Fitness Test

Yesterday marked 7 weeks out from IMTX, so I decided to do a fitness test and see where I'm at. The idea was to ride 112 miles and then run 13. I'd just go out and get the riding miles in at a comfortable pace and then see what kind of pace I could hold on the run. It didn't go well. Somewhere around the 80 mile mark, I started bonking. It was probably my fault for not eating enough in the morning. Then I ran out of fluids and my stomach turned. Again, my fault for head out on a newly modified route, not knowing where I could refuel. As my energy level dropped, it became increasingly hard to take in calories due to my stomach. I stopped at the 103 mile mark and bought a large bottle of water and a mountain dew. I took a few minutes to regroup and drink about half the mountain dew and a good portion of the water. I set out and still felt pretty weak as I climbed up a hill. I was swerving in the lane and my stomach got worse. At the top of the hill, I pulled over a dry heaved a couple times. Within minutes, I felt ten times better. I think the sugar and caffeine combo from the mountain dew kicked in. By the time I got home, I was feeling decent, but tired. I'd been contemplating not doing the run for a while, but things seemed OK at that point. I downed more water and drove to WRL.

I set out running and felt ok looking down at my watch and seeing I was running an 8:30 pace. I made myself slow down. Then I felt my heart rate jump and my breathing labored. I looked at the garmin and I was 1.6 miles in. I stopped and knelt. I thought to myself, "I can't do this." It was hot. It was windy. I was tired. Add in humidity and you'll probably have what race day will be like. So I labored on. My stomach was much too full of liquids, so I was having severe stomach cramps. Eventually those subsided, but the heat was beating me down. I stopped at every water fountain trying to stay hydrated. The run was beyond a sufferfest. It was embarrassingly slow (i got passed by a fat guy wearing a water belt).

My initial thought throughout all this was "If this is my fitness, I'm screwed." Then it moved to, "Thank God I have 7 more weeks of training." As time has passed, I can see a few positives:

- I DO have 7 more weeks
- Another 112 miles under my belt
- I fought through a rough day, which will only help me mentally on race day.
- I KNOW I screwed up my nutrition. I can fix that.

Additionally, I learned a few other things:

- I need to do core work. My back was KILLING me, which is a bad sign.
- I need to be more liberal with the chamois cream. Saddles sores are not fun.
- I need to remember to put sunscreen on my lower back. Its covered when I stand up, but when I'm on my aero bars, its exposed. I have VERY, VERY red line across my lower back.

Overall, it wasn't the most impressive day training, but it showed me a lot. In the next 7 weeks, I'll dial things in and hope the weather cooperates on race day. I've got 4 more long runs and 5 long rides left, so I've still got plenty of time to improve.