Twenty Weeks Out

On Sunday, I completed a 60.7 mile ride /  5.3 mile run brick workout and felt awesome.  Tired and starving, but awesome.  Then the realization that this wasn't even half of what I need to do crept in.  This is the fear I was looking for when I signed up.  This is the fear I've been missing since my first marathon with Team in Training.  I'm twenty weeks away from this Ironman, and shit, the fear is here.

Poll: Sunglasses make be look like a badass or a big dork?  I'm ok with either.

But while I was having a minor freakout on Sunday night, Monday night brought a couple of swimming gems.  The coaches had us do a 15 minute continuous swim where we swam in a circle and were not allowed to touch the sides of the pool.  With about 20 swimmers attempting this all at the same time, it had the feel of a wave start at the beginning of a triathlon event (I mean, I'm guessing so- I've never actually done a tri).  People were bumping, I definitely kicked a few people and almost got kicked a few times.  I had to weave around people and slow down/speed up to avoid collisions. It was tiring, both physically and mentally, but after about 10 minutes, I seemed to find my pace, get more relaxed, and by the end, felt that I could have kept going if I had to.

The key to getting over panic in water is to relax.  Yup, easier said than done.  Like a car accident, if you see it coming and you tense up, you are actually more prone to injury than if you just stay relaxed.  In water you float easier when relaxed.  It's as simple as that.  All throughout training I have been reminding myself about the "dead man's float" I used to do as a kid. Was that just me?  Well, it was easy.  All you have to do is relax.  I'm getting better at doing just that.

The other swimming gem I picked up was another improvement tweak to my timing.  We did a drill called the "finger tip drag pause".  I'm not going to try to explain this drill other than to say that it seems to have flicked a switch with my "gliding" issues.  "Reaching for the jar" has helped, my hand reentering the water more ahead has helped, and now this.  I was pulling off 15 to 16 strokes per lap a few times during this drill, which was quite remarkable for me- and that was with alternate side breathing.  I just have to work on consistency.

DUGWBOBP (down under george washington bridge on bike path)- I hear it's the next up-and-coming-neighborhood.

But back to Sunday before the fear set in...  It was a glorious day for a bike ride, though the threat of rain made me second and third guess my gear (jacket or no?  arm sleeves? tights?).  In the end, I didn't see any rain.  What I did see were some killer hills on Henry Hudson Drive in the Palisades Interstate Parkway, potholes too.  And some great views from the George Washington Bridge and from the bike paths around the island of Manhattan. My legs are still tired today (Tuesday) and I skipped my planned morning bike workout.

From the George Washington Bridge, looking down river at dusk.

My bridges at sunset.  Yes, they're mine.

 In total, I was out for about 6 hours on Sunday.  That included traffic stops, getting lost a couple times, a couple pee breaks, and some photo ops.  It also included coming home to put my bike away and get into my running gear.  Watching the Ironman competitions live an on TV, I always see competitors running in their tri shorts.  That doesn't look very comfortable and I don't understand why they don't just take the extra twenty seconds to throw on running shorts.  I did.  And I think it was worth it.  Maybe this is something I'll learn along the way.

After 61 miles of cycling, I was still able to bust out a loop of the park from my apartment and back in 41 minutes.  That's a 7:45/mile pace.  It was hard, but I didn't hit any kind of wall- I could have kept going longer (probably not faster) if I had to.  My biggest distraction was my hunger.  I wanted a cheeseburger half way around the park.  The biggest difference between Sunday and my other long outings had to have been my nutrition- I took in more calories and sooner than I have been. The coaches recommended 200 calories per hour.  This is what I took on my ride/run:

• Pre-workout salt shot (for electrolytes)
• 3 Gu packs (3 x 100 = 300 calories)
• 2 PB&J sandwiches (2 x 400= 800 calories)
• 24 oz of Gatorade (150 calories)
• Total of 1250 calories in 6 hours of workout

So by this calculation, I pretty much hit the mark.  But it seems my stomach could handle more and wanted more.  I think that's a good sign.  We'll see what happens at race pace, though.

Emily made me dinner: baked hominy with bacon, quinoa salad, sauteed asparagus, salmon, and crispy salmon skin.  Yum.