Flying Solo

Let me just say this- I love my training partners! They are awesome. They are reliable. They are dedicated. They are consistent. And they are strong.

But let's face it, when you're doing an Ironman, even though you are surrounded by fellow competitors, you are out there alone. Given that, it's good to know that you can spend hours and hours and hours (and more hours) alone with yourself while riding and running.

So to prove to myself that I could indeed spend so much time with myself, I did my long brick solo today. And you know what? It was awesome.

Part of my enjoyment of the training day was simply the fact that I just love training right now. But another part of it was that it was really pretty darn nice to not have to chase anyone on the bike. There's something to be said for going your own pace sometimes. So while chasing those guys around all spring/summer has made me quite strong on the bike, being able to ride long without redlining myself in the first 30 miles was great.

And guess what? When I don't redline early on, I'm stronger in the end! Huh. Who wouldda guessed? ;) I saved the 3 x 10 minute hard intervals for the last hour of the ride, did them into the wind, and felt super.

Off the bike, onto the run. Jen told me to run an hour today, which is only about 20 minutes longer than I usually go, but somehow it felt daunting. Maybe it was the anticipation of the 4 x 2 minutes HARD I was supposed to do toward the end? Seriously, who runs intervals at the end of a long brick run???

Um, I do!

I did an out and back route that usually takes me right about an hour, sometimes just a bit over. Downhill to start, which was nice while I was getting my legs back after that ride. Then I was running right along the ocean. Kam Highway isn't exactly Ali'i Dr, but I pretended it was today as I was running and enjoying the scenery. I didn't feel like I was pushing the pace at all, but I got to my turn-around in 29:17. Hmmm. Maybe a little too fast? Maybe I'm screwed and will end up walking home since it's mostly uphill going back.

Turn around, start my intervals. I was pleasantly surprised that when I wanted my feet to turn over faster, they did! And I was even more pleasantly surprised at the end of the run when I saw 58:16 on my watch. Seriously? I negative split that run? Uphill coming home? I've never done that on this route. Ever.

So I was extremely pleased today with how all the training is coming together. 4 weeks from right now I'll be done with the Hawaii Ironman (um, I hope!!). Not sure what I'm going to do with myself when this is all over? Start sleeping in I suppose. And stop using up all the ice in the freezer as fast as the poor little ice-maker can produce it. Scott will appreciate that. :)