The good stuff

 I'm home from Eugene now, happily back from a lovely evening and morning in Portland with wonderful people.  Excited to catch up more with more people, it feels like I've been gone a long time.

I love my friends

This week starts Build 2 phase.  Goodbye recovery week, this means longer long workouts, continued speed and hill workouts, and the beginning of Brick workouts.  Sounds fun huh?
Here's a typical week this phase:
Monday: Long ride 5ish hours
Tuesday: Ride 45 minutes and Swim 30 minutes and Core workout
Wednesday: Run Hills:45 minutes and Bike Hills: 1 hour
Thursday: Long Swim: 2.4 miles including drills and Bike 45 minutes
Friday: Speed day, 1 hour each in pool, on bike and on the track
Saturday: Off!
Sunday: Run 2.5 hours

Here's why I like training right now:
-I'm in too deep to feel OK about skipping workouts, a skipped workout means pain later, it's rare that a gal like me can't justify her way out of doing something.

-Long bikes/runs/swims are forcing me to keep my mind in the moment, which is another thing a gal like me sometimes forgets to practice.  There's no point in thinking about what I'll be doing in an hour when I'll still be on my bike or doing some other sport.

-I'm getting nervous which usually feels like excitement with less than 3 months to Ironman

-I'm an eating MACHINE!