weekend catch-up

Hilton Head was a great trip and I didn’t totally crush the diet, only with the dinners!  I didn’t get the ride in I was looking for, as time with the family at the beach came first.  Not a big deal as I am moving my last long (>3h) ride to this Thursday.  That will give me a 3h 30 min and a 2h 45 min ride over the next 10 days before my taper week, and should keep the legs fresh.

I did manage to get in a sunrise 6 miler on the beach with some sprints at the end on Saturday.  Averaged 9:21 mi/min over the run, but definitely had some leg fatigue that I am not accustomed to.  Even with the wide Atlantic beaches being very firm, that sand still makes you use some extra muscles that asphalt does not call for, so I will attribute it to that.  Also walked 18 holes carrying my bag on Sunday for some good recovery work, carrying weights for about a 5 mile loop on the golf course.  I only had two fried seafood dinners over the four days, so that was an accomplishment.  My weight is still at 194lb, so if I can get down under 190 by race morning I will be happy.  Overall a great trip with some very valuable beach time with the family.

This is week 18 of 20 in the plan, and yesterday (Tuesday) started with a 1h 20min bike ride with 28 minutes at threshold pace. I had two significant climbs in the ride so that threw a bit more legwork in the ride.  Today at lunch I fit in 2300 yards in the pool with a main set of 600 meters + 5 x 150m at slightly below max effort.  No problem at all on the 150’s, other than some fatigue at the end, but that is to be expected.  Hard to believe that 5 x 75’s were difficult to get thru not 5 weeks ago.  Tonight I need to squeeze in a 42 min run and hit the road for a long ride tomorrow.