nutrition and nuptials

I had an amazing weekend (actually, just an amazing Saturday, but who's keeping track?).

I had a 5 hour ride/30 min brick workout to do on Saturday. Because of plans later in the day, I was up at 7 and on the bike by 8:15. This was my first long ride since Ironman Coeur D'Alene which was.. 5 weeks ago? Something like that. I was eager to get back out there and build back some of the fitness that I've lost over these past few weeks.

I was determined to overcome my limiting factor on long rides which is nutrition issues. I consistently under-fuel on long rides (and apparently, in long races as well) due to sheer laziness/dislike of PBE after drinking 23987238 bottles of it in the past 18 months/the inability to acknowledge that I am, in fact, not a robot and actually need sustenance to survive.

All of these things are just excuses, and after a major fail at IMCDA and then being publicly shamed, scorned, and humiliated by Mary (ok, not really) on the Train-This google group and her blog, I made nailing my nutrition my #1 priority on this ride.

What am I *supposed* to do on long rides? Drink 1 bottle (24 oz) of PBE per hour.
What do I *actually* do on long rides? Drink maybe 1 bottle of PBE every 2 hours.
So that is half of the calories and half of the fluids that I need on these rides!

I set out from Mendon Ponds Park and rode a really fun loop that Mary had mapped out for me last summer. For you local people, I rode from MPP to 251 W, then went south on 15A, which eventually turns into 15. When I got to Wayland, I took a left and rode N on 21. I followed 21 into Naples (there are 2 left hand turns before you get there), rode up the big hill, and then veered left on 64 heading north. 64 brought me all the way back to 251 in the village of Mendon, and from there it was a short ride back to the park! I highly recommend this loop - it is 88 miles, lots of climbing (ESPECIALLY on 15A), and it's very pretty! (In reality, it took me almost 5.5 hours to do this loop so I was out there a little longer than I was supposed to be, but that's ok!).

The last time I did this loop (also a solo ride) I didn't have a great ride. When I made it to Wayland I remember texting Kim that I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish. I did, but it wasn't the best ride of my life. This ride - total opposite. I was smiling the entire time. It was beautiful out, my fitness was still there, and I was totally staying on top of my nutrition.

 I was slamming PowerBar Endurance like I was a frat boy pounding cans of Keystone Light. (They are probably both equally as disgusting, as well). I found that I can, in fact, drink 1 bottle of PBE per hour like Mary recommends, but to do it I have to drink very aggressively (i.e. more than every 15 minutes). I spent the entire ride force feeding myself but I did it, and I felt amazing! No mid-ride dizziness, no feeling like my legs couldn't pedal up any more hills, no headaches, no stopping for Coke or eating mini Snickers bars to bail me out of a nutrition deficit!

Literally, the BEST long ride in the history of me doing long rides!

And then the icing on the cake was seeing Mary on the tail-end of my ride! She knew approximately where I was and she rode out to find me to see how I was doing. I told her that I was nailing my nutrition and that I felt awesome. I made her proud and I definitely made myself proud as well!

I know, it seems ridiculous that a triathlete who has been racing since 2007, has 2 Ironman finishes and who has been coached for over a year and a half could be neglecting the most important part of long course triathlon. I just couldn't accept that the fix could be that easy. But.. it is.

Then I did a 30 min T-run off the bike and that went super well also! So.. I am sold on this nutrition thing!

After my ride I had to rush home, shower, and get ready to go to my teammate and good friend Greg's wedding to his fiance Amanda! (Note to self: do not wear a strapless dress when you are a perpetually sunburned and/or tan lined triathlete). Matthias drove to my apartment and we carpooled to the wedding in Victor, which was held at an adorable bed and breakfast. (I feel like I need to stop and make a comment here. Matthias was not my date, he is my friend and he is Greg's friend as well, and I didn't bring a date. Alexa = not dating Matthias!!!). Ken also came so there were 3 Train-This-ers (plus Greg of course) to "represent".

first dance!

