Weekend Report

Well now that I am back on the training wagon, still no swimming however, I finished a nice strong weekend.  Saturday we had 3 base/softball games so it was an early wake up call.  The plan was for me to take Kristina to her last Challenger Baseball game and Cathy would take Emma and Conor to their games since they are at the same park and overlapped slightly in time.  Big busy day.  Saturday night we took Cathy's Dad out for fathers day diner.

I think I started my run Saturday morning at around 5:45 AM.  I do love running that early because it is so peaceful and much cooler.  It took a while to get my shoulder loose.  The pain is still pretty intense and it forces me to be much slower right now, but it forces me to be down at race pace on long runs.  This was the first long run that I took some Gu along and made a pit stop to buy some extra Gatorade.  It came in handy.  It was a 16 mile run in 2 hours, 40 oz oz of water/Gatorade, and 2 Gu's.  It was pretty warm by the end and I was dripping with sweat when I got home.  I followed Cathy's request and took all the dripping sweaty clothes and hung them outside in the yard on the clothes line.  This way I don't stink up the house.  Overall it was a good run.  My ribs/shoulder still hurt when I run, but it is getting more manageable.

Sunday I planned to ride for 5 hours, covering as many miles as I could.  It was more of a test of my shoulder than anything else.  It was also a chance for me to rehearse my nutrition plan for Lake Placid on the bike.  Overall I felt pretty good.  I didn't cover as many miles as I would have liked, around 85, but my shoulder held up pretty good and my nutrition plan did not revolt against me.  My route was nice and rolling with some good steep climbs, steady climbs, and rollers; trying to simulate what I may encounter in LP.  The nutrition I tried was basic.  Every 30 minutes alternate between a Gu Product, Clif Bar, and Banana; rotate all 3.   This should give me plenty of fuel for the bike and the run, without causing stomach fatigue.  I also had my Aquacell full of water and had three 20oz bottles of Gatorade in bottle holders.  By the time I was done the ride, my water/Gatorade was just about empty, and I still had 1 Gu and 1 Clif Bar remaining.  I ran 2 mile OTB just as a way to check my leg turnover.

After the ride and run, I celebrated Father's Day with my gang.  I got some nice new grill utensils, the movie "The Fighter", and the best gift from Conor:  a pair of Batman boxer brief underwear.  He was so happy to give them to me.  He said I could wear them when he wore his Batman pajama's to bed.  He thought we would be super hero's together.  It was perfect from a 4 year old boy.  We then went to a family BBQ at my Uncle Gene's house.  He has a nice house with an in-ground pool.  The kids were in the pool all day, and the cool water felt great on my legs.  I ate so much and never felt full.  I guess the 5 hour ride will do that to you.

Here is Conor jumping into the pool and onto a float.  Its a new swim jacket so he was happy!