Highs and Lows

Hello from Pittsburgh! I'm actually back in my hometown for a quick work trip - it's my first time being back since we moved. I'm sure I'll have more to share in my post next week, but for now here's how last week went. Things were a bit hectic because my family came down to visit for our housewarming, which unfortunately had to be cancelled when Dan got Covid. Luckily I've tested negative (a whopping 6 times) but it definitely changed our plans a lot! 

Monday

800 yard swim

This week we started doing workouts in our swim, which was a big challenge for me! Today the plan was a 200 yard warmup, then 2 x 100 yard pushing the pace and a 200 yard cool down. It's so hard to try to go faster while swimming, because you lose your breath a lot faster and seems like you can never catch it. It was definitely a good practice for me though and I'm kind of excited to see how this helps my overall pace on easier swims.

45 min standing yoga

After the swim I made it in time for a live yoga class on Peloton. Today was all about standing postures and balance, which is my favorite. It was definitely challenging but really fun.

50 min kayak

It was a gorgeous day out so I made it to the lake for a quick kayak. The water was perfect and not too choppy so I really enjoyed this!

Tuesday

3 mile run

It's been a while, but I was reunited with Erica for an early morning run. We met up at Dix Park and did a fun loop around, followed by a visit to the sunflower fields. It felt great to do a super early run again (even if it was tough waking up!)

Wednesday

6 mile bike

For once I actually woke up early enough to get in a bike ride before work, and it was great! I had my first speed workout to do today, which was 3 rounds of 2 minute sprints. I really enjoyed this and it was so much fun to push the pace. It was a little challenging because I had to navigate around people who were out on the trail for a walk or run and also hit some steep hills, but it was great practice.

Thursday

Rest Day!

I was a bit down in the dumps this day since we had to cancel our party the night before, and didn't want to be around anyone until I was able to test negative. Luckily I could get an appointment right away for a test (and then took at home tests every day following) but I just kind of hung around at home, brought Dan some food to his quarantine room when he needed it, and cuddled Selma.

Friday

2 hour SUP

The weather was great in the morning, so I met up with my family to rent paddleboards at the lake! I figured this was the best non-contact activity to do, since you can't get closer than 6 feet on the boards even if you tried! It was a lot of fun and felt nice to get outside and on the water.

Saturday

15 min open water swim

I did my first ever open water swim today! It was really challenging- harder than I expected, but also gave me a lot of confidence for finishing the swim at the actual race. Even though when I started I panicked a little bit, I was still able to keep moving on my own and didn't need to grab onto anything or stop at any moment which made me feel a lot more comfortable. It was really different from being in a pool (obviously), but what mostly freaked me out was going underwater and not being able to see even a foot in front of me! Once I got used to that and also knew I could tread water or doggy paddle if needed I felt a lot better. After I finished I kayaked a bit and the distance I swam was a little over 1/4 mile when I measured it on my kayak.

Sunday

Brick Workout

Today was my first official brick workout (I did one a few weeks ago but it was just a mini one). A brick is when you do a bike immediately followed by a run, to practice transitioning in a triathlon and get used to the feeling of running on dead legs! I definitely felt the jello leg feeling after I finished my bike, which was 8.5 miles, and did a 2 mile run. It was great practice though and definitely hard but good!