Week 10 was the end of my third big block. And now the work is really piling up. Plus, fieldwork season has begun again. And how do you fit in three-four swims when the closest pool is 1-1/2 hours away from your work site? Easy, you get up at four, swim from 5-6:15, then commute, work your 8-10 hours, then commute back. Repeat the next day. Yep... Ouch. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here are the stats:
16.6 hours of training. 25 miles of running (long run of 13.5 miles), 9 hours of cycling, with a long ride of 5.5 hours (I skipped one easy ride to fit everything else in), 11,400 yards of swimming, with a long swim of 4,700 yards. Put like that, it doesn't sound so bad. But, consider the following: this was my longest swim in 18 months, and my second-longest swim set EVER. I swam it after averaging 6 hours of sleep per night for the previous 3 days, and working in the sun all day.
My long run of 2 hours was on boring roads in mid-afternoon, at 90 degrees in Tucson. It was the first time that I ran my standard marathon long run course since 2004. Yes, I really got sick of that out-and-back. Halfway into this run, I realized that I still hated it... Back to trails next week!
It was my longest ride in 18 months, and my longest ever distance-wise (around 107 miles). My ride was staged from Blythe, CA (my work site), and I rode to Parker, AZ and back on a mix of empty highways, farmland, and Indian reservation. The highlight of the trip was probably when a met an older guy touring across the western US. Apparently he had gotten left behind his main group, and thought they would detour to Havasu when instead they rode straight through to Wickenburg. He was traveling on blown-out tires, in socks and Tevas, with a single water bottle. I was not totally comfortable leaving my Cervelo outside with him while I went in the store for drinks, but oh well. When I came back outside, he started re-telling me his story, and I knew for sure he wasn't all there... And with that, I gave him $5 to buy some food, and hopped back on my bike for the return trip. As a side-note, my first long ride relying only on my customized Inifinit Nutrition mix went very well. I think the new nutrition plan is a hit!
Oh, I also worked 50+ hours...
So, what do you do over the weekend for recovery after such a week? Well, if you have two daughters and a place to stay in Orange County, you go to Disneyland! I'll be honest, I have never been a crowd person. I enjoy having my own space. I hate standing around. I don't really buy into the Disney buzz, or the amusement parks of California. But, what can I say? After an entire day of watching the girls faces light up at meeting all of the princesses, it just might have been worth it. I will concede, though, that my legs were hurting the next day. We pulled into the parking lot at 9:45 am. We left the parking lot at 1 am! :D I guess that's what it takes when you are committed to training, but refuse to sacrifice family focus. My body hated me for a couple days, but my energy finally returned. Plus the following week was a recovery week, so I had time to get my strength back.
Now if I could get "It's a small world after all" out of my head I would be happy...
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