Wow it's been a while since I posted anything! I suppose that is because I have actually been busy training! And recovering from training.
Last week my dad drove out to San Diego to do my 80 mile training ride with me. We planned to do the same ride I did the previous week-out to Coronado and back-with an extra 10 miles tacked on somewhere to cover the 80 miles I had scheduled. I was worried about my dad's fueling even before our ride. I have spent the last 6 months using my long training rides to practice properly fueling my body not just to survive the ride, but to be able to run afterwards. I have a basic system in place, with a good idea of what and how much my body needs to keep going. My dad, on the other hand, has told me how he "bonked" near the end of a 50 mile ride with his riding buddy, Juan. My dad can out-ride me any day of the week, but he has no fueling system! This 80 miler would be the longest either of us had ever ridden, so I talked to him the night before about making sure to take in enough calories, fluids and electrolytes.
My dad showed up in San Diego with jersey pockets stuffed full of potatoes. This sounds ridiculous to the uninitiated, but it actually is a fantastic source of the quick carbs endurance athletes need. Things seemed to be going pretty smoothly for the first 55 miles or so. Then my dad started slowing down. This phenomenon was new to me. He suggested we find a store where we could get some Gatorade to refuel. We finally found one, and we drank a bunch of water and Gatorade. Unfortunately, I think it was too late. He was already depleted. Within a few miles his legs were cramping so badly he could barely pedal. Eventually, around mile 66 I think, he decided to stop and have me come back and get him in the car. When I realized he would be sitting there while I rode 14 more miles before I reached the car, I called Karin and she came to get him. I know he was disappointed that he couldn't finish, but since he is a dad, I hope his disappointment was at least tinged with pride at my improvement.
See,both my dad and I sweat a lot, but I have learned how to replenish what I lose from all that sweat, while he has not, because he just finishes his rides and then goes home and replenishes. Despite this turn of events, it was great to ride with my dad again. It just goes to show that my "talents" lie just where they always have: simply outlasting the competition.
On Friday we drove back to Phoenix. Our awesome month in San Diego is over. On Saturday, back in Phoenix, I got up at 4 am to get in my 14 mile long run before it got too hot to function. It turned out to be not crazy hot, but crazy humid! I ran with my roommate Peggy. Peggy is training for the NYC marathon November 3rd, so we have been able to do some long runs together. This is working out great for both of us. Our plan was to go to breakfast after our run, but between our sweat and the sprinkling of rain during our run, our clothes were literally soaked through and plastered to our bodies! So we went home and took showers, then went out to breakfast. Then we took naps.
Sunday it was back to work! First day of work in a month! It was a pretty easy day, fortunately. I got to ease back in. After work I did a 1 hour swim, then later I did 45 minutes on the bike trainer, followed by a 20 minute run. Swim, bike, run. 2 hours of exercise. The funny thing is, at this point in my training, that is what I consider an "easy day." It's like, oh, just a swim, a short ride and a short run. But even my 14 mile run, which is a big workout, didn't feel that big. I mean, around mile 10 it felt hard to keep going, but a few hours after I finished, it felt like I hadn't even done anything that day. Maybe it's because I did it so early; but it felt like an old memory by 11 am!
Do you know what IS a big workout? An 87 mile bike ride! That is what I did yesterday. Ouch! Boy was that rough. The first 50 miles flew by! I felt great and it was nice to be out on the road. But after mile 50, my "undercarriage" was screaming in pain. I am now on my 3rd bike seat, and while this one is better than the first one I had, they all seem to turn against me after 40 miles or so. Between my bike seat region, an extreme pain at the base of my neck (I assume from constantly looking up while my body is hunched over the bike), and overall fatigue in every muscle of my body, the last 20 miles were sort of like my own private hell. With about 19 miles to go the whole sky got dark, and movie special-effects quality lightning and thunder showed up. Then all of a sudden it downpoured. Then it started to hail! This turned out to be an awesome distraction from the pain! 10 minutes after it started, it stopped. Then it was just like pedaling in a sauna.
By the time I got home, I was just so happy to get off the bike that even though I was exhausted and it was the hottest part of the day and I felt like I had cooked my brain, my transition run was almost a relief, just because I WAS NO LONGER ON THE BIKE.
