Week 27 - Nothing Goes Down Like a Cold Dead Frog After 180K Bike Ride

What a great week I had last week! Despite being a bit tired from the challenge, the week was easy enough to recover but hard enough not to go backwards. I completed all my workouts ok, feeling like I still had something left in me too push harder or do more than what was on the program. But I controlled myself and stuck to the plan. This Ironman fitness, once it kicks in makes you feel like you are invincible and I must watch out for that and not get carried away. At the weeks's end though, I was ansy and ready to go out on the longest bike ride of the year. 180K! However I had to work the night before and was very happy when my boss allowed me to start earlier and leave earlier that night. That allowed me to go straight to Nanaimo to my Coache's place with some friends to spend the night before heading off on the ride the next morning. We arrived there at approx. 9:30 pm and I got my foamy mattress out and set it in the basement. After an hour or so of gabbing with friends, it was time to hit the sack to get an early start. That night I slept like a rock, waking up refreshed and rairing to go. At 6:00am the next morning I had a healthy bowl of oats, banana, and peanut butter sandwich and got my gear ready. We headed off for the starting point near Coombs for an 8:00am start. However BOO BOO! I forgot my gel flasks but managed to find enough and borrow some to get me through the ride. With the help of another P&J sandwich of course.

My friend Bob was feeling on top of the world that day and he was determined to keep up with fellow cyclist and triathlete Graham who would be one of the fastest riders in the group. So be it! I was not there to go into a race so I was going to keep back with July and Gerry and Barb, a couple of triathletes who were more to my pace.

We started off fairly easy then the front group decided to start playing Cat and Mouse. Let them go I told myself but inwardly, felt like taking off with them. But again, self discipline took over my brain and kept the pace down with my other friends. What beautiful countryside we rode in! There was quite a bit of traffic but we managed to stay safe and at a good pace. A couple of hydrating spots where Al, my coach was there with his van with all our nutritional needs in it. The whole ride went well, and I drank and took my gels on time everytime. I ended up leading most of the way but I was ok with that. I had no cramps and ended the ride feeling really good. As a bonus, my and my other gal friend who was also in the 60 year age group decided to do an extra 5 km's just because we wanted to show off for those fast guys. HeHe. We ended up with 186 kms altogether. BOO BOO again! I was going to go for a bit of a brick run but forgot my running shoes at the house. Oh well! I knew I could run very well after a bike ride so that did not bother me. That night we stayed at my Coach's place to celebrate his 50'th Birthday and had a grand time. As soon as we got back from the ride, I downed a couple of Cold Dead Frogs. Sweet! They went straight to my brain and had to stop at two until I ate a shitload full of Hors Douvres and fantastic home made lasagnia. What a feast. When I finally got home that night, I slept so soundly again that a bomb could of gone off and I would not have heard it.

The next day I went for a 12K run on my tired legs and did not feel too bad at all. A bit low on energy but the muscles in the legs felt great! On Monday, I met up with my Tri friends again and we went for a 4k Swim. Disaster! I completed the first loop of the lake and felt exhausted! I decided to let the rest of the group go and just relaxed to catch my breath. I then decided to not kick at all anymore, point my toes and stroke. That seemed to work as all of a sudden my roll was smoother and better, I was more relaxed and efficient and not gasping for breath anymore. I ended up doing the second loop of the lake much faster and felt good about that. That's it! That is the way and style that I would practice swimming from now on. If I can just remember what I did........

Anyway all in all it was a fantastic week and I sure am looking forward to an easy recovery week with reduced mileage this week. The only hard stuff will be my longest run of 32K. Piece of cake! I can handle that. Rock on! Ribbit!