This was yet another quiet week for me as I caught up on writing and planning the next parts of my trip.

Thanks to a thunderstorm I was limited in what I could to on the Monday. But i wasn;t going to let the rain dampen my spirit so I stayed in and did a quick lounge room workout consisting of 21-15-9-15-21 squats, push ups and Gripsling rows. I managed to venture out on Tuesday for a jog before hitting the computer once more.

I left the house on the Wednesday and spent the day volunteering at Battlefrog. Eric lent me his car for the day and it was my first time driving a manual car on the wrong side of the road. I already thought that Texas drivers are slightly crazy, but when combined with trying to follow the GPS directions, battling peak hour traffic and roadworks, and you’re driving an unfamiliar car, it makes for an interesting trip. Thankfully I had only had one blonde moment during the drive which occurred just after I’d left Eric’s house. I was so focussed on the traffic that I forgot I was in a manual and took off in second gear.

Together with seven other volunteers we filled over 300 sandbags before organising the fences and banners. One of the build crew felt sorry for me as I had only just rolled all the banners the week before, but at least putting them up was much easier than taking them down. By the time the day was over I’d been named the banner queen as my banners looked perfect compared to some others. The toughest part of the day was the hour spent putting together the stage. Cupp (one of the Battlefrog guys) showed us a trick with the legs and told us to avoid putting our fingers in a certain spot in order to avoid getting our fingers caught. No less than five minutes after he explained what not to do I put my finger in the exact spot causing it to be pinched between two pieces of metal and resulting in a blood blister. It was great to help out Cupp, Moe, Shenard and Trout again and I’ll see them in Salt Lake City. (I promised a shout out to them haha).

The rest of my week was spent doing online training and organising transport and accommodation for my trip to the Grand Canyon. I was so excited for race day that I could barely sleep on the Friday night and ended up tossing and turning for hours before my alarm went off at 5am on Saturday. This time I was prepared for the race and as I drove to the venue I reminded myself of the things I needed to focus on. If you want to read more about it then check out my race recap.

After finishing at Battlefrog I headed back to Eric’s for a quick dinner, before getting changed and heading out to the Texas Motorplex for the Blacklight Run.

Sunday was spent with two friends – Netflix and my stick roller. My hamstrings were on fire so mobility work was on the cards. A thunderstorm had hit Dallas so Battlefrog called off volunteering for the day, allowing me the chance to stretch and relax.

Week 7 (11-17 April)