Monday, December 3, 2007

Epic Day

Yesterday was massive. It marked the final day of my unstructured training but it turned into one of the biggest workout days on record for me.

I met up with a friend just past 8am and we headed out for a long ride which would be the first part of a long brick. We rode out the secret way and headed North on PCH to Latigo Canyon. It was pretty incredible riding up near Pepperdine because the massive fires had just charred everything only last weekend. The ride up Latigo, a 10 mile climb, was amazing. The scenery was so different with all of the foliage black and a number of homes burned to the ground. The climb was tough, but because the morning was rather chilly, it felt good to be climbing. The descent down the backside to Mullholand Hwy was rough. It was so cold. Since it rained so much on Friday, we were still nervous about the chance of some black ice on the roads. Fortunately, we didn't hit any. The rest of the ride was chilly, hilly and tough. I only brought one small, not even whole size, energy bar with me, so by hour 3 I was really starting to struggle.

Needless to say, after more than 4 hours on the bike, my body was trashed. We did a quick change and then headed out, up San Vicente, on our run. I had absolutely no control over my body for the first two miles of the run. When I finally started to feel like I could run correctly, I started to face complete delirium. My blood sugar was so low that I had to focus on not falling over. It was pretty wild. I was exhausted and elated when I finished the 5 mile run and was able to eat and recover.

Only about 90 minutes later I headed to the pool for a really easy swim set. It felt good to shake the body out but I could already feel the fatigue.

It goes without saying that I slept like a baby last night. It was a huge day for me, but it is time in the bank and mental and physical toughness that I can tuck away for another time when I need to draw on it.

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