A Sputtering Tank

Evidently, my tank is low and definitely sputtering.

I woke up tired this morning after oversleeping and thereby missing my opportunity to join friends for a group bike ride this morning... although it was a bit wet still at our house. So I put the bike on the trainer and started to ride. Then I realized, I didn't have breakfast. I never start a workout without breakfast. At least not since 3 months ago when Coach not so gently explained how I could do serious harm to myself by continuing to do such a thing. But, I didn't have 1 1 /2 hours to wait, so I borrowed a trick from Joe Friel's book The Triathelete's Training Bible. I ate 2 raspberry flavored Hammer gels and got back on the bike.

Within the 1st 3 miles I could tell there was going to be a problem. I was tired, already, and my quads were burning, already. This never happens so early on. Mile 12 is usually the first of these sorts of things and after consumption of shot blocs, things get better. No such luck today. I tried the new method of nutrition consumption my Coach wants me to follow - 4 to 8 oz. of sports drink (although what I used today won't cut it - 3 calories per 8 oz because we were out of Gatorade and I used some Nuun elctrolyte tabs thinking it would be just like Gatorade, um no) every 15 minutes (provided I'm doing 1 hour or more of exercise), and shot blocs for the rest of the calories I need for the activity (500 cal per hour during activity). Realizing that the Nuun was not like Gatorade, I added a shot bloc each 15 minute interval (100 cal in 3 shot blocs). It helped a little but man was I tired. I have never just wanted to stop, but boy did I ever today.

The new bike shorts I bought are great though. Real bike shorts have a ton more padding than the tri shorts, which made things a bit more comfy. I think I'm going to use them up until race day or when I do not have a swim bike brick involved. The funny thing is that I bought a smaller size and even tried them on... and when I tried them on I thought you know I might even need a size smaller, but didn't want to be overly optimistic and bought the size I tried on. I may be buying a smaller size. These were fine but they seemed to fit a little looser than they should. They will do for now, but a smaller size would definitely be better.

Angelfish woke up at mile #3 and wanted Mommy to help her get dressed. She was so cute. She walked up to my bike, and tried to press on the brake lever. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I am trying to stop you bike!" So, I (of course) stopped and helped her get dressed. Then Ladybug decided she wanted me to help her too, which I did. They were so cute wanting to wear dresses today, and Ladybug promising me (on her own accord) she would keep her underpants dry today at school because she wanted to have popcorn after school today. (4 accidents yesterday, so yes, I'm plying her with popcorn in an attempt to get her back on the potty using track - popcorn is her favorite food other than candy... but I don't give her candy. Only her Grammie and Papa do that.) Then they piled in the car, kisses and hugs were given, waves goodbye, and wishes for a good day expressed, as they pulled out of the driveway.

Then back on the bike, but my body did not want to go. I got myself to 15 miles and that was more difficult than any bike ride I've done in forever and I had to stop - 10 miles short of where I needed to be for the day. I felt like stopping several times during that 15 miles and my legs were like lead. Talk about feeling like a big wuss. Lucky for me I didn't go on the group ride, that would have been embarrasing.

The only thing I can think of is that somewhere I am not eating enough. I have to say that yesterday I wasn't very hungry, so I didn't eat all of my planned meals. It's probably my payback. So I vow to plan out my meals for the rest of the week and next week, and I will stick to the plan. This fueling the machine thing is really quite amazing and a bit complicated. You can't just stick any old thing into the system... unless you want to feel like a slug or cause yourself GI distress... and if you don't put enough in to your body, you can't train as well as you need to. The proper amount of healthy calories divided into the proper proportions of carb, protein, and fats. But how good you can feel (and how far you can go) when you're doing it right... which my tank is telling me I am not quite doing right at the moment. This I will remedy!

I originally had planned to do a 30 mile bike followed by a 30 minute run tomorrow (since I'm taking the day off of work to make a nice long 4 day holiday weekend), but after this morning I have changed the plan. Depending how I feel in the morning, I will either take a complete day of rest or I will run 6 miles. That will then determine whether I have Sunday completely off, or whether I will have a 6 mile run to do before corraling the family off to church. Either way, the 30 miles & 30 minutes will be Saturday morning's adventure. Stay tuned for further details.
: o ) That is, if I don't sleep the entire weekend.