How not to train for an Olympic triathlon - aka training report for June 30-July 6

So this was the week before the week before my goal race (or as my 5 year old would say, the penultimate week, I'm a bit of a language geek, so his vocabulary is a bit odd for a 5 year old...). My goal race is the Vancouver Subaru Triathlon, olympic distance. I've never done anything longer than a sprint, and I am not at all confident about even being able to finish, let alone make anything close to a decent time (more on that next post). So this week was going to be crucial for me. But things did not go according to plan. You see, we had put off any trips until after my race. But my BIL booked a campsite for his family and ours for the July 1st holiday (Canada Day). We really like the family, and enjoy camping with them, and weren't going to say no and miss the opportunity. So despite my really needing to be focusing on my race, and a lot of work stuff that both of us needed to do, we went camping.

And it was the right decision. I've said it before and I'll repeat it here. I tri to live (as in, improve my health both physical and mental), I don't live to tri. The adults had a pretty good time and the kids had a great time. We went to a site that was 1 km away from the house where I lived in HS. I hadn't been back there since I left when I was 18. I wasn't really prepared for the emotion of it - it was a time in my life with lots of happy memories, but the end of my time there was pretty crappy, so lots of negative emotions too. So I was glad that I had planned to do at least a little bit of working out while there. It really helped to clear my head. And that has put me in a decent space mentally for my race this upcoming weekend, even if physically I am nowhere near where I would like to be.

Monday was a travel day. Tuesday I went for a run. I had planned to do some fartleks, but I was feeling really rotten due to my kid having a horrible sleep the night before, so I just kept it at a nice steady pace. Not too easy, but not too hard either. I don't have a GPS watch, so I'm not sure exactly how far I went, but I think it was about 9 km. My SIL is just starting to run again, so she joined me for a little bit, and then worked on some strength training while I continued on. I ran past my old house, and it was OK. Weds I had planned on just doing a bit of an ocean swim (to get used to my wetsuit and the salt water), but the families decided to do a trail ride. I didn't have a bike suitable for that along, so I figured I'd run in the trails while they biked and then meet them back at the cars. Turned out I was needed to help push my 6 year old nephew up the hills in the trails. So I ran behind him and pushed when necessary, and then tried to keep up with him on the downhills and the flats (he's a speed demon, so it was hard). I ended up getting in about 8 km, with some speedwork (the sprinting after him). All in all, a great, fun workout, that was good family time. Then later that day I put on the wetsuit and went paddling around for 15-20 minutes. I was reminded how much I really dislike putting my face in salt water. But I got over it. Thursday was a travel day again. Friday I went out for a good ride with hill sets. Sat I was on kid duty most of the day, and then Sunday I went and did 1500 m at the pool in 37 minutes.

So I managed to get in some important workouts this week despite the trip, and got in a surprise great run. And most importantly, had some good family time. So I won't be super speedy on the 13th, heck, I might even be last in my AG. But my kid will remember being allowed to wander around the campground without grownups and being in the Canada Day kids' bike parade at the campsite for a long long time. And that's more important to me.