Last week was a recovery week. I took an extra day of rest, as I felt pretty worn out and run down. By the weekend, I was full of energy and ready to get going again. (I even did the dishes. That is MAJOR.) Sunday, a group of us took a nice 50 mile ride through the countryside of Lexington, with a few glimpses of million-dollar homes on the lake. I call that a soul-cleansing ride.
I've spent a lot of time researching and calculating fuel, electrolytes and fluids for long rides. Sunday's 50 miler showed good improvement in fuel and electrolytes but I still fell short on the amount of fluid I took in. (I know this because I did a 3-hour ride and 30-minute run and didn't have to pee until I got home.) This trial and error system takes time, but I'm getting closer to the magic mixture.
This week, we have FINALLY had some warm weather. I've had two runs in the 80s so far, and yesterday I took the day off from work to get my long ride done in 80+ degrees. I rode 92+ miles (by far a distance PR!) and ran 3 miles. It was sunny all day with a steady breeze; that was good practice for Texas. I only had one rough patch on the ride - around miles 60-65. I just slowed down a little but and made sure I was on track with fueling. After a few minutes, I was back to normal.
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| A beautiful day for a ride. |
By the time I got to the run (3pm), it was 85 degrees. It was pretty tough. I will definitely need to make sure I take in enough during the run in Texas. I kept thinking, "How the hell am I going to run a marathon in this weather after the bike ride?" (I don't yet know how I'm going to do it, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.) When I got tired of thinking about that, I started counting my steps. (Hey, whatever I have to do to take my mind off the discomfort...) I got to 1,406 steps before I lost my concentration.
The good news is, my new bike shorts felt GREAT. My saddle was comfy for 80 miles. The last 12 miles.... Well, I got out of the saddle a lot. I must remember to carry a single-serving ride glide with me.
The other good news is, I peed three times during that workout. (Oh, come on. If you know me, you know I'm going to talk about pee.) This tells me I hydrated enough. Yippee! Once I cooled down in the air conditioning after the run, I felt good. I still had energy, my legs were strong, my blood pressure was great, and my pee looked like lemonade. Perfect! I just need more workouts in the heat to acclimate so it won't affect me as much.
Today was technically a rest day, but Sophie asked me to go to walk/run with her before school, so I got a mile of running in. I don't think anyone under the age of 30 ever does a proper warm-up, and she's no exception. She took off so fast, it took me almost a quarter mile to catch up to her.
Today was also "Eat Like a Horse" day. I pretty much ate constantly from 6:15am until about 3pm, when my appetite was finally satisfied (at least for 2-3 hours). Two breakfasts, two lunches, two snacks and a protein smoothie was all it took. Don't worry - I was hungry again for dinner.
Tomorrow is the start of the Palmetto 200 Relay which is a 200 mile race from Columbia to Charleston. Jeff and I are on the Columbia SC Marathon team, which consists of 11 fast people and me. I will be the slowest person on the team by a long shot. They asked me to be on the team last fall, back when I had some speed in my legs. Now I'm slow slow slow. They said back then that we weren't aiming to be competitive, we would just do it for fun. Then we added two sub-3 hour marathoners to our team and suddenly our average pace is 7:06. Crap! I can't run anything near that right now! Anyway, I'm running three legs over 24 hours, totalling 17+ miles, so that will count as my long run for this week.
I am excited about the race, and a little nervous, as this is our first time doing a relay and I don't quite know what to expect. I just hope I pack the necessary items and don't screw anything up. (Note to team: DO NOT LET ME NAVIGATE. It will turn into the Palmetto 482-mile Relay from Columbia to Florence.) Whatever happens, there is fun to be had!
