Sunny with a chance of bonk.

Although there was some horrible weather in Mississippi over the weekend, the southern part of the state was spared tragedy. I flip flopped on what to do with the inclement weather. I wanted to do a group bike ride but that was not going to happen. I then decided that I had better get a run before the rains set in – I changed into my running clothes and walked out side. I was met with dark skies and drizzle. The hard rains soon followed.

I jumped on the trainer. I had confidence from Friday's trainer ride. I had accomplished a particularly hard workout. A break though on the trainer if you will. I had recovered from the ½ ironman and my body was in super compensation mode. Maybe I should remember this for next time – maybe I need an over-the-top workout to taper off of for peak performance.

Anyway, back on the trainer I had another great workout. This time it was a tempo workout above and beyond anything I had done before (on the trainer). I was feeling strong. A little later in the day I caught word of a group ride for the afternoon.

I jumped on this ride and it was all hard intervals. It was impromptu but we started doing ½ miles ON (ALL OUT) and then ½ miles recovery (VERY EASY RIDING). I am not sure how many repetitions we did but we were spent by the time we completed the 25 mile ride. We decided to meet up again the following morning at 6:30AM.

On the morning ride, moderation was the name of the game. However, that was buried immediately. We started out fast and everyone could feel the prior day’s ride in their legs but that did not stop us. The previous day we noted that the recovery was lasting longer than the working set. It simply takes less time to ride a ½ mile fast then it does slow. So we upped the ante and did a mismatch of 2 on / 2 off and 1 on / 1 off. These were grueling. Two minutes was a little too long of recovery and one minute was not quite long enough. At the turn around point we formed a pace line and did one minute pulls each. This was just about right with the workload / recovery. You killed it for your one minute and had to hang on for the two or three minutes of hard recovery. We finished the 25 mile ride and slipped our running shoes on for fast hard brick.

We all started out quick – maybe a little too quick. Even though we were running on the trace there is a slight elevation change. We picked “down hill” first. I clicked off the first mile in 6:32 and held on for a 3 mile average of 6:41. Not a bad effort considering the hard riding. It will be interesting what I can do in a sprint / Olympic race this year.

I was home by 8:30 AM and took care of my weekend chores. But the day was just too nice and I joined the afternoon group ride.

This ride is generally an easy to moderate pace outing on the trace. At a minimum it is 30 miles of conversation but it can turn into much more. That is what happened on this day. I always try to prepare for all situations by packing enough nutrition. I threw 2 gels in my back pockets and topped off the sports drink from the morning ride (with water).

I was still feeling strong and time trialed the 5.5 miles to the trail head. I was riding strong. The group ride started slow but quickly gained speed. We (almost everyone in the group) were holding on for dear life by the time we reached Sumrall. This is where the riding got tough. I decided to add a “couple” of more miles. This ended up being 20 miles of high winds and hard hills at a fast pace.  In addition, these just happen to be the hottest days of the year.

I took the two gels during the ride but it was simply not enough to sustain the effort that I was putting out. I was bonking. I started to struggle on this ride. Soon there were only three of us riding in the country side of Mississippi. I started to lose pace at about 35 miles into the ride (mile 30 of the group ride since I rode 5 miles to get to the trail head). I was running on fumes. The two strong riders did wait for me a water stops, etc but I was losing steam fast. I was day dreaming of pizza and ice cream for the last hour of the ride. Once we got back on the trace the two other riders dialed up the pace again and I thanked them for the ride. I drifted back to my pace which happened to be a slow crawl.

I rode the last 6 miles home at about 15 miles per hour. My cardio was in check and my legs were not aching. I just did not have any fuel. I was glad to see my street come into view.

Once I arrived at home, all was better. I made a post exercise shake and grilled some chicken on the patio. I would have normally eaten this on a bed of salad greens and spinach but I selected whole wheat buns this time. I wanted some carbs! It was delicious and I ate too much (2 sandwiches). I also had some cookies a little bit later. I started to drift off to sleep while relaxing on the cough and turned in for the night around 8:30.

I was spent. I say this every spring – “These are the best days of the year”.

Bad mojo and starting the taper.

“What are the chances” I asked myself? I met the group at Jackson Station at 8AM. I was on my race bike. I do not have a saddle bag for my race bike. I do have a patch kit that I stick in my jersey pocket. Well, I forgot the patch kit.

I arrived at Jackson Station and immediately realized my mistake. I did a quick analysis. The bike has newer tires. We would be primarily on the trace. I have not had a flat in months. I should have known better.

I mentioned that I was going to be “riding naked.” The group reassured me. After last week, they had me covered. I was not with them last week but I guess there were three flats last Saturday. Raland told me he was carrying 3 tubes. I felt reassured. I hoped that his over preparedness would offset some of my bad mojo.

Robin, the one who orchestrated of the pump and run challenge commented on my 70% bench press. He called me a “Pocket Hercules”. I do not know that phrase. I was not sure if this was ridicule or praise. I looked it up later that day. What a compliment. Naim Suleymanoglu.

Today’s ride would be a moderate ride since many of us would be racing next weekend. The only question was moderate for how long? We made our way west along the trace. After a few miles we jumped on 4th street and headed towards cane brake. I was at the back of the pack but the pace truly was moderate. Although my running game is spot on I do not feel my bike is where it should be. But I was in the pack and not suffering. I felt like I could ride this pace all day – or at least 56 miles. After a couple of loops we headed back to the trace and headed west again. We would take a quick pit stop and then tackle Epley Road. This is a fast, hard, hilly road that we have traditionally conducted king of the mountain type challenges. I have contested this title in the past but not recently. Lance and Keith got a break on the group and they were hammering hard. So much for the moderate pace.

Raland was about 10 yards ahead of me and I was going to try and jump on his wheel. I was looking at my heart rate and I did not want this ride to climb into the red zone. I hung back and raced at my half ironman pace. Robin was behind me and got tired of watching the break pull away. He flew around me and I grabbed his wheel. He reeled in Raland and now we had our own pace line. In the draft I was near the top of my ‘moderate’ heart rate. I was thinking that I would not have much of a pull. Then Robin started to drop me. It was almost like I had the brakes engaged. Robin opened a gap of a few feet and I pulled left to let Raland jump on his wheel. I just didn’t have it!

I slowed down a little bit and realized – yep – the front tire was flat. It was like the brakes were engaged. I turned around and removed the wheel. I had nothing on me. I tried to roll the tire off of the rim but I just couldn’t get it started by hand. Then I remember a tip I had heard long ago. If you have nothing then you can use the skewer quick release handle. Although this might have damaged the tube during removal it did allow for me to remove the tire.

