July 17, 2017 5:00 a.m.

Good morning,

Another hot week. High 20’s, low 30’s everyday☀️☀️☀️

A great week of training. All workouts seem to be strong and on the mark. All except Friday. Friday was a weird one.

LAZ was heading on holidays on Saturday so he moved his long bike (4-5 hours) to Friday. JOE and I said we would join him. It was a beautiful morning, blue sky, no wind.

We headed off. My ride was going great until I was about 2 hours in. We head back to our cars about every two hours on long rides so we can re-load with water and food, that way we don’t have to carry as much on the bike. By the time we got back to our cars this ride, we were about 2 hours 20 minutes in and I just didn’t feel like riding anymore. I pulled the plug and went home. LAZ and JOE went on to ride another 2 hours but I could not.

As I mentioned, about 2 hours in I just decided I didn’t feel like riding. My head wasn’t in it. My ride was going great actually. No stomach issues, my riding pace was right where it should be. It is always great to ride with JOE and LAZ. Not sure why I wasn’t into it but I wasn’t.

When I reviewed my data from the Friday ride, all things pointed to one of my better rides of the season. Needless to say I was disappointed in myself all day Friday.

Saturday I had a 30 km run on my schedule. The longest I will have run since 2008. The first 4 km I took my dog Harley out. He needed to get some exercise and it was early morning, not yet hot. It was going to get up to about 31 degrees.

When I finished the first 4 km Jen joined me for the rest. She hopped on her cruiser bike (see cool bike above) and rode along with me and carried my drinks and food in the basket on her bike. Man, that made all the difference. First, to have someone to chat with makes that long of a run go by in a flash. Time really did fly by. Second, with Jen carrying all my food and drinks I could go out for one long run instead of looping back to the house to refuel as was my original plan.

It was fantastic having her there. As I mentioned time flew by with her there but also we ran out of Gatorade 2/3 through the ride so she zipped up to a corner store and got some more and we were able to finish the run. It was perfect. Everything was perfect except my math. It was a 29 km run😳 I can’t do math in my head nor can I read my watch without my glasses.

Oh well😊

The run went really well. My pace was the pace I would love to run on race day. It was perfect. Felt great the whole way, no cramping or stiffness.

After the run I tried an ICE BATH. I have been wanting to try one for some time. Ice baths are suppose to help prevent post workout soreness. I finished my run, stretched a bit and then poured all the ice I had at home into the tub with cold water.

IT WAS COLD!!!😨

I don’t know if was the professional athlete ice bath cold but it was pretty damn cold. Anyone who has skated outside in the winter knows the feeling of your feet thawing after the skate, that is what my feet felt like, to give you some perspective.

I first just stood in tub, then I knelt in the tub and then finally I sat in the tub, water and ice covered my legs and up just above my hips. Did I mention it was cold? I was able to sit in there for 5 minutes before I stood up, let the water drain and then had a warm bath.

It seemed to work, the next day I was not sore or stiff. I will try it again before race day but I will add more ice. I will make sure I buy some extra bags of ice and add them to the tub as well so the ice bath stays colder longer.

All in all, a very good week of training. This week, the same. The long run will be shorter and bike ride will be longer but other than that, keep on training. Almost at the end of all this. Race day is just around the corner.

Have a great day.

Scott