Blogging Under The Influence

Last week was a huge training week (note: bragging to follow) and this week not so much (note: migraines are fuckers). Since Sunday (SIX DAYS!!!) I have been battling this headache. The headache thought it had won. Oh yes it did. If severe head pain could speak (or type maybe) its taunting would have looked something like this, "Hydration, yeah, yeah that's the ticket. (Snicker.) Tylenol? Puh-lease. Advil? You're joking, right? Ooooh - 1600 mg - scary. Not. Maxalt? Expired sample packets of Maxalt?!! Hahahahahahahahaha!"

Then approximately 47 1/2 minutes ago (which was 10.2 seconds after a shot* to the "hip") the smacktalk ended mid-jeer. Things got muuuuuuuch better. Better enough that I was not allowed to drive myself home from the doctor's. (Thanks honey, for coming to get me!) Better enough that I am finally, blissfully pain free. And seriously woozy. With fingers and toes that are weirdly hot while the rest of me is cold. I expected to be asleep right now (and for the rest of the day.) Meds always knock me o-u-t. Even the meds that say "daytime formula" or "non-drowsy" are practically coma inducing when they enter my system. So what's up?! Why am I awake? And if I have to be awake, why am I not fully functional? (I'm not. I checked. I tried to get up and get some chores done when I realized I was not falling asleep. Bad idea. A bruised elbow, a broken glass, and a mess of papers later I decided that bed was the safest place to be for a while, sleep or no sleep.) So you, my lucky readers, are duly warned that today I reserve the right to make no sense, to ramble, and to digress often.**

So on to the BRAGGING!
Eleven hours of training last week - 120 miles of which were on my bike. (I know! Me. On my bike that much.) Track workouts: speedwork. (I know! Me. Being speedy. Well, sort of.) A triple brick. (I know!!!!!) The triple brick was AWESOME. It totally sucked while doing it - especially the first lap. I was tired all over and my quads were sore from the 30 mile bike in the hills + 2500 yd swim the day before. The first ten minutes of the first brick, I kept thinking, "If it hurts this bad now, if I'm this tired already, how the HELL am I going to finish the workout, much less be ready for a race that's even longer?!"

By the second brick, things actually hurt less. They usually do. I know this intellectually but it is sooooo hard to make my body believe it when I start out. Hitting the mid point in a workout always helps - knowing that what we have left in front of us is less than what we've already done. Donna and I both struggled through some tough mental/emotional places (as usual). At one point she told me she couldn't keep up with me on the run (which was so strange for me to hear because I was having trouble keeping up with her) and for me to go on. I wanted to stay together (which was probably irritating - aren't you wishing you were my running partner?) so I became very conscious of our pace and let her set it. That mile came in 20 seconds faster than the mile before.

Through the whole third brick I kept telling myself that it was about finishing, not about time - that everything from here on out was gravy. I thought the bike would be the worst but it was that final run that was the hardest for me. I wanted to stop with every single step. I also wanted to really push myself and leave it all out there. (I don't do that a lot in training. It scares me to push that hard.) I ended up running my final mile (our 51st mile of the day!) in 10:38. That may look slow to all of you - but to put it in perspective - I'm comfortable with a 12 min pace and thrilled with 11:30's. So knocking a minute twenty-two off my "regular" pace or fifty-two seconds off my "fast" pace - on my last mile of a long day? GLORIOUS!

Earlier in the week we had a 45 mile bike (with some wind and lots of hills) where we averaged 15 mph. It was the first time I'd done that. We've had shorter, flatter rides that fast, but this was the first long, challenging ride where we'd been able to sustain that pace. All in all that was a great training week, which makes this week so much more frustrating in comparison. I seem for various reasons not to be able to get two decent training weeks in a row. I sincerely hope to be able to get this week back on track and at least complete my weekend workouts as scheduled! Peace.

TODAY I LOVE: drugs

*I was going to tell you the name of the med they shot me up with but when I looked up the name I thought they gave me, Dr. Google said that med is no longer available in the US. My second best guess at a name returned four google hits - all in Russian - which seemed to have to do with electricians, not drugs. End result: I have no idea what I'm cruising on here, but you should totally get some.

**I realize that some of you are probably thinking, "So that makes this post distinguishable from what she usually writes...how?" to which I say, "Dude, don't harsh my mellow here."