A for Effort, A- for Completion

This past weekend was it - THE long weekend of training. THE weekend that everyone says once you complete it you feel ready for Ironman. Yes, it was the 20(mile run)/120(mile bike) weekend.

I had discussed the training for this weekend with both Coach Ed and PT Kerry. Because I have been sidelined with that stupid injury I've been lacking in the distance training. The longest I've run is 15 miles (back in April), recently 13.1 during races. For riding, the longest EVER was 90 miles, again back in April I was concerned about going the full 20/120 without building up to it. Coach Ed recommended running in 1 hour increments up to 3 hours (at my pace that would be a close to 16 miles). For the bike he recommended going for the 62 mile loop, then the 30, then add an out & back to get to around 100 miles (if I was feeling up to it). And Kerry agreed with these parameters.

I listened. Really I did. But then I did what I felt I was up to.

Saturday - Due to some delays and road blocks, Jason and I ended up running from Hain's Point - our typical National Mall routes. We had a plan of running for 4 hours. I made it to about 3 1/4 hours when I started to notice my tendon and decided once I got back to the car I was done for the day. In the end, I ran for 3 1/2 hours and covered about 17.5 miles. Jason continued to run for the full 4 hours - way to go bud!

Off to the Italian Store for subs, then I headed to Dude's 7-year old nephews birthday party (Love those boys but Oh. My. Dear. God. Not recommended after a long run!), then another birthday party which I left early cause I was sleepy!

Sunday - Instead of doing the team ride, we went out to the Cambridge, MD to ride the Eagleman course. This would give us a flat ride, plus we could cheer on fellow teammates racing in the event. We did our first 50 mile loop in the reverse direction as the race and finished in under three hours ride time. Quick refill and headed out for the second 50 mile loop, this time in the direction of the race. UGH! Headwinds. For about 20 miles. Got back to the beginning of the loop and Robin called it quits. Her knee was bothering her but a HUGE congrats goes out to her - this was her FIRST ride over 70 miles!!!. I really wanted to get the additional 20 miles in so Jason and I headed back out. We only did an additional 11 miles though - it had been a long day and Jason just wanted to stop. Oh well, 111 miles - still a record for me.

So, the agenda called for 140 miles, I put in 128.5. That's 91.8% of the workout and in most colleges, that equates to an A-. I'm good with that. Most importantly - I really do feel ready for IMS and I'm looking toward 12 July with excitement not trepidation!

As a follow-up - Monday I wasn't sore but I was EXHAUSTED. I worked from home and napped for about 5 hours off and on. I was worried about not being able to sleep Monday night, but 8 hours later I was refreshed. Now it's 7 hours since I woke up and I could use a nap!