A Day in the Life...

Today felt like a day in the life of a pro triathlete. Since it's Saturday, workouts are longer. Today was no exception. I got up early to eat breakfast and then meet Will for a mini workout, our last workout together for a while. We did 10 6 3 EDI, 2 sets.

• Vertical jump to lunge (the first one was just a step into the lunge): Here I have to work on not letting my right knee come in when I do the jump. And I need to make sure that I'm lifting my back leg as well. He took a video of the second set, 10, but his phone said it was too big to send. If he tries again and I get it, I'll upload it.
• Glute ham with reps to the top: Here I have to remember to not arch my back but to keep a straight line. I did a lot better aligning myself before I went down, but I shouldn't have to make as big an adjustment as I did.

As we were walking back from the workout room, it started raining. The sky was looking ominous and I had to make a quick decision: ride outside or ride inside, and if I decided to ride inside, ride on the porch or ride at the Y. I opted for the Y, packed up my stuff, and managed to make it there, set up, and begin riding by 7:05. I was pretty happy with that especially since I decided to take my own bike and trainer (I'd had enough of the spin bikes last week). Three hours of class, the first of which was tough, the second, less so, and the third, way hard at high cadence (which was actually good for me). By 10 it had stopped raining, so I did the last hour (well, it ended up being only about 45 minutes) outside and just left all my stuff inside. When I got back to the Y I threw on the shoes and ran 30 minutes. I was nasty dirty!

The first 3 hours of the ride felt absolutely fabulous. It felt like I was riding strong, using my muscles well, and keeping a solid yet high-ish cadence. The 4^th hour I just wanted to be done. The run was a little slow (3 miles only) and more of a run/walk. I started out fast and wanted to keep up that pace, but when I'd start to slow, I'd just walk rather than slow my pace. I don't know if that's a good philosophy but it worked today.

By the time I got home it was nearly noon. What a long morning! The rain is back now, but I'm done and don't care any more! I got a nice early birthday present today—socks from Will. They're multicolored which I like, and they were a great surprise!

I didn't eat much either before or during the workouts. For breakfast, I had oatmeal with dark chocolate cocoa, honey, and almonds with 16 oz of water. Then the workout with Will, then the ride. Around 7:45 I had a bite of a lemon Luna bar, but I wasn't really hungry. By about 9:15 I had finished the Luna bar. A little before 10 I had 3 salt/electrolyte capsules. I drank 2 water bottles, then 1 half water/half Cytomax (free and left over from the marathon), then another water bottle while riding. During the run I ate all the almonds (I think I had about 1 serving total and had eaten just a few during the ride, but I don't remember when). When I finished, I drank another water bottle and then came home and had a protein shake.

Angela, who was teaching the 8 and 9 am classes, said that during the 9 am class, which was the high cadence class, we probably burned around 700 calories. I'm sure I didn't consume that many calories until I had some eggs and toast around 2 pm. At 4:30 I ate hamburgers and a salad, and at 6:30 I had some ice cream. So I definitely replenished the calories I burned, but not even close to while or shortly after I was working out. I guess I don't really know why it's important and if it really is for me, especially since I have absolutely no appetite to eat anything afterward and when I try my gag reflex tries to kick in. Perhaps that still needs some work, too.