50 Miles & Then Some

Rolling roads of Santiago Canyon (not my photo)

Everything in the land of triathlon becomes doubled. If you can do a sprint, you can do an olympic distance. If you can do an olympic, then surely you can do a half Ironman. Once you've gone that far, why not?! Go big or go home! You can totally do a full IM. This type of rationalizing is what my brain subjects my body to. It's exactly why I said, "A 50 mile bike ride? Sure, sounds like a great idea" even though I've previously ridden only 25 miles. 25, 50, whatever, right?

One of my favorite quotes is, "If you're going to doubt something, doubt your limits". Every day this phrase rings true for me. Who am I to judge what I can and cannot do? I have proven my internal naysayer wrong too many times. I have learned to approach life as openly as possible. Having no clue what 50 miles would be like, I cannot say whether I can or cannot do it. The worst case scenario? I have to stop and have the guys come get me. The cost? A little pride. That being the worst outcome, I agreed and we headed out last Saturday.

We started on El Toro Road next to the toll road and headed out around the backside of the hills on Santiago Canyon. It was cloudy, cool and everything was verdant green from the rains the night before. Doing any ride for the first time is the most difficult. Not knowing the terrain means I don't always time my shifting and energy expenditure correctly and wear myself out. The first half of the ride went beautifully and I found out that the half way point was just about at my mom's house!

The second half of the ride was okay. I did better than I thought up until the last quarter of the ride. Every hill just started to suck. Even the little hills. I finally pedaled back into the parking lot where Adam was waiting for me and I dismounted my bike in a low-blood sugar rage and swore that I was NOT going on the run afterwards. Turns out I needed one more bottle of water and one more package of food on the ride. The moment I ate, I felt worlds better, slipped on my running shoes and headed out with the guys on a run. Note to self: bring more food and water!

Most surprisingly was that my legs were just a little stiff the next day. I forced myself to take two days off and went back at it this morning with a swim/ride session and felt great! Another good weekend enjoying feeling healthy, positive and on track. You never know what you are capable of until you try!!

Thoughts

1.) A rabbit almost took me out whilst contemplating his own suicide this morning on the Back Bay trail in the dark. From now on I'm using the expression, "like a rabbit in headlights" in lieu of deer.

2.) Saturday I realized that once you exceed 30mph going downhill on a lightweight road bike with a tailwind, any attempt at braking is useless and you're completely f*cked if you hit a crack.

3.) Saturday at 30mph I also was reminded of my awkward reaction to monumental fear - insane laughter.

4.) Not a day goes by that I am not pleasantly surprised at how much this sport has changed my entire life - for the better!

5.) I need to buy a smaller swimsuit! While it's totally possible that mine is just stretched out from use, I'm going with the idea that I'm getting smaller ;)

82 days left!

If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse. - Jim Rohn

This is my training swim at Crystal Cove. Note how tiny the people are at the bottom left of the page (circled in red). We swim out and back and it's about 1.22 miles! This was my best open water swim to date! Adam and Thierry flanked me and we swam together. I still have my breathing set up wrong from the start, so I'm out of sync with it. Never an issue in the pool, but I am scatterbrained in the open water. I'm getting there. This was a definite sign of improvement! 

Had a great 4.5 mi run after the swim. Felt relaxed, full of energy and super healthy. I managed to cruise along the sand and pick up speed on the way back in. I tackled the big hill back up the bluffs with the greatest of ease so far. The first switchback is relatively easy, but the second is a complete bitch.

Saturday, Adam & I headed out for the 25mi Back Bay to Newport Coast loop and while he was in front of me, I wasn't too far behind! I tackled the big Newport Coast hill with lower cadence, higher gear pedaling and mixed in a few easier gear high spin minutes. I didn't stop at all on the way up, which was a huge improvement over the first ride. Took the time down from 2 hours to 1:30, knocking half an hour off! Whoa.

I feel great. Ready for anything! Gaining confidence in all three sports and looking forward to the races. I'm really excited to see Adam race. He's gone from thinking I'm crazy to being a tremendous athlete in all three sports. Next weekend if the weather cooperates we're going to try our first 50 mile ride with Thierry. I'm going to give it a go! You never know what you're capable of, until you try it.

95 days left!

95 days left till Escape from Alcatraz and 80 days till the OC International! That doesn't sound like many days, but it will have to be enough!

I watched the full video from EFA's 30 year anniversary race (short clip above) and felt really nervous. The swim seems too far, the bike seems too steep and the run seems just insane. My even keeled coaches at Hypercat Racing insist that as long as I stick with the training program, I will make it. I'm going on 100% blind faith in that! 

Feeling motivated with 6 days per week of training, averaging about 7-8 hours. Next week we pick up to 9-10 hours and while that may not sound like a lot, an extra 2 hours is hard work! I've got some minor health issues I'm taking care of with the doctor but that's not interfering with any training. I feel like we've got the training/eating/sleeping/playing cycle in balance. Too much of anything can lead to exhaustion, demotivation or sickness.

If only I could sneak in less work time and same pay...