Coiled Up Snake Strikes

The pace picked up this week. I had asked for more work and... as they say... be careful what you ask for. Amping up the training load feels like carrying around 30 extra pounds. My body is constantly in this tug of war with energy challenged by recovery. Never fully recovered before the next workout, building one day on the next, requires more patience. The coach recommended Powerbar Perform sports drink for electrolyte replensihment. So I bought three tubs - one for home, one for office, and one for my SUV.... that should do it...

Mid week was steady and yet I knew that I had a big Saturday ahead. My fellow triathletes have nick-named the Saturday swim in the TURTTLE pool the "EPIC SWIM". We start between 6 and 6:30 am and keep swimming until 8:30 AM. The first hour is at a high current rate of approximately 2 MPH and the last hour is at approximately 1 MPH. A good two hours of swim against the current. I was able to squeeze in a 2.4 mile swim on Saturday. I love knowing this is the full Ironman distance and that I was able to complete it in well under the 2:20 Kona cutoff while against the current. Coincidentally, many of the UCANDOIT team are at IM Lake Placid racing as I type this post. Their swim times were incredible... right around 60 minutes for 2.4 Miles... Once again it is good to know that the coaching comes from a foundation of recent experience.

Finishing the Swim on Saturday I faced a 4 hour bike ride. I transitioned from the swim and made it to my departure base camp ready to leave by 9 AM. Not too bad since I was out of the water and across town in 20 minutes. I had not looked at the weather assuming that it was ok. I glanced at my Iphone and saw that there was a storm coming our way. I had to make a calculated decision. It looked like the storm was set to arrive at around 3 PM and yet there were already dark clouds and the wind was picking up. Trusting the weatherman - I left for a 4 our sail. The course that I have been training on winds through eastern Culpeper. As I faced west the winds held steady making the return part of the ride smooth with the wind at my back.

Horse Country,  Culpeper County - Bike Route 

I made the first loop in 2 hours and rechecked the weather. The time had moved up and now the storm would be here by 2 PM... It would be close to get in the second loop putting me back to base camp at around 1 PM. I refilled my Speedfil hydration reservoir which was empty.  It takes two 1/2 bottles of water to fill. A pretty good hydration rate for 35 miles. I ate 1/2 of a Power Bar protein bar and took off. The wind was stronger this loop. I was surprised as I turned onto one of the west facing roads. I saw something in the road ahead of me. A car passed and it looked like there was what I thought was a dead squirrel in the road. The car passed and the wake of the car in the wind looked liked it had blown the tail in the wind. As I approached and went by, I realized what it really was, A coiled up snake that was striking at the tire of the car as it went by. It coiled up and watched me go by without striking. I was within striking distance. Country riding in rural Virginia can be interesting.

As I headed west the skies became darker and the wind increased. I was 15 minutes from my turnaround point and I had to evaluate the clouds. It looked like some of the low hills ahead were foggy and could be getting rain. I pressed forward to get a better look. At each crest I could see that there was no rain yet. I made it to the turn around and now to beat it back. I was moderately concerned...

Rain clouds over Culpeper 

 My seat began to feel hard and one of my shoes needed to be adjusted. My mind was wandering as I rode toward base camp. I had let it begin to think negative thoughts. I was thinking of pains and problems. Things changed.. I looked west as I found a clearing and the sky was dark with what looked like rain in the distance. What had been moderate interest in getting to base camp became a serious motivation. I was surprised at the reserve that I had to move through the hills with power and speed. I felt a slight increase in my heart rate but not breathless. This felt great. I crossed Mt. Pony and made it back to base camp. I lifted my bike into my SUV and closed the gate, jumped into the drivers seat and the rain came down. I had just made it. I went back to Powell Wellness Center to run the final brick of 45 minutes. A great day of work 6:30 - 2:30 and I felt like I could keep going.

The lesson this week: Training is physical and mental. I had the physical training reserves to pull from when I needed them. I needed a mental training adjustment. I had the luxury to allow a few negative thoughts drift into my thinking. I realize now that it was a waste of energy and unchecked could be a bad habit. The rain taught me a great lesson in mental discipline. I will need it at Kona.