Base Building: Round 2 - Week 4

I'm tired. So tired.  The last 8 weeks have been amazing in terms of building a good foundation; but they've also taken a bit of a toll and I think it all caught up to me this week.  Mr. R&R and I have jointly decided that we'll be taking a recovery week before plowing headlong into the build phase of training - but more on that another time.

Monday
My scheduled rest day became a workout day when I scheduled a desperately needed Wednesday night appointment with The Mane Wrangler.  I was already in a mood from work and when my ANT+ stick (the thing that communicates with my speed/cadence sensor and allows the program to make virtual power calculations) malfunctioned and then my Garmin decided it didn't want to cooperate.  I damn near threw in the towel and called it a lost cause but eventually I calmed down and got everything to work - after 3 false starts.  At least my power output was pretty!

Tuesday
Dear Mother Nature:

It is March 1st.  Dumping 4+ inches of snow on us is not acceptable - especially when I have to drive to bumble*%$@ nowhere in rush hour traffic.

Love,
Rabbits and Runs

Why was I driving to bumble*%$@ nowhere? Because I had an appointment to get my dress for Little Sister's wedding altered and rescheduling was out of the question.  30 minutes out, 40 minutes getting pinned into a dress that makes me look pregnant, 30 minutes home.  I took 20 minutes to decompress and then Mr. R&R and I headed for the pool. I think the sensory deprivation was just what I needed to regroup.

Wednesday:
Drinking wine with The Mane Wrangler while she made me feel pretty again was a fabulous way to spend an evening.

Thursday:
I love when my night to work late goes so well that I get home by 6:30 instead of 8:00!  Mr. R&R and I had our regular Thursday night gym date.  My weird abdominal problem from a few weeks ago cropped up again, but I really didn't want to solve it by digging my fingers into it - no. more. bruises.  I ended up slowing down a little when the pain was at its worst and then speeding up when it let up.  Somehow I still ended up with negative splits!  Afterward, we each squeezed in a short strength workout and then pointed ourselves straight to Trader Joe's for chips and guacamole - the only thing that sounded even remotely appealing to either of us.

Friday:
Last swim of Base Building!  My goggles stayed on my face and my body only sort of hated me for swimming blocks of 200 yards, and I made a concerted effort not to inhale pool water in hopes of avoiding another bout of sinus crud.  After 8 weeks of working at it, I finally feel like I'm really pulling myself through the water with each stroke rather than just thrashing up and down the lane.  I spent a lot of that swim wondering if/how much all this pool time is going to translate to open water.  I'm really hoping that I can get to a point of having enough confidence in my ability to swim the distance that I just have to focus on controlling my open water anxiety - and we all know how bad that anxiety fucks with my head.

We also took the boys upstairs after dinner for some music/reading/cuddle time and they both snuggled up so close to me that I ended up dozing off while petting them.  Bunny cuddles are the best!

You're getting sleeeeepy.

Saturday:
I made it to the gym in time to run a really fast warm up mile before enduring a 30 minute ass beating from my trainer.  By the time she was done with me my legs, abs and butt ached, my arms were shaking ,and I was convinced that I was never going to stop pouring sweat. I love having someone there to show me new things and to push me way outside my comfort zone - and the results are awesome. The lines down the center of my abs are starting to show again and I feel so much stronger.

After the gym, I made a quick pit stop at my mom's house and then headed home to discover that Mr. R&R had cleaned the entire kitchen and was in the process of doing all of Walter and Spot's laundry! I changed my clothes, made a quick list, and headed out to do a bunch of errands while he kept going on the laundry - because those rabbits really know how to make the laundry pile up.

Sunday:
Our recovery week started early when Mr. R&R and I decided to blow off the bike in favor of a long walk around the zoo.  It turns out that we picked the perfect day to go - there were very few people around and the animals were really active.

The Humboldt Penguins are right by the entrance and I made some crack about how they needed to quit moving around so much so I could get a picture - and then promptly cracked up when these little guys lined themselves up as though they were posing for me!

Other highlights included:

Baby Lowland Gorilla

Fennec Fox

Tafari: 6 Month Old Reticulated Giraffe

Seeing Tafari was particularly exciting for both of us since he's the animal we chose to sponsor this year (last year was the Red River Hog).  The four adult giraffes kept meandering aimlessly around their winter enclosure, but Tafari just hung out on the  ground, munching hay, and seemed to be completely unfazed by all the people staring at him.

Are you a zoo fan?  What's your favorite animal?