Weekend Recap

Lessons on Suntan Lotion
Lesson 1: There will always be a spot you can’t reach and end up missing. Sometimes this spot will be very small (see my thin red line post). Other times you won’t be so lucky. Like my left shoulderblade on Saturday… holy… cow…
Lesson 2: A 2XU one piece tri suit will not necessarily stop the sun from getting through the outfit and giving you a burn and leaving a silly looking pattern on your back. Just like the one on my right side during my ride on Saturday.

I volunteered with the BTC at the Bike Aid Station for the Boulder Peak this Sunday, which was a lot of fun, although I’m thinking of complaining to organizer Barry Siff about some smart aleck pro who squirted me with a water bottle and rode off laughing like Bugs Bunny (what a stinker!)… ;-)

After the race I got in my swim for the day, which was pretty close to a disaster. I felt tired in the pool and sure enough I was 5-10 seconds off my normal pace per 50 yards. Yikes! Why was I dragging butt? My first thought was being over trained, though the prior Sunday I had a great swim the day after a 60 mile ride, whereas this time it was after a 48-50 mile ride. I excluded that for the moment. I had been cycling quite a bit that morning as well, out to the Aid station and back was close to 28 miles, but I hadn’t felt weary in my legs and took it pretty easy on both trips and was certainly well hydrated. I think the big thing was that two of the last three nights I hadn’t gotten sufficient sleep. Thursday night I had gone to a midnight showing of the Dark Knight at IMAX and Saturday night I had tossed and turned for most of the night for some reason, then had to wake up early to get out to the aid station by 7.
So, for the time being, I’m putting the poor performance down to that, but I was mid-workout, what should I do? I didn’t think trying to force the workout was a good idea, but I didn’t want to just give up on it either. Finally, I decided to just accept that my pace was going to be awful and just try to keep my form as clean as possible and finish up the workout. There are going to be race days when I feel sluggish in the water, this was an opportunity to prepare for that eventuality. So, I stopped my watch (just knowing it was running would cause me to push, at least subconsciously) and finished up the workout. I can’t say I felt great when it was over, but I didn’t feel awful either.
I’ll certainly bear the sluggish workout in mind for the next few days and if it happens again, talk to mark and see what he recommends (which would probably be trimming back a little).

The weekend wrapped up with a BTC Barbecue featuring Bison burgers, bocce ball and booze.