Week Thirty-Three

This was my last week in the "race phase" of training. That of course comes with a mixed bag of feelings. I'm excited to be entering taper, where things start to get a little easier, but a little concerned knowing that I've gotten as physically strong as I'm going to get - it's all mind over matter from here.

Sunday was the biggest day of the week. It was the peak training before taper: the triple brick. For some reason, I had gotten into my head that the triple brick was riding for 2 hours, followed by running for 1 hour, repeated three times. When I got back to look at next week's schedule, I realized that I was only supposed to run for 50 minutes. Oops. Got in an extra 30 minutes of running there.

I parked my car at the back entrance to Natural Bridges and started rolling at 7:00. I went out on Highway 1. The weather was in the low 50s and it was really windy. I was definitely wishing I had more layers, and I never really did warm up on that first two-hour ride. At least, the cold helped me to not go out too fast, and I came back feeling good and ready for run number 1.

My friend Mimi (Yay, Mimi!) met me for the first run. We ran 6 miles, and even though we did a 9/1 run/walk combo, we kept up a 10 minute per mile pace the whole time. Patrick found us while driving his car, paced us a little bit, and cheered us on, too. (Thanks, Patrick!) At about mile 4 of the run, my friend Cristina (woo hoo!) showed up on her bike and stayed with us 'til the end of the run. I really appreciated having them out there for the company and extra support. They stuck around while I made my transition, and cheered me on as I went. (Thanks, guys!)

Round two: This was my favorite bike round. It was warmer out (not quite warm yet, but warmer) and I was feeling pretty good. I started getting a dull headache towards the end, though, which pretty much remained for the duration of the day. This I can't figure out because I usually associate a headache with needing more water, but I can't imagine that I was dehydrated considering the fact that I was still drinking a bottle an hour despite how cold it was. I'm not sure what other reasons there may have been for having a headache (unless it was a coincidence and had nothing to do with my nutrition?).

I got back to my car, took apart my bike again, and stuffed it all in my car. At the beginning of the second run, I "ran" into Joy and Nicole. I continued on after we stopped for a few minutes to catch up and say hi. (I love seeing people I know when I'm training, since I'm so often by myself.) After about 30 minutes of this run, I started to get the same pain that I got on my 18-mile "twenty miler." It was a tight, quite painful, cramp in my left hip. I think it's actually a few inches higher than where the IT band inserts, so I'm not exactly sure what it is. As I was running back, I planned to call my coach and ask him for his advice on if I should modify the third round or not. I really didn't want to hear that it needed to be modified, but I'm known for making some pretty bad training choices do to my stubbornness. Anyway, the plan was to call him during my next transition.

But, when I got back to my car, something happened that made me forget about my hip pain and calling my coach. As I was getting my bike out and refilling my water bottles, and old, yellow, noisy Mercedes pulled up behind me. The engine stayed on for quite some time, and I just felt heavy eyes on me like I was being watched. Then, the car turned off, a guy came out, and walked up to me. He talked standing much closer to me than is really normal, making my single-woman-where-nobody-can-hear-me-scream-vibes go on red alert. He was asking me about how many miles I was going to ride, which in my mind I translated to mean how long would I be gone so maybe he could rob my car. I felt that he was looking in my car to see what I might have been leaving in there. Then, he started touching my bike, and asking me all sorts of questions about it, and eventually tried to get me to sell it. By this point, I was freaking out. I interrupted him mid-sentence and said, "Have a nice day." in hopes that he would take the hint that the conversation was over. He did, and he walked back to his car.

Most people who park at the back entrance of Natural Bridges are there for one of a few reasons: to run, bike, take their dog to the pond, or go to the beach at Natural Bridges State Park. He didn't seem to be doing any of this things. Instead, he took out a rag and started to wipe down the outside of his car, occasionally glancing up at me. It was a really weird time and place for him to be wiping down his car (especially without any water?).

So, despite the fact that he was no longer talking to me, I was still scared. I felt too uncomfortable to get on my bike and start the third leg, but I wanted to get on with training. So, I got in my car and called the police. They took down all of his information, like license plate, personal description, etc. They said they were on the way to check it out, and gave me the option of starting my ride or waiting for the cops. I didn't want to be around when the cops came because I didn't want it to be obvious (even though it was obvious) that I was the one who called. So, knowing the cops were on their way, I finally left for my last brick. (Probably about 45 minutes after the run.)