Sam and Chris rolled by in a few minutes. More of my friends. They stopped and gave me a tube and CO2. I would return the bag and inflator when they passed me back. For whatever reason I could not get Chris’ CO2 inflator to work. I also damaged the tube Sam had given me. I was not sure what was going on. I have changed my share of tubes before. I have no problems in this area.

A few more minutes passed and then Lance and Keith came by. I had to flag them down. I am normally the guy who is prepared. I am the guy that has extra tubes and CO2. I felt bad for being so needy. I got another CO2 inflator and tube from Keith. The bad mojo was gone.

It took another couple of minutes before Raland and Robin went by. Robin said – “Oh that is what happened to James”. I told them that I had everything I needed and they rolled on. I finished up the tube replacement and started back towards Epley Station. It was not a minute until Sam and Chris roared by. Sam told me to hop on. I grabbed his wheel and we let Chris carry us home. I was out of my ‘moderate’ pacing but I was not going to blow up.

I did not get all of my planned miles. I also canceled the brick. I just headed home for some yard work. I got the lawn mowed. It made me think – Is there still snow on the ground in some places? I bet that there is.

Sunday brought a short personal duathlon. I just king of winged it. Someone had suggested an easy 30 minute run followed but a 2 hour ride and then another 30 minute run. I did not think I had the ride in me so I altered it a little bit. I also put the unitard on for the first time since August of last year (my ironman). The suit is a little tight in the chest and a little loose in the waist. I’ll take that but I should look at getting another suit.

I ran 5 miles at my marathon pace (average 7:11 pace) and then jumped on the bike trainer. I thought 45 minutes at race pace would be a good training session. My legs were tired. I was not able to push ‘race pace’ on the trainer. I dialed it down to an easier level and rode the trainer for 30 minutes. The thin pad in the unitard was noticeable. Immediately after the trainer ride I did another 5 mile run (average 7:06 pace). I was pleased with the running but the cycling was less than desired.

70.3 New Orleans is next weekend!

Good Friday BRICK

Having the day off for Good Friday allowed for me to get a Good bike ride! The weather was beautiful and I headed out with just a touch of chill in the air. I wore a sleeveless jersey but with arm warmers. You know this style is all the rage with the elite runners – yeah right. I was planning on a hard effort to try and determine my pacing for the 70.3 New Orleans half ironman – which is only two weeks away. I have not built much cycling fitness this past winter season. In fact, I believe that my bike is suffering and I am just a little anxious about this race. I have some aggressive time goals for myself and the bike is the limiter.

I headed out and I bumped the intensity by 5 beats per minute as compared to last weekend. I was able to maintain. I was taking splits at all of my known cross roads – Epley, Sumrall, and Bassfield. This let me know if I was on my paces. At Sumrall, the 10 mile mark I was making good time but lost a minute and a half do to traffic. This is unheard of! This is a little town in the middle of no where. But then I remembered that this was Friday and not Saturday or Sunday. I guess these sleepy little towns have more activity during the week.

I continued on to Bassfield which is another 15 miles away. Remember, this is Mississippi and I am on a rails to trails so there are no hills. But there is a gradual increase in elevation from Sumrall to Bassfield. This is the slowest part on my 50 mile loop. I continued to push the pace but still ride at my predetermined heart rate. I felt comfortable and strong. Last week my legs were feeling it – but that was probably from the BRICK the previous day. Sure, I did a hard running interval on the treadmill on Holy Thursday but I digress (and yes, that is what Thursday is called – I looked it up).

I arrived at Bassfield a full 7 minutes faster than last weekend. Seven minutes over the course of 25 miles is huge (that is a nearly 1.75 MPH faster average). I also only took 2 minutes for the rest stop. I could have been faster but I always like to take round number pit stops because it makes the math in my head easier. So I departed Bassfield at exactly 1 hour and 15 minutes into the ride. I was doing the calculation in my head and feeling pretty damn confident about getting a PR on this ride. I know that this is foolish. I’m not going to get a PR when I am not riding as hard as I can. I have ridden this out and back at a much harder pace and that nearly killed me. But, I did a 1:08 back last week. If I add that to my 1:15 out (which included the water stop) I get 2:23 for the ride. I am not sure if this is a PR but I would have to think it is near the best that I have ever ridden for the distance. For complete honesty, for the last few years I thought the Home to Bassfield loop was right at 50 miles – well actually my cyclometer always read around 49.XX (but high XX’s). Now that I have been using my GPS I know that it is actually a little shorter – more like 48.4 miles round trip. I still use this route and I compare it to my previous times but it is not quite 50 miles. This distance is just a benchmark.

Anyway, I turned around at Bassfield and felt the wind. I was being pushed (sideways by the feel of it) out to Bassfield. I was a little bit deflated by the wind. I would have fight this all the way back home. So I would not be getting a huge PR today but I was not actually expecting a huge PR during a zone 3 ride. I continued to keep my cadence up and keep my heart rate where I wanted it. I did negative split the ride by a minute (1:13 + 2:00 water stop + 1:12 back = 2:27 total) – it is not difficult to negative split this ride. Average speed for the ride was 19.7.

When I got home I performed a quick transition to the run. I simply ditched the bike shoes and helmet and put my running shoes on and a visor. No socks, no nothing. I was going to give the feet a trial by fire. A friend of mine taught me the term ‘summer feet’ a while back. That is conditioning your feet to running around bare footed like you did when you were a kid. This is critical for the transitions in triathlon. So I slipped the running shoes on with no socks. I am actually pretty good at running without socks. When racing anything short I will never put socks on but during this half IM I will be wearing socks. That is just too long of a run if your feet go south (like they did last year). Now back to the brick.

I really like the virtual nemesis on the GPS watch. I had already dialed in the workout for the brick prior to even getting on the bike. It was not going to be overly aggressive. I have failed too many times and simply blown up pushing these bricks – that is pushing the bricks after high mileage bike rides. I have been too aggressive and it has compromised some of my workouts. I was not going to let this happen this time. I wanted to make sure that I was going to get a solid 5 mile brick on this Good Friday.

I had set the trainer for 5 miles at a comfortable 7:30 minutes per mile pace. I should be able to run at this pace. By setting an easily obtainable goal I was freed to run at what ever pace felt comfortable. I quickly started to put time into the virtual nemesis. Although the first half mile was hard it was not unmanageable. I was able to clock the first mile at just over 7 minutes per mile. The next 4 miles were right around the same pace. I did lose close to 30 seconds stopping for a drink of water at Clyde Station. I finished up the 5 miles in 35 minutes and change. I felt like I could have continued on for a few more miles. Probably not 8 more miles but definitely a few more. This was the best BRICK that I have ever had after a substantial bike ride.

So the bike was solid and the BRICK afterwards was even better. When I finished the ride I took a post recovery shake and cold bath (no ice bath this time of year).

