Tucson Smashfest Update!

Ok I don't even know where to start here?? First off, I'm on my iPad and don't have pictures so sorry about that- go see Hillary's blog for pictures... She's been snapping plenty! And Damie has some on her blog too so go look there (and sorry I'm too lazy to link those as well- cut me some slack I'm working my tail off and I'm tired! :)

Tucson has been great so far. A bit cold for my liking but I compensate by cranking the heat in my hotel room. It's like 80+ degrees in here so I'm comfortable. I'm borrowing lots of cold weather cycling gear too. This morning Damie said something about how she's going to be wearing the same dirty tights every day. I responded that I would be wearing the same dirty BORROWED tights every day!! Mahalo to Kris who was smart enough to bring an extra pair and gracious enough let me use them all weekend.

So blah blah blah.... Yesterday we rode for a long time and climbed a ridiculous mountain that for which my flat lander gearing on my TT bike was completely inappropriate. Hillary said those last 3 miles of Madera Canyon were the steepest we would ride this weekend which was a bit of a relief... Then of course this morning she reneged that and said that the back of Gates Pass might actually be steeper than Madera Canyon but that it would be ok because it was shorter. So my kneecaps might be ready to pop off but I have a new all time high max power output from this morning just from hoisting my bad self over that hill in my 39/23.

Tomorrow we ride Mt Lemmon which of course I have never done and even though Hillary says I'll be fine in my 23 I'm not sure I believe her? She's crazier than I thought. BUT she is teaching us all that we are capable of way more than we ever thought we were. That's probably the biggest take home from this Smashfest weekend and it's a fabulous lesson.

Today we did the epic 100x100's in the pool. Hillary assigned lanes for everyone and wrote workouts for each lane... Except ours which she said she would make up as we went along, which I took to mean that she was going to wait and see how far off the back I fell prior to randomly assigning intervals for the sets. Prior to getting in I couldnt really tell her my send-off times for SCY because I haven't swam short course in so long I really didn't know? So here's how it went down:

15x100's easy @1:30 straight into 15x100's @1:30 bands only. I actually did just fine on those and even with the bands was getting plenty of rest. I think this gave Hillary some extra confidence in my swimming ability so she dreamed up the next part of the set...

24x100's done like this: 4x (2 @ 1:25, 2 @ 1:20, 2 @ 1:15). So that was pretty much a 2400 straight fartlek swim where I got a little rest sometimes. Turns out 1:15 is a tough interval for me to make even when I'm drafting.

So after that set, 5400 yards in, I asked Hillary of we could maybe not do any more on 1:15. She countered: What if we use paddles? You can do 1:15 with paddles! Then she said how about we do 3x (5 @ 1:25, 5 @ 1:15) with PBB. My turn to counter: How about 3x (6 @ 1:25 and 4 @ 1:15)? She countered again and we came to an agreement...

30 x 100's PBB 2x (6 @ 1:25, 4 @ 1:20, 2 @ 1:15) then 2,2,2 at 1:25/1:20/1:15.
Done. Mind you, Maik was silent through this whole negotiating process and ready to do whatever was decided upon. Short story. I drafted. I made it. And I decided that I am faster and stronger than I thought I was! So that was cool.

Then we did 10 more bands only @1:30 and I swear I am not even exaggerating when I say that was the easiest part of the workout. A least I was getting a full 10" rest after each one. :) Last 6 were just mixed stroke and kicking c/d. Pau! I drafted Hillary and Maik for that whole damn swim and did not get dropped and it was just a huge mental breakthrough for me. Buck up... Check!

Afterward we cheered on everyone else as they were finishing up and then I awarded Damie the first BSC swim cap for that swim- she doubled her longest swim ever today and felt the same confidence boost I did. See Facebook for pictures of the BSC caps!

Anyway, this mama needs to massage her legs and get to sleep. I think tomorrow is like a 5ish hour brick then Monday is a long run 18-20 miles. Smashfest. Love it!!!!!!!