Saturday, August 23, 2008

It's done...

Week 1 of this set of 3 straight hard weeks is done. I am burnt toast, but I am a happy girl.

What I said I'd do this week:
Swim 7950 yds
Bike 140 miles
Run 29 miles

What I did this week:
Swim 7950 yds in 2hrs 59min
Bike 143.3 miles in 8hrs 16 min
Run 29 miles in 4 hrs 29min

I never doubted that I'd finish everything in this hard week until about mile 1.5 of the 7 mile run that followed the century today. I had to promise myself I'd stop and turnaround and go back after 3 miles, and only run 6, in order to keep going. Of course, when I got to three, I talked myself into going out another half, making 7 miles.

The century was a bitch. It wasn't really the riding of 100 miles that was hard, like it usually is in a century, but the route was just freaking hilly! Up and down and long, gradual climbing, followed by a short decent and then more long, gradual climbing. I was totally okay with it, until about about mile 90, and although I normally have a good attitude about that stuff, I just started cussin'. I couldn't help it...I kept thinking "Now I KNOW that they could have found many other roads that would get us back to the starting point that aren't this hilly!" I deemed my sister, Holly, the smartest girl alive for opting out of this one, and myself the dumbest. They even made us ride 103 miles! I did the 103 miles in 5:56. Don't get me wrong - it was a well organized, well supported ride with lots of good rest stops and friendly volunteers...so I'm not knocking the ride...just knocking myself at letting it kick my booty. And I kinda goofed on the nutrition thing, too. Chalk it up to cockiness...I thought I'd just go out and ride and run without a plan, just eat when I wanted and not worry about it. Dumb idea. There's a certain amount (can't remember it off the top of my head, need to go back and look it up on here) of calories that I need to take in during long rides to feel like I've got optimum energy. I didn't get it today, and it got hot and muggy by the end, and I still had to run to 7 miles. I took off for the 7 without a lick of anything to drink or eat, and nearly dried up and turned into a pillar of salt before I found a flower shop with a nice lady outside who offered to let me go in and get water from her cooler. I finished the 7 miles , just glad to be alive, in 1:11:25...a whopping 10:20 pace. Not happy about that, but I learned the lesson (again): Pay attention to nutrition or pay for it dearly.

I showered and got my cool long-sleeve t-shirt, then went through the line to get my food. I got spaghetti, salad and cookies. I sat down to eat them and couldn't choke it down. It looked great, I just couldn't stomach it right then. I finally got a few noodles down before I gave up and went on my way in search of a gas station to get some chocolate milk. I downed the chocolate milk and felt better immediately. Another lesson learned: Take your protein shake mix or recovery drink to things like this in the event you can't eat the food afterwards.

So...a big deposit in the Ironman bank, finishing up with a great 100m ride/7m run brick. Now, it's time to get some rest and get recovered...I have another hard week starting tomorrow.

10 comments:

Holly Jane said...

Congratulations to an androme/unbelievable week of Ironman training. It takes an ironman to go this distance. I am so impressed! Way to go Tiger!

Anonymous said...

Well done! One hard week down. Enjoy you day off, relax and have fun.

IronTriTim said...

Its great to get that first tough week done, well done and keep it up for the next 2.
Nice job on the bricks.

Michele said...

that is a great deposit in the ironman bank.
I am glad I skipped the HOT100, if you thought it was a lot of climbing it would have killed me!!

TJ said...

Awesome day of training. Way to get it done.

triguyjt said...

very darn consistent...

the im bank is overflowing with lana workout cash..great job

SingletrackJenny (formerly known as IronJenny) said...

Well done Lana!!!!

tri-mama said...

Great job! Not to distract you too much-but have you thought about your 2009 calender yet :-) (check your facebook)

Wes said...

That's a great round of training. YOu are proceeding along just amazingly :-) A valuable lesson learned, ignore nutrition at our own peril!!

Rae said...

Wow, great job! I'd love to see a total of all the training miles at the end of the Ironman training! I bet it's INSANE!