Greeting from the French Press!
As you can tell, I’m hard at work today J. As a birthday present to myself I took the day off of work. Now before you get any ideas of foul play (which is going dowwwwn tomorrow) or me being a complete slacker, I’ll have you know that I was in the pool at 5:45am for my usual practice & incorporated that into the completion of the SB Long Course. I think I’ve finally found my swimming lungs, now I just need to know how to get faster. A LOT faster. This is problem #1.
And yes, you read correctly. This morning I completed the SB long course solo (with a few modifications: 1- substituting the ocean for the heated pool, and 2- using my house as the transition area). I swam 1700m so it’s equivalent to the distance I would be swimming in the Tri. I will not, repeat, WILL NOT, go ocean swimming by myself. I just know that when I do it’ll be the ONE time killer sharks decide that East Beach is a great feeding area. It's also Friday the 13th. I'm not taking any chances.
And it’s colddddddd!!
The cycling went fine… my average was 16mph meaning almost 30 on the downhills (my favorite!) and 10 on the uphills. The hills weren’t so bad after doing the half century ride up to Big Sur. My clip-ins and I seem to be bonding rather nicely with the exception of 1 spastic “almost” far into a pile of leaves. Let me explain that this was not the fault of the clip-ins, just my ability to complete spaz out. Which happens quite often. Wha ha happen was… I was attempting to unscrew the top on my camelback and the cap flew off & water started spilling everywhere on me and my bike, so I tried to pull off on the side of the road to fix it & only got one foot free in time. Hence, “almost” falling. Luckily I was at a section with piles of leaves versus possibly falling down a steep cliff.
Problem #2: I always bonk around mile 20 no matter the ride. Thank GOD for GU chomps and Clif bars but how do I prevent the bonk & what is the best way to effectively refuel when riding??
Fast forwarding to the run. The first mile is brutal!! Imagine a chubby toddler hanging on to each of your quads while running. That’s what mile 1 feels like for me. After the first mile though, the toddlers run off & take a nap somewhere until around mile 7.5ish when they’ve multiplied somehow & now you have one on your back as well. Miles 2 – 7 were actually pretty relaxing & oddly enough – enjoyable even. I’m well aware I’m a crazy freak like that. I was able to maintain an average of about a 9.5min mile. This is a lot slower than I usually run but after the swim and bike I’m quite impressed it was that fast. Or that I did it at all.
Besides working on, well… everything, at this point (Problem #3) I think I need to focus a lot of energy on doing brick (running and biking) workouts. If I can nail down this transition I’ll feel a lot more comfortable & prepared for the tri. I’m not sure if anything can be done about my swimming (dis)abilities at this point or ever.
Problem #4: STARVATION!!!!! I’m constantly eating because I’m constantly hungry (or bored). I’m starving after the swim, I’m starving in the middle and at the end of my bike ride, and starving around mile 5 of the run. And when I say starving, I mean I am angry-hungry (“hangry” so they say). I know that this problem is extremely obvious considering the amount of calories I’m burning, but what is the best way to combat the hunger without having a sudden urge to run off into the trees hunting for food mid-run?
Ok enough with the problems. I swam a mile, biked 34 (ehh more like 30.... but I’m counting it.) and then ran for 10 miles. Not with transitions as fast as the actual race but it was still good timing. Also happy to report no injuries thus far and some really sweetn tan lines.
The fact that I KNOW I can do the long course, I still have time to train and that my body can go beast mode is awesome! Thank you body, for what was one of my best birthday presents this year. Can.Not.Wait. until I redeem my spa day coupon after the race!!! I should also mention that this training has given me such a great appreciation and love for yoga.
Please let me know if you have any recommendations, comments, etc for any of the problems I mentioned, or any comments in general really. Especially if they include eating a lot of pizza… which I fully intend to do later. J
xoxo -E
