Back from some GREAT Training in Madison

Friday, Cindy and Noelle and I headed over to Wisconsin on Friday and would be meeting up with about 10 other TCMC people I train with for the big weekend of Ironman-fun. On our way, we stopped at Devils Lake State Park and decided to do a long open water swim across the lake and back. Doug, a guy from our June training class joined us too. My GPS seems a bit off....saying we swam 6 miles. It was more like 2.5 - 3 in my opinion. 

 

After that, we headed to the hotel, the girls did a quick soak in the hot tub, and then it was bed time for the next day's festivities of biking the full course (112 miles of F'ing hills! Pardon my french) I, unfortunately, couldn't sleep. Probably will be similar to the night before the race...so emulation techniques were working. Noelle & Cindy got up early to go meet Doug and Jake (another training class member) and get out on the roads early for the bike. I was waiting for the later TCMC crew that was doing Perkins first, then the ride. Which worked out good, as it was thunder storming in the morning. After brunch, we decided we'd hang until 10:00 until the storm passed through town and then hit the road. Noelle and Cindy were waiting for the weather to subside too...and were going to possibly join us, but then decided that they would run instead and do the bike tomorrow. So we got split up. Sounds like they had a good time. 

The ride was tough! We headed out in the rain to Verona (called "the stick"). It only rained for that portion of the ride (about an hour). So we were all very wet and dirty. Once in Verona...then it is 2 40-mile loops and then back into Madison. Loop #1: First half of the loop to Mt. Horeb went well with no issues...we were all pushing it (more than we should) and the heat was starting to pick up with the humidity. The second half of the loop encompasses 3 of the 4 hills (bitches) that make the course famous. Man! Did those SUCK! As bad as I remembered from last time, however, I think the humidity added to the "can't breathe" sensation that really over-powered me on those guys. But...I made it. The group met up in Verona for some cool beverage refills and to encourage the crew before we headed out for loop #2. 

Loop #2: Jen made really good friends with the front ring (gear) and attempting to keep her legs moving and loose. At the hill in Mt. Horeb (bitch #1) I heard a familiar sound from my rear tire....ppssst! Darn! Flat! Luckily...Jonny and Russ were behind me and stopped to get me all changed up in no time flat (was a pesky piece of wire that pierced my tire/tube). Jonny had to 'push' me to get started again because we were in the middle of the hill....but got 'er going. The second half of the loop has those darn bitches on them...and I was thinking I might have to walk those suckers. Got to them and decided to mentally give them hell and made it up all of them (panting, huffing and puffing...mind you). 

I really hope the 'fans' on that last hill don't expect any verbal confirmation of their presence from me on race day - cuz all they will get is breathless panting and snot. Seriously. Did I mention that it was hot (oh, and windy on some good stretches)? OK...just checking. Finally, we made 'er back to Verona with the crew. One person had 'bonked' a bit back and we had to call Noelle and Cindy to be her sag wagon to get her home...but the rest of us had only 16 miles back on the stick to call 'er a day. Home James! The ride back wasn't too bad, as the sun was starting to get lower and temps were dropping. There was a good hill on that stretch on the way back that is a little sneaky devil, but we all made it back. Tired, but all with smiles. We did it!

After that, we packed up our stuff, headed to the hotel to shower (is about 9 PM at this point) and went to grab a bite to eat before bed. Jonny said that in his 16-17 rides on this course...this was by far the toughest conditions he's seen (rain, wind and temps) and encouraged us all that if we could survive this today - we'd be fine on race day. AWESOME! Confidence booster. That night, I again couldn't sleep...(you'd think that with 9+ hours of biking for the day a body might be tired). So I went down to the lobby for about an hour to read. Sunday morning, we got up and had a bite then off to the terrace to run. We ran one loop of the course for about 13 miles. Again, a warm day out...but at least it was overcast - which was better than the day before. Val, Erin, Mike, Kat, and I went out and gallowayed (5-and-1's), which was nice. Erin was our 'tour guide', as she went to UW Madison...was fun to hear what the buildings were and little 'facts' during our run. After the run...back to the hotel to shower and head home. 

  

Cindy and Noelle were still on their bike, so I had one of the vehicles and headed home solo. They called during the ride home and said they had run into some issues with one of their fellow bikers 'bonking' after loop 1 and they didn't get in all the mileage they had hoped for....which sucks. After I got home, I unpacked, took a 'sleeping skittle', and attempted to blog until it kicked in. It kicked in fast, as this blog entry was a little 'funky' as I read it...good thing I didn't publish it. ha ha! I then fell into a coma to get my body the rest it was dying for. Ahhhh.....recovery week begins!