"just a ride"

This song was inspired by the Doggfather, aka Mynd-Dogg, aka my buddy Mindy who sent me an awesome mix for my b-day! Thought it was also appropriate as 5 hour rides are becoming less and less scary.

Well, the past 3 days have had the most volume I've ever done in 3 consecutive days....and I feel like a million bucks!

WTF?

I am totally and completely sold on 1) an ice bath after a very long workout and 2) a whey protein shake recovery drink. I am convinced that's why I feel like I could go run or ride for a few more hours right now.

Here's what I did:

Friday: 4000 yard swim without stopping--completed by being a little sneaky

Saturday: 5 hour ride on hills, 45 minute run--my HR was very low on the hills, and I was excited! Did with my coach and she had some positive things to say about my riding.

Today: 2hour and 20 minute run, HR zone 2 and pick up to Zone 3 last 15 minutes of the run. I was AMAZED at how low my HR was when I headed out at my regular long run pace. Picked it up a bit and still managed to stay in Zone 2...then picked it up to Zone 3 and it was hard to get it that high--I felt like I really had to try! Just a few weeks ago I had to slow down to stay in Zone 2.

So, life is good. Me little heart is gettin' fitter. :)

Not sure what the workouts look like for this week yet, but I do know that my first century ride at the Sweet Corn Challenge is coming up next Sunday! It's on a nice hilly course, so it will be good practice. I'll just be trying to keep the HR low and will probably do a short run-off the bike. And then, I'll be hitting the TONS of sweet corn, barbeque chicken, goodies, massage, and bluegrass band at the finish! (You know you're jealous.)

The bad news is, our annual Team Weasels pool party today was cancelled due to crappy weather. The good news is, it's postponed until I'm in taper! Yay! So I won't have to worry about moving my long brick around again.

So tonight it's probably some poker with the buddies. I have a horrible poker face. I always, always laugh. I try not to bet much. You definitely would not want to take me to Vegas. Unless you want a good laugh.

Tomorrow, the Cleveland Triathlon is downtown--looks like the weather is clearing up so hopefully that will be good news for tomorrow's racers!

And tomorrow, I will be obsessively following my training buddy/pseudo-big-brother TriEric on his quest to become an Ironman at Lake Placid! Good luck to Eric and also to Matt, another Cleveland Tri Club guy, and to all who are racing at IMUSA! I can't WAIT to hear all about it...