The last ride was mostly fine. It was warmer, yet, and my energy level was okay. My mind was really worried about what I would do if I got back and he was still there. I created a whole story in my head that I would stop before the last turn and peak around the corner. If he was still there, I planned on having Mimi send Phil over to hang out with me while I made my last transition. :-) I was actually thinking of Mimi and Phil, in this little plan of protection, when a car pulled over on the side of the rode. It was Mimi and Phil! They cheered me on, which was a great extra support.

With about 20 minutes of my last ride to go, I felt something small yet hard hit my helmet. It sort of felt like something landed in one of the holes, but it didn't phase me. Then, about 5 minutes later, I started feeling some movement in there. I thought a bug might be stuck under there. Not wanting to stop my bike, I tried loosening the helmet and moving it around to let it free. No luck. I stopped my bike, took off my helmet, and a very fat, fuzzy, injured bee (wasp? hornet? yellowjacket?) fell onto my leg. Ah!!! I just can't believe I didn't get stung. That was almost as scary as the guy at Natural Bridges!

One corner away from my car, I peeked, and Scary Man was gone. I threw my bike in my car as fast as I could, and moved my car around the corner to a different neighborhood. As I did that, I saw a couple of guys pushing a car. I thought, "That's a really nice and new looking car to having problems starting," and "Why are they pushing it in a little neighborhood instead of calling for a tow truck?" The guys looked sort of seedy, and I couldn't help but wonder... so I moved my car again, right in front of what looked like a family picnic. That felt safe. Safer, anyway.

Since my hip was hurting in run #2, I decided to try a 4/1 run/walk combo instead of the 9/1 for this time around. This really worked. My hip was definitely hurting towards the end, but it wasn't the incapacitating pain that I felt on my long run. As I was about a mile from the end, someone yelled, "Hey! Ironteam!" I didn't know him, but apparently, it was someone who has been on ironteam for the last two years. He cheered me on incredibly loudly and enthusiastically as I headed out, and even though I didn't know him, it was just what I needed to make it back to my car, finally finished with my triple brick, and ready to be officlally in taper.

Ultimately, in the triple brick, I biked (at minimum, considering that my computer is never right) 80 miles and ran about 16.

THIS WEEK'S SUMMARY:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Spin 90, run 30
Wednesday: Swim 3600 yards
Thursday: Swim 3200 yards (missed my opportunity to also run :-(
Friday: unplanned trip to the vet and then a visit from my friend Julie. No training.
Saturday: the plan was to swim, and I inadvertently took a nap during lap hours at the pool, so I spun for 90 minutes instead
Sunday: Bike 80, run 16

TOTAL FUNDRAISING TO DATE:
$14,701 is what active says, but I still haven't put in the cash from the benefit concert. Will do that at the start of my next credit card cycle, which should bring me to well over $15,000. Maybe even $15,500...

BODY CHECK
Definitely sore in my neck and between my shoulder blades. My left hip doesn't hurt at all when I'm not running. Strange. I've got lots of little "tweaky" pains in my legs, especially in my shins, hip flexors, and knees. I'll have another sports massage on Tuesday.

NUTRITION
So, I think the bike nutrition really is dialed in: A bottle of water an hour, an enduralyte every 20 minutes. Small sips of perpetuem every 10 - 20 minutes (260 calories an hour total). If it's hot and I need to increase the water, I need to make sure I take 3 enduralytes per bottle of water.

For the run nutrition, I'm going to use the hand held instead of the fuel belt. Still drinking only water, and I'll have a gel every 30 minutes, which would bring me to 220 calories an hour). I wonder if I need the same amount of water and enduralytes on the run as I do on the bike, or if for some reason it might be less...

For the swim, since we exit the water mid-swim and re-enter, I wonder if it's a good idea to stick a gel in the arm of my wetsuit to take during that time? Or maybe that's not a great idea, since there's no time to chase it with water....