Although I had grand plans and goals for the season, sometimes things just happen a little differently then planned. I planned when I was in New Hampshire to focus on running and swimming. I did get a lot of open water swims in. That was easy, especially having a lake like this to swim in everyday.
I had planned to run two to three times, but it ended out being just once. I ended out being a little busier than I thought. Also who wants to run when it's 90 degrees at 5:00 pm in New Hampshire? What happened to cool New England summers?
I got back from New Hampshire on July 10th. Ideally it would have been nice to have the rest of July and beginning of August to fine tune my training and preparations for Age Group National Championships. However there was the small matter of vacation with my non-triathlete husband. We did a Backroads bike trip to Alaska for my 60th birthday. For his 60th we were biking in Ireland. The biking was fabulous, and at times challenging.
I had the pleasure of climbing up this lovely road on the hottest day ever in Ireland. I never thought I would need an electrolyte drink on this trip. I had visions of cool days and possibly some rain.
Here I am on the Ring of Kerry in classic Irish weather. I did not find a leprechaun or a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow behind me. That was the one day where it really did rain, and we got really wet.
Our ride got cut short that day, but it gave me a chance for an unexpected training treat later that day. We went back to our hotel which was located on a lovely little lake. So what's a triathlete to do? Open water swim!!! Although it had stopped raining, it was windy and the water was rather choppy. However I was quite happy to get 700 yards of unplanned open water swimming in.
I also managed to get a couple of good pool swims, and a couple of runs. However none of this I qualify as highly useful training. It was basically maintaining fitness, but not improving on speed or technique. However it beat the alternative of eating and drinking my way through Ireland and gaining 10 pounds. Trust me, there was a lot of good food and drink as the pictures below will show.
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| Turkey? Yes they have turkey in Ireland. |
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| Shepherds Pie |
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| Dessert! |
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| Beer! What would Ireland be without beer? |
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| Lamb chops |
Hopefully those lamb chops didn't come from these guys. Yes, Ireland has lots of sheep. Which sometimes would be standing in the middle of the road. However it wasn't as bad as the day we almost had a head on collision with a herd of cows.
So after 2 weeks of travel it was back to New York and 11 days before jumping on an airplane and heading out to Omaha for Nationals. Was a it worth it? Looking back at it now, I can say yes. Though in Omaha it did question myself. But that's the next story.
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