It's not like I don't already know this...but seems I didn't pay enough attention to it this week. Truth be told, I was really trying to be a good athlete and get all my workouts in. Monday night had a terrible sleep...total sleep: 3.5 hours. Ouch. Got up to do my run anyway - 6 mile repeats at 7:30 pace - and oh my god...no it was NOT happening. In the best of days, that workout at 530 am is a tough one for my old body, especially when not on a treadmill (which I tried to get the okay for and was DE-NIED). So, as I realized this was simply not to be, I decided to keep running and do the base run that was on the sched for the next day. I'd do the repeats then instead. Well...things happened, a meeting with the accountant, weather, weather, and I didn't get it in and it was Friday. Couldn't do them in the am...Masters...so, after seeing Dr Sadri on Friday (ouch, again), I did them on the treadmill at SF. Busted them out, and got it done. Z was there...and given what he told me today, I'm thinking he enjoyed watching me do this, knowing what was likely to come today. Teach me a lesson, I'm sure he was thinking. (and so he did...as it turns out).
And by the way, also yesterday, did my longest pool workout ever - 4200 yards. :)
So today had another organized century - Cartersville. Honestly, this should have been easy - certainly compared to the centuries we've been doing, this was a walk in the park...so I expected. Ha. Not so much. I was doing okay the first couple hours, though I knew something was up - I was a lot slower than I expected to be. Though there were no major climbs, it was just constant up and down little rollers - never enough to get much speed on the down. We had started early, and about 1:35 into the ride, the peleton caught me. Have to say, it was fun while I could hang on - probably got a good 10-15 minutes out of it. And then they were gone, and I was on my own again. Spent a lot of time by myself, which is par for the course it seems on these rides. My right glut and left ab were sparking today, despite the fact that I told Sadri yesterday that they were both either better (glut) or no worse (ab)...seems my body decided to revolt today and show me who's boss. Round the 2 hour mark, the pain got to be more than I could ride through, and my power just totally dropped off. And pretty much stayed that way for the rest of the ride. About the 80 mile mark, I was just really done, ready to call David and say pick me up. But I rode through it. I stopped at the last rest stop - the only one of the day that I really stopped at - and stretched out and ate some watermelon, which tasted so freaking good. After that was able to pick it up somewhat and boot on back to base, but I could not wait for this damn ride to be over. Aside from the train that stopped me, and EVERY freaking red light possible in the last 10 miles, I made it in. Total time - 5:30. Really should have been able to bust this out in 5-5:15.
Of course the day was not over, as I had a 1 hour brick run to finish up. Got myself out there. First mile was good, 2nd not bad. Bathroom break, and then it kinda went downhill from there. Went back and grabbed a coke - and it really did work to stave off the bonk (good to know now). Wanted to quit so bad, but I didn't. Kept 'er goin. Slowed down, no doubt, but managed to pull out 6 miles in 55 minutes, which is not stellar, but after the ride today, not so shabby either. Did walk a bit, but not too much.
Talking with Chris after, he said he wasn't really surprised given the mile repeats I did last night. Oh. Duh. And he kindly reminded me that they were supposed to be done earlier (a lot earlier) in the week. Okay, okay. I get it.
Matt has been joking with me the last couple weeks that I've been getting cocky (after all, I've been keeping up with him, and occasionally even passing him, lol). Having said that, he did say the other day that I've been getting pretty strong on the bike, and from a guy that is reserved with his compliments, that's saying something. He followed this quickly with "you need to be taken down a notch". Well, Matt - looks like I got that today! Today's ride sucked, big time.
Z texted me after and said "it's not all roses and butterflies"...very true. They can't all be good days. This was a tough one. But then it's days like this that make the good days better. And it's days like this that earn dividends on that "ironman toughness" that I'll need come race day. And regardless of how hard today was, as Chris said it is another big deposit in the bank.
The one big bummer about today - I was going to go up to Hiawassee with Jim and Rod to do a 5k open water swim tomorrow. A stretch for me, for sure, but knew I could do it, and that it would give me a huge boost of confidence for the race. After today, and with a long run also tomorrow...not to mention a huge training week in front of me next week (18.25 hours), including a 6 gaps ride, I figured best to not do it, and rest up instead. So big time bummer.
Anyway, I'm up later than I planned, and I've gotta run early tomorrow. So...lesson learned...there is a reason for every workout, both in content and in timing. Check.
Happy Training (even on the tough days)
Kat
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