Week Twenty-Two

The highlights for this week were definitely the weekend. (I'm super tired right now, so this journal may not be the most exciting thing to read. I just want to log everything while it's fresh in my head.)

Saturday's bike ride was sooooo much better than last week's. Richard, Kim, Donna, Nicole, and I met at 6:30 in the morning to carpool to Milpitas. (It's awesome that Richard's truck can hold 5 bikes.) This was actually my first captain's ride that I had gone to, as I had been doing all of my Saturday trainings on my own to try to sleep later.

Having talked with coach Mike about what I needed to do to avoid hitting the wall like I did on last week's ride, I had a nutritional plan that I was eager to try out. I alternated water and electrolyte every 10 minutes for the entire ride, had 1 shot block every 30 minutes, and had a total of 1.5 powerbars over the course of the ride. The ride was 57 miles, and I did it in four hours. Considering that there were quite a lot of hills, I was really proud of my 14.5 mph average. Looking back, it would have been wise to not go out so fast, as I did slow down a bit in the end, but it's so hard to have that kind of self control. But, overall, I had good energy for the entire ride.

I also just have to note that this was the most beautiful bike ride I've ever been on. The pictures don't do it justice. The greens were so incredibly vibrant:





I found on this ride that I am feeling much more confident on hills. I don't know that I'm much faster yet (I can't get my bike computer to work), but I feel strong and relatively pain-free on them.

Anyway, here is the route. I decided to put it in here because it was beautiful and I want to remember to go back to it.



On Sunday, we swam at Cowell's Beach. The water was about 50 degrees, which was warmer than our previous swims, but not warm enough to be pain-free. After my face and hands got numb, I took my time and really focused on my stroke. I have no idea what my time was in the end, though. After the run, I ran 13 miles with the team, and then an additional 2 on my own (because my race is sooner than theirs). It was really fun running with my teammates today. We were a good support to each other, and it was so nice to be able to enjoy the workout with them.

I should be asleep by now, so I should sign off....

THIS WEEK'S SUMMARY
Monday: rest (but actually I hiked 3.5 miles)
Tuesday: spin class with SCTA, 70 minutes, plus 20 minute transition run
Wednesday: swim about 2700 yards at coached workout
Thursday: run 70 minutes (Los Gatos Creek Trail) (about 7 miles!)
Friday: swim 2500 yards
Saturday: BIke 57 miles
Sunday: Swim 1600 yards, run 15 miles

BODY CHECK: Amazingly, I feel great! (knock wood!)

TOTAL FUNDRAISING TO DATE: $12,066

NUTRITION NOTE TO SELF: Alternating liquids every 10 minutes worked well. Try it again on a harder ride/run.