As I mentioned last week, we’ve got a new addition to the family: Meet Winnie!

We’re still getting to know each other, but like an over-eager contestant on The Bachelor, I’m already thinking that this could be love. She’s sleek, sexy and speedy. She’s got some nice curves. And she just so happens to be the same colors are my college mascot, Willie (hence the name).

I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to Gethyn at Hank & Frank Bicycles (his sister Amy is a November Project pal who joined me on the recent Coeur ride). He was beyond helpful; not only was he patient with a newbie who had a lot of (stupid) questions, but he also managed to make the whole buying-a-first-real-bike process a pleasant one.

So you’ll no doubt be hearing a lot about my adventures with Winnie…but new #bikelove aside, here’s what the week looked like in terms of training.

Week 3 Olympic Distance Training Plan – planned & (actual): 

• Swim 45 min. (50-min. pool swim)
• Bike 60-90 min. / Run 20-30 min. off the bike (60-min. spin & 20-min. treadmill run)
• Swim 45 min. (30-min. pool swim)
• Easy run, 45 min. (60-min. runch)
• Rest or active recovery (yoga)
• Long bike, 90-150 min (45-min. spin)
• Long run, 9 miles (Brick: 120-min. bike & 45-min run)

And a few highlights: We started the week off on the right foot with another SweatGuru office runch. Congrats to Pavement Runner and Jamie Walker, by the way, for completing this weekend’s LA Marathon!

Thankfully, Tuesday’s brick went much better this week because I stayed on top of my fueling. It’s amazing what a bottle of Osmo Nutrition and a Bonk Breaker bar can do during a long workout.

Wednesday was a double whammy. The November Project crew was up and at ’em early with a body weight workout in the park.

Then Jamie and I met up for a few laps during lunch.

Thursday evening, I joined my college friends Vivi and Brian for a SoulCycle ride. And in the process, I also recruited Vivi to meet me in the pool the next morning…so before I knew it this was my view again.

Saturday was a rest day because we had our friends Sam and Liza in town for the big alumni weekend at Hubby’s school. It also meant that we got to get all cleaned up for a night on the town at the annual Legacy Ball.

So as you can imagine, by the time Sunday morning rolled around the last thing I wanted to do was go for that long run on the schedule. So instead, I decided to switch things up and went for a scenic — yet still challenging — ride with Hubby.

It was my first major ride on Winnie, and I’m happy to report we both held our own trying to tackle the terrain (some long climbs, plus an 18 percent grade descent on the back portion).

We felt so good after the ride (although you may not be able to tell from my poor form below) that Hubby and I decided to make it into an impromptu brick workout and ran a quick five miles along Crissy Field to the Golden Gate Bridge and back.

We rounded out a busy weekend at a carb-filled pasta dinner with some more friends who were in town, Lesley and Josh. All in all, a great start to what looks to be a very busy month.

Stay tuned for week four…almost halfway there!