Double Time!

I did a darn good job kicking my funk to the curb last week and got pumped back up this week with a whole lot of double time action.

Saturday
Saturday is mentoring day and I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't all that excited when my alarm went off at 7am that morning.  I pulled myself together and got there right on time and ended up really enjoying the 3 mile run we did.  Seeing how excited these new runners get to be running is motivating to me and is what drags me out of bed at 7am on Saturdays!

wish i realized the mirror would make this backwards. oops

After a totally (un)necessary nap when I got home, I spent the day doing really important things like catching up on episodes of Keeping up With the Kardashian's and thinking about doing laundry.

Since a three mile run wasn't exactly enough to justify my completely worthless afternoon, I decided to hop on the bike a get a few extra miles in for the day.

3 run miles & 12 bike miles equals 15 fabulous miles on the day.

Monday

After a rainy and yucky Sunday, the weather was awesome on Monday so I took full advantage.  I rode in Mendon and had a really good ride.  I went out without a game plan and just rode - there's something about riding on the country roads that just puts you in a good mood and gets your mind in a good place.

I did an out and back ride, and killed every hill with the help of my new bike shoes.  I had decided to ride down one more hill before I turned around until I realized how steep and long the hill actually was.    Rather than continue, I stopped mid-way down and tried to go back up the hill - with absolutely zero momentum.  That was a really smart idea.  Minus that death climb, it was an awesome ride!

Afterwards as I was hanging out with my BFF foam roller, Brie came home and said she was going for a bike ride.  Even though I had just gotten back from my ride, I couldn't pass up the opportunity for another one - mainly just to keep Brie accountable for actually getting on her bike :)  We rode right around our neighborhood and it turned out to be a nice leisurely cool down ride.

26 Mendon miles and 7 cool down miles made for 33 total on the day.  Not bad for a Monday!

Wednesday

Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the week because Wednesday is mentoring AND kickball all in one night.  The running workout for the 5/10k group was a 3 mile run, with two miles at a tempo pace.  I paced the 13:00 group like usual and had a real small group this time with only two other people.  

Let me tell you, these two girls were awesome and motivated ME to push myself!  We clocked in the first mile right under 13 minutes and then it was time to pick it up.  I was supposed to keep them around 12:30 but these girls were tempo'ing right under 12:00 and chatting away - who was I to slow them down?!  We kept that pace for the two miles and as their chatting dwindled I encouraged them along.  We finished the run strong and I was so excited and proud of them for pushing themselves (and me!)

After some high fives and quick stretching, it was time to strip off my sweaty mentor shirt, throw on my kickball shirt and get my game face on.

stunner shades on ready for gametime

It was our last game of the season, and even though we think we're pretty awesome, our 2-7 record probably more accurately reflects the skillz of our team.  We did end up winning on Wednesday though....because the other team never showed up.  Hey, a W is a W.  We (by we I mean the boys) ended up playing another random team while the girls took pictures:

almost

We're Kind of a Big Dill

Thursday

Yesterday was a special day because it was my first real life official brick workout.  Don't I sound like a legit triathlete now?  I started with a bike ride with Coach Rob and we set out on a route to Webster - new routes are so exciting.  On our ride, we passed the crash site turned roadside memorial where a cyclist was recently killed (story here).  I could go on about this, but I'll save that for another post.

Back to the ride - it was a flat and fast route and coach Rob enlightened me on how to draft.  Drafting is pretty much just following the person in front of you REALLY closely so that they're blocking the wind and pretty much pulling you along.  We clocked a few miles in at 19mph and I was shocked at how easily that effort came!  

Thanks for doing all the work for me coach Rob ;)  I did pretty good with my bike shoes and only had a couple close calls - between my speed demon speeds and staying upright the entire time, I felt pretty hardcore.  Minus the ever-present bike grease on my leg that just shouts newbie:

gotta work on that

We logged 17 miles on the bike and then it was time for a run!  Steph and Laura joined us for the run and the four of us headed off.  The first five minutes was more like a waddle for me than a run.  My legs felt like lead and I felt (and probably looked) like a fool.  I warmed up quicker than I anticipated though and felt pretty good once my legs realized that I was trying to run.  We were real slow but I ran the whole time, which I didn't think I'd be able to do.

post-bike run

Overall, I was surprised at how good I felt on the run after riding almost 18 miles.  HOW ironman people run a marathon after 112 miles on the bike is beyond me, but this gave me a little bit more respect for people that hardcore!  I definitely don't think I would have ran the whole time if I was alone, which is why I love having people to run with - thanks Steph and Laura (and of course Rob!) for keeping me going!

ladies post-run

17ish bike miles & 3ish run miles = 20ish total Thursday miles.

While I'm on the subject of brick workouts and triathletes, I want to give a shout out to Ironman-in-Training Chris.  Chris is the one who told me to buy that triathlon book that I'm now obsessed with and someday when I win a triathlon I'll credit him as one of my early influences.  Don't worry Chris, I won't forget about you when I become a big deal.

SO... what's on tap for this weekend?  Tomorrow I'm (stupidly? bravely?) attempting a 10 mile run after a 2+ month long-run hiatus.  No doubt that will be an interesting few hours tomorrow.  Hopefully I survive tomorrow because on Sunday my sisters and I are doing a team triathlon - The Great Race!  We did it last year and it was so much fun, so team Keeping Up With The Clancy's is coming back for round two this year.  I'm the biker for our team so I'll be doing 10 miles for my leg.  I did the bike leg last year too, and came in third to last place out of EVERYONE - the only people that finished slower than me were a 74 year old and a 6 year old.  That's not even a joke.  Sometimes I just shake my head at pre-active Mollz and wonder what the heck she did with her life.  Here's to hoping for a successful run and ride this weekend!