T37 - Nothing Like Tasting Tobasco Vomit - Bike/Run Brick

Gainesville

So I learned from my mistakes. After that long swim last night all I ate was the aforementioned Muscle Milk shake and some microwave popcorn, causing me to go to bed so hungry I couldn't sleep. So I got out of bed at 4 and had a bagel with peanut butte,r which seemed to do the trick. I had wanted to knock this workout out earlier (like 1 or so) but realized I was gonna need some real food before I could do what was essentially the back 2 legs of an Olympic-Distance triathlon. So when I went to buy gels today I stopped at Publix and got myself a half a pound of turkey and a sourdough baguette, which I then covered in my traditional Tobasco/Cajun spices mix. This was both a good and terrible idea.

Bike: 2 Hours small chainring work

2 Lipodrene
Trevor once told me there is absolutely no reason to ever use your small ring in Florida. And not that I'm one ever to be called out by stuff like that, but I was called out on that one. I have not used my small ring except on the trainer since the Escape to Miami, where I had forgotten to switch it back after my last trainer workout before I left and changed it back as soon as I could get it to. I can't even tell you when the last time I used it in training, outside of California. Maybe last summer on Mt. Miami. At any rate, I told the small ring to go fuck itself today, despite what my training card said.

And this is where I was reminded of that old Marine Corps saying "Hard is just a 4-letter word for stupid." For some reason, I just couldn't get it going on the bike, possibly because I'd done a 50-mile ride less that 48 hours earlier. The first half was just labored the whole way, as I was beginning to convince myself Hawthorne had a lot more hills than it let on. This was, again, until I hit the turnaround. I made it 17.3 miles in the first hour, not a good pace at all.

The way back was a different story. I was going 20-21 most of the time on the flatlands the whole ride back, and it literally felt like a completely different ride. Though I don't know that I shoulda done the small ring the whole time (where's the training value in THAT?) maybe the way down it would have been a good idea. The ride back was fantastic as I spent a good deal of it in aero and made it back in under two hours(1:57) despite taking 1:01:30 to get to halfway. I was happy.

But I didn't make it to the end of Hawethorne and got incredibly thirsty. The salty turkey and Tobasco has something to do with this, as I was through 2 bottles before I even got a quarter of the way back. I'm going to consider a third bottle. I also took 2 gels on the ride, as I am becoming very disciplined about this given how lethargic I seem to get when I don't/ Oh, and all that spicy food for lunch? Didn't help the reflux, I was belching up, borderline vomiting, Tobasco sauce and sour cream and onion chips for most of the ride. So the food helped, but maybe I gotta pick something milder next time. My stomach didn't hurt, but that taste is not one you like to have coming up when you're trying to hammer down.

Run: 50 Minutes

I took another gel with me to take at the 15 minute mark as, minus my 8-minute transition, this would have been the logical time to take another one. I started out with some good strides and made it to about the stadium before I started getting really choppy. There were a ton of people out running today, and you really never realize how slow you are going until a group of black middle school girls passes you. And these were not like mini version of the Williams Sisters. These were like mini versions of girls you see on the Maury show. Actually, now that I think about it, a lot of those people are about the same age as these girls. Anyway, the point is at the halfway point (which I also use as my 45-minute halfway point but I knew I was slow today) I knew I was doggin in. No excuse really except that it was exceptionally humid. Gonna have to get used to these long bricks.

Once I hit the stadium I was able to stride it back pretty well. the run was not fantastic, but was a decent confidence booster after what I felt like was a strong biking effort for the previous hour.

I am running out of Lipodrene. We may have our first ephedra-free workout sometime next week. That's gonna suck. Thank God its recovery week. I'm also looking ahead and trying to figure out how August training is gonna work. That's a HUGE month and I"m only home for 10 days. Definitely gonna have to sit down and figure out what I"m gonna do where. The bike will be tough. I can rent one in Kona, for sure. And maybe in Charlottesville or something. But I don't really wanna ship my bike to PIttsburgh. We shall see.