Sunday morning was a toughy.
Karel kicked my butt...more like, he made my butt work hard!!
On my Training Peaks schedule, Karel had "Brick with Karel" .That's it and I didn't ask questions. When I train with Karel, I've learned that to be mentally strong, I have to be willing to try to stay on Karel's wheel and with that, I can't psyche myself out before the workout starts.
On Saturday, after Karel's race, I did a Z2 3- hour endurance ride just to loosen my legs from one of my toughest long runs, on Friday (10.5 miles). I had no intentions to run on Saturday for I wanted as much recovery as possible before Sunday's workout.
At 6:30am, we were out the door. Karel said he was a little sore but he was glad he had the day off on Saturday from work, to recover from the intense effort of the sprint triathlon. Although it was only a sprint, it was an all out max effort for one hour. I think many people downplay the stress on the body for a sprint or Olympic distance race and overlook the changes with the diet, altered sleep and recovery that comes with racing. For even if it is "only" a 1-2 hour race, the body still suffers and with that, always be mindful of how you choose to reward it or punish it after a race.
After a 35 min. warm-up, it was time for the main set.
2 x 8 min Z4 w/ 2 min recovery
4 min EZ
15 min upper Z3 w/ 4 min recovery
2 x 22 min upper Z3 w/ 4 min recovery
And the surprise at the end, just when I thought I had suffered enough on Karel's wheel,
2 x 8 min Z4 w/ 2 min recovery
Z2 ABP (Always be pushing) effor on the way home
I couldn't believe it but I made the entire set (with a great attitude) and felt super strong. I've finally dialed down my nutrition at this point in my training, for as I become stronger and more efficient, I know I need to be mindful of how I am fueling before and during my workouts. I have no problem recoverying from workouts for I believe I recover really fast thanks to a wheyprotein smoothie and cereal or milk + carb-rich breakfast (w/ protein).
Pre training I had oats, milk and banana slices with a few pecans. I have noticed that this combo sits better in me when I don't cook the oats so I have been eating it cold and it tastes delicious. Oh, I always have cinnamon with my breakfast - or anytime I can sneak it in for fantastic flavor. YUM!
We did a big loop, starting from our place and then through Nocatee, over the bridge, to A1A, to the Vilano bridge into St. Augustine area then back toward home on Philips Hwy/US 1. It was a bit cloudy out so that helped but it didn't make the workout any easier.
Stats from Karel's ride and me suffering behind him on his wheel....
2:42 total time
58.71 miles
Average speed: 21.71mph
Main set:
8 min - 24mph, power 162, HR 134 (my HR and my power - I just stayed behind Karel as he stuck to his zones and my workout was steady because of that)
8 min - 23.61 mph, power 171, HR 135
15 min - 23.69 mph (OMG - it was SO windy on A1A with a tough cross wind making it SO hard to draft), power 175, HR 141
22 min - 22.57 mph, power 162, HR 139
22 min - 23.17 mph, power 162, HR 137
8 min - 25.25 mph, power 168, HR 140
8 min - 24.72 mph, power 176,HR 140
Certainly, I can not hold those speeds alone but riding with Karel (who is really steady) only makes me stronger. As for being able to push a high power during my rides (not being able to sustain those watts on my own for this entire workout), when I draft there are microseconds here and there where I can recover so that helps vs pushing alone and not being able to take a breather here or there in an interval.
Karel was really impressed that I was able to stay on his wheel after each interval but as the workout went on, my responses of "I'm ok" turned into the look of "are we done yet?". But, I kept telling myself "Marni - this is doable! The bigger question is DO you want to DO this!". Thinking back to all the workouts in the past that I was not able to survive with Karel, I was ready to not give up and to just give my best effort. Thankfully, my best effort lead to one of my best workouts.
After the bike.....came the run.
Again, the look of "uggg, do we have to?" but Karel assured me that it was a conversational run. Once we started running, a mile ticked by with us chatting about training, races and how much we both wanted pizza for dinner.
It was super hot out but we managed to have a quality run to finish a really great morning of training.
Stats from run:
36 minutes
4.55 miles
Pace: 7:57
(last 1/2 mile w/ Campy)
Mile 1: 7:45
Mile 2: 7:48
Mile 3: 7:59
Mile 4: 8:00
Karel had to work 12-4 and I was on the computer all afternoon with training plans and nutrition for my athletes/fitness enthusiasts. It was a tiring day but I couldn't wait for our yummy dinner.
No food after tough training or a race makes me happier than Pizza.
It's all too often that I hear athletes say "I deserved it or I earned it". In my mind, you can have pizza or x-food anytime you want. For you need calories to survive on a daily basis, so it is up to you how you want to divide them out.
But for most of us, we'd agree that some days food tastes better than on other days and certainly, pizza is one of those foods.
In learning to develop a healthier relationship with food, I invite you all to learn how to speak about food more kindly and respectfully. For beating yourself up with every bite of food is no way to enjoy food. As we were enjoying local pizza, topped with my assortment of roasted veggies (eggplant, onions, peppers, broccoli, mushrooms and not pictured, tofu, pineapple and beans), it wasn't the pizza that was making me happy but rather the entire experience. Watching the Tour de France with Karel (and Campy), tasting each flavor in the "salad" pizza and talking about our morning workout and how I felt so strong. A few years ago, I was not able to even think about riding with Karel. Certainly, my two slices of pizza topped with my beautiful selection of veggies were enjoyed with every bite and I only had good feelings, thoughts and emotions as I refueled with Karel (we both had a smoothie post workout and a large glass of water with a splash of OJ and 1 hammer FIZZ).
I have been hearing a lot of people say "I don't eat that" and that makes me concerned as to how that resonates to other. For if you hear me say "I don't eat that" and I am referring to meat, well you may think "meat is bad" or "off limit" if you didn't know I was a 19 -year vegetarian. Perhaps you are on your journey of developing a quality lifestyle and regardless of your fitness status or weight, you enjoy a slice or two of pizza (on any given day) with a friend, loved one or family member. Having someone tell you "I don't eat that" could make you question your food choice, your goals and your body. There's so much wrapped up in food that if we could all just speak about food a little nicer, maybe we could all have a healthier relationship with food and feel more confidence about our food choices.
Regardless of where you are in your journey, there is no reason to justify your eating. You only cheat on your diet if you have rules, lists and restrictions..and that's no fun, who wants that?
Own your choices and be proud of your choices. Belive it or not, sometimes pizza is just the best thing that you can eat to reward your body when it needs to refuel. And boy, does it taste great when you can put a quality workout in the memory bank!
My "Salad' pizza. Local cheese pizza topped with my own selection of roasted veggies. I saved a lot of money by buying local and it was filled with flavor (and nutrient density).