Working late and bike volume PLUS BRICKS

I rode the trainer Friday morning. I had wanted to ride the bike into work but it would be a late night. We were performing maintenance at work and I would probably not be home until 7 or 8 PM. So I jumped off of the trainer and drove to work. I was successful on the trainer only because I dialed the workout down to ‘recovery’ level. At lunch I ditched the swim workout – not a good idea – and played racquet ball instead. Three quick games and then it was time for some abs. I took Friday easy with the purpose of racking up some real mileage over the weekend.

Work got rough on Friday night. Working in computers, anything can happen. Although my stuff was fine it was directly effect by some stuff that was not okay. To make a long story short – I was planning on getting out of work around 7 or 8 with 9 PM being the latest. Instead, I wrapped up and started heading home at 9:30AM. I guess I could have ridden my bike into work after all – just not the way that I had planned. I got about an hour of sleep at my desk on the floor sometime during the night and the work was not taxing – it was just a whole lot of waiting around for support. My big training day was definitely compromised. The big mileage bike ride turned into an hour long ride. The bike was a conservative effort averaging just under 20MPH. Considering that I was holding back I felt strong on the bike. Having done so many rides on the trainer – I now realize that the trainer is much harder than outside. This makes me feel a little bit better.

After the ride I did get a solid brick – I transitioned quickly to the run and debated how far to run. I need to predefine these distances. If not I will sometimes cut them short. I originally thought 5 miles but shortened it to 3 miles at a good pace. Running fast is the challenge I have during bricks. I have adapted to the muscle imbalances of the brick. I can get off of the bike and run almost any distance. It is just the getting off of the bike and running ‘any distance’ fast that is the problem. I programmed the virtual trainer for 3 miles at 7 minutes per mile pace.

The run was hard from the get go – there is a slight hill leaving my drive way. I dropped a few feet behind my nemesis but quickly made up time on the downhill. I could feel the tension in my hamstrings but I was strong. I clicked off the first mile in 6:46 and decided that I need to back off a little bit. The next mile came in at 6:50. I was still feeling strong and finished the last mile at 6:37 for a total time of 20:14 at an average pace of 6:44 minutes per mile.

I napped for a little bit after the ride. I tried to stay up and enjoy the day but I knew that I was not long for the world. It reminded me of countless weekends when I worked a graveyard shift. You just went through the motions – it was like being a zombie.

I got a good night’s sleep on Saturday and got some of the planned volume back. I headed out for a ride with Jodie on Sunday morning. For the first 2 miles I took it easy and we chatted. At Clyde Depot I got into my zone 2 and rolled on. The wind was bustling a lot but I was feeling strong. I was not sure of the distance that I wanted – I thought about 30 miles or maybe 40 miles. I continued to fight the wind. Knowing that my run fitness is superior to my bike fitness I pushed on. I stopped at Bassfield – I have not seen Bassfield in forever. This is the 25 mile turn around for me. I looked at my watch and it had taken me 1:20 minutes for the ‘almost’ 25 miles. This was about 5 miles off of my normal pace. I took a slow water and bathroom stop knowing that I was off of my pace – I was not overly concerned about the time. I filled my front water bottle and mixed some Gatorade type stuff in my other water bottle. While taking care of business the wind knocked my bike over – spilling the contents of my front water bottle. Now, I know how to prop my bike up. I can’t remember when my bike has ever fallen over. The wind was really blowing that hard – maybe this could account for some of the loss of speed.

I remounted the bike and headed home. My quads were hurting from the lack of bike fitness but I was keeping my heart rate in zone 2. This was a controlled ride. The back portion of the ride ended up being 12 minutes faster than the out. Wow – the wind was substantial (also I did the first 2 miles at a warm up pace). I ended up with the ‘almost’ 50 miles at ‘almost’ 20 MPH (the 4 minute pit stop did not help). I felt good about the ride.

My legs were hurting more than the previous day but I wanted to duplicate the BRICK. I was going to go a little slower and try the 3 miles at 7 minutes per mile. I failed this time but I was able to make the best of the effort. As soon as I started running my feet were killing me. I am a fore footed runner and while on the bike I also use my fore foot to apply pressure to the pedal. This is hard on my feet. After about half a mile I was hurting and did not want to maintain the 7 minutes per mile pace. I stopped for a fraction of a second and then immediately regained my mental fortitude. I might not be able to run 7 minute miles right now but I definitely did not need to stop. I just slowed the pace a little bit and maintained. I turned around at less than a mile. This was a failure – I should have stuck it out. Soon, I clicked off the first mile at 7:21. At this rate I would be home in about 1 ½ miles total. I lengthen the run just a little so that I got 2 miles total. By doing this I did get a little more hill action. Hitting home, mile two clicked in at 7:26 minute per mile pace. So, although this brick did not go as planned and I failed (actually I failed several times during this run – just in quick secession) I was able to regroup. And by the time I reached mile 2 my feet were feeling better. My cardio endurance was fine but my feet and muscular discomfort were limiters. But, feeling better at mile two gives me some confidence for 70.3 NO. My feet were the issue in that run also.

With the bike coming along and a few solid bricks under my belt I think that my half ironman goals, although lofty, just might be attainable. Looking at my race bike I realize that I still need to take the ironman race number off.

Spring time BRICK

I woke up to rain failing. However, I had no worries since I had already planned on jumping on the trainer. I pulled up a new workout. It would not be anything too stressful but it would be challenging. I would warm-up for 15 minutes and then go up to approximately zone 3 for 15 minute and then a cool down. I had the internets up and was watching hulu – the time went by relatively quick. I was soaked when I finished.

Even though it was not planned I had extra time to spare. It was not a quick transition since I had not set anything out but I was out the door with my running shoes on within 5 minutes. This would be the first brick in about 6 months (since ironman Louisville). I had no idea what pace to run but knew that I only had time for about 3 miles. I thought that 7 minute miles would be a good first brick. It was warm out and very humid – the rain had just stopped. As I ran I was looking at my paces. I was quickly under 7 minutes and slowly increasing the pace. The first mile went by at 6:33. I always go out too fast.  Although I think I could have toughed it out I pulled up and slowed the pace down. My heart rate was not too high but the effort was challenging. The next mile clicked in at 7:30. That mile allowed for me to regain my composure and I completed the final mile at a very comfortable 7 minutes. So, although I threw the plan out the window (the plan that I had just thought of a few minutes ago) I did finish with a 7 minute average pace.

At lunch I did some more swimming. A warm up and cool down of 500 yards with a 1000 yard time trial I the middle. The 1000 time was a little slower than last year’s bests but I was still working the drills with the zipper and continuing to counting strokes. I am trying to get this into my muscle memory.

After the swim it was 6 or 7 sets of 70% body weight bench pressing. I am not sure of the best training protocol to increase my max reps of 70% body weight. I believe that this is much more about endurance than maximum strength. Anyway, the previous time I tested myself at this weight my triceps were the limiting factor.

