Baby win...

My body is starting to bounce back. I had a great biking speed work session today.

All day I WASN'T looking forward to it, my butt muscles hurt so much. This morning, they hurt just from bending and drying myself off after my shower. I was dreading getting on that bike and hammering, I knew there was going to be some pain involved.

At first I was thinking I'd just change the speed work session to a tempo ride session, "why push it early?". But then I figured, "suck it up, you only have 30 day's of training until Utah and everyday counts". Physically I was sore, but mentally I felt better, it was 14 C / 57 F outside, which is not warm, but it is cycling shorts weather.

Within the first 5 minutes into the ride, the endorphins kicked in and I was feeling good. I was sore, but surprisingly, I felt strong. After 30 minutes, which included 15 minutes of easy warm up, I was averaging 33.5 kph. I was cruising up inclines at 31 kph, which I normally do at 25 kph.

I didn't "cut any corners" and even added more minutes to my intervals. Not only did I do speed work, but I did it on huge hills. I figured Utah is hilly, so I may as well do hills.

I did the Bell School Line hill and it is STEEP. Probably at points 10 - 12% grades and I kept it in the big front ring the entire time. I had to stand on the pedals, but I did it. My heart rate got up to 170 bpm. In the past three years, I've never got it that high on the bike. Going downhill on 14 side road I was doing 75.1 kph.

I was taking Simon's advice and pushing hard at a low cadence. He used to ride at my speed, in the 5:25 Ironman range, and then made major strides doing speed work at a lower cadence. This year at Ironman Malaysia he did an unbelievable 4:57

I felt great and at times was riding 40 kph and above. I don't want to get cocky, but I'm feeling more optimistic that I may be able to bounce back and be ready for IMSG.

My weight keeps dropping. I'm now back down to 177 lbs. Maybe that's why I was able to climb in the big gear, less weight to carry. However, my body is not yet stabilized, I'm getting dizzy when I stand up from sitting or lying down. The same thing happened to me when I started my Ironman China training. It usually takes a week for my body to adjust and the dizziness to stop.

The GREAT news is we are starting to get some warm weather, this weekend it may get up to 23C, which would be awesome for my long ride. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'm also keeping up my habit of having a beer or more after training. My spinach is working, it's bringing me back from the dead.

John's still not well, his doctor is checking blood work to see if there is any damage to his kidneys. Apparently heat can easily damage them. I kinda feel "guilty" putting the idea of going to China in John's head. It's not fun seeing a friend in pain, even if it's John.

March Totals

Swim - 16.70 km / 10.35 miles

Bike - 702.67 km /435.66 miles

Run - 114.40 km / 70.93 miles

weights - 1 session

Totals -833.77 km / 516.94 miles

Calories - 35,388

74 beers

Speed Bike - 1:17:01 / 36.71 km / 28.6 kph

177.8 lbs / 21.4% BMI

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