As you may have noticed, I did not complete the Triple T this year (at some point I will write why but I am not ready yet).  HFP Racing has been kind enough to roll my entry over until next year.  Instead, I decided to complete an Epic weekend of training.  Why?  Almost all of my training involves a focus on quality and not quantity.  My longest workouts are three hour rides on my bike.  Most of the time, my workouts never exceed two hours a day.  Most of the races I do are endurance events at much lower efforts than my training.  By adding Epic weekends, I can increase the size of my "endurance" bank account.

The plan was based on my membership in Endurancenation.us as suggested by the Coach Rich Strauss:



The Results:
Day One:
Run:  4.4 miles with BARC team
Swim:  2300 yards (thunderstorms rolled in and the pool closed in the middle of my swim!)
Bike:  3 hours on trainer (damn thunderstorms)

Day Two:
Run:  4.4 miles with BARC team
Bike:  Nashville 90 (joined by the Coach's Wife)

Day Three:
Bike:  4.5 hours (Greek Goddess, Village Idiot and the Professor)

Day Four:
Run:  Two hours with BARC team
Swim:  4000 yards mostly pull

Totals for Epic Weekend:
21.6 miles of running
200 miles of biking
3.9 miles of swimming

Much thanks to all my friends who helped out.  BARC gets major points for always being in my crazy games.  The only event I did alone was the trainer ride on Friday.  Otherwise, BARC members were everywhere.  The Greek Goddess was even at the pool Monday to provide cheering (and some great coaching) during my 4000 yard swim.  The Coach rocked as usual.  During the Nashville 90 she drove out two friends to meet me half way so that they could bike me back into town.

What did I learn:

1. I have a high level of fitness early in the season.
   
2. Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition.  I ate well, often and used caffeine to carry me through.
3. A little help from your friends and family makes all possible.
4. Nap.  Every day. 
   
5. Drafting.  The first half of the Nashville 90 I rode with the Sanders sisters.  They are phenomenal triathletes (they often win their age groups and overall) and I felt lucky to train with them.  I am much older than both of them and much less experienced.  By riding with them I learned how to actually draft off of someone's wheel. 
   
6. I am still moving the line.  After every crazy new event I continue to learn that I really don't know where my limits end.  The not knowing makes everything exciting.

How did I feel after the weekend?  Fatigued but not exhausted.  I almost seemed to get stronger as the weekend continued.  I did not taper into or out of the weekend.  I am trying to carry a heave load of fatigue into my vacation with the Coach knowing that I can recover during our five days on the beach!

I did have one harrowing moment and near death experience.  I had two friends with me on my Sunday ride.  One was the Village Idiot (VI) and the other was the Greek Goddess.  I had only rode with the VI once before.  We came to our last hill that I love to go screaming down in my aero bars often at 35 mph.  The VI goes first and I follow.  As I come down the hill, all of a sudden I see the VI stopped in the middle of my lane.  My heart stops.  I then see a car coming towards me in the opposite lane.  In that split second I make multiple choices: the first is that if I have to hit anything it is going to be the VI and the second thing I do is grab my brakes.  The back wheel of my bike comes off the ground.  I release my brakes to bring the wheel down.  I jam the brakes again and start to skid.  I release the brakes again and right myself.  I yell out the Village Idiot's name twice.   Thank god he didn't move.  I ended up safely squeezing between him and the car. 

In the future I promise to clearly discuss the course with a new rider, to find out if they are blind in one eye and to not let new riders proceed first down the hill.  Needless to say I felt great the rest of the day with my new lease on life! 

  

 

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