08/12/07: 1HappyAthlete Blog History

Let me start off by making 1happyathlete blog history:

My favorite workout this weekend was the swim.....

Print that statement and frame it, because there's a pretty good chance that you'll never see that here again.

Yip that's right, me who despises swimming so much and usually is just trying to survive in the water enjoyed the swim this weekend. How could that be you ask? Simple, it's the only time this weekend that it wasn't unbelievably, unbearably hot!

Sat morning had a 2.25 zone 3 run scheduled. After the last couple weeks nightmarish runs, I was really hoping for a good run this week, especially since it's my strongest sport (notice I said strongest, not fastest).

Friday night I thought to myself that I wanted to start running before sunup to beat the heat. Good plan...didn't happen....

I started my run at 8:30 out at the beach, which still wasn't too bad. The first half hour or so went great. I was running 9 something pace, keeping my hr nice and low, planning on doing a negative split. Then as the heat increased, so did my hr, straight through zones 2 and 3 into zone 4.

At this point I had two choices: walk yet again, or suck it up and keep training. This time I chose to suck it up and train through my high heart rate. Thank god for my camelback and lava salts.

I went through twice as much water as I normally would, having to stop and refill a little over half way through, which I've never had to do before....Speaking of - thanks to the girl at the Marriott who gave me a key to the exercise room to refill with cold water....She gets my good samaritan award this week.....

I got in 13.19 miles in 2.25 hours, for an average pace of 10:14. As brutal as the run was, I was thrilled to get in a run without having to stop and walk every minute like the last couple of weeks.

Sat afternoon getting in the pool was a welcome break from the heat. I only had an hour before the pool closed, so managed to get in 2200 yds:

200 swim kick pull warmup

200 tennis ball drill

200 swim

10 ebeh (easy, build, easy, hard)

200 cd

As tired as I've been from working out in the lovely North Florida summer, I had a feeling today's ride was going to be tough....I was right.....

Today I did manage to start my 4 hour ride right at sunup. The ride was a zone 2 ride, which was never a problem. My heart rate stayed pretty low all day, completely the opposite of yesterday's run.

It was great starting so early...it was only in the 70's...which didn't last very long, but was nice for a little bit. I tried something new nutrition wise....

I cut down on the lava salts a bit, since perpetuem already has an electolyte profile, and instead of gels tried uncrustables on the ride....both mistakes.....I bonked with about a 1/2 hour to go...that last 1/2 hour seemed to take forever. Next week it's back to gels every 45 minutes and 2 lava salts per hour.....stick with what works. During the ride I went through two bottles of perpetuem (4 scoops each) and 3 uncrustables + almost three liters of water.

Overall the ride went well, and I love the new bike!! The ride ended up being 72.21 miles in 4:14, for an average of 17.06 mph. Not exactly fast, but I can live with it, especially given the condition of my legs from yesterday's run.

After the ride I got in my obligatory post ride run. A short and very much forced 15 minute run, mainly to keep getting used to running on VERY tired legs.

After some recoverite and a LONG nap, I'm looking forward to tonight's red meat binge at Tento, our local Churrascaria, to celebrate my birthday with a truly wonderful woman.....yes, I'm of course talking about Lori.....and tomorrow's well deserved day off.

Stay tuned for the week in review and an important blog announcement :)

Live with purpose....Enjoy the Adventure....