The trainer week

Strange times here in Texas. It rained from Friday through Thursday. Not a ray of sunshine. I was able to get my long ride and run in last week before the rain hit, but this week found me on the trainer and running in the rain (which I love!). Over 7 hours on the trainer; that is not so much fun, but I got the time and miles in that I needed and the rain has moved on, so back to the road this week.

totals for week c4:

swim: 2:30 8400 yards
bike: 7:40 144 miles
run: 5:00 36.33 miles
total: 15:10

Schedule for week C5:

swim: 2:30
bike: 6:00
run: 3:30

a reprieve!

Week C3 totals

Wow. Time is ticking away very quickly. Tomorrow starts competitive week 4; 9 more hard training weeks and two tapers. I am feeling great; I am in the best shape of my life by far. My workouts went extremely well this week except for one thing...they are SO lonely! Oh my gosh. Thursday was 85 miles on the bike followed by a 5 mile run...all alone. Friday was a 15 mile run followed by an hour bike...all alone. Pete says I am building mental strength. I guess that is good because I remember at Redman last year around mile 70 on the bike thinking how far I still had to go and how long I had already been out there; mental strength is the only thing that keeps you going.

I feel very encouraged about where I am. If I can keep hitting my workouts and remain injury free then that will make this experience just about perfect I think.

totals for this week were:

swim: 2:05 7000 yards
bike: 9:05 157 miles
run: 4:20 29.8

total time: 15:30

Schedule for Week C4:

swim: 3:00
bike: 7:30
run: 4:45
total: 15:15

Week C2 totals

My “crash” on Thursday ruined my run on Friday. I was scheduled to run 2:10 and I struggled through 1:30 and called it quits. My legs were completely zapped. I spent the rest of the weekend doing lots of pulling in the pool to rest my legs. Things seem to be back to normal now. This week is going well so far!

Week C2 totals:

Swim: 3:05 9150 (approx) yards
Bike: 6:45 116 miles
Run: 4:40 32.25 miles
Total: 14:30

Crash

No, I didn't fall off my bike (although it certainly would not be the first time!). I had a long brick scheduled for yesterday. 3:30 bike, :50 run, :30 swim. I headed out on the bike about 8:45am. The weather has been unseasonably cool for the last 2 weeks so I was expecting the same and did not check the forecast. I rode to Benbrook, through the park, down the trail to the zero mile and was at 2:00 / 39 miles and decided that was a good place to turn around and head back home. I was on top of my nutrition, doing my usual routine of perpetuem every 20 minutes, but did not realize how badly I was losing electrolytes. I felt great! Near mile 50 I crashed. My legs cramped up and I was trudging along at 12-13 mph with 30 miles left to go to get home. I was riding along trying to decide what to do. I knew that I could make it to the gas station at mile 60 and could probably make it home once I stopped and refueled, but was it worth it? At mile 55 I called Pete. He was just leaving work and met me at the gas station. I ate and drank all the way home and decided to try to still get my run in. It was 98 degrees, a lot hotter than I had expected the day to be, but I have run in the heat a lot this summer. Pete and I headed out and I knew 2 miles into the run that I had pushed my body to the point of no return for the day. I walked/jogged for 4 miles and called it a day.

I had a hard time not being disappointed. I kept thinking "what if this was race day? I would not be able to finish!"

Pete said it is good for this to happen every once in a while. It keeps you from being too sure about yourself. It is a very valuable lesson. I have been blessed to only experience this during my training and not in a race.

Today is a new day and I will go out there and tackle my next workout and keep moving forward...

End of week C1

It was an all new training experience this week with the girls at school and switching my schedule around and having a pool in my garage. Crazy.

I kept my long ride on Saturday this week because I finally got to go to Hotter-n-Hell! WooHoo! I posted some pics on my family blog www.sorenandreese.blogspot.com . It was so much fun. I did 100 miles in just over 5 hours in spite of the 15,000 riders that I was sharing the road with. I think that if not for the congestion for the first 60 miles I could have easily averaged 21-22 mph; it is so flat and fast!

Totals for the week:

swim 1:30
bike: 8:10 150 miles
run: 4:40 33.2 miles

total 14:20

Schedule for Week C2:
swim: 3:00
bike: 7:15
run: 5:05
total: 15:20

whew! Gettin up there!