Arizona Training Camp Day 3

Wow! Today was an exhausting day to say the least. I was up at 4:45am to get to the pool for swim practice. The air temperature was a steamy(?) 38 degrees Fahrenheit (~2C), but the pool was 82 degrees so you didn't even notice how cold the air was. The theme of the day today was speed work/all out swimming. The main set actually involved about 800yds of it! I had a run with all-out effort on Monday, a bike with all-out effort on Tuesday and so I guess this evens things out! After the swim I headed to Starbucks to pick up a latte for Mamma and an Americano for myself. I really don't know what it is about the coffee there...I just love it! Plus, if I buy 12 coffees I get one free...that justifies the cost, right? ;)


The pool after practice


Good morning mountains!

I spent the next couple hours eating and relaxing before my ride coming up in a few hours. Mamma and I had a pretty good laugh, when we were browsing the Walgreens website (see below). Never knew they made such a thing


From Walgreens: Happy Junk Fresh Balls - So Fresh. So Dry. The Solution for Men

So, after a few good laughs and a couple episodes of Parenthood, it was time for a 4hr/115km bike ride on the TT bike. The good thing about Tucson is that there are TONS of bike lanes, but, unfortunately, I do not know which of the roads with bike lanes are high traffic, have lots of stop lights, are under construction or are just filled with potholes. Let me tell you, I have a much better sense of this after today! I for sure know what roads to avoid in the future :) I did end up finding a bike path closed to traffic...it's pretty flat, empty except for the occasional other cyclist or runner, so it's perfect for a zone 2 ride or for power based intervals outside. You can also just take it to get out of the city and onto a hilly route, instead of taking busy roads with lots of stop lights to get there. I am going to attempt this bike path route out of the city tomorrow so I will update on how that goes. All in all the ride was pretty good. I felt more comfortable in TT position today than yesterday. Also, a big difference I notice from riding last year is that I am using my glutes much more. Instead of my hamstrings getting sore near the end of a ride, it's my bum that's sore. I think this is a good thing. I finished my ride with more energy left, which is good because I'm going to need it for tomorrow's race pace interval ride. That's gonna hurt.


Ready for my ride

Next up for the day was a 13km base run. Lots of endurance today on the bike and the run and all in Zone 2. I'm still not sure whether I prefer the short, high-intensity or the long, base training. Probably medium intensity, medium duration...maybe that's why I'm a half-ironman athlete? Anyway, the run went well. It was hilly (almost 150m of elevation gain in 13km) and windy, but I found that the hills and the wind didn't really bother me that much today.


Planning bike routes for tomorrow, before my long ride. Very stylish, as usual

OK. I'm exhausted and heading to bed...I'm sorry if today's post is a bit scatterbrained, but that's how I'm feeling right now! Brain is mush.


Finally, DINNER made by Mamma!