Weekly Workout Totals 06/30/2008-07/06/2008 and 4th of July Weekend

Pics are here.

I took Thursday off from work just because I wanted a 4-day weekend. I started it off with 3 miles of swimming at the outdoor pool. The 3800 meter time trial was a minute faster than the prior week, even though I was feeling pretty tired, having swum the 3 prior days as well. But I was happy with the swim, and then about noon I went and ran about 5.5 miles, stopping at the Y for a hotdog before walking the remaining 1/2 mile home. At least 5 people who were coming and going from the Y made comments about various times they've seen me running in the area. One girl who works there said she saw me running one day and another car drove really close to me and she drove up next to the guy and cursed him out! Isn't that nice that I have people looking out for me? Just before I got to the Y, there was an elderly woman going for a walk, and she asked me if I was cold! It was in the low 70's and very nice, but I was still plenty hot running. I enjoyed my one annual hotdog and headed home. Later in the day, I grilled a bunch of meat (sausage, steak, hot chicken legs and scallops), ate really well, watched the Olympic swim trials, and called it a day.

Friday morning, I'd been hoping to ride 100 miles with my friend, Matt, but his back was bugging him so I just went on my own. On the way, I saw a bunch of hot air balloons up in the sky, and it reminded me that the balloon festival was going on, and I thought how cool to see that right before riding.

I ended up riding 64 miles, mostly with this guy, Rick, that I caught up to at one point. He kept telling me to go ahead, but I told him to suck my wheel and stay on, and he pretty much did. I had the disk on the back, and it was a great day to be riding it. I was going to go out for another 40 miles, but decided I didn't want to be out there all by my lonesome with a high chance of dog sprints. There was one dog that looked ominous, but after he pestered a group of riders in front of me, he sauntered on to his backyard and I was able to pass just fine. But when I got to the rest station, they said they were running out of stuff, and even though I was just grabbing water (I had Infinit with me), I decided I didn't want to dodge dogs, and so I finished up and drove to Fermilab.

I thought I'd do 2 loops, but I wasn't feeling too great and just did the one and figured since I should be starting my bike taper, that 80 miles would be fine on the day, and besides I wanted to be able to stay awake to watch the fireworks. It was dicey--I was plenty tired--but I just decided I should go and watch because I haven't in several years. I thought I could drive, but then I thought I could walk, and a walk is a good "recovery" type activity, so that's what I did. It was about 1.5 miles down to where a lot of people were camped out, and the display was actually pretty good. Not only that, but you could see the displays of 3 other towns! Plus, there were a couple of amateur displays going on right nearby, despite the fact that we were across the street from a fire house!

Walking home, I could tell I was tired, but I was determined to see the balloon launch early Saturday morning, so I set the coffee pot, put the fan in my bedroom on high, put in earplugs (because there was a lot of explosions still going on, no worries!), and passed out blissfully.

I woke up Saturday right around 5:00AM, and so I had to hurry it up so I could have some coffee and get down to the balloon launch, which the web said was supposed to happen at 6AM, but good thing I got down there by 5:30 because they were already taking off! Even though I felt pretty much fucked up like I had a sinus infection or something, it was worth it to see this, and there was quite a crowd assembled. I mean, how many times do you get to see 10+ hot air balloons taking off in northeastern Illinois? Just this time of year...

Next on my itinerary was to go to my local Farmer's Market. How many times am I home on a Saturday morning at 7AM during the summer? Twice maybe? I was so happy to be able to get some good produce, and I loaded up with lettuce, tomatoes (Arkansas, this time--still no Illinois or Michigan tomatoes, which if you ask me are the very best), apricots, figs (!), green beans and nectarines. I was ecstatic when I spotted the fresh figs, which even though they are probably from California, still, I love fresh figs and got a basket.

I went back home and I was exhausted. So I took a nap. When I woke up around 12:30, I realized I had better get my 1:30 run in, so I chugged a can of Ultra Violence, suited up and drove to Waterfall Glen, and I was running by 1:10PM. I had taken an Advil PM to help along my nap, so I felt pretty fucked up between being groggy from that and then chugging caffeine, so let's say it was an interesting run. But I seized the opportunity to really suck up the nature around me, and it was absolutely gorgeous, so I took liberal walking breaks and since I had forgotten to wear a watch, I just didn't care. I saw Mr. Indigo Bunting again, and I also saw one of these:



















Since I had never seen one of these before, I figured it to be some rare butterfly, but when I got home and looked in my Audubon guide, it said nope, pretty common, but still, it was so beautiful, and I was happy to have seen it. I ended up running 10 miles, and counted it as a 1:35 run, because I definitely was going faster then 10:00mpm even with my walking breaks, but in the end, who cares?

