Brick Training Workout ------ Thunder --Lightening!!!!!

Did my 4:45 hour brick training workout today. My last big training ride until the race Aug 14th.  It was an interesting development with some surprising results! 

I woke this morning at 3:45 AM to finish getting everything ready for my training brick today.  Stacy arrived around 4:30 am and we got loaded up and on the road by 4:45 am. Or destination was Flagstaff: Lake Mary the site for my race in two weeks. We had sent out many prayers to the heavens and hoping for a good day. The weather forcasted thunderstorms and lightening all night and all day with intermittent sunshine. Our last look out the door gave us a 4 hour window of sunshine from 6 am to 10 am. We had to take a detour through Sedona to pick up a wetsuit that Cheri gracious said I could borrow for my race. We arrived at her house close to 5:45 AM and the wetsuit was waiting by her front door. She of course was out doing a run. :)  We made it to Flag and Lake Mary around 6:20 am.

I got everything in order, my nerves where creaping in and I just wanted to get in the water and get some lake time, and get comfortable with the wetsuit. And as I slide on the wetsuit, it fit perfectly!  We unloaded the kayak off the top of the Escape and headed down to the water. It was like glass, no waves, beautiful, sun shining, no wind. Perfect. I walked into the water and was surprised it felt warmer then I thought. After a few moments of mental focus and positive reinforcement by my brain and by Stacy. I dived in and started my swim. I found it easier to swim with my eyes closed believe it or not in the beginning. I had been practicing that in the pool every now and then and decided to just start with that. Luckily, I swim straight so I was able to go about 20 strokes before needing to look up and sight the buoy.  I  had some moments where I would stop and catch my breath and get re focused. But I managed to get in a groove a couple times, and started to feel comfortable in the water! Just what I was aiming for. Even better was the encouragement I got from Stacy who is a great swimmer and commented on my stroke!  I worked on my strategies mentally for when I began to freak out in the water. And I felt good, not great like my flip turn high :) but I felt good in the water, and near the end I was able to open my eyes while I swam and get more length in and less stopping to catch my breath.   I did about an hour swim. I was supposed to do 1:15, but I was ready to stop and take a break and focus on the good training I got in.

Next up we got our bikes ready and headed out for a 2:30 hr/min bike ride on the course around Mormon Lake. My goal was to see if I could make my time faster as it took way to long last time ( with 50mph wind gusts aiding in that poor time). Today the wind started around  6 mph, but then increased. But luckily no where near that other training day. So we got going and got 1/2 way around Mormon Lake and the clouds started to roll in over the lake. We made it to the other end of Mormon Lake road before the rain began to fall....as in downpour, cant see thru your glasses downpour. We had about 1:15 min to ride still. Now when we stopped at the corner, I will state for the record, we were not the only ones out there, I think there were a total of 15 riders at that corner alone. And then along the whole course during the day...we saw upwards of 50 riding in the rain like us. So we were not the only insane ones. We got some good rumbling thunder boomers, and some lightening that struck around us. I'm happy to say it was no where near the "lightening experience" I had last year on my training ride. Lessons I learned from this? 1. That was insane, it was pretty scary a couple of times.  2.  I ride faster when there is a thunderstorm, we ended up doing right around 44 miles today, with the fastest pace I have EVER DONE!  at 17 mph (3:32/ mi).  3.  Ziplock bags are your friend, especially when you have your car keys and phone on you, and they were the only thing dry when we were done.  but when you shove  your Garmin down your sports bra, that worked pretty well too!  4. It's not that bad when a trailer goes by you and doses you with a pool of water, it's actually quite refreshing...kinda like a quick shower to wash off all that "grit".  5.  My nutrition was pretty good today. I used two Rehydrates ( in yummy Grape), my water, and 3 Energy Power bars, but I still need to work on the run. That was my tough spot.

We finished out ride and low and behold the sun started to come out in small pockets, so we threw on our running shoes and was able to get in our 1:15 min run with just some sprinkles along the way.  It was somewhat tough, my heart rate was higher then it probably should of been, but thanks to Stacy it went by quicker then I thought. We got in a good 6.5 miles today on the run. At a nice slow pace. I was hurting below my knees (quads) and I couldn't seem to relax my right shoulder and had some pain. But over all it was sucessful. My back started to try and spasm up at the end of the ride, but loosened up during the run until we hit mile 6. 

Total Miles:

Swim:  Approx....1000 yds
Bike:   44 miles
Run:    6.5 Miles

Total distance:   50 miles plus some change.
Calories burned:  Garmin says 2755 calories, but that doesnt include the swim
                         or the 15 min we lost on the bike.

Overall, I feel really good with this workout. Especially with the bike! I can't believe that I was able to ride that fast! but I did pay for it a bit in the run...so I'll have to watch out for that during the race.  

Flip Turns!

Tonight in swim class I learned how to do flip turns. It felt GREAT!! I have not even attempted to try flip turns  for over a year, because I always felt like I never had enough air to breathe and couldn't hold my breath without freaking out in the water, especially if I was upside down!  Well..after a few practices I started to feel good about it, and so I swam a 100 yds with a minor issue here and there. But then I got focused, and got in to an amazing rhythm and started just doing one after the other. I did 600 yds with good breathing, good technique, no shoulder pain,  I felt relaxed, I felt "in the moment" and like I could go forever!  I think I just had a break through for feeling more confidnet in the water. I was on a flip turn high tonight when I was done! One step closer to Ironman!  I'll be using this experience to help me get through my next race and visualize my swim!

Build Week Three

So..I'm on my last big build week before my three week taper to my Half Ironman Race. I've got a few things down for nutrition at the moment. I've done several long rides at 3:00 , 3:30, 4:00 and 4:30. So far I'm learning that at about hours 2:30 to 3:00 I need something solid in my stomach. Right now that seems to be a Peaunt butter Snickers from Roberts' Market Gas station on the route of our ride.  And I take in about 8 oz of Coke. Which will be offered at the Ironman race for quick sugar. 

     I also have been introduced to a new produe by advoare.                  www. advocare.com. One item called Rehydrate..which helps balance out your electrolytes and provides amino acids. I'm happy to say the last three times I've used it..I have had no nausea at the end of my ride and I'm able to eat a good meal within my recover time.
      I had a brick workout last Saturday, and I tried another product called Spark (An energy drink from advocare). It's a vitamin and amino acid supplement, but natural. I was pretty jittery right after I took it. But I jumped in the water and did 3400 yrds in the pool (and felt great!), and hour ride( with about 900 elevation gain in a mile) and and hour run. I felt great. Right up until the last 15 min of the run where I was getting over heated in the 85 plus degree temps. By the time I got back to my car I was super dizzy..so luckily I had ice in my cooler, and filled my water bottle, and proceeded to dose myself over the head for the next 15 min laying on the ground with my feet up in the air.   I was then able to drive home...and thankfully EAT!!     So...I'm becoming a believer in the advocare products..and I'm going to be using them diluted in my water for training. If you are interested in getting some..then let me know..I have someone who is able to help me out.  

Today I hit exhaustion....I made it to swim...got in 2550 yds..but was just spent...so I skipped my 30 min Zone 1 trianing so that I can be more rested for my last long workout of the build week this weekend. A Five hour ride on Sunday and on Saturday a 1:30 swim and a 2:00 run.

I've got to figure out what to do about the heat...that's the 3rd time the heat is getting to me. I must not be getting enough electrolytes...so I need to keep working on that.

Now it's off for dinner an early to bed. I am exhausted!!