« The Heat is On | Main | Kona High »
October 13, 2007
Go Ironmen Go!
I am totally addicted to ironmanlive.com right now - watching video of the race and of course "tracking" about 15 different athletes as they make their way through an awesome race in Kona! The pro race has me intrigued - Stadler and Faris out, Natasha out and then some of the really big names pretty far back. Although they are all just getting off the bike so I suppose A LOT could happen over the next 26.2!
Regardless, this morning/afternoon I did a little training of my own. When I woke up and the temp was 35 I stuck with my plan to swim first, bike afterwards. I don't love doing it this way because that means I'm not even starting a 4 hour ride until 10 - which, if you do the math, means most of the afternoon is over once I get home, shower, stretch and eat. Lunch becomes dinner and Saturday is gone! But you do what you have to do so that's what I did.
My swim this morning was good. It was 3500 yds and part of the main set was a ladder of 100,200,300,400 and then 400 pull,300 pull,200 pull,100 pull. I was really happy with how my pulling went. I'm really weak with pull, I'm guessing because I don't have a lot of upper body strength and it's my kick that usually gets me going. But my pulling has been getting stronger and stronger and I really hope that one day translates to faster swimming overall!
After the pool I came home, ate some breakfast and then around 10 am set off on my ride. It was still pretty chilly so I wore a heavier jacket. The whole entire ride I kept thinking - I'm going to get so hot, I'll need to take this off, etc...but I never did! It did eventually get up into the mid 50s and the sun was shining but there was a very strong wind that kept things cool, cold even and thus begins my longing to move somewhere warm. :)
Actually, it was a great fall day. Beautiful colors and leaves falling. It was sunny and I must have passed 15 different farms selling pumpkins and applefests and the like! It really is fall now! But I won't lie - the ride was very tough for me. I was fine through 2 hours but after that I think all the climbing I was doing and the persistant, cold wind started to take it's toll. I felt like I was always riding up and always into the wind!
I started to struggle mentally first and then physically. But I kept telling myself that I was going to be just fine. My pace didn't matter, I just needed to survive.
My long rides are definitely the hardest part of training for me. They have been all year. Last year I rode over 50 miles exactly 2 times, both of which were organized rides with aid/food/fluid stations. So far this year I've ridden over 50 miles 22 times, of which 5 of those were over 70 miles. That's a big jump! I don't have problems with my long runs because that's the background I came from. But long rides? Yeah - still working on it.
So anyway, with 1 hour to go on my ride today I seriously wanted to call O to come pick me up. I was tired. It was so windy and of course I had lots of climbing to do before I got home. But I persisted and eventually pulled into 1512 Caroline Street! I know it's rides like this that will make me stronger, both mentally and physically. And although I sometimes hate the fact that I don't have many (if any) training partners, it's also days like this that I'm glad for that. I got through it by myself, not on someone else's wheel - just like I will need to do in all my races.
So that was that! After a shower, stretch and lots of yummy food I was finally feeling better and able to help O with some yardwork. And then we finished watching Penn State put the hammer down on Wisconsin. And now it's time to watch some more Kona coverage... :)
Posted by beth at October 13, 2007 6:45 PM