Anne's Training Journal: Week 8

Anne lives in Missoula, Montana, and is training for the Grizzly Triathlon in April. Believing that she is not the typical triathlete, (age 49 and not a regular competitor) Anne feels that if she can pull this off, anybody can. This is her training journal:

The growing realization that I only have three more weeks to go before the race is motivating me to be more diligent about my workouts. My swimming times are still my nemesis. I can do lots of distance, but I can’t seem to speed up. I’ll continue working on it.

To get more road riding in, I’ve started riding my bike to work when the weather and my schedule permits. It’s about a 5 mile ride. From my house, the first 3 miles are mostly downhill and much of the last two miles is along the Clark Fork River. It’s a really enjoyable ride in. On the other hand, it’s uphill most of the way home. I haven’t managed to ride all the way home from work yet. I’ve had my husband meet me for dinner or at the grocery store instead.

On Saturday, my husband and I took the dogs on a 3-mile hike in the hills above our house. We saw the first wildflowers of the season—buttercups—and heard meadowlarks. I would have liked to be able to run some of the distance, but there’s quite a hill. Later, we rode our bikes to the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner. The ride felt great. Now, I’d better get to planning my week in exercise.