This was a total Alexa-style wedding. There was a horse-drawn carriage, we sat on hay bales during the ceremony (which was performed by Greg's dad and was done outside). Greg and Amanda were giggling to each other throughout the ceremony - it was adorable. Also, I may have teared up. (Thank god for wearing sunglasses). I AM a girl after all!!!!! The reception was in a barn at the B&B and it was decorated with icicle lights and some Japanese lanterns. Din-O-Saur BBQ catered the reception, but since Matthias, me, and 2 other guests were vegetarians, the 4 of us got special food from Aladdin's! Kudos to Greg and his family for making that happen!

"well, that's awkward" -Matthias' comment!

The whole thing was very casual and I just loved it! I HATE the wedding industry. I hate that people spend $20,000+ on things like designer wedding cakes, invitations, DJs, crazy table decorations, and hideous matching bridesmaids dresses. I hate hearing the stupid chicken dance or being shoved out on the dance floor to catch the bouquet. (Please note, I do not hate weddings in general and I am thrilled when I am invited to them - I just hate all of the crap that's expensive and the stuff that is embarrassing, i.e. the whole putting the garter on the leg of the poor woman that catches the bouquet). This wedding was perfect for Greg and Amanda, and I think I get along with them so well because I love stuff like that too!

Matthias, Ken, Greg, Amanda, me

The reception lasted til 9:30 or so, and at that point we left, drove back to my apartment, and Matthias went home. I went inside, took the dress off and was relaxing sans pants (as usual) when Greg sent me a text asking me if I was going to go bowling with them. After some internal debate (well I already have my pants off vs. I need to go out and be social) I actually got dressed and went! It was fun! I was out super late which destroyed my ability to do anything on Sunday. I did run.. barely.

I probably should have broken this into 2 posts but both of these things just made for the best day ever on Saturday so I decided to keep that theme going!

CONGRATULATIONS GREG AND AMANDA!!!!!!!

hats off to my training partners

I made it through my biggest training week of 2011 thus far. Actually, this was probably my 2nd biggest training week EVER in terms of hours. The actual week was normal volume - I was working days so I did everything in the afternoon/evenings. I had one really off day on Tuesday where I cut a swim a little short and had a run that was 1/3 bad and 2/3 good.

Saturday was when the real adventure began. And also one of the top 10 stupidest decisions I have ever made. The weather forecast was atrocious typical(??) for mid-April: 40 degrees, 100% chance of rain, 50 mph wind. I had a 5 hour ride schedule. There is no f*&%ing way I was gonna do that on my trainer. Nope. So I devised a plan of riding loops from a local park (I did something similar last year on another dreary day) so that if the weather was unrideable, I could hightail it back to my car and not be stranded somewhere 50 miles away. I posted my plan on the google group and FOUR other people showed up to this thing at 7 am. Ken (who called me in the morning to make sure I was still going), Greg (who I didn't even know was riding til he showed up), Don (who had said that he would go if we started later but then rode over!), and Matthias (one of Jackie's athletes that I had never met before). I was sooo happy to see these guys! Going through IMLP together was like being inducted into a family and I'm always so excited to hang out with them (plus sometimes it's a nice change to stare at someone else's ass besides Kim's during a long ride. Not that Kim doesn't have a nice ass..).

The minute I got to Mendon Ponds Park, it started raining. We started out regardless, even though Ken was shivering, and the first 45 minutes weren't too bad. I remember thinking, "so the rain is lousy and it's kind of windy but I think I could deal with this for 5 hours." That feeling did NOT last long. By this point, Greg and Don were too far ahead to see, Matthias was right behind me, and Ken was behind him. We lost Ken at the red light. For the remainder of the loop, I rode and chatted with Matthias, who is a scientist and has a fun accent!

