Monday, August 20, 2012

2006 Couer D'Alene revisted

I headed out to Spokane last week to spend some time with my youngest brother. I can't say little because he is 4 inches taller than me.

I decided to use this time to get in some good training in warmer weather. I finished with 19 hours of training in 5 days.

Saturday I met up with Jon and Phil and we rode around Mt. Spokane, climbing 3800 feet. The highlight was seeing a pickup deep in a ditch. There was only a few inches above ground. I switched out gear and headed out for a short run. The heat was hard on me. I knew I had to get used to it if I was going to race well at Vegas.

The same crew linked up on Sunday and we headed toward Coeur D'Alene. We decided to ride the old ironman course from 2006. This was the first ironman I completed. I still remember that day well. It was a rough day, as the temperature soared into the mid 90s. This time with a few ironmans under my belt, we rode the course in reverse. It was just as challenging if not more. We turned around at higgins point and started the regular course. Another 3800+ feet of climbing for the day then a quick short run. I felt much better today. My body was adapting to the heat quickly. After a few hours of relaxing and refueling, I went to Witter Pool. It was a 50 meter pool. I planned on putting in some good work, but my legs didn't want any part of it. I faked my way through the swim to finish with 3800 meters. We grabbed a bite to eat and went to the movies to watch "Ted". It was hilarious.

Monday morning I rode easy with my brother for a little over an hour and a half. Right before lunch I swam an easy 2500 meters. I finished the day off with an easy short run.

The plan on Tuesday was to cruise for 90 minutes then throw in a few 5 minute hill intervals. I miscalculated the distance and ended up riding almost 3 hours. The highlight of the ride was the bison I saw in the field. The rest of the day was similar to Monday.

Wednesday morning started with hill repeats on a course similar to Vegas. It was tough. I felt like I was taking baby steps near the end as the pitch steepened. My brother took the day off, so I went out for a super easy bike ride. My legs were toast. After refueling and a short nap, I squeezed in my last swim in the long course pool. We ate then went to watch "The Campaign". It was funny in parts.

I packed up Thursday morning and hit the road by 7AM. The drive was uneventful except for the dead cougar I saw on the shoulder. The hill work I did the previous 2 days caught up to me. My glutes were really sore. It was nice to be back home and still have warm weather, 90+.