 |
| www.Mtwomenstri.com |
As far as training goes, I have been really good about sticking to my training plan. I've been doing one swim per week and one brick of bike/run, in addition to just running and just biking. I've definitely noticed myself feeling pretty tired in general, and I'm attributing that to just the overall load of training. With a few races in the mix over the past few weeks, including a 10K and a 5K, that has caused me to make a few adaptations as well, and probably contributed to the overall feeling of fatigue. I don't think what I'm doing compares apples to apples with half marathon or full marathon training, but I imagine the feeling of tiredness/fatigue is similar to what you'd get if you were training for a big race like that.
The bike/run workouts continue to be a the most challenging, yet the biggest confidence booster toward my overall training. I've got some doozies left yet in my schedule, so I know I'll be prepared well on race day.
My toughest workout so far was a brick where I did a twelve mile ride followed by a two mile run. The ride was very challenging. Remember that I do all my rides on gravel roads on a mountain bike. The route I had planned included a one mile section that I thought had a trail, but turns out, it did not. So even though it was only one mile, powering through clumpy grass was very tiring. The route also had a lot of hills and loose rocks, and on that day it was pretty windy. Normally, I do 12 miles on flat road in just under an hour, but this took me almost an hour and a half! I was exhausted for the start of my two mile run, which felt like about six miles! ha! I was very thankful for my hydration and fuel during this workout, which you can read more about later!
Gear
Last time I wrote a Tri Tuesday post, I had given myself an assignment to buy a 5-gallon bucket, and a bike helmet. Well, I did both! Hooray! I will be using the bucket in my transition area, as suggested on the Montana Women's Triathlon website. It was inexpensive at about $5 from the local farm and feed supply store. Way cheaper than a fancy triathlon bag. And, when I'm not doing a triathlon, I can use it on the farm! lol
I also bought a bike helmet. I didn't get the cheapest one that Scheels had to offer, but not the most expensive one, either. I felt a little out of my element trying to pick one out. I really wasn't sure how they were supposed to fit, and felt like I was in between sizes. I went with the larger size of the women's specific helmet and was able to tighten it up to fit my noggin. It's comfortable overall, and when I ride, I forget that I'm wearing it, so that's good. The only thing I don't like is that I have to adjust where I sit my ponytail to be able to fit with the helmet. Annoying, but only a minor inconvenience.
Fuel and Hydration
Something I've been aiming toward working on for weeks, and finally got to in the past week or two. I had a scary moment and learned the hard way after Governor's Cup that I'm not superhuman and need to be smart about fueling and hydration. I barely had anything after that race, and became extremely dehydrated later in the day, to the point where I had vertigo and nausea, and even threw up several times, on the way home from Helena. Stupid, and probably could have been avoided.
Since then, I've been much more deliberate about staying hydrated and fueling for long workouts, and even shorter runs. What I've been using and really liking is Nuun and Honey Stinger products. I also read a great tip on a Dietition/Runner blog that I follow, Fannetastic Food, about a natural fuel source for running. She likes to use dates or figs rolled in sea salt for a pick me up on long training runs. I like dried apricots better, so I am experimenting with that. So far, I've been very happy with these products, and I've been able to score some very good sales and discounts on ordering both Nuun and Honey Stinger.
On that tough 12 mile bike ride/brick workout I mentioned, I made sure to plan out my hydration and fuel so that I'd stay strong through the workout. My strategy was 5-6 swallows of Nuun (tropical flavor!) as I get on the bike, then drink every four miles. Fuel strategy was have a snack at six miles and then at twelve as I transitioned to run. I ate salted apricot pieces and one or two Honey Stinger gummies. I felt like it did make a difference in my energy level, and I noticed after I finished the workout that I didn't feel as dead as I thought I might.
New-to-me Swimming Pool and Clothing Choices
I also had my first pool/bike combo workout last week. For this one, I tried out the Chester swimming pool, an outdoor pool. Chester is a little closer to my house than Havre and I thought it would just work better to bike in this town than around Havre. I was really impressed with their pool- it's pretty new and just overall better than I expected for a small town pool. Plus, I had lap swim all to myself, which was kind of nice!
For the bike portion of the workout, I just left from the pool and went for about forty minutes. I didn't rush through my "transition," just wanted to see what it was like for the first time through without any added stress of trying to be fast.
The biggest test for this whole workout was actually my clothing choices. For the first time in my life, I swam in shorts and a sports bra. My tri shorts, which I've written about before, were excellent. I also wore my Oiselle Runway Sports Bra, which also performed very well in the water. Both pieces dried out quickly on the bike ride, and by the time I was done, there wasn't a drop of moisture left. Perfect. You can see in the picture that I also threw on a tank top for the ride- Oiselle O Snap top. So soft. Loved it. :) I was really, really happy with the way everything worked out-- this whole ensemble will likely be my raceday combo.
Budget
I have done a bit more spending over the past two weeks. The helmet was $40, the bucket was $5, and I spent about $40 total on Honey Stinger and Nuun (but bought enough to last for well beyond the triathlon!). My total has now reached about $435. It's adding up, even with offsetting some of the purchases with sales of old workout clothes. Time to sell more stuff!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for reading my blog! I would love to hear what you think of this post in your comments.