IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEKS 7/8 WRAP-UP – APRIL 27, 2025
Sometimes the best-laid plans of a triathlete in training often go awry, to paraphrase poet Robert Burns, and the past two weeks have been that way for me. Last week, I took a trip to Florida with the family over Easter to visit my in-laws, which made for a nice escape, and that included an escape from my training. I ran a couple of times over that extended 5-day excursion, but did little else other than enjoy my family being together and enjoying a break from our busy lives.
This past week also had some conflicts: my wife Kari’s birthday, a memorial service for an old friend, an appointment to have my sprinkler system fixed, and the ever-changing weather around here causing disruptions to the training plan. Somehow, I managed to get back at it until I got derailed again with a very sore throat at the end of the week. I could feel it coming on, and thought that maybe it was just a reaction to the bad pollen levels we are experiencing. Nope, it turned into a cold.
Wednesday’s call for a bike/run brick workout that I normally let myself push pace, but found that my calf muscles were not happy about that, cramping up occasionally while I tried to get through 45 minutes of biking followed by a 30-minute run. I grabbed a Gatorade after the bike and took a big swig from it, hoping that a swig of electrolytes would set me straight, but I thought that I better bring it with me. I’m glad I did. Normally, I never cramp while running, but the bike effort had already done its damage. Nevertheless, as I moved forward slowly, sipping away at the Gatorade, I was able to find my stride again. It was a wake-up call, though – I need to focus on hydrating more and making sure that I’m taking in enough electrolytes.
The weather is starting to look warmer here in the Chicago area, and I started thinking about opening the pool. Closing and opening a pool both include a fair amount of work, but there’s definitely more cleaning up with the spring opening. So while the sprinkler guy worked on the sprinkler valve, I gathered my pool opening supplies and read through my notes. Even though I have opened my pool by myself for almost 20 years, each year I forget how to do it. I’m losing it.
I held out hope for feeling good by the weekend, and on Saturday morning, I decided that I felt good enough to run. I planned to take it easy and just run and walk through the 1:45 run, but I felt good and changed my mind, running it straight through. I felt pretty good, but after getting home, my body didn’t like that. I was drained, and now my sore throat was accompanied by a cough. Time to take some medicine.
I opted to skip the long ride this weekend, and instead I filled the time opening the pool and mowing the grass. The pool was pretty clean, and didn’t take much time to vacuum and start the heater going. I should be swimming by Tuesday, or maybe Thursday.
So, life threw some curveballs at me this past two weeks, but experience has taught me not to worry about it. I will pick the plan back up this next week and keep moving forward.
Week 7/8 Totals: Swims 0 – Bikes; Far too few – Runs: Nowhere near enough
an amazing run 