Sunday, May 10, 2009

Bargains, Burritos and More

Thursday

Because I ran on Wednesday that meant that I had a bike to do on Thursday. Originally I was hoping to ride into work but when I woke up and looked out the window I knew that wasn't going to happen. The clouds were nasty and there were possibilities of thunderstorms. I figured that if I got home and the weather was okay I would do the ride outside. Nope, the weather was still crappy, so it would have to be on the trainer. As it turned out I got sucked into watching the Canucks game and the ride just never happened...

Friday

My friend DGB had mentioned a new restaurant in town that opened up that I was keen to try - Mucho Burrito. It is pretty similar to Chipotle (which I love...), but they don't have up here. I decided to make a deal with myself - get on the bike then Mucho Burrito would be the reward. The ride was pretty easy - a 45 minute high cadence spin. I threw season one of Red Dwarf on and spun away. (If you are into British comedies and haven't seen Red Dwarf...I love it! Awesome show from the late 80s and 90s.) Truthfully my stomach was rumbling after 30 minutes so it was off to Mucho Burrito. It was so yummy....and even though I knew I may regret it I went for some hot salsa on top...which was most definitely hot! So good though..!!

Saturday

I had a big round of workouts on the schedule - a 2300m swim followed by a 15K run. I figured my best bet was to swim at the Eau Claire Y early in the morning, then hit the pathways around the river for my run. I threw all the gear I would need into my gym back and took off to try to be at the pool early. I hopped in a lane with two other guys and got to work. The water felt really good and I found my rhythm. The main set called for a 1000m continuous swim, a 1:00 rest, then another 500m continuous swim. Since I was feeling so good I opted to swim the entire 1500m together (in part so I could see where my time would shake out for the distance), then I'd follow it up with a 1:00 rest, another 250m swim, then cool down for a total of 2500m. The swim was awesome!!

I hopped out of the pool, had a quick shower to get the chlorine out of the hair, and put the running gear on. I also downed a gel. I thought I would try a new one - Key Lime Accel Gel. I wanted to try this one out since it has protein in it. I know as my workouts get longer for half Iron training that I'll need to incorporate protein in my fueling so I wanted to see how this stuff tasted and worked.

Taste? It was fantastic. It really tasted just like key lime pie filling. How it worked? Oh well...we'll see...

Mile 1 - 10:25 - I was a bit slow to warm up.
Mile 2 - 10:04 - Getting faster...
Mile 3 - 9:58 - And a bit faster...
Mile 4 - 9:50 - Hitting my stride.
Mile 5 - 9:47 - Faster...but all of a sudden my stomach starts rebelling. Was it the hot sauce? The gel? The pool water I probably ingested earlier in the morning? A combination of all three?
Mile 6 - 9:48 - Holding on...heading back to the Y.
Mile 7 - 9:48 - Still hanging in there
Mile 8 - 9:34 - So close...I just want to be done!
Mile 9 - 10:01 - Total rebellion...
Mile 0.18 - 9:41 - Done, thankfully!

So...was it the gel? Maybe... I still have a couple of packs to try, so we'll see if it happens again. I won't be pairing it with Mucho Burrito again though (I'll save that for before a rest day). My legs felt great on the run, it was just a shame about the ol' digestive system not feeling quite up to par.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday! Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there, but most especially to my mom!!!!

11 comments:

Sonia said...

Wow what a workout! You are fast! Maintaining some sub 10 min/mile during your long runs... that's pretty awesome. =)

Good to see the Canucks doing well in the playoff, Montreal was horrible....

Lily on the Road said...

Fantastic workout; but I can't believe you ate that burrito!!!

Rainmaker said...

Interesting, I didn't realize they made gels under that brand too. I like thier Accellerade stuff...though it's so expensive. :(

Marlene said...

Awesome job on your swim and speedy 15K! Very nice splits.

That gel sounds interesting, but I'll pass on the burrito. :)

Keith said...

Nice run! And swim too.

I went looking for the Burrito. Couldn't get an address for Chipotle's, while the other one has an address, I can't imagine where it is. Tried Google maps, and didn't believe anything it told me either.

Missy said...

At least it sounds like you made it back in one piece and didn't have to hit a bush and use a leaf;) I hate that.

Yay for Aquathon!

Alexandra said...

Whoa! That's quite the combo of flavours! I can only imagine how thankful you were to get back to the Y just in case!

You are relentless in getting those workouts in one way or another! Good job!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Mmm, love Mucho Burrito... especially their vegetarian quesadilla :) great job on the run!

Wes said...

I would do just about anything for a Mucho Burrito... and a beer... always a beer...

Lindsay said...

love the food motivation :) i do that sometimes too. trying to move away from the "if i run i can eat a cookie" to more healthy options though, lol.

i like to believe in the gels/gu's/etc but who knows maybe it is partly mental too. my legs seem to perk up a little a little after i take a gu (but sometimes i wonder if i'm making myself think that). keep experimenting and let us know how it works! great run

joyRuN said...

2300m swim followed by a 15K runWOW!!! I'm beat after a little 1000m swim - I don't think I'd be able to run 9+ miles on top of that.

Great job :)