Lauren and I left out of Bham on Friday morning to meet up with her folks down in Perdido Key for the weekend. It's interesting, pretty much the whole way down we could smell the smoke coming over from Georgia from the forest fires in the southern portion of the state. It's eerie and just a testament of our dire need for some rain here in the South. These fires have been burning for several weeks now.
So far this weekend has been very productive training wise, but at the same time very relaxing. Saturday I met up with some cyclists from Mobile I've only met once before. I stumbled onto their Yahoo groups page and invited them over for a ride. It's amazing how communal cyclists are and how it brings people together. We did a 43 mile loop from Perdido Key down to Fort Morgan. The rest of the day was spent "recovering" by the pool and carefully hydrating with a mix of gatorade and beer.
We treated her family that night by cooking some fresh Talipia over orzo with squash and zucchini. Yum.
Sunday morning, big day. It was my last big brick before my first HIM next weekend. 35 miles on bike followed by an 11 mile run. I did the bike fairly easily. In typical fashion though, the first half of the ride is always fast and easy. The gulf produces and strong tailwind going west that enabled me to keep my speed around 24 the whole time. I wasn't encouraged though. I knew the numbers were inflated. I knew what awaited me at the turn around. It's just a characteristic of the beach that I've learned to live with. Booom! I made the turn and headed back into the wind that had been my friend for the first half. I struggled to keep my speed around 19 as searched for better aero positions which only proved to keep me from focusing on cadence. Nonetheless, it was over and time to run. I had completed this exact same brick two weeks ago down here, and I suffered due to lack of fluids and electrolytes. This time before heading out I took few electrolyte tablets and recruited Lauren to bring some fluids to me down the road. The result was running the 11 miles 5 minutes quicker than last time. Total time - 1:40 on the bike 35 miles and 1:30 on the run, 11 miles an 8:14 pace. Again, as before I really suffered the last couple of miles, but so much better than last time. Hopefully I can keep that pace next weekend.
So the rest of the day = lots of rest for me. Tomorrow is a much needed off day. So tonight, you can find me staying up a little later than normal. I'll be on the dock hoping to catch a few trout. Hope all is well. Happy Memorial Day weekend. Remember our Troops!
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7 comments:
I hope that gatorade and beer wasn't mixed...ewww :-)
Sounds like an awesome last brick you had there. Better to have some difficult training days to get ya ready for the HIM. You'll rock it.
that's some great training heading into your race. sounds like you are going to rock.
good luck!
Well, you're here big guy!
The focus is on rest this week, your training is done.
Follow your schedule, I iwill be in contact several times this week!!! We need to talk about times....set some goals.
It's game time!!! Rest up this week and focus on nutrition. You are going to kick ass in Macon! Sorry, we didn't meet up in Orange Beach, but looks like you got some good training in.
gatorade and beer = my favorite hydration plan. smash that race next weekend.
I am sure that I drank things worse than gatorade and beer in High School...regardless, your training is impressive as always and, as everyone else says, you are going to do great!
best of luck with the race this weekend -
don't forget your wheels!
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