Ramping Up During A Recovery Week: Great Fun!

Only FIFTY days left until Rev3 Cedar Point Iron Distance, but who's counting?  Me. Every day, minute, and second. Nothing like running a HIM and throwing yourself back into the fire to prepare for an iron distance event. I did some serious work during recovery week—if you can call it a recovery week. I managed a 12 mile speed workout, two open water swims of about two miles, a hundred mile bike, followed up the next day with a 14 mile run. Yeah. Feeling good. Thank goodness today is a rest day. I am resting, and hydrating. My legs felt surprisingly well on my run for beating the heck out of them on that ride the day before.

The week was also filled with a lot of family and job related activities. This past weekend, Luca participated in four All-star baseball games over three days. It was a family event. We had a picnic during his afternoon game Friday, and the wifey brought a sheet pizza to his second game on Saturday. This pizza was consumed with great vigor after my hundred mile ride earlier that morning. I am also amazed at the appetite of my four year old twins. How is it that little girls can eat so much food? Don't worry, we packed plenty of veggies to accompany the gobs of yummy melted mozzarella cheese and delicious pepperoni and mushrooms. For dessert, Alaina broke out a watermelon and we cleansed our palettes.

Here is how it went down:

Traveled south into the wind. Averaged around 17.5-18.0 m.p.h.  Then we travelled east. Felt a little better. We had moments when the wind died down and we were cruising at a nice 23-26 m.p.h. pace. Then we rode around Canandaigua Lake. We traveled south along the west side of the lake first. Not blazing fast. A lot of spinning here. We were all really looking forward to the big payoff; diving down from the bluff to the east side of the lake. It is a decent four mile descent and really fast. You can easily go over fifty m.p.h. (80 km.) on this stretch of road if you do not value your limbs, or teeth. Personally, I value both my ability to stand upright and my chiclets, and start to consider how tightly I put that skewer back on my front wheel after getting it down from my roof rack any time I am going over thirty miles per hour. I mean, seriously, at 30 m.p.h. you may as well kiss your sweet cuspids goodbye and sign yourself up for a lifetime of permanent dental work if you crash at that speed. Okay... better not to even think of that. The worst part—I did not have to think of it at all. Adam plotted out a fine course a couple days prior to our departure, but how was he to know that the fastest part of our day was going to be the slowest because the road was ground up awaiting resurfacing? So, I rolled, er, moseyed on down (yes, I used the word moseyed,) this steep decline at the speed of a constipated tortoise. I was not about to wreck my rims, break a spoke, get a flat, or fall on my butt by trying to defy the bike gods on this day. They have spoken. Let these Crankskins fools not go fast down a hill on this day. And so it was. To be honest with you, I never really go  more than I am comfortable with, even in a race. I am sure I could handle my ride just fine, it is my children that I think about. They need their daddy, and I need to be there for them.

Riding north along the lake ended up boosting our daily average nicely. On our way back, we stopped in the town of Canandaigua to see a couple of friends who were racing a two mile open water swim in the lake that day. What kind of imbecile does this you ask? Alexa, that's who. I also met up with a couple of super Aquaman type swimmers who I am convinced have gills behind their ears like Kevin Kostner in Water World (the finest film ever made about post-apocalyptic water covered Earth.)

Okay, this weekend I am taking a trip to the triathlon Mecca of the east coast. Need a hint? Think 1980 Olympics' Miracle on Ice. Going there with Adam to volunteer for IMLP. The goal was to volunteer so that we could both get in line to sign up for IMLP 2011. However, life has a funny way of derailing you—sometimes for the best—and making us adjust our trajectory. I have not mentioned anything as of yet, but I have accepted a position to teach at a small private institution that shall remain nameless for the time being, but it is exactly the right opportunity at the right time, and I am thrilled to be a part of the faculty. Of course, I would love to run Placid next year, but performing well and maintaining an active career trumps any desire I have of competing in another iron distance event for the foreseeable future. Like I said, I will not tell you were the new gig is (and please don't spoil it—all you in the KNOW,) but isn't the campus just lovely? I mean check out that quad. I haven't seen a quad like that since Greg LeMond in the 1989 Tour de France time trial versus Laurent Fignon (who arguably has a far cooler name.)

If the blog posts seem few and far between these days, it is because outside of my family and work obligations, I am trying to fit in the miniscule amount of time I have left over to train. 

On the docket today: A lazy 45 minute swim and half hour run. Yawn. Barely a workout. Of course, I am suppose to have a 5:15 bike on Saturday. I don't see that happening. Story at eleven. 

Train Smart!