Where in the world is rUnladylike?

You may have noticed that I’ve been missing in action this past week. Rest assured however, I haven’t been missing my half Ironman training. During the past week, I’ve been vacationing at Indian Rocks Beach in Florida. The past 5 days are ones I wish I could freeze in time. Beautiful views. Unlimited time with family and friends. No work. Complete relaxation. And plenty of time to get my training done with picturesque scenery as my background.

My sixth week of half Ironman training for the Beach2Battleship Half Ironman was one of my strongest training weeks yet. I was nervous about how things would go being away from home for 5 days, but I loaded my bike and all my gear in the car and pledged to make it all happen without making my family insane. Last week was another reminder that we must constantly balance training and life. Give and take. Flex and bend. Work hard, play hard. It is possible.

Here is what the week looked like.

Monday
Strength training: My workout was called G-licious and it was deliciously hard! We finished the hour off with some ab work.

Tuesday
This was my superhero day. I managed to fit in 3 workouts, work 8 hours, run 2 errands and pack for my trip. Days like this make me feel so powerful. During my spin class on Tuesday evening, my instructor kept telling us that we are capable of more than we think we are. We can do more than we believe we can. I’m here to tell you that is true.

Morning: Swam 1,600 meters starting at 6 a.m.
300-meter warm up
8 x 25-meter drills with 10 seconds rest between each
600 at moderate intensity
8 x 25 meters at max speed with 20 seconds rest between each
4 x 25-meter kick only with 15 seconds rest between each
200-meter cool down

Morning: Strength training
I started my hour of strength training with rounds of 10 kettle bell swings, 10 push presses and 10 push-ups. I got through 8 rounds in 10 minutes, dropping down one push-up each set.

Next, we did 4 rounds of 4 exercises, working for 40 seconds and resting for 20 (for a total of 16 minutes). The exercises included dips, jungle gym rows, L-sits (work your abs) and burpees.

We finished with a 5-minute speed/agility circuit (as many rounds as possible) that looked like this:

• Sprint to cone, do 10 tuck jumps
• Back pedal to cone, do 10 jumping lunges
• Carioca to cone, do 10 squat jumps
• Carioca to cone, do 10  barrier jumps
• Repeat until time is up

Evening: Spin class focusing on sprints and hills (55 minutes, 23 miles)

Wednesday
Before we hit the road for our Florida beach vacation, I did a 54-minute fartlek run with 7 x 1-minute sprints at 6:15 pace with a 3-minute active recovery between each during the middle portion of the run (6.32 miles).

Thursday
I woke up at 5:20 a.m. (yes, while on vacation) to meet Meghan from Little Girl in the Big World and Beth from Discombobulated Running for an early morning ride.

Although we got off to a slow start having to stop constantly for traffic lights the first 5 miles (Beth had to leave us early to get back to work), Meghan and I found our groove along the beach. We rode 26.21 miles and got 3 good climbs in over the bridges. Meghan has been doing a lot of cycling while overcoming a running injury and is a strong rider who kept my pace up.

I also had my first fall of the season. Right before we got back to our starting location, I was waiting at a stoplight … standing dead still. I twisted my body to say something to Meghan and whipped back around a little too quickly and lost my balance. I slammed into the street, giving myself a good strawberry on my elbow. Complete amateur hour. It happens to the best of us.

When I returned to our beach condo, I immediately went for a 40-minute run on the beach. I was pleased with my 8:28 average pace given that it was 10 a.m. and hot when I started, I was running on the sand and had just finished an hour and 45 minutes on the bike.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach.

Friday
Although I had a huge ocean 100 yards from where I was staying, I found a nearby LA Fitness to get my speed work in.

Swam: 1,800 meters
300-meter warm up
8 x 25-meter drills with 10 seconds rest between each
8 x 100 meters building for 25 then descending for 25 (10-second recovery between each)
8 x 25-meter kick only with 15 seconds rest between each
300-meter cool down

We spent the day on the beach and went to a big family dinner later that evening.

Saturday
Brick: Rode 19 miles (1:06) on flat terrain along the beach, followed by a 20-minute run (2.32 miles) on the beach immediately afterward

We had a big party out on the beach that afternoon in honor of my mother-in-law’s 67^th birthday. Mr. rUnladylike cooked up a big shrimp boil for everyone, and we enjoyed being with many of our friends and family.

Sunday
REST

Although I was supposed to get a final swim and run in on Sunday, I chose to take a rest day since it was our last day at the beach. My parents came out and spent the afternoon with us, and we gorged ourselves on pizza that evening. I did walk about 3 miles along the beach. It was the perfect ending to a great week of vacation and workouts.

Week #6 mileage total: 84 miles, 10 workouts, 9 hours and 12 minutes

• Swim: 2.1 miles (missed one swim)
• Bike: 68.5 miles
• Run: 13 miles (missed a 45-minute run this week)
• Strength training (2 hours)

Do you ever run on the beach? Where is your favorite vacation destination where you’ve worked out?