King of the Mountain

Friday was a rest day. I was pleased that after the long run on Thursday night nothing was hurt, sore or damaged. I had no aches or pains. Sure the legs were a little tired but nothing much.

There were a couple of groups of riders meeting early Saturday morning. I hooked up with Lance, JD, Keith and the gang first. We did the Cain Brake loop and then headed to Epley Road. Lance wanted to do a ‘King of the Mountain’ type race. I was looking for a tempo ride –but we headed out. This was a full, all out, draft legal race. The Epley out and back is a very rolling hills total 10.5 mile out and back. The out is much faster than the back. Keith took off with a long hard pull with Lance and Raland on his wheel. I was sizing up the situation – I had a long day planned and did not want to crack early on racing with these guys. However, being 20 yards behind the group was not the place to be. I did a hard acceleration and pulled up their wheel – why not grab the draft if it is available. Lance tried a hard pull to form a breakaway but Keith only grabbed his wheel. When Lance was expecting a hard pull from Keith, to create a gap, it did not come. The rest of the group eased back up on Keith’s wheel. At the turn around point everyone had cracked except for me and Keith. I had not done a single pull up to this point. So that we would not have to worry about the others Keith and I did a series of hard pulls. The gap was now insurmountable – no one could catch us. We eased off of the pace just a little bit and were jockeying for position. There was a lot of posturing. I tried to only pull on the up hills to limit the draft advantage that Keith would have on me. I’m still not sure how it happened but at the last hill I managed to out kick Keith to the finish (He must have given it to me – but he said he was done).

This was the first of the hilly Epley Road loops for the day. I soon met up with Jim and we added a lot more miles. I felt really strong on this day. On the second Epley loop, about 20 miles later, I time trialed it by myself and finished only about 90 seconds off of the group pace. Another 20 miles later and I did the loop at my projected ironman pace – another 90 seconds off of the pace. I went from averaging 23 to 20 to 18 on the back half of the loop. This allowed me to put my pacing in order for the ironman. 18 seems like it will be about accurate for the bike in Louisville.

Jim wanted to do a brick after riding the 90 miles. I was not planning on running but it seemed like a good idea. Jim said just an easy 3 miles. I challenged him to a 5 mile run / walk. Although the run was not easy it was very manageable and Jim and I walked away with a confidence inspiring 6 miles (no walking) at 8:36 pace. We had a good day. I was especially satisfied with the different exertion levels during the bike. I was able to recover and still log the miles. During the group ‘King of the Mountain’ my heart rate maxed out during the last sprint – 188 beats per minute – this is way above my LT for biking (and running for that matter).

Sunday would be an easier day – I ran 3 miles with Jodie and hit the jungle gym equipment at Jackson Station. The heat was oppressive but I did about 40 pull-ups / chin-ups and quite a few push-ups and sit ups. I felt heavy and weak – that is what a lack of strength training will do for you.

Later, I left the house to meet up with the group ride at 1PM. I took my running shoes to grab an easy brick after the ride. On the way to the ride my left pedal spring dislodged or something – this has happened once before. My foot would become disengaged easily if I was not careful. Not a big deal because I would not be riding hard. However, this ride would be much more challenging than I anticipated. Michael, an ultra runner that I have not seen before, pulled the group out the 15 miles at a break neck speed. The group got split up several ways and it was a pretty hard ride. I was riding out of the draft for most of the way.

At the turn around I was riding with Jim and talking. Not really paying attention we got dropped. I knew that I could probably catch the group if I wanted so I just let them ride away. I waited too long – I think that guy Michael was pulling them back. So the return trip turned into a pretty good tempo ride – not the recovery ride I was wanting. I met back up with Ben after the ride and we did an easy 3 mile brick. I picked his brain for more ironman tips.

After the exercise we headed over to Kily’s house for a pinebeltpacer meeting. There was so much good food and drink – not to mention the pool. I had a great time hanging out with everyone but especially Charles and Jim and Eric – we were rocking the pool with cannon balls and preacher seats.

My goals for the rest of the month are to stay injury free and fresh - both mentally and physically.

Hobble then Gobble in July?

Having not run much in the last week I decide to get an early morning run. I headed out the door just before 6AM on Friday morning. It was muggy to say the least – I think I was the dew point. My legs felt good after almost a week of rest – I did a 5 mile brick in the middle of that century plus bike ride last weekend and no running since then.

My legs felt so good that I was pushing the pace and I decided to do a rare tempo run. I ran out towards Clyde Station and got the blood flowing quickly – no warm up – just a quick run. The first mile clicked off in 7:19 and I pushed a little harder. This was not like a 5k race or anything but just a hard tempo run. I hit the 2 ½ mile turn around and held steady. This was a HARD effort. Nothing was easy about it but it felt good. No aches and pains – just a solid effort. I struggled just a little to keep the intensity high in the last mile or so – but it was maintainable – I think I could have run a mile or two more at this pace – my splits:

1. 7:19
2. 6:58
3. 7:05
4. 6:59
5. 7:05

This is about a minute off of my 5k pace. This was the same pace as the run in the Sunfish last weekend. Preparing for the weekend I rested the remainder of the day (bowling at lunch).

I met Jim at the lake at 6AM on Saturday. We were planning a bit longer bike and run leg after the swim. We jumped in the lake and it took me about 10 minutes to fall into my rhythm. The swim was not hard; however, it just was not as easy as it has been the last few weekends. I think that I might still be a little ‘under recovered’ … not sure about that phrase but I think you get the drift.

I did the approximate 2800 yards in about 55 minutes – I think I was a few minutes faster 2 weeks ago. I may have hit the corners of the lake a little better on this day and covered a little more distance – it is hard to tell in the water when you are using ‘soft’ landmarks. Anyway, with the swim out of the way we prepared our bikes for the day. John, the legend, was waiting for us and he would do the bike leg with us. John has 4 ironman’s (from all over the world) under his belt and his advice and camaraderie is always welcome.

We had decided to try and tackle as many hills as we could find. I have been reviewing the IM Louisville course for the last week and I am trying to determine just how hilly the bike course is. I found a couple sites that reference Garmin’s motion based website to determine the elevation. It would appear that IMKY is between 7500 – 8400 feet of climbing – I guess those rolling hills add up. I would be taking my gps with us to see just how Southern Mississippi’s hills will match up. We went west and did out usual loops and then headed towards Sumrall. After Sumrall John took us on the 5 counties loop and then we started to head back. This ride, even though hilly, was so much easier than the last couple of weeks – mainly due to the temperature only being in the high 80’s – 89 for the high. Two weeks ago it was 100+ and all the humidity you could ask for – this was a huge difference. I think we all enjoyed the ride and made it back to the lake. John offered to drop water along the course and wished Jim and I well for our run. The plan was for an easy 10 miles – as easy as you can get after swimming and riding hills for 78 miles.

