I’m swimming faster, riding faster and running faster, so all I can do is show up and give it my all.  I plan to practice my transitions over the next couple of days to help shave some time off that leg.  I really hope to place in the top five in my age group.  That would be incredible and such a validation for all my hard work.  Wish me luck!

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