After a long day (or should I say two day) of traveling,
we went to bed at Karel’s mom’s house around 10pm Czech time (4pm EST) (in bunk
beds in Karel’s old room J ) .
The weather is just perfect right now, low’s around 55 and highs around 75
degrees. There is no AC in Karel’s mom’s flat so the windows give us a
wonderful breeze. However, the little birdies began to sing around 6am and then
the downtown Znojmo construction started around 7am but nevertheless, we made ourselves
stay in bed as long as possible, even though the sleep was on and off for the
last few hours. With 10 hour of mostly good sleep for us, we woke up feeling a
bit more normal than yesterday (which was a day feeling like a zombie with an
empty-feeling body).
We started our morning around 8:30am with coffee and a
light breakfast which I normal around here. WASA-like crackers, farmers cheese
and yogurt as well as red and black currents and gooseberries from the garden.
I did bring a small stash of PB but I am saving that for Austria when we are in
full-Ironman mode.
After Karel spent some time with his mom and step-dad,
chatting away in Czech (and translating for me), we got ready for our first
workout in Czech.
We made a quick stop at one of the local bike shops in
which Karel use to work when he was living in Czech in the 90’s. The shop just
recently converted to a Specialized dealer and they will be having a grand
opening later this week for this new addition (and new addition to the store).
The shop is really nice! Karel wanted to get some CO2 for our bikes since we
can’t travel on the plane with it but I guess Znojmo is a bit late to the trend
for they only had hand pumps. Oh well, the Ironman expo will have that covered
for us. We actually have a really good hand pump (carbon) with a CO2 adapter
attached which I use to have attached to my last Trek bike and now we bring it
to races just in case we needed it before the race (we used it in St. Croix
because there was only two floor pumps that we spotted on race day morning).
Karel and I do a lot of walking in Znojmo because
everything is fairly close and parking is tight. After the bike shop, we made
our walk to Karel’s dad’s to get our bikes from his basement. Our bodies are
still a little off with the recent 10-hours of flying and 6 hour time change so
we have to be really careful with our blood sugar/appetite for our bodies are
kind of confused right now.
We found ourselves a bit hungry around 11am so we made a
quick stop at a Natural food store on our walk to his dad’s (there are plenty
of small markets/stores in downtown) so I got a “fig newton” bar (5 individual
pieces) and Karel got a small loaf of fresh bread. We snacked on our walk but
still questioned how our bodies would feel for our first workout in Czech.
For my taper, I have learned what works best for my body
when I train for long distance races. With our train smart philosophy
emphasizing quality of quantity, I do not find myself burnt out or anxious to
taper as if I can’t take any more long distance training. Around 2 weeks out
from race day, I start my active recovery after my last “race prep” weekend of
training. 4 weeks out is my longest bike and long run off a short bike.
Allowing myself a full week of active recovery is very welcoming to my body for
the healing process takes a big toll on the body requiring lots of sleep and
rest. So rather than incorporating intensity into my “taper” (which is
recommended), I give my body a good 4-5 days to fully recover with workouts
being really light, as if I am just exercising and not training. Then on race
week, I wake up my body with low volume workouts but with intense efforts with
ample recovery in between. I do not fear that this will tire out my body
because I know that my body is not overtrained or burntout by the time I get
to my taper week so my body actually
welcomes this wake up without residual fatigue for race day.
I was really excited to bike for the first time in Czech
on my tri bike (last year we borrowed road bikes from a friend of Karel’s) so
whether my body was ready or not, we were out for our ride around noon.
Karel and I usually need a good 20-25 minutes to feel
warmed up and with the wind blowing at us on the way out from our out and back
course, I was pushing fairly hard power and only going around 15-16mph (Karel
was a bit ahead of me thanks to his disc wheel and front race wheel – I am
still waiting for my race wheels which I will get tonight). I toned it back a
bit until I met up with Karel (he waited for me) and then I was able to stay on
his wheel with the wind blowing at our face. Thankfully, the power was a bit
lower but still not an easy start to the ride. However, we both ended up
feeling really good around 25 minutes into the ride and we both were really
enjoying ourselves.
