Aw....You Shouldn't Have!

Have you ever scheduled training for yourself that looked good on paper, but once you actually get it done you think maybe you shouldn't have done it? Sometimes the realization doesn't happen for days or weeks when you feel a twinge of pain where you shouldn't or are extra tired or become sick, but sometimes it's a same day thing.

I'm not sure about today's festival yet. Here's the deal: I signed up for this sprint that's on Sunday, but right now, being ready for IMLP is way more important than how I do at the sprint. Although while riding today, I was thinking that one of the unique things about hard-core triathletes is that we expect to be able to perform well no matter what. So what I was sick for 2 weeks, so what I didn't taper, I'd still expect a decent performance at a 1/2 Ironman or anything less. Isn't that funny?

Anyway, what I was supposed to do yesterday was a 2:15 run with about :40 of it at half mary pace, the rest being "steady" which is just above easy pace. But noooooo...what I actually did was decide I wanted to bang out 16+ miles all around half mary pace because, what the hell, why not? I was feeling suitably recovered from Horribly Hilly, and it wasn't oppressively hot while I was running, and well, it just happened.

Last night I was pretty hungry and pretty tired. I knew I better load up on calories for today's festival. Since I have that sprint on Sunday, I decided today I would need to take the day off from work and get some quality training in, so that Saturday could be a light day and then race on Sunday, expecting to do well.

So what I scheduled for today was a 3,000 yard swim (straight), 4:30 ride (I had written a workout for it but decided to just wing it) and :40 brick run. Now, if I had executed yesterday's run according to plan, this might not be such a problem, but even still, it's like I scheduled nearly a 1/2 Ironman for today. But with a day off from work, no problem, right?

I woke up this morning right with the alarm, because I wanted to get in the pool by 6AM. As it turns out, I missed that by about 10 minutes, but didn't stress about it, because the temperatures were supposed to drop a little from the upper 90's of the past few days.

I downed the customary Ultrafuel, which made my nose run like a faucet (I still don't have that figured out), and was in the pool swimming at 6:10. I didn't try and swim too hard, but I felt just fine other than wanting to puke a few times because of all the calories in my gut, but no way I was getting up at 4AM so I would have finished eating 2 hours before I started! I can suffer with the desire to puke while swimming, though.

I was home by 7:30 and wanted to hit the road for Fermilab to ride and run by 8:00AM. Again, I missed the mark by about :10 (see I'm running 10 minutes behind), and was OK with that until I got to my customary entrance at the East Gate which was blocked for some reason, so I had to take a little detour to get in at the West Gate off Pine Road. No worries, I got what started out to be a nice, shady place to park my car.

As I started rolling, I noticed the winds were from an odd direction. Usually we have SSW or WSW winds this time of year, but today they were from the NE. I guess that is what held the temps to the upper 80's instead of 90's today!

Anyway, I was a good girl and made sure I drank a full bottle of water each hour and was on top of my Infinit. The Ergomo appears dead on the Griffen now, so I just rode by feel and sort of by speed. I wore a sleeveless white jersey for the first 3 laps, which kept me comfortable as my back wasn't burning up--although I totally lubed up with sunscreen before I left. I switched to a tank for the last lap and I don't know if it's because it is more skimpy than the jersey or the heat picked up, but I was hotter. I think the heat did pick up significantly more by that point, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I rode fairly well considering the wind, all the turns I was making, a few moments of slackitude, my legs being toasty from yesterday's run, and the heat. I covered 82 miles in 4:30, not too bad. Here are some pics after I finished riding. I definitely browned up today!

Bitchie all by her lonesome. She is looking forward to racing on Sunday!

Me and Bitchie

I decided I was pretty happy about my ride!

Next, I suited up to run. I put on running shorts, visor, shoes, and ditched the tank top as it was pretty hot. I started out and was like Oh My Fucking God I am going to die! Now I really noticed how hot it was, and I also observed that I must have rode a little hard and/or my legs weren't ready to run today. Whatever. I briefly thought about cutting the run short, but nixed that idea and just HTFU'd (you can see my black HTFU bracelet on my right wrist in all the pics--it really does help me somehow). I ran mostly in the blazing sun, and it was a pretty day, but hot, and I had all these Infinit crustaceans (the leftover electrolytes that seem to crystallize in my nose much like another substance that I wouldn't know anything about) in my nose and my skin was disgusting from all the sweat, sunscreen, salt, bugs and whatever else had blown onto me while I was riding. Such is life. I got it done, and was pretty happy with myself, as you can see below:

And after all that I'm thinking, damn I'm a fucking Crackhead not sure if I should have done that, but I did it, and I stopped at McDonald's just outside the East Gate (I was able to drive straight through the middle of Fermilab to get there) and got a couple of cheeseburgers to tide me over until I got home, and also had some of my Endurox R4.

I had the best shower ever, and I am on Beer #2, and even though I discovered some minor adjustments I need to make to Bitchie before I ride her tomorrow (yes, I schedule 2:30 of riding, but it is going to be E-A-S-Y), and I'm going to try and swim for 1/2 hour, too.

I have to be OK with sucking on Sunday now, but you never know, I might not. While I was showering today, I had a flash thought--whenever you say or think something negative about yourself, pause, and then say, "or not." Like, "Maybe I shouldn't have worked out so much today. Or NOT." Or, "I will probably suck on Sunday. Or NOT." Kind of allows you to express the negative thoughts, but at the same time question them, which I think is a fine way to proceed for now.

Sometimes I think I have everything figured out. OR NOT!