Tri Club Race -not

So I decided it has been 3 weeks since IMSG and I am feeling pretty good this week. Volume is up and I feel good- now mind you most training has been in the really comfortable zone, conversational and quite enjoyable actually.

So 1 hour of digging deep, sounded ok. Coach says you may feel awesome and let it rip or......well the or is what happened. Up early and packed up, seriously packing and planning for a 1 hour Sprint is the same process as an Ironman, okay so no special needs, but everything else. I roll down to Fiesta and park.

So fun to see everyone and have NO pressure, no nervousness...just chillin with friends. Jen, Beth and I go for a 2 mile wu run and arrive back in transition with about 5 minutes to the start. No worries. We stroll to the water and off we go. Swim was good- shoulder was great! After the Physical torture session on Friday I was worried. I though PT was supposed to make it better not more painful...well that is another story.

Up and out of the water and thinking this is going to be a fun day. I hope on the bike and settle in and gee my power is low, I push harder, my legs hurt and the power does not come up. I am going hard, really hard the power is honestly less than my 1/2 IM watts. I struggle for a lap and push harder, I am NOT, can I say it again NOT having fun. After lap 2, I decided screw it, just cruise along and enjoy the day. Tati then Beth then Jen fly by me, I mean 5mph faster than me, fly by me. I am cruising along ticking off the laps.

Finally the ride, the really long, long 12.5 mile bike is done and I take minutes, or maybe 5 in transition. What I was doing I don't know.....but I was having trouble getting my shoes on and well I was not in a rush. So I run out and see Lori who could not bike because she broke a cleat and says hey I'll run with you? you running 7 min pace? Sure I say, after the cruisy bike, lets run. Okay so maybe not....At this point, I am bonking and bonking hard. I was dreaming of a carbohydrate...any one - heck I would have eaten a donut if someone offered me on. The metabolic efficiency was not so efficient at this point! My body was screaming for something.

But, heck this #1 a sprint and #2 a club race, sorry no aid stations. So I decide to just go slower...sure why not. Make it a long day. No it was fun...I was happy to be out there and happier I had not shelled out $100 for this performance. I roll across the finish line, no clue of my time or place...but sure many others beat me.

We chilled, enjoyed the spread! Hot coffee, eggs and lots of fresh fruit- yum! I have to say the Tri Club is one class act. All this for free! Okay you pay $60 once year and get these races every month. Well run, well organized and a hot breakfast at the finish. Thank you all!

Soon after we "raced", well the others did actually race, Tati, Jen, Beth and I rolled out for a 3 hour ride. We all changed into our cycling gear and were off on a normal weekend ride. Well most of us anyway....see Beth was afraid of getting dropped so she kept her aero helmet on for the ride up the coast, add the compression sleeves and she was a site to be reckoned with!

Okay so the alien warping is interesting as well...but actually makes the picture even better. We had a terrific ride and managed to chat away up through La Jolla. We picked up John at UCSD who had been waiting for....well a long time. I had thought we would be rolling around 8:30 and it was more like 9:30. So he joined the Estrogen ride and fit in marvelously as usual.

As we headed back towards Fiesta I started to get that familiar feeling- oh crap, seriously I am bonking for the 2nd time today. Here I realize I grabbed the water from the car and not the bottle with some calories. Okay body, what can you do.....not much really. Ugh, begged a gu off John and hoped for the best. Thank goodness for the company or I would have hitched a ride back to the car.

I was oh so cranky by the end.....I was so screwed up I went the wrong way and missed the car so we had to do another small loop on Fiesta. Ahhhh kill me now.... Back at the car, mumbling obscenities metabolic, shmetabolic....watch this....where is the biggest carb bomb I can find? Ahhhh all my stuff is cleared out of the car- only high protein and a banana. I want more, I want more!!! Ok eat the banana, protein wheat free bar and be cranky all the way home. Oh wait I remember the bottle of Infinit, I am guzzling it, wishing I could inject it and then the edge starts to soften and ah....I am beginning to feel human again. Wow crashed and bottomed out and on the way back up. Now I am freezing, my body is revolting. Hot shower, eggs and spinach and some coffee and I am normal again.

And really...this was a fun day!!! Gotta love triathlon