Jim and I would do the Hobble then Gobble thanksgiving race loop x 2. We headed out and across the spillway. This run would be easy. I was going to do a ‘Galloway’ and was planning on walking a minute at every mile marker. I have never done a run like this – never – not in races or training. The first mile came up quick at about 8:30. I took my 1 minute walk and grabbed a cold (frozen) water bottle – John had left them out on the course for us. The minute ticked by slowly and I really wanted to get moving again – I was tempted to jump the gun – but I waited / walked it out.

As the run wore on it got much harder. I kept to my guns and only walked 1 minute at every mile – however – those miles were coming up slower. After 8 miles it got real hard. The 8:30’s had jumped to 9:30’s and by the time mile 10 rolled around they were in the 10:30’s. All in all I got 11 miles at a 9:39 minute per mile pace. I can live with that but I know that the pace is not sustainable. With another 15 miles to go I can see those walks getting much longer and that pace climbing higher and higher.

I jumped in the lake with an ice cold beer and just relaxed for a few minutes. Jim and I chewed the fat about what worked and what didn’t – but mainly about how much better the day went without the intense heat from the past few weeks.

Sunday was a nice and easy recovery group ride. I never turn back at Sumrall – I mean never – but I took my own advice and just let this be an easy 30 miles. Nothing to gain by pushing it – average heart rate for this Sunday ride was only 113 BPM and the max for the ride was 138 – that is so low for me – like zone 1 recovery low – I never ride done there.

New weight challenge.

My weight fluctuates WILDLY! I’m not sure what it is – I have been weighing daily for about 7 years and it never falls – the weight is all over the place. I have learned to only be concerned with the trends. However, it does baffle me that it still fluctuates even when you are doing everything right. We have been having a little weight loss challenge at work for the past month. It was really just a motivational exercise for me. Going into the home stretch I was doing well and I was determined to follow through for the last weekend (the first weigh in was on a Friday and the last on a Monday – talk about challenging).

Well, I had a night out last Thursday and got the requisite 4 pound spike. That was okay because I knew it would fall – and it did – bam 4.4 pounds right off again. So this weekend I had a lot of riding to do and I was not going to splurge and kill the diet. I followed the plan (diet and workout). Saturday I did a fast 50 miler - I headed out and rode into Tony at Clyde Station and we rode together for the first 10 miles and then I just churned it out for a just under 20 MPH average (take out the water stop and it was better than 20 MPH). I immediately followed this up with a hard (read – really hard) BRICK. 4 fast miles. My legs were aching, it was hot out – it was just plain tough and painful. My nutrition on the bike was my usual Gatorade and a couple of gels. In the past I did not take many calories on the rides and I found that my performance really suffered and I would get bonky for the rest of the day – irritable and loopy. I had about 600 calories for the 3 hours of intense exercise. After the session there was a quick ice bath. The legs felt fine – a little achy but nothing much. I ate a health lunch and dinner of lean protein and steamed vegetables. All within the plan.

My weight jumped 3.6 pounds the next morning. I know that I drink a lot when on longer bike rides. I also know that the sodium and other ions in sports drink can cause me to hold water but come on. Sunday would be another long day in the saddle. The legs still felt fine. Jodie and I headed out at the same time and would ride together for the first 10 miles. This was an easy 70 miler and I would keep my heart rate low – like zone 1 low. I wanted to evaluate where my ironman pace might be. I had no problems just churning out the miles. Being silly I decided to not take any Gatorade or gels with me. I wanted to see if this was the cause for the water retention. However, I did take food for the ride. I grabbed 4 fruit and nut bars and an emergency gel. The fruit bars are like rice crispy treats with almonds and cranberries sprinkled throughout. They were good. My oatmeal breakfast was gone by the time I hit Bassfield (25 miles). I stopped and refilled water bottles and had the first bar. Back on the trial I was already feeling a little tired and I was actually hungry. I stopped at Prentiss (the trail end – just over 10 miles from Bassfield) and had another bar. I could not believe it but I needed to stop again and have a bar just 10 miles later back at Bassfield – and I would stop again 15 miles later at Sumrall for the last bar. The previous day I stopped once in 50 miles and I was riding at a much higher intensity. I consumed just over 800 calories for the ride. The 72 miles ended up taking 4:10 – much longer than I would have thought. I did not have an ice bath following this ride – I did not think that the legs were pushed to far – just too long. I don’t know if it would have helped but my legs were sore that night.

So what is the take away from all of this – not much really - I think the easily digestible nature of sports drink and gels really allow for my body to take calories in more easily than solid food. I cannot make any assessment to the performance of the ride - after all I was exercising on tired legs from the previous day.

In the long run the weight does not matter – just putting the time in and eating health. That is working out well!

Three days biking PLUS a brick

I was supposed to met Lance and JD at Jackson at 6:30AM this morning (Saturday). Sleeping in on a Saturday is so nice - the extra thirty minutes is magical. At 6:20AM I opened the garage to hit the road. My rear tire on my race bike was flat - AGAIN! I had just changed it the night before. I always keep flatted tubes and patch them - it is all part of that recycle / reduce / reuse thing. If we are riding together and you get a flat and you don't patch them I will always take them. The patch is supposed to be stronger than the tube itself. I never have any problem with patched tubes - until now. So earlier in the week I noticed that I had a very slow leak in my rear tire. I pulled the tube and could not find the leak. I pumped it up and felt around. Nothing. I actually had to get a bucket of water to find the leak. Air was slowly leaking from a patch I put on - damn the luck. I went ahead and replaced the tube with another patched tube having complete confidence in my patching ability.

So this patched tube was leaking also. I called Lance and told him that I would be just a couple of minutes - they would wait for me at a cross street. Well, I'm pretty quick at replacing tubes now so I put some latex gloves on (I always flat the rear wheel and I don't want the chain grease all over me) and put in a BRAND NEW TUBE.

So I got to the cross road a minute or two before Lance and JD rolled up. We were going to do an easy 40 miles. This would be the third consecutive day of riding for me (104 miles). The legs are tired but not too tired. We rolled on at not break neck speed but we averaged right at 20 MPH for the ride. I took a few hard quick pulls but for most of the ride it was easy spinning.

I decided to burn off a quick brick after the ride. I have a near Olympic race (only a 1/2 mile swim - every thing else is Olympic) in about a month and I want to have a good run. This was a HARD brick - not RACE PACE HARD - but hard none the less. I used my Zoot shoes again (second time running in them) without socks of course. Maybe a little bit of a hot spot or two on my feet for the first 1/4 mile but that was soon forgotten as the legs started to burn. The last mile was just a little long but I will call it a mile. I hate that I slowed but it was a little long and there is a small hill to get back home. I saw JD doing his brick during the run - he was toughing it out.

