It's Sunday afternoon. The weather is beautiful. Sun is shining. Wind is dying. Ocean is still and majestic. Today is the day I cap off my impromptu Florida Training Camp with the biggest day of all. And yet, my legs just won't go. Stick a fork in me, I'm done. From the morning's short swim, I knew today was going to be a challenge. But alas, 5 run miles at recovery pace are enough to let me know that I'm not biking any more than a recovery ride today.
So what happened? Was it from Thursday's big century brick? How did my legs handle that? Well to my surprise, the answer was quite well. The 45 mile bike ride Friday morning seemed very short compared to the previous day and was quite easy up until the final few miles where I started to get really hungry (a common occurrence, despite the vast quantities of food consumed each day). In fact, the run that evening was quite impressive. After warmup, I held 7:20/mi pace at an aerobic heart rate for the last 5+ miles of the run. Considering I had previously needed to be fairly fresh just to hold around 8:10/mi. pace for an aerobic heart rate and had been running most of my miles in a recovery zone around 8:40/mi. because my legs simply weren't able to go faster, this was quite the experience! Knocking around a minute per mile off run pace overnight is something that feels very very strange, and is extremely encouraging! After this day's workouts, I figured I was ready for a big weekend.
So what happened Saturday? The day's plan was a simple ride 80 and run 5. What went wrong? Well it was 6:30 AM and I was at the trailhead meeting up with the local Subaru cycling team for`a nice 3-4 hour base training ride, meaning easy and relaxed. With guys from the Cat 2 level to the Cat 4 level, I figured it shouldn't be too strenuous. And some of it, most of it, was nice and easy. In fact several times I decided to ride out front for awhile so I could go at my own relaxed pace. However, when riding with a big group of racers, there are always those moments where... EVERYONE takes off. The need for speed is often too great with so many capable riders that have been held back for so long while building base mileage. And so what am I to do? Sit there and let them leave me behind? I think not! And so I chase. And chase. And chase some more... but since the lead guys are putting out 500+ watts of power, I'm not catching. It might seem like I am at times, but I'm certain I'm not. All the while I'm trying to stay within myself as we still have a couple hours left to ride. And I do. In fact, I feel quite fine once they slow a little and I finally catch up. And that's when we hit the climb (rather big hill for anyone else not from Florida). Ok, NOW this hurts a bit. I have no problem letting everyone else go. But then I recover. And, of course, we have several more impromptu bursts of power like that one, often involving good size hills, where I, of course, am ready and waiting for the challenge. I've already got one taste of some high output excitement and I want more! But soon it is over as we only end up riding around 60 miles. No problem. I feel fine. I'll just go grab another 20 as soon as I throw some clothes on and... uh oh, I can't kkeeepp wwaarrmmm. I now realize that the temp had dropped all the way down to 50ish degrees while riding instead of warming up into the 70's like I had dressed for. Since Branson, I am now much more keen in recognizing the early signs of hypothermia. I'm not doing anything until I warm up good. And maybe take a nap too.
And that's when it happens. My legs let me know the full extent of all of those power bursts. They do not move. I can't get out of the bed. But, if I can't finish up the other 20 miles biking I had planned, I better at least get those 5 run miles in before it gets dark. So I gulp down a bunch more calories and get to my recovery pace, struggling the whole while, but making it. And effectively ending training camp mode, as it is now time to step down into recovery from all this workload. And to get ready to ramp things up again for, hopefully, even bigger workouts and even bigger results!
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