Sunday, July 28, 2013

Hills AGAIN?!

My run this morning went a lot better than I could have expected. No, it wasn't fast, but the last two days of biking have been a lot hillier than I'm used to. On top of that, I created five new segments on the course, and of course I had to push on all the segments during yesterday's ride. I wound up picking up a KOM and a couple of sore quads full of lactic acid.

In the afternoon a few of us met at Kenray for our Sunday swim. Rand, Jimmy, and Allen all had their wetsuits - I was without. I'd considered bringing mine, even figured they would, but I wanted one more training swim without. I figured whatever I could accomplish today would be slower than what could be done at Milwaukee with a wetsuit.

My time was 25:48, which breaks down to 1:28 per 100 yards. That's very good, and consistent with the times I've been seeing at the pool. At that level I am on par with the best swimmers in my age group at Nationals. And that's without the wetsuit. I should be able to peel a minute or two off that time, which would be a major coup if it happens.

Actually, if I wanted to get more technical about it, that pace translates into a 24-flat 1500 meter swim without wetsuit. Dropping a couple minutes from there would make it 22-flat, which again would be among the best. Of course this is all theoretical, because I know nothing of the course and how things will be staged, how crowded, etc., but the math is accurate. I also don't know if last year's results are typical. Still, if I can swim in the 22-23 range, I will be very pleased.

Jimmy wanted to keep the bike ride in town because he was short of time. Of course that meant we were going to do the Industrial Park hill workout... what, hills AGAIN?! Third day in a row, and I knew my legs were totally not up for it. You know me though... I hope no one ever challenges me to a turd eating contest, because I'd bet I'd have to win that, too.

It was only Bartley, Jimmy, and me. Bartley climbs well, we had a tailwind, and I was confident he would wind up the with KOM with very little effort. But... James's words of wisdom rang in my ears (he has to tell you, I won't repeat them here). So I tried. Over and over. Remarkably the speed went up with each succeeding attempt, until ultimately I felt confident I might actually have a shot at the KOM.

We took Jimmy home, then Bartley and I went out on William's Blvd. for a fast stretch. I figured either there existed a segment on the road, or there soon would be. We caught a break in traffic and rolled onto the stretch.

Believe it or not, it's not flat. In fact, after the first part it climbs. My legs were screaming at me, protesting all the effort they've been put through over the last few days. My lungs didn't care - thank goodness for the cool weather. There's only so much you can ask of your body, and I faded a bit over the last part of the segment. Still, I pushed until the agreed upon ending point. It would be up to the upload to sort it out.

We finished the ride gathering junk miles around town. I wanted 20, and got it. I'd like to pick up 70-80 more this week, including the pace line on Tuesday. This is the first week of taper, so I'll have to be more careful about the quality workouts I include.

Ride data!

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