BRICK
mile 1 - 7:05 - AVE HR 153
mile 2 - 7:05 - AVE HR 167
mile 3 - 7:31 - AVE HR 172

I was pleased with these times. If, and that is a big if - If I can see any 6's on the run in any race I will be very happy. Not sure if that is possible in a 10k near Olympic race but I have a sprint in early July and that is what I will be shooting for.

I had a full rest day on Friday. These are getting easier to take! This morning I got up and did a nice 50 mile bike ride. Pretty hard but not too hard. I was going to try and finish up the ride with a 20 MPH average. On the way back Sam and I crossed paths. We yelled hey. About 5 minutes later he caught up with me. He said it took him forever - of course he had to turn around and he has been a little under the weather for about a week. Sam said that he could get me into the Crawfishman tomorrow - he knows someone that dropped out. Although I would really like to do this local race - it would be a really good benchmark against all of the Hattiesburg tri guys - after just completing a 'pretty hard' 50 mile ride I thought better of it. I will probably wish that I went ahead and did the race. Sam and I rode back to my house and talked for a bit - I ended up with 2:34 for the 50 miles.

After talking with Sam, I did a quick little 3 mile brick. I am always amazed at the effort required to run after biking. Fortunately I can almost always run after biking - just not fast. With a hard effort I was able to complete the 3 mile brick in 22:52. Lots of effort for a just sub - 8 minute mile pace.

On the diet front I have put pen to paper and scripted some basic meal plans. It is easy for me to get into a routine - the problem is that I restrict a little too much and then go nuts. Not this time (famous last words). I am confident that I can get this under control and get to the weight that I want by June 1st.

My next race will be June 6th - The Heatwave Classic (1/2 mile swim, 24 1/2 bike, 10k run) - I did this race last year in 2:14:39 - I hope to best that time!

Hard Hilly BRICK

Yesterday, I decided to get 20 miles in before getting together with the group. I started out of the house and my legs were very tired. I drove all day yesterday from Texas and I think that takes more out of me than many exercises. Also, my race bike was making some noise from the left (non-drive side cranks area). I stopped 2 miles out to take a look at the bike - and just a break for my legs. I had already switched out the wheels, skewers, and pedals to isolate the noise - still no luck. I headed back home to mess around before the group ride.

I met up with Chris and Butch at Jackson Station right at 1PM. Shawn was nowhere to be found. Chris gave him a call and he was going to meet us at the next stations (3.5 miles away). Chris, Butch and I had a leisurely warm -up on our way to Clyde. Shawn was there and we all decided to hit the hills off of the trace. I had never been on this route. These rolling hills were demanding. I was hitting 30+ on the down hills and trying to climb them without standing up. Chris soon pulled away from me and I pulled way from Shawn. Butch took a side road about half way through and we said out good byes.

The group stretched out again and with 30 miles on the clock I lost sight of Chris. I looked behind me and Shawn was no where to be seen. I had a basic idea of where I was but the road did not look familiar. I just trucked along up the long stretches of hills. I rolled into Sumral and refilled my water bottles. Chris was absent. About 5 minutes later Shawn rolled up. He said that Chris had called him and had taken a different route back home - family commitments. Shawn and I chatted for a few minutes with a couple that was riding the trace. The man was on a cyclocross bike and the woman was on a 3 wheeled recumbent. Nice couple - they were heading back to the trail head. This was the hardest, toughest ride I have been on in Mississippi. It was the hills and chasing Chris who is faster than me. My legs were spent.

Shawn and I rode pretty fast back towards Clyde. I pulled way from him and pulled into my garage for a short but fast brick.

A couple of minutes transition and I was out the door and running hard. My heart rate was up and I was feeling strong - for exactly 2 minutes. My old Timex GPS watch said that my pace was 6:20ish. The instant pace is never right but that was way to fast. My entire right side of my body started to hurt. From my Achilles through my calf, up in my hamstring and even my lower back. It was painful. I stopped for a few seconds to shake it out. I started running again fast. I would have to stop again in that first mile. Even with the stops I clocked a 7:07. The next mile was also hard even after slowing down. It went off at a little over 8 min /mile. I walked the rest stop (Clyde) and got a drink of water. The couple from the other station were just making it to Clyde.

On the return trip everything eased up. I was not hurting anymore. I kept my heart rate down a little and just churned out some mileage. I'm not sure what happened but I was thankful. Just a few minutes turned a horrible experience into something that was positive. I continued running past my turn off and got a total of 5 miles in just under 39 minutes.

I spoke with Chris later after my run and he said that it is very difficult to run race pace after cycling - especially in just training. I have to agree. I think that I have sorted my paces out a little better after this brick.

2 week taper starts now

household chores complete... check
new tires mounted on the race bike ... check
weather - high of 77 degress ... check
weather - 0 % chance of rain ... check

Meeting up with the guys for a fast 50 miler. I'm going to try and get a short but faster BRICK in after the ride.

Another long BRICK and a hard days night

My long group BRICK that was scheduled on Saturday was rain delayed. It was rescheduled for Sunday morning. More rain. Finally at noon on Sunday we were able to take off. However the rain scared away most everyone. Ben and I were the lone participates. The sky was gray and it looked like we might get a little wet.

We were both planning on working on our half iron distance heart rate paces and nutrition. I was loaded up with GU and would take one every 45 minutes while drinking a diluted Gatorade mixture. I'm pretty fortunate in that I have a cast iron stomach - even that meatball on a cone the night before could not stop me.

The sun was popping out here and there and the temperature was just about perfect. I had my arm and leg skins on but I could have gotten away with shedding either or both of them, but I did not want to be cold if we got into showers.

The bike went well and we clocked about 63 miles 3:36 - this included 3 stops for water and bathroom. Ben will be at New Orleans next month. We got to chat about race strategies from wearing socks in longer races to peeing on the bike - both valuable information. By the time we got off of the bikes, late afternoon, the weather was perfect. We took a somewhat long transition and changed out our clothes and hit the trace.

We were running at a comfortable conversational pace. It was easy! Ben was suffering a little from his Achilles and we took a couple of 1 minute walk breaks. Still we finished 8 miles in 1:19 (about 10 minute miles all things considered). I felt like I could run all day. This is very encouraging to me, however, I know that at my race pace it will be much different. After a fast bike I can imagine a fast half marathon run. I'm working on my visualization and mental preparation. I'm not kidding myself - this is going to be tough.

Yesterday was a killer at work. It is spring break here at the university so it is a good time for computer outages. We have been renovating out Data Center and had to move all servers to new racks. This requires powering everything down, removing from the old racks, moving to the new racks, powering everything back up and hoping that it still works.

