Timberman training weekend & May check-in

Another month of training has gone by, which means I'm one month closer to Timberman. I ended the month of May/started the month of June with a weekend in New Hampshire, training on the Timberman course. I was joined by my aunt who is doing the bike portion of Timberman 70.3 on a relay team, and my cousin who is doing the Timberman Sprint and a few other sprint distances this summer. They both live a few miles from the Timberman course, so it was very convenient to plan a weekend of training on the course. We started out early Saturday morning for a 2-hour bike ride. We decided to do an out & back on route 106, which is the "flat" middle part of the course. I put "flat" in quotes because I still earned a PR on Runkeeper for highest elevation (until today when we did another part of the course... more on that later.)

Saturday's "flat" ride

I was psyched to see the first 5 mile split on my watch show up as 16.3 mph. I'd never gone more than 15 mph except for a few weeks ago at the JCC Triathlon by the Sea, and my legs were BURNING after that. It's amazing what a long stretch of downhill with no lights will do for your pace. I am getting a little bit more comfortable on the bike, namely not braking as much on the downhill. I'm sure that admission makes seasoned cyclists cringe, but as I say, I'd rather be slow than dead!

The last couple of miles of this ride were not on the course, but weaving through neighborhoods getting back to my aunt's house. I think this was enough of a cool-down before my post-bike run because the run felt surprisingly comfortable. I didn't have that weird muscle sensation that I sometimes feel when I run immediately after getting off the bike. I was running in the low 11's, but could have run faster if I had to. I also could have run farther. In fact, I felt better at the end of 2 miles than I did at the beginning. I know this about myself, but it's still an ah-ha moment every time it happens.

The next day called for an hour and a half bike ride. We decided we'd start at Ellacoya State Park, which is where Timberman is held, so we'd be starting at the exact course start. It's a tough first 12 miles, including 4 miles (I'm not exaggerating) of a long steady incline. And that's not even the hard part. The hard part is a really steep hill around mile 10 that many people have to walk-up, according to the multitude of race reports I've found from years past. So naturally, at mile 9.8, before that hill was even in sight, I pulled off to the side of the road and told my fellow cyclists that I was not up for doing that hill today. I was already tired and feeling discouraged, and I knew that if I ended up walking up that hill, that would be the only piece of the entire weekend that would stick in my head. I'd give an otherwise kickass training weekend the big ol' FAIL stamp and I'd spend the next few weeks beating myself up. Beath Mode was totally not on today, but it's still a victory for not letting Sylvia plan my pity party. Avoidance, FTW! By the way, it's not like we stopped at mile 9.8, we just took a less hilly ride back to Ellacoya. So I still did my hour and a half ride, and I managed to get 10 miles of the 56 mile course in there, so that's pretty good. Sunday's ride was 10 miles shorter than Saturday's ride, with slightly more total elevation. (Note: Runkeeper calculates "climb" as a total of all ascents. For the sake of comparing apples to apples, that's what I look at, even if it's not a true measure of course elevation.)

Sunday's ride - Hilly first half, flat second half

After the bike ride, we went out for breakfast, and then after breakfast, I got to do my first open water swim of the season. It was also my first time wearing my Garmin 910XT in the open water, and it was the first real swim wearing my wetsuit (the 5 minute swim to try it on for size doesn't really count). I was sure my swim map would look like a drunk person's path home from the bar, but I was actually pretty impressed with myself for going in a relatively straight line.

Lake Winnisquam

I was also able to get out of my wetsuit without falling over or dislocating my shoulder. In my world, I was absolutely killing it today! So after a weekend with 48 miles on the bike, 2 miles running (on bike legs!), and a .63 mile swim, I was feeling pretty good, but also really, really glad I still have 2.5 months more to train. 50.63 miles in two days is child's play compared to 70.3 in one day, which is where I need to get to. On that note, let's do a quick monthly review.

Swim:
Level of enjoyment (1 - 10): 8 in the pool, 6 in the open water. I know I'm judging that based on one open water swim, but I'm hoping that soon open water swims will feel natural (by definition they are!) and pool swims will seem weird. 
Level of confidence (1 - 10): 8 in the pool, 6 in the open water. Again, just basing this on one swim. I only swam for 23 minutes, and it was hard. I feel like I can go forever in a pool. Just need more practice.
Specific concerns: Nothing new, except focusing more on open water instead of pool swimming. And more practice getting kicked in the face and swum over.
Pace estimate: According to my coach's prediction based on a swim speed test workout I did, my predicted pace for the 1.2 mile swim is 41:28. That sounds doable. (Today's swim was half that distance in 22:50.)

Bike:
Level of enjoyment (1 - 10): 6 I'm learning to like this more. I don't have visions of my death scene before leaving the house to go on a ride anymore. I sing songs outloud on the bike simply because I'm feeling the joy. Right now those songs are Neil Diamond and Air Supply, which is indicative of my current speed. BUT AT LEAST I'M SINGING!
Level of confidence (1 - 10): 4 I practiced changing a tube once in the past month. I should practice this more in my living room. Bike maintenance and downhill speed are really my own fears. Oh yeah, and I guess I still have a fear of coming to a complete halt on a steep uphill climb.
Specific concerns: HILLS.  
Pace estimate: Last month I thought I could get up to 15 mph by Timberman. I don't think that will happen. I'd be happy with anything over 14 though, and I still think that's a stretch.

Run: 

Level of enjoyment (1 - 10): 5 My love of running has declined since the marathon. I'm not running as much, and when I do, it sucks. My coach says to let this happen and focus on the swimming and biking for now. Ok.
Level of confidence (1 - 10): 5 I'm still heavily depending on the run/walk plan if I have to. Confidence is irrelevant for the running portion.
Specific concerns: None really. If I can make it through the bike, I think I'm good.
Pace estimate: I have no idea, still thinking 11's, maybe 12's? Who knows? Who cares?