23:24
The week felt blocked.
Not injured, not sick, not derailed by call or travel or too much wine at a retirement party. Just flat. The kind of week where every workout feels like it's happening through gauze — the effort is there but the snap isn't, and nothing quite clicks the way it's supposed to.
So Saturday I jumped into a 5k.
First standalone 5k I've ever run. Which is a strange thing to say after years of triathlons and marathons, but it's true — the 5k as its own event, not a warm-up or a brick run or the tail end of something longer, has never been my thing. I had no idea how to pace it. I went out and ran.
23:24.
7:33 per mile. First in my age group. Third overall in a massive field of twenty.
For a 58-year-old who's spent the last four months building Zone 2 aerobic base for a half Ironman, with no taper, no race preparation, and genuinely no pacing strategy beyond "don't blow up in the first mile" — I'll take the podium.
The data tells the story. Saturday's HR averaged 133 — the highest single-session average of this entire rebuild by a significant margin. Everything else in the last sixteen weeks has been controlled, cap-the-heart-rate, stay-aerobic work. The 5k was the opposite of all of that. It was a reminder that there's a gear up there that the Zone 2 training has been quietly building without ever actually using.
The legs are completely fried today. Today's planned workout became a walk with Olivia, which was the right call. She was pleased with this decision. Her opinions on training load management are consistent and unconditional.
The rest of the week was four training days, 413 TSS, 6.4 hours — lighter than last week by design, the body carrying some fatigue into Saturday's effort. Weight dropped to 171.1 on Thursday, the lowest reading of the entire rebuild. Down roughly twelve pounds since late March. HRV held steady all week, five valid readings between 6.8 and 7.5, which given a 3.3-hour sleep night Tuesday and a 2.9-hour night last night means the body is more resilient than the schedule deserves.
Fourteen weeks to Ironman 70.3 Washington.
The 5k wasn't in the plan. The week feeling blocked wasn't in the plan either. But sometimes the right response to a flat week is to go find out what's actually in there — and 23:24 is a reasonable answer to that question.
Back to the build next week. Olivia's legs are fine. Mine will be by Wednesday.
Onwards.
Weekly metrics: 4 training days · 6.4 hours · 413 TSS · HRV 6.8-7.5 (5 valid days) · Avg sleep 6.2 hrs · Avg HR 120.8 · Weight 171.1 (low) 5k: 23:24 · 7:33/mile · HR avg 133 — first standalone 5k, no taper, no pacing strategy vs. last week: 6 training days · 8.9 hours · 360 TSS · Avg HR 105.7