The weather was getting worse and as my hands and feet started to go numb, I started to REALLY worry about everyone else. I didn't know where any of them were, and I was really worried about Ken because he was so cold at the beginning and it was his first outdoor ride of the year. We stopped and waited for him for a bit but it was just too cold to not keep moving. I think riding with someone else was what actually got me through the loop because we could talk and sort of ignore the fact that our hands no longer had the ability to move, or grip the handlebars, or brake.

We made it back to Mendon, freezing cold, soaking wet, covered in grit, and unable to move our fingers. Ken's car was gone, and I had a text from him saying that he and Don had stopped at the same gas station and had ridden back via a shortcut. Greg was in the parking area in his mom's car, who he had called from a gas station to come rescue him (P.S. he was bundled in a sleeping bag). I was SOOOO happy that everyone was ok, being that this ride was my idea in the first place, and I don't want to subject half of the Train-This team to hypothermia or have them lose any digits to frostbite! Don, Ken and I are used to this sort of crazy stuff by now, and Greg is an IM newbie who seems to be dealing with the crazy pretty well, but I was worried that I scared Matthias off from EVER wanting to ride with us again! He said he "had fun" but I think he was being nice! :) I love making new friends!

Anyways, I ended up riding ~38 miles outside (2 hrs 22 mins.. SLOW) and had to do 2:38 inside on my trainer - I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Pt. 1! Then I did a transition run on the treadmill which was awful due to improper fueling on the bike - totally my fault (I blame the numb hands on the outdoor bike ride for the calorie deficit).

On Sunday I had my 19 mile long run/experiment thing. I have had several people comment that they thought that jumping from 13 miles to 19 miles was crazy/risky/etc. but I trust my coach and I really wanted to try it. I knew it was going to be mentally challenging for me so I lined up my dear friend Rae to run the 2nd loop of this brutally hilly course with me. Then later in the week I got an offer from my friend (ex-boyfriend if you want to be specific about it) Andy to run the first loop with me. (He is a much faster runner than I am so kudos to him for slowing it wayyy down to help me out). I met Andy at Mendon Ponds Park at 8 am and we set out at a nice, easy, conversational pace. I have not had the greatest experiences with marathon-length training runs so I wanted to be super careful and conservative. The first loop flew by and the next thing I knew, we were back in the parking lot in 1:30 (which was the exact predicted time I had given Rae). That loop was 9.4 miles. It was windy and a little chilly but I was dressed ok (long sleeved shirt, shorts, gloves) so I didn't change. I peed, said farewell to Andy, and Rae and I set off for loop 2.



myself and Rae post long run!

 I would say that the 2nd loop went really well until about mile 17, which is also where the course goes uphill for the last 2 miles. My legs started to get a little tired/heavy at this point but otherwise I was feeling pretty good and was able to continue the same pace. I didn't look at my garmin during the run other than to periodically check mileage. I didn't look at HR or pace at all. I just ran by feel. I hit 19 miles in 2:59. The second loop was 9.6 miles. So, I ran the 2nd loop slightly faster than the 1st loop which is AWESOME for me - the girl who can't pace. This was easily the best long run (18 miles or more) that I have ever had. My quads didn't blow up, my pace didn't drop, I finished the run stronger than I started it, and I had zero GI issues during AND after the run.

I finished out the day with a swim and a recovery bike. My legs feel a little sore but they don't have that blown out feeling that I usually get after a run of that length. My hamstring is also pretty tight. It probably doesn't help that I did all of these workouts and then went right to work with barely 1 hour of sleep because I am working nights this week. I wonder what that does to recovery?

All in all - busiest weekend ever!

I really owe a lot to both Andy and Rae for helping me through that run.. they occupied me and totally kept me from cracking. (Rae and I tend to talk about some pretty questionable, X-rated topics that will remain a secret, hehe). Also, I would never have made it 38 miles in that shit on Saturday if I hadn't had Matthias as a riding buddy.

In total: 18 hrs of training. 9 hrs on the bike. 6:05 running (I RAN 40 MILES). 2.5 swimming. 30 strength.