So a core group of people started yesterday morning at 7AM and did not finish up until after 1AM. Everything went surprisingly well. We ate well (too much) all day. I blew the diet with bar-b-que, baked beans, Kristy Kreme's and banana nut bread.

My legs felt fine most of the day following the BRICK, however, the 18 hours of lifting and being on my feet started to take a toll. My quads started to ache a little bit last night. I can think of better recovery scenarios.

I will check in with work today and then have a nice bike ride. I'm driving to Texas in the morning to visit with my father and my sister and her family. My brother-in-law Joe (also my best friend from high school) is a fantastic swimmer and I am taking my wet suit. Joe often brags about getting into the pool in early spring when the water is unbearable. I bet the lake temperates in Texas are in the mid to high 60's. We will have to take a look.

Reduced volume and loving it!

If we know where we want to go, then even a stony road is bearable. - Horst Koehler

This has been a reduced volume week and I am digging it (I did 14 hours of training last week) - I normally have trouble throttling back but not this week.

I had a good running interval session yesterday and today had good 1500 yard swim PR (23:54) - wow - feeling good.

I have a 5k after work on Friday and then a big BRICK on Saturday. There are about 10 of us doing a 50 - 60 mile bike followed by 6 - 12 mile run. It will be a blast.

I spoke with Tony who lives on Lake Serene. He said that the temperature was in the low 60's. He was out in it recently with a wetsuit on - he reported that it was not pleasant but the water was bearable. I might get a chance to try it myself this weekend or early next week.

I am also getting back into bike commuting to work - I have missed it!

DST and long BRICKs

You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don't have that kind of feeling for what it is you are doing, you'll stop at the first giant hurdle. - George Lucas

I woke up this morning and it was dark. The time has changed once again. I know that it will only be a few weeks until I can ride an hour plus in the morning but I'm a morning person and I am already missing it. It will be nice to have the sun out until 7 tonight. I have an evening 5k race this week. The race starts at 5:30 PM after work. That would not be possible without the time change.

I lived in Indiana for about a dozen years and they never followed Daylight Saving Time. Half the year we would be on the same time as Chicago and the other half we would be on New York. Living on the Illinois border it was a pain for people that lived in IL but worked in IN - and vice versa. But not changing the clocks worked out pretty well. During the summer months the sun would be out until 9:30PM - 10:00PM. That was great for softball games, soccer, etc. The last year that I lived in Indiana the decided to get on the stick and follow DST. They let the individual counties determine what time zone they wanted to be on. Counties closer to Chicago picked CST and counties closer to Louisville and Cincinnati picked EST. I do not know if it worked out or not.

I did a huge brick yesterday and I am satisfied. Along the lines of this TRAIN SMART thing I actually took adequate nutrition. I had a big bowl of oatmeal about an hour prior to the ride and a gel every 45 minutes of the session for a total of 5. I was pretty surprised that I felt good the entire time - no bonk - no confusion - all systems firing. Maybe there is something to this smart training.

I rode the race bike with all the same gear that I will be racing in - a dry run so to speak. That meant the unitard one piece race suit, the Rocket Helmet, the fast wheels - everything. I kept my heart rate in a nice zone 2ish for the 25 miles out - which was in 1:12 - just over 20 MPH. The out is always much slower than the back because of the slight elevation change. I refilled water bottles for about 2 minutes and headed back - still feeling good. I caught a friend of mine Steve on the way back. I rode with Steve for about 15 miles back. The heart rate slipped back into zone 1. Finished the back 25 miles in 1:19 - much slower but the run was coming up.

I had a couple of minutes transition in the garage - I had already set everything up. I was debating whether to run a 6 or 10 mile brick. This was also not going to be fast but just for endurance. I decided on 6 miles and ran towards the university - I could take a shower at the gym. I had my car there and I was meeting Jody. I got about 1/2 a mile out and I remember that I forgot my school ID on my bike. Back to the house and out again. Heading towards the university again the first mile was at 7:30 pace. I and got about 2 miles into it the run when I saw my friend Charles headed the other way. This was an opportunity to go ahead and get the 10 miles. I turned around and ran with Charles back to Clyde station. This pace was a bit slower than I was running - Charles was running about an 8:30 - 9:00 pace. I left Charles at Clyde Station with 5 miles under my belt. I was now further from the university - 8 miles out. I had another gel and I was feeling fine. I was keeping track of my heart rate and keeping track of my pace. My pace was still in the 8:30 - 8:45 range. Feeling good, however, I noticed that mile 8 was at a 9:00 minute pace. That was too slow! I picked the pace up just a little bit. The next mile was 8:20. I'm not sure if it was the picking up the pace or just the duration of exercise but this is where it got hard. Prior to that mile I felt as if I could have ran all day. Now it was hard work to just maintain the 8:45 pace for the last few mile.

All said and done I did 50 miles on the race bike (2:33) and a 13 mile run (1:58) in 4 hours 31 minutes.

New bike stand -

Just for fun I turned my single bike stand into a double bike stand. Quick, easy, painless.

Since I live on a rails to trails I have thought about having a group BRICK session or even a mini-duathlon. The transition could take place in my garage (a secure area). It would be very easy to make a collapsible rack like this for several bikes. For about $10 I think you could make one that would stretch the entire length of the garage and hold about 10 bikes. A buck a bike is not bad!

Beautiful days and lots of biking

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. - Ernest Hemingway

I swam for an hour at lunch on Friday. It was hard to stay indoors. The weather has been in the high 60's / low 70's for the past few days. I'm not sure of my speed in the water but while doing the 'Swim Golf' drill where I count my strokes I am seeing definite improvement. Last year it took my right around 20 strokes to go the 25 yards across the pool. I know - that sucks. I was able to get it down to right around 17 strokes by the end of the year. After last week and making some minor adjustments to the way that I pull I was hitting 14 strokes when I concentrated. Once, with a hard kick - and I do not have a hard kick - I was able to do the length in about 12.25 strokes. This is not sustainable but I do see improvement. I made up for the indoor sessions this weekend.

I met up with Sam, Chris and Shawn on Saturday for a trace ride. We got off of the trace and did some hill repeats. We found a hill that was just about a mile long and dropped into a gear that would allow for us to spin up it. We repeated this 5 times. The first couple were pretty easy but they got harder. Shawn was hacking up a lung left and right. My goal was to stay ahead of him. Mission accomplished - phlegm free. The total ride ended up being about 35 miles.

I did a very easy 30 minute / 3 mile brick following this bike ride. Nothing hard. I did not push anything. I am going to have to do some hard bricks in the near future. I used to look forward to these runs but I am feeling a little afraid. I just need to HTFU!

Sunday was also good weather. I am continuing to try and learn to use the rollers. I rode for 3 sets of 10 minutes with my road bike and clip less pedals. Not too bad. I had to stop every 10 minutes wipe the sweat streaming down my face. I am not comfotable enough to lift my hands from the bars.

