just one of those days...

“It’s hard to beat a person that never gives up” – Babe Ruth

Do you ever have one of those days where you don’t accomplish a damn thing?

Tuesday, Aug 29, 2006
4::00 am Wake up
4:20 am: Head to gym
4:45 am: Swim 1 hr 15 minutes
6:15 am: Hit HyVee and buy grapes, peaches, bananas and zone bars
6:30 am: Arrive at work
3:30 pm: Leave work
4:00 pm: Bike 50 miles
7:10 pm: Run 10 miles
10:00 pm: Turn on Daily Show and promptly fall asleep.

I decided to cram the entire cancelled Sunday workout into a single day. Yesterday was the day. Granted, I did squeeze in a full day in the lab between the swim and bike. But, really, work can be just as mentally exhausting as training.

The Swim was great. There was one other person in the pool when I arrived. And she was hot, swimming in the middle lane. I promptly jumped in and paced myself off her. She swam a little faster than I wanted too, but it was worth pushing myself. I don’t have any idea how far I swam. But it was in the 2 mile range.

After work I drove to Heritage Park, home base for my 50 mi bike/10 mi run. The first thing I did after getting to the park was inventory my energy supplements.

Heed (energy drink powder): ~3 scoops at 100 calories/scoop (I thought I had more)
Hammer Gel – 1 packet at ~100 calories (What happened to those other 4 packs? Crap, I took them during my 16 mile run).
E-caps (electrolyte supplements) – 2 (at least it wasn’t 112 out)

This wasn’t good. I had right at 400 calories to get me through a 5 hour, 3000+ calorie workout.

I rode a total of 50.9 miles at a 17.3 mph average pace. I didn’t stop once. This was a first. I felt pretty good the entire ride. I finished in just under 3 hours.

Now for the run. I was pretty nervous about the run. I had never run more than 3 miles after a bike ride. Additionally, I have only run more than 6 miles alone a couple of times. I really count on those around me to get me through the longer runs.

But there I was, looking at 10 miles, alone, with just over 100 calories worth of Heed to get me through it.

As Josh would say, “Do or do not, there is no try”.

And with that, I was off.

Here are my splits
Miles 1: 11:10 – Hey, look at me. I’m running.
Mile 2: 11:50 – that bacon-cheeseburger for lunch isn’t working out so well
Poop Break
Mile 3: 11:19 – What time does the park close? Run to the entrance. 11:00. Great!
Mile 4: 11:01 – My butts starting to chafe. Should have brought the Body Glide
Mile 5: 11:40 – Halfway there. And still going.
Mile 6: 12:00 – Starting to lose energy. Turn on the head lamp as the sun has set.
Mile 7: 12:54 – I wonder where this trail goes. Oh look, a long hill.
Mile 8: 13:53 – Pbltt. Another spider web. I must have run at least 12 of these in the last 4 miles.
Mile 9: 12:43 – The sound of howling dogs (or coyotes) and rustling leaves kept me on my toes.
Mile 10: 12:26 – Downhill and just willing myself to the finish.

I did it. I don’t know how. My tank was on empty. But it was a great feeling.

And the most amazing thing about everything that happened yesterday actually happened this morning.
I woke up at 5:45 am – without an alarm clock - ready to take on another day.