2 hour run

My longest run prior to my HIM had been 90 minutes and I was sore beyond belief (quads and legs) after my HIM so I imagined I'd need serious recovery time if I went over 90 minutes again. I was a little freaked out at all the training time I lost out on last week so I decided to go for a 90 min run yesterday and shoot for a full 2 hours if I felt good enough. I had no problem with a 2-hour run and it is still blowing my mind a little bit that I ran that long. It was super overcast and cool and I think that's the reason it worked so well. I followed the run up with a tropical ice-bath which is radically different from those north of the border, I assume. First off, bathtubs just do not exist here. I've never seen one anywhere in Mexico. I assume some really touristy places might have them but I've never seen them.

So I headed over to the pool, restaurant and dive shop and got my favorite waiter's attention to bring me the paper, a cup of coffee and a bag of ice. I sat myself in the foot bath for the pool (to clean off your feet before getting in the water), donned my sweatshirt and sat in the ice water. But since it is rather warm down here, it was just cold water. Maybe next time I'll try 2 bags of ice. It certainly was not the horror that everyone writes it up to be but it was coldish water.

Today I went for a short (28 min) run and had no soreness and no stiffness. I had tried to swim earlier but between work, the rough seas, and the pool cleaning, I was never able to get a chance. I'll have to double up one day this week to get it done.

a side of HFTU

I spent the last week (6 days) in the hospital with my son. It is very common here to have at least one family member stay with the hospitalized person the entire time but not really that necessary in the private hospitals here. As Jesse isn't quite fluent I wanted someone there the entire time until he was stable and also since I have a little medical background (from work) and these were totally new doctors to us I wanted to make as sure as possible that he was getting the correct care (as best I could determine). I was able to get a ride and run in on Monday but that was the very last workout I got in until Friday night when I was able to get a quick run in while Jamie and the kids came to sit with Jesse for a bit. Jesse came home yesterday afternoon and we both went right to sleep. So today I need to try and catch up a bit. It is storming a bit so no ride but I can run and probably swim (stormy seas make for hard swims but empty the pool normally so it should be a win-win either way). In the picture, one of his meals. Hospital food is really Very Very Excellent here - always fresh - never packaged and always whole.

I keep reading on the triboards about how everyone's workout are getting postponed or wiped out due to Hurricane Irene and all I can think of is, "welcome to my world." All summer we have tropical storm after tropical storm roll through and the seas are not the safest place to be. My alternate is a pool which is either 10m or 12m long and mentally draining to put in a workout. Biking during storms is very dangerous as when the summer rains come down, most cars will actually pull over to the side of the road and wait out the deluge. When it rains, it dumps so hard the visibility is none. Running during storms only brings out the snakes and crocodiles along the path and rivers of water (I run between the jungle and the beach), but if I waited out each and every storm I'd never be able to train. Tropical storms don't compare to the strength and destruction of a hurricane (though they are what hurricanes are made out of) but they are just as disrupting.

Course those north of the border do have winter to deal with (where it is possible to dip below 12C apparently! The HORROR!!!) and I will be the first to admit that if I had to train below 15C I don't think I'd ever go out. I'm already suffering at 20C and can't imagine month after month of that kind of insanity.

So now I need a little HTFU to get my ass out there today as a week (I literally have not been home since Wednesday) of sitting in a recliner in a hospital room somewhat messes with your motivation in getting back into the swing again. I tend to be either 0% or 100% involved in training - once I back off to 0 it is hard to get back to 100 again. And ick, how I hate training in that tiny pool. Sigh.

xmas in august

OMG, I have to laugh at how "Mexican" I've become - down to the no smiles in pictures. :)

We recently had some mail shipped down and a mule delivery (and another mule delivery this Saturday). It is JUST like Xmas, actually BETTER because we actually get more than Xmas. :) We got mail, I got shorts and 3 new (to me) running tops, 3 DeSoto tri tops (I only wanted one and have already someone waiting to take the other 2 off my hands in Cozumel) and MAIL! We have had a TON of credit card fraud and had to cancel 2 credit cards so we have been waiting for the new ones. I even had my folks buy some stuff for me as I couldn't wait for the new cards to arrive (so the package would get to my mule). I also got SWIM SUITS! I've been using tankinis to swim in up to now and wondered if a "real" swimsuit would make a difference. Dunno about time but it is sweet to have a "real" suit and I love the patterns!

