Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Memoral Day Weekend Efforts + Swim Race Report

This past weekend was a freaking scorcher! Hot HOT HOT!! was the theme! It is summer folks, weather (pun intended) you want to believe it or not. But! I got lots of good quality heat training in and continued to learn to go slower in the heat and to use lots of sunscreen (including on your chest) multiple times a day. (Sorry Kevin, didn't walk away with any "stupid" burns!)


Saturday:
2 hour run. We didn't start until 11:30, so we started at basically the hottest time of the day. Uhg. But! We took it easy the first hour, drank lots of water and just survived. Finally about an hour in my body flipped a switch and felt a LOT better for the 2nd half of the run.

Despite holding a 9 - 9:30 pace for the 2 hour run, my HR was VERY elevated @ 150-155 bpm. Over the winter I was holding an 8:00 pace with that HR in the cold. Quite the contrast!

Sunday:
Started the day off with a 2 mile OWS race, the Jim McDonnell Lake Swim. Because of the heat, no safety blankets wetsuits were allowed. This was fine, since I didn't want to wear one to begin with!

Talk about feeling QUITE inferior to my "competition." Most people at this race were life long swimmers, and it showed. While some of these people went in the 56 min range for 2 miles, I went an EXTREMELY slow 1:08:22. Ouch! (But I still PR'ed the distance by 6 seconds!! Woo hoo!) Just shows I swim a LOT faster with my safety blanket wetsuit on. I was averaging 34 mins per mile. I did 34 mins for 1.2 @ MonticelloMan not even a month ago. Sigh....(Also shows I REALLY need to get going in the pool....)

At least I got a cool finish photo!
(source)
My fellow swimmers are F.A.S.T FAST!

Then it was onto the bike for 4 hours. And it was already a billion degrees. Just look at the temperature graphs from my two rides on Sunday and Monday:



I think I drank over 100 ounces of liquids on my ride on Sunday over 4 hours. I just couldn't get enough liquid in! I was using EFS liquid shots (Kona Mocha flavor) and by the end of the ride when that stuff was kicking in, I felt my best. I REALLY recommend EFS liquid shots. Really good stuff and LOADED with electrolytes. I use em more for the electrolytes rather than the calories.. Thanks to Jeff and Jason for pointing me in the right direction!

Monday:
Just rode 2 hours. My legs were pissed off at me from the start, but after three hills they woke up. I guess overall I felt BETTER on the bike on Monday, even though my average speed was lower, yet my watts were higher? Guess it was a hillier course, yet I had more flats. Who knows. I was hauling on MacArthur on the way back. And wound up with a flat 3 blocks from the finish. Timed that right! It was just plain old hot out....

So overall the weekend was a reminder that it is hot out, and here to stay till IMMT at the end of August. I am really enjoying the EFS and will continue to use it to keep my electrolytes up DURING my long rides, which was the ticking time bomb I created at Placid last year.

11 comments:

  1. your finisher pic is ridiculous. are you sure that's you?

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  2. I did not use enough sunscreen on Monday. Stupid burns, for sure. Sigh.

    Congrats on the big weekend and new two mile PR!

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  3. I do like that pic! Hooray for no wetsuits!! :)

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  4. And THAT'S why swimming with a wetsuit isn't real swimming. But see, you survived! No safety blanket.

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  5. A weekend like that is more about mental toughness then fitness training

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  6. So, what are the temps supposed to be like at IMMT in August?

    90* weather.....non-sense.

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  7. If it is 90* at MT I might have to tap out! Actually, come to think of it, by August 90* will probably feel pretty cool to me.

    Great swim dude - and you are looking race skinny!!

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  8. Wow, it's like you did your own version of a half ironman over the weekend, haha A ton of activity!

    Crazy that you started a 2 hour run at 1130 AM, that sounds like death to me, lol

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  9. No sunburn for me yet either. I will NOT be the first victim!

    So you did swim. Judging by the pictures I saw already, I figured you spectated. Maybe if you didn't wear khaki shorts and saddles, you could go faster in the water.

    Better hope that you can wear your safety blanket at IMMT.

    Dammit! That is what I forgot to add to my Amazon cart - EFS! I just placed my order and knew I was forgetting something. I have to go to GNC tomorrow to pick up some Perform. Maybe I can get some there.

    PS: You missed a spot right there in the middle with your razor.

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  10. Way to go with all the training! That heat is hard to deal with sometimes, but I think you've got the ticket with all the fluid and the sunscreen. I remember your incredible burn from last year on your legs. Ouch! Great job on the swim. That's pretty quick in my book! Keep up the good work, buddy!

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  11. Gotta love heat training in May. Means that July and August are going to be super duper fun! :)

    Real life swimmers piss me off. There. I said it. (I might want to be like them a little but whatever).

    You ran at 11:30 too. I thought we were the only ones dumb enough to do that! :)

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