Karel spent most of his life in Czech as a cyclist so he
makes a great bike tour guide. Karel took me to a place that we visited by car
last year. Vranov
nad Dyjí is a chateaux in the South
Moravian region of Czech Republic,which lies on the Dyje (Thaya)
river, 3 km north from the Austrian border close to Hardegg. There is a
beautiful castle that we get to see in the distance as we make our way down the
hairpin turns while descending. Of course, Karel zooms down this road for he is
very familiar with this route. Karel told me that when he was a kid, him and
his bike buddies would race down this windy road, passing any cars that were on
the road and sometimes crashing. Yep, that’s Karel – he has the need for speed
on two wheels.
After we reached the body,
we took a few pictures and visited the Dam which also serves as “beach” for the
locals in the summer.
We then biked up the
zig-zag road and enjoyed the amazing tail wind that was once in our face on the
way out to the castle.
16-17 mph on the way out,
weeeeeee, 29-32 mph on the way back. It was tough to even sit on Karel’s wheel
going that fast for he told me he was just soft pedaling!
After our 30 mile ride, we
went on a 4 mile run on every type of terrain possible. My tour guide took me
on cobblestones, trails, hills, downhills, back roads by gardens and the
street/sidewalk. If we didn’t have the Ironman on Sunday, I am pretty sure
Karel would have kept me running so we could tour his town.
After a shower at his dad’s
place (his dad has a stand-up shower where his mom has a bathtub with a
removable shower head), Karel chatted a bit with his dad and then we walked
back to his mom’s house for a late lunch around 3pm. Oh well, our bodies still
have no idea what time it is so when the workout is over, it’s time to eat!
In Europe, lunch is a big deal. People go home for lunch or take a long break
for lunch. The same is true for dinner where the town shuts down around 5 or
6pm and most people are home, ready to enjoy a home cooked dinner.
For lunch, we enjoyed a
delicious vegetable risotto (Karel had meat in his) along with a super tasty
garlic and cucumber salad and I had a side of Greek Yogurt for my protein. For
dessert, homemade apple strudel (Karel asked his mom for it and while we were
biking she made it for us!). The pastries and desserts are not super sweet here
for they do not overload recipes with sugar. Therefore, the sweets are not super
addicting, you have just a few bites and you are satisfied. Also, even last year, we never felt tummy upset with the sweets here or the food. All the ingredients are natural, no preservatives, artificial ingredients or food dyes. All good stuff that the body likes and knows what to do with during metabolism. Of course, we can't eat like this 365 days a year so we welcome these occasional treats and feel super great while eating them. When in Europe.....
After lunch, we rested for
about an hour and then headed out to a local café with two of Karel’s friends
in town (old bike racing buddies) for coffee and an afternoon treat. Karel
ordered me a cappuccino (same for him) and he also got a crepe with cinnamon
sugar (Palacinky) which is
a staple at this coffee shop.
We then walked back to his
mom’s house so I could Facetime with my mom back in the states. Karel’s mom has
WIFI which is hard to find in downtown shops/cafes so that is where I have been
doing my uploads on Facebook (Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition page) and
blogging.
We had leftovers for
dinner and kept it a light meal along with snacking on currents and apricots
(can’t get enough of these tasty seasonal fruits!).
Karel is currently working
on my race wheels which he has to use his bike-specialist knowledge to make
sure the race wheel become compatible with my 11-speed bike (now turned into a
10-speed) with the right components. It is not so simple to put race wheels on
any bike so I am lucky that I have Karel to make sure my bike is race ready in
Europe for the Ironman on Sunday.
Today was a great day and
I am SO excited for tomorrow! We get to drive to Klagenfurt, Austria and get
ourselves into race mode at the Ironman venue!