Then I got back on the trace and replayed the route from yesterday minus the 5 times hill repeats. I went out a little further and got a total of 30 miles.

I met the group ride as they were heading out and jumped on the end of the train. It did not take long to get near the front. John and Ty were really hammering and I was just trying to hang on. We regrouped at Epley station and I realized that everyone else was really strung out behind us. It was only John, Ty and I at the front.

As luck would have it, for the third time this weekend I rode the exact same hills. I did not stay at the front of these at all. I let the fast guys rise up out of their saddles and attack. I just stayed back.

On the return trip it was my turn to pull just past Clyde depot. I was giving a strong effort at just about 24 MPH. I had pulled for about 1.5 miles and was nearing my limit when Ty pulls up next to me and yells for me to 'Did deep' or something like that. He was passing me easily. I told him I would just grab his wheel. And that is what I did - I did indeed need to dig deep just to grab on to that wheel. It would not have been a big deal if I had just not completed my pull.

Now firmly on his wheel we were going 27 - 28 MPH for several miles. My heart rate had descended to a more comfortable range and we just cruised. We had to slow for an intersection (the road I turn off on) and I noticed that once again no one was behind us.

It was a fast ride!

First brick of the season...

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. - Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

Yesterday - I was proud of myself for getting on the trainer. I rode it for an hour. The time passes much quicker if I have a plan. I did a warm up for 10 minutes and then 20 x 1 minutes intervals with 1 minute rest then a 10 minute cool down. My trainer has a 'power' meter gauge. I believe it to be consistent and do not really care about the accuracy. So my warm up, rest intervals and cool down were at 160 watts and the intervals were at 260 watts. I prefer to spin at a high cadence so the times at 160 watts were at 90 - 100 RPM and the 260 watts were at 75 RPM. Take the power numbers with a grain of salt - they only relate to me on my trainer. Who knows 260 watts could really be 100 watts (or even 500 watts - dreaming). I really can't go much lower than that - this was supposed to help build leg strength. The time went by quick.

Just for fun I did an EASY, SLOW 3 mile run - the rain was light. This was the first 'BRICK' that I have done in a while. With the slow pace the brick was super easy and I felt strong - I could have ran much faster, much longer, and much harder - but I didn't.

Today - The rain has stopped so I will get to go on a longer bike ride, however, it is cool outside. I know, 48 degrees is not that cold - many people across the country would kill for that weather. But it is cool for here.

motto: Train Hard - Not Smart

Started out on what was going to be a nice 20 mile time trial to Sumral with a casual BRICK at the end. Push the pace - see how the good or bad the week off of training was to my performance. It was soon evident that this was not going to be one of my better sessions. My heart rate was 10 - 15 beats higher than it should have been considering the pace that I was pushing. I saw Jodie running out on the trace and chatted with her for a couple of minutes.

This was the excuse that I needed - the time trial was off - minutes had been lost - it was time to smack the heck out of myself. I stopped at Sumral to refill my water bottle but I was really sizing up what I was going to do the rest of the session.

I decided to just do a hard ride out to Bassfield and see how I felt.. Rammed a granola bar down my throat. (This had been a bonk session but I am always prepared.) Jumped off the trace a few times and tried to attack the few hills that I know of off the trace.

Ate another granola bar at Bassfield and headed for home. At Sumral on the return home the legs started to feel the pain. The heart rate had been kept high and cardio wise I was doing well. But the legs started to ache. (As well as the 'soft tissue' areas that I have spoken about before - still working on that area!)

Continued to keep the pace high to simulate a race pace transition once I pulled into the home base. I was still planning on doing the BRICK. I had told myself that this smack down was going to be hard - maybe a 55 mile bike with a 10 mile run BRICK. It sounded tough and hard and would fit the bill. Almost the last 2/3rds of a Half Iron.

Pulled into the garage feeling tired but surprisingly strong. Quick transition and I was on my feet and headed towards the trace. Heart rate high and feeling good. Yes there was discomfort but I knew that it would pass before the first mile marker. I was still on my way to a 10 miler. Hit the 1 mile mark and my lower legs were on fire - really hurting - but not in a bad hurt way - just hurting really bad. The bad hurt would be joint or muscle tearing feelings. This was not like that - this was really bad fatigue.

At the 1 1/2 mile mark the pain was not getting any worse but it was still hurting really bad. That is where I broke. I decide that I would turn around and if it got worse I would stop at 3 miles but that if I felt better I could continue and tack a few more miles on. I was not fooling anyone. I was stopping at 3 miles!

In retrospect I know that it was a mental break down. The pain / discomfort never got any worse but my tolerance to the pain waivered. The mental area is were these personal battles are won and lost. To help with the recovery I took a quick ice bath.

I must keep working on the mind and body.

extra - After doing Sunday stuff - washed the truck, changed it's oil, ran some errands, etc - I noticed that the front tire on bike was flat! Two rides and two flats. I know that these run in three but come on - two in a row.

On the lighter side - I will take these slow leaking flats any day. Just patch them when you get home is much better than messing with them during a ride. If you look at it like that then I guess I am pretty lucky!

Travel and carrotbelly

Went for a near 40 mile bike ride ( 38 miles) this morning. Hit a few hills with Chris and Ted (from Jackson). I think that I have seen Ted at nearly every triathlon I have been to. I went to the 29th annual 'Heart of Dixie' triathlon with Jim earlier this year. Ted was at the very first one in 1980. He told me that he has only missed 2 of the races (because he was living out of state.) Ted will be 55 this year and he beat me at the Heart of Dixie by 2 minutes. He is a fast guy.

I ended up getting a slow leaking flat on the ride and hit the tire with a shot of CO2. It lasted for about 10 miles and then I hit it again. I saw JD doing a run on the trace a few miles from my house and that gave me so motivation to go ahead and do a brick. I ended up having to use the little remain CO2 and hit the tire again just to get home. This probably was a good thing since I had to soft pedal the last few miles.

I slipped on my running shoes and headed down to the trace towards where I saw JD. I saw him in about a 1/2 mile. I turned around and ran with him to finish his 7 mile run. I caught him at the end of his run and the pace was slower than I normally would have run. An easy 2 mile run was just what I needed. After I left JD at Jackson I proceeded to put another 5 miles in - not really pushing the pace.

I finished the brick tired but satisfied with the run.

Took a cool 'ice' bath and ate some chicken and oatmeal when I got home. Jodie and I went to the grocery store for her to get stuff for next week. I'm going to be out all of next week so I was already prepared for my food needs - oatmeal and tuna. That is just what I am on right now. Quick, easy and not too bad for you.

I also picked up some strange yellow baby carrots for the rode trip to Altanta. As most people know - when I travel I get the carrotbelly.