Last week my dad drove out to San Diego to do my 80 mile training ride with me. We planned to do the same ride I did the previous week-out to Coronado and back-with an extra 10 miles tacked on somewhere to cover the 80 miles I had scheduled. I was worried about my dad's fueling even before our ride. I have spent the last 6 months using my long training rides to practice properly fueling my body not just to survive the ride, but to be able to run afterwards. I have a basic system in place, with a good idea of what and how much my body needs to keep going. My dad, on the other hand, has told me how he "bonked" near the end of a 50 mile ride with his riding buddy, Juan. My dad can out-ride me any day of the week, but he has no fueling system! This 80 miler would be the longest either of us had ever ridden, so I talked to him the night before about making sure to take in enough calories, fluids and electrolytes.
My dad showed up in San Diego with jersey pockets stuffed full of potatoes. This sounds ridiculous to the uninitiated, but it actually is a fantastic source of the quick carbs endurance athletes need. Things seemed to be going pretty smoothly for the first 55 miles or so. Then my dad started slowing down. This phenomenon was new to me. He suggested we find a store where we could get some Gatorade to refuel. We finally found one, and we drank a bunch of water and Gatorade. Unfortunately, I think it was too late. He was already depleted. Within a few miles his legs were cramping so badly he could barely pedal. Eventually, around mile 66 I think, he decided to stop and have me come back and get him in the car. When I realized he would be sitting there while I rode 14 more miles before I reached the car, I called Karin and she came to get him. I know he was disappointed that he couldn't finish, but since he is a dad, I hope his disappointment was at least tinged with pride at my improvement.
See,both my dad and I sweat a lot, but I have learned how to replenish what I lose from all that sweat, while he has not, because he just finishes his rides and then goes home and replenishes. Despite this turn of events, it was great to ride with my dad again. It just goes to show that my "talents" lie just where they always have: simply outlasting the competition.
 |
| My Dad replenishing just a tad too late. |
On Friday we drove back to Phoenix. Our awesome month in San Diego is over. On Saturday, back in Phoenix, I got up at 4 am to get in my 14 mile long run before it got too hot to function. It turned out to be not crazy hot, but crazy humid! I ran with my roommate Peggy. Peggy is training for the NYC marathon November 3rd, so we have been able to do some long runs together. This is working out great for both of us. Our plan was to go to breakfast after our run, but between our sweat and the sprinkling of rain during our run, our clothes were literally soaked through and plastered to our bodies! So we went home and took showers, then went out to breakfast. Then we took naps.
Sunday it was back to work! First day of work in a month! It was a pretty easy day, fortunately. I got to ease back in. After work I did a 1 hour swim, then later I did 45 minutes on the bike trainer, followed by a 20 minute run. Swim, bike, run. 2 hours of exercise. The funny thing is, at this point in my training, that is what I consider an "easy day." It's like, oh, just a swim, a short ride and a short run. But even my 14 mile run, which is a big workout, didn't feel that big. I mean, around mile 10 it felt hard to keep going, but a few hours after I finished, it felt like I hadn't even done anything that day. Maybe it's because I did it so early; but it felt like an old memory by 11 am!
Do you know what IS a big workout? An 87 mile bike ride! That is what I did yesterday. Ouch! Boy was that rough. The first 50 miles flew by! I felt great and it was nice to be out on the road. But after mile 50, my "undercarriage" was screaming in pain. I am now on my 3rd bike seat, and while this one is better than the first one I had, they all seem to turn against me after 40 miles or so. Between my bike seat region, an extreme pain at the base of my neck (I assume from constantly looking up while my body is hunched over the bike), and overall fatigue in every muscle of my body, the last 20 miles were sort of like my own private hell. With about 19 miles to go the whole sky got dark, and movie special-effects quality lightning and thunder showed up. Then all of a sudden it downpoured. Then it started to hail! This turned out to be an awesome distraction from the pain! 10 minutes after it started, it stopped. Then it was just like pedaling in a sauna.
By the time I got home, I was just so happy to get off the bike that even though I was exhausted and it was the hottest part of the day and I felt like I had cooked my brain, my transition run was almost a relief, just because I WAS NO LONGER ON THE BIKE.
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