The Big Day

My plan was to have a big training day today. But then yesterday I was clearly super tired so I thought maybe it would be better to scrap the big day and just swim/rest instead. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but figured I would swim and see how that went and then just take it from there.

Swim went well! Easy w/u 8:11/8:03 then Mark and I did a main set of progressive 200's that I love. I used paddles.

4x200s@3:10
100 easy
3x200's @3:05
100 easy
2x300's @3:00
100 easy
1x200 MAX

I told Mark we start strong but leave some room to get faster. First one came in at 2:55 which honestly I thought was a pacing mistake (too fast!) but it felt controlled so ok let's see if I can hold that. I did and went 2:55, 55, 54 for the next 3 before we got a little break. Set of 3 off 3:05 we managed a nice descend 2:52/51/50. 2 off 3:00 we held 2:48 for both. Last one max effort 2:43 left me shaking for probably 30min post swim. So I guess 2:55 wasn't too fast to start today after all! I was pretty stoked about that swim and I gave myself a green light to proceed with my big day.

After swim all I did was eat and walk Maia (then eat again!) then I was off on my bike. I rode for just over 5 hours (as I felt no garmin). Found some hills to climb and overall pretty happy with how that went. I've been riding a lot but I haven't been riding long so I was a bit nervous about that. Based on how I felt today though I think riding 5x/week with a long ride of only 4 hours might actually be enough for me- like I can get away with doing it that way vs putting in the really long 100 mile rides? In the last 1/2 hour today I put in a 7min climbing effort in my big ring- cadence was prob ~50-55rpm... I was actually trying to see if I could make my legs cramp but they didn't. I drank 10 bottles today (it was hot/sunny) but never peed. I think that amount of fluid was about right though (certainly not too much anyway) because I finished feeling good. And in a very pleasant surprise, at a 7/11 stop an older man pointed out that they were giving away free slurpees today so... #yesplease! That seriously hit the spot.

I got home and had enough time to drink a recovery shake, take a quick shower, eat a bit more, then pack up a ton of shit before going to pick up Moana. While I was out riding Ozzie (our oldest cat) apparently caught/ate a bird, which I figured out because he left a bunch of its feathers on our bathroom rug.  Actually what caught my eye was all the chicken feed all over the rug. That bird must have been having a feast in our backyard when he got caught by the cat because there was a ton of chicken feed in its belly. Ozzie ate the entire bird minus the feathers and the contents of its stomach. So yeah. I didn't have time to deal with that so I just folded up the whole rug and took it outside. #damncat

Moana and I hung out and played in a park for an hour or so then she had her kids triathlon training session tonight in Kailua (super cute to watch these little kids practice flying mounts and dismounts on the bikes!). So while she did that I went running. My thought was that I would feel like absolute crap but it would be good mental training to run when I didn't feel like running, but damn if I didn't feel quite good? Shocking. I took care to just jog (with all of Moana's triathlon stuff I had to pack I forgot to bring my garmin) so the effort was really relaxed but I'm sure I progressed it a bit. Not having a garmin was probably a blessing in disguise tonight because I might have ended up racing myself some had I had numbers to look at. I think the key to feeling good tonight was that I fueled/hydrated really well all day, and the sun was not beating down on me. That makes a huge difference. HUGE.

Anyway. So 7+ hours training today. I'm not sure I've ever had a training day that long? I would not do that on a weekend or even a normal week day because it's too much time away from my family, but today it worked b/c Moana had her summer camp thing all day then the evening triathlon practice so I could get all that in without really putting anyone out. And I know I have several athletes who are going to send me an email tomorrow morning begging me to put The Big Day on their schedules (I know who you are and yes you can do it at some point!). #teamBSC It really was a fun day and since (except for the swim) it was really just aerobic volume, I don't think it'll take me too long to recover from. That said, tomorrow will be a recovery day just a walk in the woods with Maia on tap. :)