Day 8: Still "Working"

Day 7 started with a swim at Kona Masters at 6:00 AM. Thirty minutes after swim practice, Kaitlin, Sam and I were off for our ride, and both said no to stopping for french toast. As I straddled my bike to do the second of my back-to-back 5 hour rides atop a small saddle, I felt a bit violated. I think my bike owes me dinner and theater tickets. I had yet to have a day off, but I actually felt pretty strong on the ride toward Hawi. The above video gives the specific details. Five miles from the finish, I had the mother of all bonks. I had the shakes, felt tingly, and just wanted to stop and take a nap. I'm not worried as this bonk was nutritional and not fitness related. Thirty miles out, I was feeling hungry but I just didn't want to eat any more sugar, bars, or gels. I had sushi on my mind. So I ignored my nutritional needs and gambled that I had enough to finish. I was riding on fumes the last five miles, and lucky for me, Kaitlin pulled me home. She is ready for New Zealand. Kaitlin fed me two bananas and sacrificed one of the awesome muffins Bree made her for the plane ride. I promised Kaitlin I would not ignore my nutrional plan for IM OZ. On the way home, I satisfied the craving I had 30 miles out, all for 10 bucks! This morning was a swim out to the 1.2 mile buoy of the Hawaii ironman course. I have never swam an open water 2.4 miles other than durig an ironman race. Now I know why Bree is so strong in the open water. The video below is of Manny, Bree, and I post swim. I had planned to grab a quick bite and head out for my 9-mile run on Ali'i. I ended up taking an hour plus nap, that swim thrashed me. I woke up, still thrashed and scared to head out for my run. I quieted the mind, stuck to the workout, and went through the ritual of getting ready for a run. My pace started slow but I just told myself anything under my ironman run pace (7:20-7:30) can be considered speedwork (not so with Olympic training). In fact, I don't do any speedwork on the run, and if I do anything speedy, I always do it right off the bike. Avoiding the speedwork allows me to train with more volume, and be more consistent. After 10 minutes, I came to life and was loving the run. I ended up doing 10 miles at 6:58 pace, not fast for olympic distance training, but could be speedwork for ironman training. About 3 hours ago, I had the most painful massage ever from Gary. His hands were like vice grips, and the only thing that prevented me from jumping off that table and running was that I was naked under the sheets. He told me that he gave Craig Alexander 24 massages before Craig won Hawaii, and that Craig's muscles were like butter. 24 massages? I'm supposed to get a second massage from Gary but to be honest, I think I'm too scared to go back. I don't want to cry again. Before I sign off, I have two food tips. First, if you like tuna salad, substitute the mayonnaise with avocado, and squeeze some lime over it to diminish the fishy taste. Yummy, and thanks Bree. Second, look into Kombucha. I learned in college that a lot of diseases originate in the digestive system (liver, stomach, pancreas, intestines). Kombucha is a great liver cleanser and supports the digestive organs. I just tried the Kombucha Gingerade tonight and it was awesome. I found about Kombucha over at Lindsay Cotter's blog.