March 20, 2017 4:57 a.m.

Good morning,

The two photos you see are 6 days apart. When I downloaded them I thought you could see the change in weather but you can’t. They look the same😡 It is the temperature that is different. The photo on the left, -23 and 6 days later +4. Both photos were taken during my long runs. My shoes were soaked after my long run this week ( photo on the right ). Little lakes everywhere. Once your socks and feet are completely soaked in icy, cold water, you just run through the mini lakes, doesn’t matter anymore.

My 10 day training camp went well. Felt good on my long ride, long run and long swims. Got my plank up to 5 minutes and 30 seconds. Still not sure if I can get the planking to 8 minutes but we just have to get to 6 minutes this week.

I like where my conditioning is at right now. I will need to focus on getting faster in the pool. One of the negatives of swimming alone is not pushing yourself as hard as you can because there are no other people in your lane to push you. I feel I should be slightly faster so I will make that a focus going forward.

Now that I got my long run out of the way (21.90 km) I will focus on some speed work and middle distance stuff for the month of April ( 8 -12 km runs with speed work ) and then tackle that same run early May and see where my time is at. Then I will build my distances up starting in May through to August.

This week will be light. Get some rest after a harder 10 day stretch. I will do some yoga Monday and Wednesday this week. They will be my off days. My swims, bikes and runs will be less intense and the distances will be shorter. Plus, I am away later this week for work so I will incorporate more running since I won’t have a bike or a pool. Once this recovery week is over, back at it again. Crank up the distances and intensity, start riding outside. Can’t wait. Looks like April 1 will be the day to get the road bike outside. Another 10 day training camp mid May and then it will be the home stretch.

Speaking of stretching😉 I could feel my hams, calves and hips ( generally my lower body ) tighten on my long run. Again, driving home the point that I need to stretch or the 42 km on race day could really haunt me. I did yoga right after my run and then the next day as well. Glad I did, I wasn’t sore or stiff. Will need to make sure yoga/stretching are part of most days.

PLAYLIST

I have put together a playlist for my long runs. Something to keep my mind occupied since I am training on my own and no one to chat with. For my playlist, I don’t pick songs that motivate me, I pick songs that I like and can listen to over and over. I will remove some and continually add new ones as I think of them or hear something new. Right now my playlist is 1 hour 13 minutes long. My most recent long run, I listened to almost every song twice. By the time I get to the 2 hour 45 minute runs, I will have enough songs that there will be no repeats or at the least, very few. Here are a few of my selections. Some stuff from my youth and some stuff from today.

Older tunes:

Trip through your wires – U2

Beat’s so lonely – Charlie Sexton

I left my wallet in El Segundo – A Tribe Called Quest

Right Now – Van Halen ( recommendation from Laz )

Snow (Hey Oh) – RHCP

Newer tunes:

Elevator Operator – Courtney Barnett (probably my fave song right now)

HandClap – Fitz and the Tantrums

Middle Finger – Missio

Wow – Beck

The Sound – The 1975

Blood – Dropkick Murphys ( to make it feel like St Paddy’s Day all summer long )

Off to do some yoga before work now. Enjoy your day. A nice recovery week for me and then back at it hard.

Take care
Scott