"My ASS hurtz....."

"My ASS hurtz" are the words my teammate Linda (see video below) used to describe her Sunday morning and are the same words I would use to describe my entire weekend of training. June and July are the last two months of our training and from what our coaches tell us...the most INTENSE, longest and toughest. This is where we separate the men from the boyz.

Saturday June 6, 2009:

Bike = 69 miles PLUS Run= 5 miles

Total workout time = 5 hours 45 minutes

We did something a little different today and biked several "circuits" instead of one big bike route. We biked one bike loop starting from Ocean and San Vicente Blvd in Santa Monica and then transitioned off the bike to run about half a mile up San Vicente and half a mile back to the start. Then we repeated it. I repeated it FIVE times total! One bike loop was about 13.9 miles and took me about 49 minutes. Then off the bike it was about one mile for about 9 minutes. I killed the first three circuits/loops and completed them in about 58 minutes each (bike and run total). But then on the last two circuits my quads and hamstrings started to BURN sooooo bad. I had definitely started off too fast/hard and now my fatigue was setting in. I was EXHAUSTED for the last two circuits and had one of those moments where I just wanted to stop. One of those moments that happens from time to time when you ask yourself, "WHY the hell am I doing this again?" Hahaha, yeah, momma said there would be days like this. I hardly ever feel that way but today the end of the 70 miles and 5 1/2+ hours of bike/run had me beat down. What a workout it was today.

Below is a quick snapshot of our bike route (CLICK on map to enlarge). One important thing I forgot to mention about the 13.9 mile bike route is that it included the "Amalfi Loop" in Santa Monica which is very popular with most cyclists. The Amalfi Loop is hilly, not too crazy, but it does have 2-3 short but steep hills. They really are not that bad to tackle but when you have to tackle them FIVE times like we did on Saturday, it can be rough.


Sunday June 7, 2009:

Spin on bike trainer = 30 minutes PLUS Run = 18 miles

Total workout time = 3 hours 30 minutes

Still being a bit sore from the day before, I met back up with the team on Sunday morning at Ocean and San Vicente. It was like deja vu...felt like I never left that place...LOL! My knees were a little bit sore and my ASS a bit sore from the bike ride the day before.

In order to continue practicing transitions off the bike to the run like we will do on race day, today we did a light spin on the bike trainer and then immediately got on our 18 mile run. Spinning lightly on the bike trainer is also very good for recovery and flushing out the lactic acid from tired leg muscles. Since running is my favorite event, I was happy to go for such a long run. Crazy I know, but that's just that way it goes for me. I had a FANTASTIC run and finished in 3 hours flat. I was fatigued a bit towards the end, which is to be expected, but overall I still had gas left in my tank so I could have actually run longer. It was a great workout and the end to a very BUSY BUSY weekend of working out.

Below is a quick video of some of us spinning Sunday before our run. Now you will understand why my ass, Linda's ass, and probably all the asses from our team were SORE!!!! (DON'T FORGET TO MUTE/PAUSE THE MUSIC ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE WEB PAGE IF YOU WANNA LISTEN TO THE VIDEO!!!)




A-GUZZY...SHOUT OUT! This blog entry has been written in your honor and per your request!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!