Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Final Prep for Mach Tenn

Ok, I'm getting over losing the Garmin now. I am researching the 305 but won't allow myself to buy it for a long time. I am going to make myself suffer through a probation period to see if I can start taking better care of my goods. I found the Ironman watch at amazon.com though, for like $32...so I did order it. I can't be completely without a timer!!!!!

I've been trying to have fairly solid, but not overly tiring workouts this week. Monday I ran 5 miles in 44:57 (8:57 pace - cool with me).

Tuesday I biked during my lunch break - 18.39 miles in 59:45 - 18.5 mph average. This was a good ride. As I got started my legs burned and I thought "Oh man...I'm not gonna be able to do this..." as I panted heavily from a high heart rate. After a few miles I quit worrying about the burn, and before I knew it I was at the halfway point. When I got there I looked at my averages and realized I was having a good ride and feeling great...so when did the pain turn into rockin' and rollin' with the pedals???? I find that very interesting. Thinking back to the CTS dvd I do on my trainer, Charmichael talks about burning the lactic acid out of your legs early in the ride. I think that may be what was going on, and probably explains the initial burn followed by a good, solid ride. That's cool, I guess.

And this morning (Wednesday) was my last "hard" workout of the week, as I will start resting up for the Mach Tenn Triathlon that will start at 8 a.m. this Saturday. I met Michele at 5:15 at what will be the transition area Saturday. We rode the bike course in around an hour, having to stop twice because we each had our chain to come off and couldn't get it back on. Mine was a real mess, and when I finally got it back on I couldn't even change my front gears. GREAT!! The good news is that we were less than a quarter mile from being finished when that happened. I guess I'll just take it MOAB Friday morning and get them to look at it - it probably needs a tune up anyways. So then we put on our running shoes, tried out my new Apple Cinnamon Hammer Gels (not too bad...I was able to consume half of it as I tried to convince myself it was apple pie filing) and took off for the 4 mile run course. I wore my new Mizuno Wave Elixir's with my new Yanks! laces in them. The Wave Elixir is supposed to be a lightweight trainer, so I thought they would work out well as my Triathlon racing shoes. I felt suprisingly well for pretty much the entire run. It didn't take long for my legs to adjust, and I was able to keep my heart rate down fairly well as Michele kept assuring me that we running around an 8:15 pace (she's the only one with a Garmin now). We finished the run in 32:38 and jumped in the lake to cool off. WOW! Last year, during the tri, my 4 mile time was 33:45. So I was extremely pleased with this time. This was the one leg that I wasn't sure I'd see any improvement in. Very encouraging.

I'll be swimming in the morning and resting on Friday. And obsessing about things I can do to improve my time....

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

i was touched, and moved, by your garmin story. i would like to pledge $100 toward getting you a new one.

Afternoon Tea With Oranges said...

Do I not have the BEST DAD EVER!?!?!?!?!

$100 sure helps to ease some of the pain!!!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Daddy!!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I am really touched by that $100 pledge also! What a cool dad we have!!!!!
Holly

Michele said...

Will you please tell your dad about my phone, maybe he will be touched and moved for me too!!!!

Janet Edwards said...

Agghhh, what a great dad...dad's rule!! At any rate, it sounds like you are ready to go for your Tri!! Best of luck to you!!

Anonymous said...

i am touched, michele, but not yet "moved" by your loss. LOL

Rae said...

Sweet dad!! Will you tell him how we want a new house and maybe he can throw some bucks that way too?? Maybe a cute picture of Pippin would help!

Good luck this weekend, you are going to do GREAT!!!!

Scott said...

Rest well today and race hard tomorrow! Best of luck. I look forward to reading your results.