WEEK 17 – April 18, 2016 – April 24, 2016
Good week this week because of… Taper! Just as the plan was building to a weekend 4 hour ride and a 1.5 hour run, Fink dialed it back. I think the next week is set up for another easy week, finishing with an Olympic distance triathlon. Since it is late April in the suburbs of Chicago, good luck finding a race! Instead, I signed up for a half-marathon for next Sunday and will do a little biking afterward.
I missed one of the swims this week as the Friday swim fell on my wife’s birthday. And if I have learned anything about triathlon training, you don’t screw with family obligations! So I had some things to do birthday-wise, and the swim was skipped.
Cycling went well this week, and I felt really good about the 4 hour long ride/half hour brick run. It was a little cool at the start, but all things considered a nice day for a ride. I think I averaged about 17 mph, but was often moving along at over 20 mph.
I finally found some time to buy some new running shoes on Sunday. I haven’t tried them out yet. My running shoe brand ASICS has been so dependable for me that I almost never even try them on in the store, I just grab my model and size and go. But last time I bought the new version of the Kayano, the 22 and it’s construction is very different from the 21. I found it to be stiff and the left shoe seemed to slap the ground, which bugged the heck out of me. Very disappointed with this version. So I am trying an experiment and bought a cheap ASICS model, the GEL-EXCITE 3. While testing them in the store, I found them to be really comfortable and sturdy. My experience with the cheaper shoes is that they just don’t last as long in respect to cushioning and wear and tear on the sole. I will keep track and see if they can get to 300 miles. If so, then that is $50 well spent!
WEEK 17 TOTALS:
Swims: 2 total, 2 hours, 6000 yards
Bikes: 4 total, 6.5 hours, 112 (that’s an omen!) miles
Runs: 7 total, 5 hours, 36 miles
an amazing run 