The Last Hurrah (for now)

This weekend was our last big workout weekend before Vineman tapering begins.  On Saturday, we rode the Silverado Trail in Napa.  We had plans down in Santa Clara that afternoon so I debated if we should even drive all the way there for the ride or if we should ride locally.  The Silverado Trail is the only 55 mile route in the area that is comparable to Arizona (and there is only one stop sign to boot).  Therefore, I unwillingly got up at 5am to make the trek to Napa and I'm really glad I did.  Last year, before I ever even considered an IM, it took me 4:05 to complete the same route.  This weekend, it took me 3:31.  And, I'm confident I could have completed another loop in a similar timeframe (those of us training for Vineman only rode the course once while the IM Canada teammates rode it twice).  My bike time goal for Arizona is 7:30.  This weekend proved to me that my goal is realistic and achievable. Plus, I still have 20 weeks to continue to improve on the bike!  

Who can't possibly smile while riding by
Darioush, Mumm, Rutherford, Rombauer, etc.?

But it's really easy to smile with a sign like this,
which I made for my Coeur d'Alene teammates

However, my more immediate focus is Vineman, which is only 19 days away!  Unfortunately, my bike time will be cutting it close because a)all the rollers and some climbing; and b) the swim goes in waves, yet the cutoff is the same.  So the boys get a whole 25 extra minutes than the girls, which is completely bass ackwards considering they are faster.  Anyway, my goal is to just get through the first loop before the cutoff.  After that, it is a public road so even if they shut down the course, I will finish out my ride.  


On Sunday, we swam and ran the Vineman courses.  It was a real pain in the butt to drive all the way to the Russian River and Windsor, but I am really glad we did (as a sidenote, I was on the Tour de Bay Area this weekend driving from Mountain View to Dublin to San Francisco to Dublin to Napa to Santa Clara to Dublin to Guerneville and back to Mountain View)!  I hadn't swam in a river yet so it was good to swim against the current and with the current.  I also wanted to test how it felt to swim in my wetsuit in such warm water.  I had been debating if I should get a sleeveless, but was worried about making such a big change less than three weeks before the event.  Luckily, wearing the full wetsuit was not so bad.  After I my heart rate warmed up, I was definitely cozy, but it was tolerable.  Status quo it is!

The water was definitely warm!

From there we drove to Windsor High, which is where the pretty run course through vineyards begins.  The Vineman team ran 18 miles and the IM Canada team ran 12 miles.  Since I am only doing Aquabike for Vineman, I don't have any run requirements.  According to the IMAZ calendar, I only needed to run for 60 minutes yesterday.  I compromised between the two and I completed 9 miles and I was happy with that.  No matter how fast or slow I am running, it is always a struggle.  My heart rate could be at 134 or it could be at 167 and I'm still struggling (just that I am also out of breath and struggling).  As I have mentioned before, the run has just not clicked for me.  But, I spent the first 5 miles focusing on my form with some new ideas from our run coach.  

Trying to catch up to Dana

And, apparently it worked because I am in ridiculous pain today (places where I have not been sore after run workouts before).  I also spent some time with Helen learning how to walk (That girl can walk a 12 minute mile)!  So while a lot of people are too proud to want to learn how to walk, it is inevitable (unless you're a professional), and I figure I might as well learn how to do it right.