Ramping up

Since I've signed up for B2B, I've kept thinking 'real training' wouldn't start until July. Now that July is here, it's a little daunting. Not only am I entering distances I've never seen before(except the run) on a consistent basis but I'm doing it in the dead heat of summer. I can run 20 miles or bike 100 in mild temps and lower humidity and bounce back just fine. But running even 5 miles in the sauna that is Florida in July/Aug/Sept, just drains me completely.

I r0de 70 miles on Saturday and felt great the first 35 miles. Then the sun really starting taking it's toll and I struggled the last 10 or so miles. Hit the road Sunday morning for a 7 mile run and again felt very good the first couple miles and then just died. The dew point was 80 degrees and temps in the mid 80s. I had extreme fatigue the rest of the day and really haven't recovered fully yet. I did get in a 2000 yard swim and 30 mile bike yesterday but am a little leery looking at a 12 mile run today. At least I know it's the heat since 2 weeks ago I did a 12 mile run followed by an 80 mile bike 2 days later and felt strong on both when we were back in Michigan City. I actually think I might hit the first 7 miles today on the treadmill at the Y and then run the 5 mile loop from there to finish up. Not only will it provide less heat/humidity the first hour but also give me extra fluids since I can store some in the car.

The good news is Wilmington has average temperatures for November 1st are 71/49 with record temps of 85, so I'm pretty confident if I get the work done, the temps won't be an issue on race day.

Speaking of race day, I need to give congratulations to my friend Rick whom I've spoke about on this blog before. Rick and I did my first 1/2 iron race in 2002 at the Muncie Edurathon. I went 6:39 and he went 6:19. He ended up in the medical tent afterwards and according to him, just about passed out for the entire drive back home to Chicago that afternoon/evening. Fast forward to 2008 and Rick was again going to take on Muncie. He trained hard including much more biking then he did for 2002. He was hoping for a 5:59 and confided in me a week before the race if everything broke just right, he might go 5:40, but was afraid to say it out loud.

So, I logged onto the website Saturday afternoon hoping they would have results up soon after the race and they did. It prompted me with name to search for and when it popped up 5:22, I was in shock. He crushed the course and his PR. Congrats Rick!!!