Big Day

Well the weather gods certainly smiled on my Big Day training session on Saturday.
Basically Big Day is a "dress rehearsal" for the race - only it wasn't "dress" because I haven't got my team uniform yet! Oh, and you get to have a break between disciplines, which was nice after the swim but probably a disadvantage after the ride.
So the day started at 4.30am as this will be the time I get up for the actual race. That was an early start! I practiced my race breafast - porridge with honey, protein powder and peanut butter (not as gross as it sounds), a cup of tea and an Up&Go. Listened to some music, made up all my drink bottles and packed the car... and fed the dog and emptied the dishwasher which hopefully I won't have to do on race day!
The biggest struggle of the morning was getting Johnno out of bed (just kidding baby ;) ) and on the way to the pool I kind of rememberd I had forgotten to organise with anyone that we were going to be there (as it's before opening hours) so thanks Anne for letting us in :)
After 2.5km the swim seemed to be going on for ever but eventually the 3.5km signal came from the end of the pool and I was able to put a bit extra in for the last 500m. I was a bit disappointed though that my time came up as 1 hour 8 minutes 22 seconds - every time I do a 4km TT it takes 1 hour 8 minutes to the minute - never any faster!
Sharon and Tim Gunton put in a great effort to swim about 2.5km but Dan Van der Vlist was the star of the show, swimming 1km further than he ever has before and making the whole 4km in 1 hour 20 minutes. Awesome.
Then it was time for a snack and a sit down. At 9 we met Dan and his two friends Chris and Tim in the car park and we set off on the ride portion of the day in cool but sunny conditions and NO WIND! For once! It was great. I must've looked a complete fool in the (re)Tardiz helmet with my TT bike going through town, but it was great once we got to some of the big downhills and the flats. The course was Rocherlea - Karoola - Pipers River - Pipers Brook - Lebrina - Scottsdale - Bridport. With the exception of the Fingerpost hill out of Rocherlea, all the way to Lebrina was fairly fast though undulating. The big hills between Lebrina and Scottsdale were the killers! Scottsdale to Bridport was also fast despite the reasonable headwind. Johnno did aid stations at Pipers Brook and Scottsdale which was extremely helpful (probably more helpful than all the photos he took of me suffering).
At Bridport I was tempted to ride up and down the street a few times to make the Garmin say 120km as it was only sitting on 116.6. But not too tempted. Plus, the requested chocolate milk was waiting...
After that and a jam sandwich, mixing around in my stomach with E3, Gatorade, Gu chomps and apricot bites from the ride, I felt like I was about to vomit, so luckily there was a break between legs as I needed a lie down in the sun.
Johnno went to do reconnaissance of the run course - to check it was possible to run the loop I wanted to run - and when he got back we decided to set off immediately after a 45min rest instead of the 90 minutes stipulated by Joe Friel in The Triathlete's Training Bible and Your Best Triathlon (currently on loan from the generous Suse Dowling).
Sharon and Tim did a great job to run 10km off their own bike ride, but the boys were out for the count - the hills had broken them!
Johnno decided to run the first lap with me which was lucky or I would've walked it all I think, especially the hills. As I said to him "I didn't know my legs weighed 100kg" - well that's how they felt.
Because I still felt like I would walk, I persuaded Johnno to do lap # 2 with me as well despite the fact that he has a really sore shin :( 13km was up by the end of that lap and he was out so I had to go it alone. Surprisingly I made it up all the hills without walking, but because it was a trail run with roots and rocks and I had very tired legs (not a good idea) I had a fall or two on that lap. The loop was good though with lots of variety and it certainly made the time go quickly. My legs were feeling back to normal by that stage but I was still running a lot slower than I hope to in the race. I'm hoping that with a taper and some fresh legs, as well as running straight off the bike, I might be able to go a bit faster in Vegas.
The last lap is always easy because you just say to yourself 'one more step = one more step closer to the end'! And sure enough the end arrived before I knew it and I was almost disappointed my Big Day had come to an end. I had really enjoyed it. Possibly more than I enjoyed then getting into the ocean as part of my recovery. I felt like the footballers in the Herald Sun, half naked at St Kilda beach in the middle of winter, shivering. I wasn't half naked but my feet went numb! It was a good move though as it certainly helped my legs feel better.
I had had visions of having to send Johnno to the shop to get tea because I couldn't walk after the day but I actually felt pretty fine. So we went and got stuff for burritos (yum) and champagne to celebrate. Unfortunately I couldn't eat nearly as much as I thought I would want to, and I didn't make great company because I was so tired. I nearly fell asleep at the table before going to bed at about 9pm. (much earlier than usual).
Sunday was the first day I can remember where I did not have ANY training whatsoever to do. And we weren't at home so no housework or anything! A whole day to do nothing?! That never happens!
I couldn't sleep past 7.30 anyway (that's already a 2-2.5hr sleep in from normal) so I got up and ate the leftover burritos for breakfast! Yuck! But I was hungry! Then I enjoyed sitting in the sun for a while with the naughty Maxy dog who had chewed up his lead and a wooden seat during the night.
Turns out we're so unaccustomed to doing nothing that after Dan and Chris left to ride back we had nothing to do but pack up, clean the shack and head home to unpack and do the washing etc! Boring!
Hopefully the two days of perfect weather don't mean that to balance out we're in for weeks of rain now.
Anyhow it was a great weekend, I was stoked with how Saturday went (with the small exception of my lack of run speed) and it was a great confidence booster for the race. The nutrition plan went well except for stomach cramps etc on the run, which is pretty usual for me, and may have been caused by the chocolate milk which won't be a factor in the race.
My recovery went heaps better than I'd expected, barely any leg soreness or general fatigue at all yesterday. Kind of freaked me out actually. Like all obsessive Type A triathletes I love a little bit of soreness to remind you that you've worked hard, you're gaining fitness and you've earned a day off. When you feel fine, a day off seems lazy!
Also, now that the Big Day is over, it seems a heck of a lot closer to Race Day, which makes me a little nervous. I'm more excited than nervous I suppose as I feel like I will be prepared and am really happy with how the training has gone. But everywhere I look people are talking up the Vegas course like it's the hardest thing ever (see latest Triathlete magazine for good example). Even Joe Gambles said there's not a flat spot on it. And the wind is supposed to be hideous. If that's not enough to make you nervous, what is? But, I guess everyone has to face the same course and conditions, and you can only do the best with what you have on the day. So we'll see.
Three hard weeks of training to go... two taper weeks... and race 'week' 5 days. So down to 5 weeks 5 days. I had been avoiding that countdown, but there it is.
Hope you all enjoyed the lovely weather and got some good training in too. :) Til next time, Holz