Darby Day

Tropical Storm Darby interrupted most outdoor plans today.

To be fair, I prob would have ridden inside even if it was dry, but the storm coming in made the trainers in the CT studio more coveted than normal. As soon as it was announced (on Friday) that the local Tinman Triathlon was postponed because of the storm, my phone went off with text and private FB messages asking if there were trainer spots available. My early morning session sold out within an hour but no worries Ben scheduled in another session right after ours so everyone who wanted to ride had the chance. :)

Fun session this morning too. Basically I wanted us to do something that included ~60 min accumulated time spent somewhat above IM race effort... Went (basically) with a main set of 5x12min on 4min rest but broke them up and tried them to keep them interesting by varying the efforts. Essentially:

~2x (6min ramp 75-90%)
~4min easy
~2x (4min 80%/2min 95%)
~4min easy
~12min ramp 80-95%
~4min easy
~2x (5min 80%/1min 105%)
~4min easy
~6x (2min hill 3% grade/1min easy)

The result was my power profile looking like this...

I felt strong/solid but was sweating up a storm. I'm not kidding, even with air conditioning and a fan pointed right at me, afterward I went outside to wring out my big cotton/terry cloth towel. It was gross. I have to say though, will all this time sitting on a trainer, my Coeur shorts have been KEY.  I've turned some of the other girls onto them as well. #noangrykitty

Followed the ride with a 4 mile run. My goal was just to click off 9min pace, and I did that, but it felt harder than I was hoping it would. I didn't wear a HR monitor but it just felt like a bigger effort than what I could hold for 26 miles off a 112 mile ride. So I think a 4 hour marathon on Saturday is rather unrealistic! My thought, really, is that I will run without a watch and go by feel because I think I am quite good at knowing what is a sustainable effort vs what is not, and I don't want to piss myself off by looking at numbers that I don't like.

I spent much of the rest of the day tracking Ironman races (GO ANN MARIE!!!!) and answering emails and being trapped under my cat. Sort of perfect way to spend a stormy Sunday.