A triple threat...
The challenge is that we wanted to leave this afternoon in enough time to get to Ann Arbor before sundown at 8 p.m. The drive is 4 hours, and who knows what the border wait times will be. We also need to stop to eat. All in all, estimating a 5 1/2 to 6-hour ride means we must leave by 2 p.m.
Normally, that wouldn't be an issue, but this time around, I needed to get three training sessions done beforehand, and the first half-day, I'd be tied up with work stuff and trying to make half a day of work a full day of effort.
I woke up and was working by 7 am. What I was working on I thought I'd be done within an hour and it took near two hours. That meant I had to wait to get my swim session done before 9:30 am. This means I'd have to do it after my work day, which was noon.
The first training session was an hour-long bike ride, which was eye-opening—no pun intended. I rode today with my old helmet, the cracked one, but unlike the POC helmet I bought to replace it, it doesn't restrict my vision when I'm in the aero position. I wanted to try with my old Catlike helmet to see how much better I could see in the aero position.
I can see more when I ride in the aero position with the Catlike helmet, but I found I had a lot of trouble holding it. It was hard to keep focused on the road, see the road ahead, and look directly down in front of me.
It's crazy, I used to do it for 6 - 7 hours during training and during all my Ironman races and now I wonder how I did it, it seems in the past I could see everything and being aero was like lying down and chilling. Now I'm wondering if I can even learn to return to being aero and see the road without my eyes fluttering. I don't know if it's the sunglasses or what. They are the same sunglasses. I will try a different pair of glasses or contacts on the next ride.
The other concern is whether I can ever get Aero again and enjoy it. I am trying to remember it as work in the past. I would like to know if my weight and stomach are still getting in the way, which may also limit my ability to see ahead in the aero position. I'm worried that I won't be able to figure it out soon so I can train in the aero position for the race.
Once I got home, I responded to some emails and work priorities, and then I was off to the pool for my next session, which lasted nearly an hour.
Once I got home, I did my third training session, lifting weights. Then, it was time to shower and pack for the drive to Ann Arbor. By the time we left the house, it was exactly 3:55 p.m.
The weight training session was brutal. My upper body already had a pump from the swimming. My arms felt like lead during the swim and from the previous swim and weight training sessions, and now I was hammering them with more weight training. My legs were also like lead. I ran an hour yesterday, the first in a long time, and then had a bike ride this afternoon.
By the time we hit the road, I was tired and spent, but in a good way. My body felt like an athlete again, and I mentally felt great that I did all three workouts. I think one of the motivators was that tomorrow is Friday, my rest day, and I have no training sessions.
Crossing the border took us 25 minutes, and we stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel. It's hard to stay on my strict diet, but I tried, eating a steak and baked potato and no other carbs.
By the time we got to our hotel in Ann Arbor, it was 10 p.m., and I was sniffling. My whole body had a little hurt in a good way. I can't stress enough how much I'm starting to feel like an athlete and a new person again. It feels like the past 10 years of doing nothing didn't exist. It's like I traveled back in time.
Before this, I started to feel like an old man and sometimes struggled to go upstairs or even stand up after lying on the couch. Now, I feel alive once again. It's amazing what just 6 1/2 weeks of training, eating healthier, not drinking (other than one day), and losing 7 lbs can do.
Bike - 1:05:44 / 26.06 km / 23.8 kph avg
Swim - 55:55 / 18:28 meters
Weights - 27:26
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