AND the recent muling brought Expresso flavored GU, Caffe Latte flavored Perpeteum, 2 boxes of chocolate Powerbars (for Jamie), 2 sunglasses (safety glasses but they ROCK for cycling), Jesse's new laptop (and my backup for work/travel) and electrolye tablets. I tried out the GU on my brick yesterday (65km ride + 48 min run) and I must have taken it way too late in the bike/too early run as I got a bit sick to my stomach about 1/2 way through the run. I'm up to 2 scoops of Cytomax per bottle now on rides but had ordered the Perpeteum before I was able to handle the 2 scoops of Cytomax (and despaired of ever being able to handle anything on the ride).

I took an unexpected rest day the other day and by the end of the day I was depressed (without knowing it). I just felt really OFF and wrong. I always feel this way on a rest day, but I had no options for workout any of the 3 sports. Next day was a 72 min run and although it was incredibly hard (I'm getting faster) I felt So Much Better afterwards and realized I'm more than a little bit addicted to my training. My running is coming along, getting faster, and I'm staying healthy. I'm happy every time I get a swim in as if the sea hasn't been stormy then the pool is full of tourists. I hit every swim the past 2 weeks and I'm very happy about that. This week will likely be a wash as my eldest is in the hospital with a pneumothorax and today I've already missed swim and run.

Going well

The last couple weeks I've stuck to the bike schedule on my plan and finding my legs aren't quite as dead as I remember from HIM training. Next week has only 3 hours for the bike on schedule (my guess is it is a recovery week) and I already know that isn't going to fly. I'll need to do at least 5. Running is going well - I'm bumping up to 24, 48, 72 next week and hit 3 hours 40 min this week of running. So far, the injury gods have left me alone and I really think it is all due to the BarryP plan.

We went to Cozumel a couple weeks ago to ride the bike route but I've decided I really need to run the run route. It is the run that really has me scared. I figure 1.5 hours (actually 1.25 if all goes well) for the swim, 7 for the bike and 6 for the run and that should allow me to come in under 15 hours. I have a feeling the Veracruz HIM was really easy and this IM will be more than 2xHIM+1 hour (which would put me at 14 hours) so we'll see. I'm starting to come around to the idea that I'll be doing a marathon at the end of the bike and not freaquing out totally at the idea.

I had some swim to make up (from Friday's aborted swim) so I did a short triathlon today - 90km bike, 22 min run and 900m swim. In that order. I needed to get out on the bike early and beat the worst of the heat (32-33C and 65% ish) and the plan called for 1 hour zone 1, 2nd hour zone 2 and 3rd hour zone 1. I was surprised how hard it was to get and hold zone 2 (and honestly I wasn't exactly sure of my Z2 cutoff HR so I'm off to figure that now...) and it turns out I was right around Z2 for the 2nd hour but I had to work to get there. Unfortunately (or not?) I stayed in Z2 for the 3rd hour also - but it wasn't hard at all. :) Must have hit 33C that hour.

I really wanted to experiment with nutrition this ride and did 2 scoops of Cytomax in each bottle for the first time. It worked well enough - I wasn't starving hungry when i got home but took Electrolit and Cytomax (1 scoop) out on the run and before the swim. So, I didn't really eat until 2pm and had 7 scoops of Cytomax, 1250 mL of Electrolit and I wasn't starving. In calories that was only 880 calories and I know I would have needed more to go longer. I'm thinking that for a long brick I'll need 2 scoops/bottle AND a GU each hour. I was also really thirsty and found 4 bottles (3 L) was not enough hydration on the bike. As a matter of fact, I've had countless refills of my 625 mL bottle of Electrolit all afternoon and just now, at 7:30 pm, peed for the first time since 2pm. So a little work to do there too. But it was a good day for getting information.

We had hopes to head down to Laguna Bacalar this weekend but girls got sick and Ellen got injured (horse) so we're home for now. We had hoped to do a mini-vacation each weekend of August and will try for Bacalar next weekend. I have a huge itch to swim in both the laguna (site of OWS competitions) and Cenote Azul.

Pretty happy with the training so far - now hoping for calm seas tomorrow so I can get my swim in. Picture is rainfall seen from the car ferry heading home from Cozumel.