It happens to us all. It was only a matter of time. Saturday I had my first meltdown. It was nothing spectacular. No cursing, bike throwing or crying. I felt like more of a half-assed grilled cheese without any special sauce or toppings.
Saturday morning started off well enough. I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to attack the 3100yd swim on the schedule.
w/u - 300 pull, 100k
10 x 100 (20r) - first seven z2, last three z3
20 x 50 (10r) - z2, alt each 50 with catch up and free
5 x 100 (10r) - build each to z4
c/d - 200 easy
With 2300yds
(w/u - 200 pull easy
1 x 1000; every 4th 25 fist/ 1 min rest
2 x 500/ 30 sec rest (descending and fast then 1000 split)
c/d - 100 pull easy) less then 12hrs prior, the 3100yd swim attacked my ass. There goes my bright eyes and bushy tail.
I went home and ate a solid breakfast. Took care of a few chores and got in a very short 20-30 min catnap. Enough sleep to to wake up in drool but not enough to really feel asleep at any given point. I shoveled in a few caramel rice cakes heavily coated in PB and met my friend Alanna for a ride.
The ride is where my grilled cheese got burnt. I'm trying to piece together the error of my ways and figure out what the turning point was. There are so many factors; it's hard to know if it was just one, a combination, or just a “bad day”.
Highlight/Lowlights
*There was nothing outstanding in terms of distance, time or elevation gain. 56 mi with a little over 3100ft of climbing. 2 solid 1000ft climbs w/no attacks, a lot of rolling hills and a stretch of flat land with craptastic paving. “F” you Sauvie's Island. 4Hrs w/Carnage – 3:30 pedal to the metal. Finished in low Z2 avg/ low Z3 norm avg per watts.
*For the first time in forever I hit energy lows. I was using a new bottle to hold my malto and for some reason my malto didn't mix evenly. At the end of the ride I found a clump of it stuck to the bottom. My bottle was filled with 800 kcal. I drank my 80kcal increments every 20 minutes. I wonder how much of the clump (caloric#) was stuck at the bottom. The poor mix may have made a deficit early on.
*Allergies were in fully swing. My eyes matched my red Oakley's and my nose was a snot rocket machine. H-O-T! I was careful not to hit my riding partner.
*Dark clouds taunted but the rain stayed away. My Little Hotties kept my feet toasty. For every low point I picked myself up with a positive. The weather was dry, I could feel my feet and I had a great riding partner.
*My lats ached from the swim. Aero for the 40 min loop around Sauvies hurt. A few times I sat up to stretch. They responded with a whine in the form of pain and fatigue.
*I had asthma issues. The first time in almost a year and a half. The only thing I can think that would provoke the attack was maybe my allergies combined with the climbing. I was hit the hardest during the last 1000ft climb up Germantown. In my easiest gear I struggled up that stupid road. 20 minutes uphill was not ok. My airflow was shallow. My lungs wouldn't open up enough to get a big enough breath in. It took what felt like forever to recover once I reached the top.
*Once we crest the top I asked my riding mate which way she wanted to go home. We could either take a short cut home and shave off climbing and an additional 20-30 mins, OR we could go home the way we came....which would mean more climbing and more time in the saddle. At this point I could care less what we ended up doing. I was most concerned with how she felt. She was 3 weeks post IM Australia and technically still in recovery. Miss Hello Kitty was in a much better state then I was. Her reply was that the training for her race was done. This was my training. It that was exactly what I needed to hear. I decided to HTFU and go the long way home. I can't short-cut a race now, can I?
I dug deep and managed to keep a smile even when I felt like crying. No childish bike throwing or cursing. Sometimes these are the BEST training days. Live and learn. It's good to get them out of the way before race day. So what will I do differently in the future?
1.Always carry my inhaler
2.I'm stick with my old malto bottles (they're still good :)
3.Going to experiment with my wattage range. A decreased avg might be needed. This was my first long bike after a long swim.
I'm thankful for having such an awesome riding buddy on such a challenging day.
