Friday Mad Science: 4th of July Weekend Edition

I hope you guys are psyched up for the long weekend.  I know I am.  Not only does the Tour de France start tomorrow, but this is also one of the key training weekends of my triathlon season, and we have the big Town of Stratford fireworks display Sunday night.  I might even get a chance to see the new Transformers movie this weekend, although talking to Sally last night made that seem rather less likely than I’d thought it was earlier in the week.  That said, there’s still the Transformers Marathon on Hub on Monday, I’ll be firing up the grill on Saturday night, and both my girls want to play Wrath of Ashardalon this weekend, so no matter what, it looks like I’ll be doing most of my favorite things all three days.  And really, that’s all I can ask for.

On the Tour de France front, the best pre-race read I can recommend right now is the Podium Café’s Five Storylines article.  Of the five storylines, by far the most interesting to me is whether or not Alberto Contadorcan successfully defend his title barely more than a month removed from having raced and won the Giro d’Italia.  I remember rooting hard for Bradley Wiggins last year, but then he pretty much looked like crap after having raced the Giro, and after I thought about it, it kind of made sense.  So if Contador can now defend his Tour crown once again, this time after having just taken the Giro, then that’ll really be something.

With triathlon…  Long weekends can be tricky.  There’s no telling how the body’s gonna feel after that second day of long workouts, and on top of that, there are always family pressures that get in the way.  Those can easily minimize time spent out on the road or otherwise out of the house.  So let me tell you what I’m planning, and then we can circle back around on Tuesday and see how I did.

·         Saturday: Long Ride/Short Run (Brick).  I’m gonna ride for about two hours tomorrow morning and then run for maybe a half an hour.  Distance-wise, I’d like to go about 30-miles and 3-miles respectively, but the time is really more important to me than the distance.  I want to prepare my body for the duration of an Olympic triathlon-type effort.  Plus, I want to get in some long interval training on the bike to continue preparing for the climb at the end of the Litchfield Hills Triathlon.  I know I can finish the race because I’ve done it twice.  The question now is: how well can I do?

·         Sunday: Long Run & (Very) Short Swim.  I need to put in at least one long run this weekend, and I’m thinking that the best time for that is gonna be Sunday morning, either before or after church.  I’d also like to swim this weekend, but I’ve no idea when that might occur.  We’ll probably head to the beach early on Sunday before the fireworks, and in that case, I’ll do a little rough water training then.  Distance-wise, I’ve already put in two pool workouts this week, so all I really need to do this weekend is to hold my form and remember what it feels like to sight buoys in rough water.  That won’t take more than ten or fifteen minutes.  On a side note, Sally’s entered in her first rough water triathlon in September, and I’d like to see her swim some in the Sound before then.  If she swims well, I might encourage her to enter the Ocean Beach triathlon with me later this month.  But before I do that, I want to satisfy myself that she can actually do the swimming she’d need to do safely.

·         Monday:  This is where it gets tricky.  Ideally, I’d like to get back on my bike and do at least 25-miles or so of simple aerobic riding.  No intervals, nothing fancy.  I just want to put some more miles on my legs.  That said, a lot can happen between now and Monday.  Minor injuries, exhaustion, and familial demands all might derail my plans for Monday.

·         Nutrition: As if all of that wasn’t enough, I’m also testing out some new nutrition and recovery science this weekend.  For Father’s Day, Sally gave me Bredan Brazier’s book Thrive, The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life.  I don’t have any plans to convert to veganism, but I am trying to change my diet to get a little leaner and a little healthier.  Because, bottom line, I’m too fat to climb well.  And I know I have climbing in my near future.  This weekend specifically, I’m going to be experimenting with Mr. Brazier’s homemade energy drink and gu recipes as well as with his recovery shake recipe.  We’ll see how that goes.  In-race nutrition and post-race recovery are two of the biggest challenges that triathletes face, so if this works out, it’ll help a lot.

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This week’s Friday Hair Metal selection is Tesla’s “Love Song”.  I heard it on Hair Nation last week, and I’ve been itching to stick it on here ever since.  Enjoy!

So that’s my weekend.  What’re you guys up to?