What a week...The good with the bad...And not a bad start for this week!

Well, it was quite a week. It was filled with great, good and bad things. Bad being relative, it really wasn't that bad.

Last week was a recovery focused period, which we followed with tests to see where I'm at. The test results were pretty good, as you read in my last post for the swim and run. On Friday, I went over to Fiesta Island and did a 30 min test, trying to hold 300-310 watts. It was super windy, which made the test both fun and challenging. Fun, because it was high speeds at times, which always make you think you're rocking it, then the other is when you go into the wind, you're pushing it hard, and the speeds are slow, but the wattage meter is telling you that you CRANKING IT!

I started the test off strong, and thought I maybe was going too hard at the start, but I underestimated myself, and ended up with a consistent rise in power throughout the whole test. Check out the picture of the file below, with Joe's comments. I had a normalized power of 317 watts, and it appears my FTP may be higher than that.



After that on Friday, I had a late night, which was not exactly great for training, or the Paleo diet. I went with Orlanda and some friends to see Ozomatli, at the Belly Up Tavern. Before that, it was pizza and beers at Pizza Port in Solana Beach. I ended up drinking plenty, eating plenty, and then a late bedtime. Got to answer the bell though, so I got up early the next morning to hit my masters session at UCSD on Saturday, 7:30 AM. Actually didn't swim bad for being hungover!

So with the good, is the bad, and even the bad is relative. The bad was how I was feeling, but I was swimming pretty well, and my swimming continues to get better. I actually am much more in touch with the water, and noticing I'm getting lazy with my right arm, especially after breathing on my left.

On the next workout though, came the real bad! 90 min run, struggling from the get go. Definitely affected by the late night. Got in 12 miles, but it was slow and felt terrible.

Saturday afternoon and evening were spent preparing for what some were predicting would be the "Storm of the Century" for San Diego. I went to the store, bought a bunch of food, so I would have everything I needed, and even went to Blockbuster and rented 5 movies, because I realized a 5-hour ride with intervals and a "Storm of the Century" don't go well together, meaning I was probably going to be on the trainer.

So yes, I did it...5 hours on the trainer! New record. Luckily, I also had a friend Jay come over and join me for about 2 hours of it, watching one of the 2.5 movies I watched. The movies were "The Kingdom", "Die Hard 3: Live Free or Die Hard", and "Deja Vu". Yes, all action movies, because when you're doing a trainer ride, you can't do too much plot following, especially when trying to bang out some 20 min intervals. I luckily had Orlanda feeding me and refilling our bottles too.

So the most annoying part of it all is, "Storm of the Century" MY ASS! I woke up in the morning and it was a little wet, but hardly raining. Then it cleared up, sun was out, pavement drying. About 90 mins into my ride, I realized, "Dang, I should be riding outside!" Then I figured it will probably start to get bad out any minute, so I waited. It didn't take long and it became clear the day was not going to be bad at all. I didn't know whether to be happy or pissed off!

I started to make plans to go outside, then realized I rented all these damn movies, and that my clothes and shoes were soaked from my sweat! Not exactly comfortable for heading outside to ride. I decided just to stick with the plan, and kept on the trainer, while I watched movies and looked at how nice of a day it was out the window.

As much as it sucked, it wasn't that bad. I definitely got a lot of work in, and could tell as I was battling some serious cramps in my right leg about 3-3.5 hours into the ride. They went away, and my hydration seemed to help, but it's something I will have to look out for.

So like I said, the good with the bad. I actually got a lot of good work done with it, and this morning was a new season-best weight at my Monday morning weigh-in! 167.4 lbs! I definitely rehydrated after the ride, so I am pretty sure not too much of it is water loss, at least not anymore than usual. It's exciting, because I haven't been this light since my Ironman Florida days. Funny how I was around 185 lbs only a little more than 6 weeks ago.

11 weeks to Arizona, and things are going well. Joe says I'm progressing along much quicker and better than he expected, and I agree. He says I won't be "great shape" for Arizona, but should be pretty good. He thinks I'll be much more prepared for Kona. Of course, I need to qualify at Arizona.

The training really ramps up here in the next 4 weeks, which you can see in the training log. Should be fun to see what happens, as so far I am more excited about training and racing than I have been in a long time.

Vance