fighting the good fight
I'm getting a little tired of this IT band crap. It's been 6 months full of progress mixed in with huge setbacks. I'm trying to inch back up to where I was a few weeks ago, but I'm just really tired of having to be so careful.
(whining over)
Friday morning I had a long ride planned, but woke up to thunderstorms, rain, and crazy debris all over the road. In light of my recent love affair with the pavement, I decided to nix the ride. However, Thursday night I had eaten a huge meal of bread and pasta, trying to load up my muscles for the long ride. And then when the ride didn't happen.....ugh. I felt heavy and bloated all morning. I went to the gym to lift, and decided to hop onto the treadmill for yet another cautious test run. I did 2 miles (18:15), walked and stretched, and then did one more mile (8:20). There was a lot of tightness throughout, and some pain started up near the end, so I quit. I've been stretching and icing and foam rolling like crazy, which seems to be helping it calm down.
Total: 3.53/33:00/avg. pace 9:20
That still didn't feel like enough to burn off all the bread, so I came back to the gym later in the day and sat on a recumbent bike for an hour while reading. I never feel like a recumbent bike is burning that much, but I suppose it's better than lounging on the couch.
Total: 14.3/60:00/avg. pace 14.3 mph
Saturday morning I woke up for an early pool date with some running buds at the W-L pool. I've never pool run longer than an hour, but Tara wanted to do 3 hours to replace her long run, so I hung out for 2. I usually don't have any leg fatigue after an hour of pool running, but 2 hours made a big difference - my legs and hip were pleasantly tired. I did some cautious laps in the pool afterwards, both to stretch out my body and test out my shoulder. I managed 1000 yards before calling it a day. My shoulder felt pretty good, but later in the afternoon I spent 30 minutes lifting at the gym and it was a bit more cranky!!
Sunday morning I woke up VERY early to make another attempt at my long ride. The weather was almost perfect - 73* but a bit humid. I headed up to Haines Point alone and did a few laps before my riding buddy joined me at the 45-minute mark. We did about an hour's worth of riding down and around the mall and the capitol. We stopped to refill, and then did a decent 45 minutes of loops of Haines Point - our speed was pretty high but the wind was getting ridiculous! We stopped at 2:30 for a desperately needed stretching session, and then did a hard and fast 40 minutes. Our average during that time was all in the 16-19 mph, with several long stretches hitting the 20-21mph marks. We stopped again to tank and while we were stopped, it started to pour like crazy. We were both about 5 miles from home, so just decided to keep riding. We did 2 more laps of Haines Point and then split off for home.
Total: 62 miles/3:55/avg. pace 15.8mph
Here are my stops/nutrition:
breakfast: protein bar, banana, water.
0:45, 14ish miles: 280 calories - Gu chomps and a caffeinated Gu.
1:45, 28 miles: 200 calories - Shot blocks.
2:30, 38 miles, 100 calories - caffeinated Gu.
3:10, 50 miles, 200 calories - caffeinated Shot blocks.
I also had a pack of little hard pretzels in my bento box that I munched on from the 2-hour point until the end - probably another 100-120 calories. I started out with both water bottles filled with Nuun and refilled with water twice during stops.
This is definitely the most amount I've ever taken in during a ride, but I think it worked. It adds up to 900ish calories over 4 hours. When I got home, I drank 2 glasses of water and ate a PB&J before heading off to my gym to soak in the hot tub. I tried to take a nap when I got home, but I think all the caffeine was still bubbling around because I didn't fall asleep. I instead spent the next few hours reading (and icing!), and then got up and did some grocery shopping before we headed to a friend's house for dinner. I never hit the bonk I've hit before - sometimes during, sometimes after the ride - and despite the longer ride and much faster speeds for several chunks, I didn't have that much leg fatigue. When I woke up this morning, I was a bit stiff and needed a stretch, but I don't feel the day-after fatigue that I've felt before, either. I know from all the years of experimenting with my running nutrition how much of a difference it makes when you get it right, and I think I've finally gotten it.
However, my biscuit is definitely feeling the higher milage, as it felt for the rest of the day like it was still smashed and vibrating on a bike seat, and I've got a pretty numb crotch this morning. It might be time to invest in better bike shorts - ladies, I'm taking recommendations!! I also think it's time to start thinking about the rainy fall and winter, and invest in a trainer - again, awesome bike folks, help me out - what should I look for?
Both evening this weekend we got to catch up with some great friends - this is what summer is about. Lots of motion, sleeping, food and friends. I'm off to see a PT today to try and straighten out my busted-up bod. How was your weekend?