Love is an Ice Bath

Yes, it is in deed. I knew Mr. Darcy truly loved me when he went to Publix on Sunday to buy me a 20 lb. bag of ice so I could take an ice bath. I had just completed a 5 hour long brick that started late and took longer than I had originally anticipated, and he had the girls to himself the entire time. Yet when I asked and he pointed out he'd have to go to Publix and could I watch the girls, he headed out. Later as I was finishing my shower to get the stink, sweat and dirt off before embarking on the ice bath, he even started filling our garden tub with cool water for me. Love is an Ice Bath.

So you may be wondering what on earth did I do that necessitated this ice bath? Merely the longest brick of my life on a rather hot and very humid day. You know it's going to be rough weather wise when at 7:30 am the crickets are already in full chorus and the cool air that was blowing is now hot.

Sunday at 7 am, my training buddy Ryan and I embarked on what was, for both of us, the longest brick we ever have done. A 45 mile bike followed by a 6 mile run. Coach insisted that we bike at no more of an average of 16 mph. We did our best and as Ryan's bike computer wasn't working, I was in charge of sounding the alert when we hit 17 mph. I remember when I first started riding and the idea of 17 mph was a dream. Now, keeping cadence at 80, I'm already going 16.2. So keeping it slower was an exercise in restraint, but we were able to do it. I felt great the entire 45 miles, like my legs were just happy to be cycling along.

I came across a quote the other day "There is a moment where fear and dreams must collide." - Unknown. In a way, that's how I felt at the end of the bike. I had just ridden the farthest I had ever attempted on a bike and now I was going to turn it into a brick by adding a 6 mile run and the temperature was already in the 90's and humid.

After running 1 mile and Ryan's HR being at 90%, the heat being so intense you could feel it radiating up from the ground with every step, our 6 mile run turned more into a walk. We would run at the start of each mile at the first one until Ryan's HR got up to 90% again. (I probably should figure out how to change the settings on my watch like he does, I just have numbers and the inability while running to do the math in my head, we have the same HR monitor afterall.) Then we would walk the rest of the mile until the next one. Then the last 2 miles we just walked since those were supposed to be in zone 1 (and still weren't while we were walking along). At one point we stopped at the CVS to pee and refill our water supply. I think the a/c helped, not to mention the peeing. Of course, I was happy we were peeing because that meant we were at least somewhat hydrated. 6.4 miles later we finished. While we both wish we would have run more, we were both happy to put the mileage in any form into the bank. The moment I stopped walking to mix my recoverite and then attempted to sit on the floor so I could do my back stretches, I knew. I was going to need an ice bath because I was getting stiff muscles.

That was when I asked the question and discovered that Love is an Ice Bath.

This morning I hit the pool for 1800m. Poor Coach was stuck in Texas and didn't get home until super late this morning, so no workouts were posted for the week yet. I didn't want to take an unwarranted rest day, so I made up a swim workout involving a 200 warmup, 4x50 drills (kick, pull, fingertip, butt touch), 2x400 swim. Turns out, it was supposed to be a rest day. Coach says she'll switch it up and I'll have my rest day tomorrow instead. I was tired today, but surprisingly felt pretty good on the swim, so that's inspiring.

In other news, this weekend with the parents was fun. We took the girls to the pool on Saturday and just played around the house. Nothing eventful, but a nice time. The girls had fun with their Nanna and Poppop, and I think wore themselves and their grandparents out!