Today, I put some hay in the barn

With Ironman just 8 weeks away, a friend of mine on BeginnerTriathlete.com said every workout he did between now and race day was putting hay in the barn that he could draw from during the race.

I love the analogy and it served me well today when I put my own hay in the barn.

After spending the week at altitude in Denver I came home to a surprising weigh in yesterday (down 3.4), an excellent evening with my husband and a good night of sleep so when I woke up to the sound of raindrops I was like "well it could be worse".

My plan today called for a 4 hour bike ride followed by a 30 minute transition run but I planned to go longer because with Ironman camp next week I really wanted to get closer to 5 hours done today.

I headed out into the rain wearing tri shorts, leggings, sleeveless jersey (on the off chance it got sunny), long sleeved jersey, rain jacket, beanie, socks and double gloves. In preparation for the hills in Coeur d'Alene I've been riding from my house out to Hagg Lake and then looping around the lake which is approx 1400 ft of climbing and then back. Today my goal was out, 2 loops around the lake and then back.

It was only misty with wet roads and I was doing ok until I got to the lake when the rain started getting worse. There were puddles everywhere and my legs and feet were soaked. I focused on drinking and eating since the weather wasn't conducive to either of those things and I knew I couldn't fall down on nutrition. By the time I finished around the lake for my first loop I knew I was in trouble because I couldn't feel my toes at all. I stopped for a water bottle refresh at this Fishing Shop outside of the park and the owner was so nice.

Dried my glasses and socks with paper towels and tried to soak up as much moisture as possible. Refilled my bottles, ate my Uncrustables (portable PB&J) and then bought a package of Turkey Jerky and ate a few pieces before hitting the portolet and heading back into the rain.

As I rode I just kept thinking about all the hay I was putting into my barn :) Finished the 2nd loop just 4 minutes slower than the first one and headed back towards home. I've heard a lot of people say that during the race when you hit a low you should ask yourself "what do I need?" and then take care of whatever the answer was. So as I'm riding into the wind, soaked to the bone with 20 miles to go til home I figured out that I needed to eat my chocolate covered cinnamon bears. So when I found a covered bus shelter I pulled into, got off my bike and ate my bears.

If you have never had a chocolate covered cinnamon bear RUN don't walk to Sweet's Candy. Preston's parents brought us some at Christmas and I was hooked, little did I know the company is in Utah and local stores only carry the sinful bears during the holidays. Hooray, Internet shopping!

Back on my bike after my bear break and I started thinking of checkpoints that I'd come to along the route home. First get to Hillsboro. Check. Then to the intersection where you get onto the road that takes you home. Check. You get the idea. Unfortunately as I pedaled along trying to stay aero so I wasn't like a giant windsock I really started to have to pee. With about 10 miles to go and nowhere easy to stop I was faced with a dilemma. Do I hold it and be miserable for the next 30-40 minutes or do I just go?

Since I was already soaked and my clothes and bike were going to get washed anyway (and I'm planning on doing this come race day) I decided just to go. The wild thing is not only did I feel better but it totally warmed up my leg and foot - an unexpected benefit.

Made it home and immediately hosed down my shoes and my bike, then took the hose to myself before making a beeline to the shower in my clothes so I could wash them off first before I put them in the laundry.

All told it was a great ride, my nutrition plan worked great and my legs felt awesome!

4:56.31
77.11 miles
15.6 MPH