Gettin' in Shape

No swim today.  It was nice sleeping in.  We started at 9:30 a.m. this morning out in the hotel parking lot with a transition clinic.  Barb, nutrition and motovational coach, had a transition rack set up and Aaron took us through the process of how to get through transitions smoothly and quickly.  On my next sprint or olympic distance race I'm going to use the transitions techniques and see how much I can shorten my transition times. 

For today's training all we had was a long ride.  The plan was to complete the entire Ironman course.  We started at Sandhollow reservoir at about 10:30 p.m., a little later than planned.  The hills on the ride from Sandhollow into town weren't as bad as I thought they would be.  On the first loop out to Veyo we had a little bit of a head wind but it was nice having the wind to our backs coming from Veyo to St George. 

At the end of the first loop we met up with the pace vehicle to refuel and fill water bottles.  One of the gals was done at that point and while I was helping her load her bike the other three Ironman riders took off.   (We were short on time to get the second loop in and had started drafting taking turns leading.)  From Bluff to the far southwest side of St George, riding on my own, I wasn't able to catch them.  Looking at the clock I didn't have time to get the second loop in so I rode from there back to the parking lot at Sandhollow reservoir.  I got back to Sandhollow just after the sun had gone down finishing with 102 miles.  I was a little bummed out I didn't get to ride the second loop of the course and get the full 112 miles.

I messed up the entry for today and put yesterday's ride in for today.  That's now fixed.  Today was the last day of the training camp with a ride and run scheduled.

We started the day with a short and relatively easy ride.  We went from Tabernacle and Main St out to Tuacon and back.  With sore legs it was nice not pushing the pace too much.

The last event of the training camp was a 2 hour run following the Ironman out and back route.  We started at 11:30 a.m. at Tabernacle and Main St.  Starting with worn out legs I set out at a 9:40 min/mi pace.  The climb out of town and up onto the top of Snow Canyon Pkwy/Skyline Drive wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  For some reason at the state park loop (about mile 5) I hit the wall.  From there on out it was a struggle.  After reaching the turnaround at 1000 East I had a hard time on the up hill sections back across Skyline Drive.  Through the rest of the run it felt like 90 degree weather even though it was only in the high 60 and low 70s.  I carried a water bottle the last 4 miles to keep my hat and head wet as well as for drinking.  It was a good feeling to get back to the vehicles at Tabernacle and Main St knowing we were done with the training camp.  Before leaving town I went back to the hotel and cleaned up.  I also got an ice bath in which made a big difference and got my legs feeling a little better.

As for the camp, I loved it.  It was a blast getting out and meeting new people.  The coaches, training, and other participants we're great.  I enjoyed working with all of them.  I need to thank Brent for introducing me to Di from the Desert Sharks Tri Club, and a thanks to Di for telling me about the tri camp.