TST Slacks

Swims:  0

Bike rides:  0

Runs:  Eh.

I had a plan.  I was going to keep doing one longish run per week after my marathon, alternating 8, 10, and 12 miles each Thursday in a 3-week cycle until my next marathon training season begins.  Of course the Thursday after my marathon, I justifiably skipped the run and went to boxing instead (oh, how I missed punching things!).  It was okay, though, because my friend KO Kennedy talked me into doing a hilly 15K that Sunday.  I kind of killed it with an 8:22 average pace (killed it for me, anyway).  I really really really needed a good race after my disappointing marathon time.  I then intended to jump back into my long runs the following Thursday.  But the week after that I knew I’d be up in the mountains for my kids’ spring break, which meant no boxing for 10 days!  So I skipped Thursday’s run in favor of kick boxing.  It was about this time that Mo Jo proposed we do a triathlon.  In my head, I was like “Sure!  Of course I can do an Olympic distance tri.”  What I should have been thinking is “you haven’t been on a road bike in years and you don’t have access to a pool, dummy.”

So now, here I am up in the mountains.  Just me and the girls.  I have to be very creative to get workouts in.  For instance, here is my track workout:

1.  Run four laps, play one game of red light/green light.
2.  Run four laps, play two games of red light/green light.
3. Run four laps while ignoring children screaming at each other, play three games of red light/green light.
4.   Run four laps, keeping an eye on the maintenance guy who has suddenly showed up at the track, play four games of red light/green light (mediate dispute over who gets to call the game).
5. Run four laps while maintenance guy turns on a couple sprinklers and kids go nuts because . . . WATER!  Sprint to Daughter #1’s Kindle to ensure it is out of range of water.  Play Simon Says. 

 And here is my lake trail workout:

1. Put girls on bikes and start the 1-mile loop around the lake. 
2. Keep up with Daughter #1 for 100 meters, then run back to Daughter #2 so she knows you’re not leaving her.
3. Repeat sprint, double back pattern while trying to talk Daughter #2 out of taking a break at every park bench.
4. When you can no longer persuade Daughter #2 to keep pedaling, stop at park bench and use it for burpees, push-ups, and box (bench?) jumps.
5. Let girls take a break at the top of a short, but steep, hill.  Run 5 hill sprints.    (I got 1.75 miles and dozens of jumps/burpees/pushups out of a one mile trail.) 
6. Take girls to play ground and squat jump across sand, lunge back.  Ignore other parents staring at you.

Finally, when all other options are exhausted, I’ve binge-watched The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt while running on the treadmill.  I can only make it about 30 minutes per treadmill session because IT IS THE MOST EVIL OF ALL EVIL TORTURE DEVICES.   So I have to break it up into multiple sessions per day.  What do you think, should I write a book about balancing kids and workouts?  Yeah, probably not. 

(Not even Kimmy Schmidt can make this fun!)

Through this, I have managed to get about 4-5 miles in per day, plus whatever hiking the girls and I do.  This will not keep me in marathon shape.  Nor will it help me train for an Olympic tri.  But it is only a week.  And Shoe Killer has nicely offered to let me use her road bike.  I just need to figure out how to clip in.  This means I will need to buy clip in shoes.  Add that to the hideous tri suit I’ll need to buy and this is turning in to quite the investment.  Mo Jo, I hope you’re ready to do a bunch more triathlons so I can get my money's worth out of this gear!