More Olympic swim trials, and I needed some sleep so I could ride today, but I still felt slightly sick, but whatever, you know? I slept well and got up this morning and felt sort of crappy, but it was another gorgeous day, and you never know, so I suited up, this time with the aero helmet, because I haven't worn it for more than 2 hours, so I thought I should wear it for a full 4-hour ride, assuming I could make it for that long.

Well, you put the aero helmet on, and you have to stay aero lest you look like a total poseur, and after about 1/2 hour I actually was feeling pretty good, and it was helped by seeing more balloons up in the sky as I headed west.

When I got into Fermilab, it was an awesome day, and I immediately decided I should try and do some "crap," but I decided that 80-85% of FTP would be good enough on the day. When I got to the east gate, the guard there, who has seen me many times, wanted to talk to me, and I got him to take a picture, and he took one of me with his phone. I thought I looked like a total dorkaramus, but he seemed pretty smitten with me. Whatever. Onward.

I didn't see any coyotes today, just lots and lots of riders. I passed them all, but I as all smiles and waving as I did so. What a great day! I was just so happy that I wasn't feeling at all sick, even though I know I'm on the edge right now, as expected, with the amount of training I've been knocking out.

When I was about 3 miles from leaving Fermilab, I came upon another rider, a guy, with really nice looking legs, and I caught up to him and we chatted. His name is Angel. We exchanged phone numbers and I hope to go train for a weekend with him--he has a summer house in southwest Michigan, which is a favorite area of mine. Sometime soon after IMLP I want to get there and just hang out, swim in Lake Michigan, ride a little bit and run a little bit. Angel is only doing Oly's this year (he's done 2 IM's), but I figure I can use a laid back training weekend as I get ready for NothingMan.

When I was about 4 miles from home, I came upon another rider, a roadie, and we chatted. He made some comment about being old, and I said I probably have him beat on that count. He said no way, and I told him oh yeah, and he couldn't believe me. We came up to the last "hill" on the way to where we live, and I powered up it with him on my wheel, which was fine by me. He obviously thought Bitchie was sweet looking, and then when he peeled off for his way home, I told him to have a great rest of his day, and he told me I had inspired him! How cool is that? I'm just doing my thing, after all.

When I got home, I quickly put on running shoes, chugged 1/2 bottle of ice water (it really helps), and headed out to run. OH MY GOD. Now it felt hot, even though it was only 80. I was hoping to see a mirage aid station stocked with ice for my head and sponges for my shoulders! No such luck, though, and I purposely ran into the wind and uphill just to make it harder on myself. I persevered, and ended up with a pretty good run.

For my recovery meal, I made the world's greatest salad--a pile of Romaine and red leaf lettuce, grilled steak (about 1/5 pound), 2 hard-boiled eggs sliced, 2 sliced apricots, 2 sliced figs, 1 diced tomato, doused with one squeezed lemon, olive oil, balsamic vinegar glaze and plenty of salt and pepper. I made it on a big dinner plate, but realized to mix it up I needed a huge bowl, so in it went, and it took me about an hour to eat it all, but I did and it was great.

And now I am officially in my bike taper. One more big week of swimming, and then it's all over but the race. I feel pretty good, but know I need to eat really well at this point, stretch well and get plenty of rest. I think I can do that this week! I think my head is on straight for this IM--I really don't care how I do, but know that I won't suck, and that anything can happen. Mostly I'm looking forward to swimming outdoors every day this week and acting like a kid on summer vacation!

Here's what I did on the week:

Weekly Workout Totals	06/30/2008-07/06/2008 This week's totals are sponsored by the taper, blah, blah, blah, yeah now I can just chill, work on my tan and get ready to race!
Swim:	14200 yards (8.06 miles) in 5.05 hours; 23% of weekly workout time; approx. 1768 calories burned Canadian: 12984.48 meters
Bike:	Approx. 209.74 miles in 11.72 hours; 54% of weekly workout time; approx. 5423 calories burned; Total TSS=662.3 Canadian: 337.54 kilometers
Run:	Approx. 27.65 miles in 4.24 hours; 19% of weekly workout time; approx. 1919 calories burned Canadian: 44.5 kilometers
Strength:	0.86 hours; 4% of weekly workout time; approx. 215 calories burned
All Sports:	Approx. 245.45 miles in 21.87 hours; approx. 9325 calories burned--some taper, huh??? Canadian: 395.01 kilometers
Sleep:	7.57 hours avg./night
Stretching:	2.92 hours. Massage: 1.25 hours Most stretching in a week this season!