Yesterday I was seriously starting to think the car gods didn't want me to make it back to PA.

I had done so much prep work to make sure I could get out of DC before rush hour started. Worked late on Wednesday, got into the office at 5:30 yesterday morning.


I busted out of the office at 3 p.m. ready to cruise home to PA and not have to worry about traffic.

Except when I got to my car, I noticed a big ol' flat tire.

Noooooooooooooo.

After a minor moment of panic, I realized the tire had enough air that I could drive my car up the street to the National Tire and Battery for them to fix it.

In less than an hour the flat was patched, and my car was ready to go.

But it was 4:30, the start of dreaded rush hour in DC.


I had two options: Sit in it or wait it out like I normally do and leave DC around 7 p.m.

I decided to risk it and see how bad the traffic really was. Lucky for me it still wasn't too heavy and other than hitting some nasty delays north of Baltimore, I mostly cruised home.

I was no more than two minutes from my parents's house, thinking about how happy I was the flat tire hadn't completely destroyed my drive home, when out of nowhere a big white barn cat comes dashing out into the street.

I slam on my brakes, praying that the cat will stop.

But no luck.

Right under my car. The sound was awful.

So yea, my trip home, it kind of sucked.

But now that I'm home, I'm going to enjoy every minute of it. I have a feeling this long weekend is going to go by much, much too fast.

I spent all last night reading the Hunger Games cover to cover.


I totally get the hype now. I will be borrowing books two and three from my friend on Thursday and plan to have them all finished by the time I get back from Easter vacation at my parents' house in PA.

Also, I kind of want to go see the movie immediately now.

This was a pretty great week of training for me. I was able to get in several really solid run, bike, swim workouts and I managed to find time to build strength training into the plan.

I can't believe my first triathlon, the TriRock sprint in Annapolis, is only a little more than a month away! I'm getting super nervous and excited all at the same time!

Previous Weeks:

Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six

This Week:


Monday: 2 miles


After having knee problems late last week, I didn't want to push anything too hard on the running front. So I took it easy just to see how everything felt. I also wore my brand new Mizuno Wave Inspires, which I think helped. I had no knee pain, but I still came home to ice as a precaution.

Tuesday: 55 minute trainer ride


I was still babying my knee a little bit on Tuesday and I didn't want to throw the bike into a super heavy gear. I kept the tension medium to light throughout the whole workout, and enjoyed spinning to some old school Billy Joel. At one point I was rockin' out and singing along to "We Didn't Stay the Fire" (or as best as one can sing while riding a bike). I was pretty sure I was home by myself. Turns out my roommate was actually home upstairs in her bedroom. Uhhh oops.

Wednesday: 5 mile run


I started my run Wednesday planning to do three miles, but hoping I'd be able to get through all five if my knee held up. Luckily it did! This run was great. Nothing fast, nothing special, but I was happy to be able to get the miles in without any problem.

Thursday: Strength training


Emily and I hit the gym at work over lunch for a solid lifting session. I focused mainly on upper body and core work, but had some time at the end to do a few leg exercises. I'm definitely looking forward to our weekly lifting sessions.

Friday: Rest!

Saturday: 10 mile run

It's been a long time since I've done a double digit long run and I was really, really looking forward to this run. I went to bed at a reasonable time Friday night and sprung out of bed plenty early on Saturday so I could knock out the run before meeting my college roommates in DC for the National Cherry Blossom Festivals. I finished the 10 miles in about 1:35, a pace I was very happy with. Then I spent the day hanging out in DC with my roommates. Checking out the cherry blossoms and paddleboating in the Tidal Basin.


Sunday: 1700 yard swim, 25.5 mile bike

I have been dying to do a 1500 yard time trial in the pool to gauge where I stand for my Olympic distance tri in June. I did a 100-yard warm up and then swam 1500 yards straight (ewwww) finishing in 28:51.60. I've been told this is a pretty middle of the pack time and it gives me a good place to work from to improve before my tri. I wrapped the swim up with an easy 100-yard cooldown.

When I got home from the swim, I grabbed a quick lunch and then got ready for my longest bike ride to date. I was determined to ride at least the distance of the bike leg of the Olympic-distance tri in June to prove to myself that I could do it, even if it was slow going. I headed out to Beach Drive, because it's closed to traffic on the weekends, and set out to do several loops. I did 3.5 loops and by the end boy were my legs tired. Man, how am I supposed to have the energy to run a 10K after that?


It was a solid workout though and I'm happy I put that kind of time in the saddle. But I did learn that I need to invest in a pair of tri shorts immediately so I can get some padding on my butt. Seriously, bike seats are not comfortable on long rides.

All in all, a great week of training. I am really happy to be getting more time in the saddle and I think I'm verrrrry slowly, starting to get more comfortable with the whole bike riding thing.


Yes it was pretty much the perfect way to top off a great week of training.