Faster while slower???

                     I've decided to start this blog post off with another music video. This is Egypt Central and their song Kick Ass. I'm in that kick ass kind of mood after my very well performed 40/10 workout today. After my last 40/10 workout which was horrible (click here to relive that nightmare), this one was way better for me. I put out some really decent times on both the bike and the run, and felt good while getting after it. The race day nutrition testing looks like it's coming along quite well.
After my severe cramping issue on the last 40/10 workout I knew that I needed to supplement more electrolytes into the nutrition equation. I happen to find myself having lunch across the street from Tritown, so I stopped in and talked with Antonio about the cramping issue. He suggested a few things, and I decided to give the Nuun tablets a shot.

                  These are nice electrolyte tablets that you can just drop into your water bottle and be done with it. There's no measuring or mess. One tablet for every 16oz of water. I was a little surprised to watch them fizz in the water and remain bubbly. That's something that I'd have to get used to, but the taste was good. I dropped 2 tablets into the Torhans and called it good. I also had a water bottle filled with the Lemon Lime Roctane for the calories. Let me say this about the Lemon Lime flavor..... I don't really care for it. If you like the original Gatorade lemon lime flavor, then you'll like the Roctane. But I was never a big fan of the Gatorade, so the Roctane lemon lime just didn't do it for me, flavor wise. Luckily, it was from a free sample pack that I got from Gu so I'll be sticking with the Tropical Fruit flavor from now on. I did a gel before the workout, had the Roctane on the bike with the Nuun infused water, a gel at the transition and then one more gel half way through the run. Luckily I had both water and a Powerade with me on the treadmill. Around mile 4 I started to feel some cramps in my quads and I started to get a little concerned. I was sooo close to finishing the workout and I was putting out some good times. I went for the Powerade and started chugging. The cramps never went away, but they didn't get any worse, so that's the best thing I can ask for I guess. Lesson learned, Nuun the water bottle for the run too.
                        With the Nuun in the Torhans, I was able to keep a good eye on how much water I had left in the system and monitor my hydration intake. The only problem was that there are no markings on the side of the Torhans, so I can only guess the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 fill levels. That will change this week. I plan on marking the side of the bottle towards the rear so I can easily see how much I have left at any given time. I will also be getting a clear water bottle for the Roctane as well for the same reason. Speaking of my Torhans, I had a splash issue last week went I got out on the road with it filled to the top. It was a little frustrating to say the least, and I spent some time afterwards trying to figure out how I could get the splash issue resolved. I emailed Kevin over at Torhans with my suggestion, and he said that they were working on something very similar to what I had thought of. They will be sending me a new "splash funnel" since I cut my other one for the time being, and then will send me the new and improved splash funnel once it's out.

                          Going into the "Faster while slower" topic, I discovered something yesterday while doing another bike workout. This last week has been crazy with the training since coming back from Seattle, so I was just kind of winging it and will get back on the Crossfit Endurance web site tomorrow. Yesterday, I decided to do 3 rounds of 5k on the bike with 4 min rest. I thought that I would try a lower cadence, mid 80's, with also dropping my gear down a notch. Normally, I try to keep my cadence in the 90's, but if I don't pay attention, or start to get tired, I naturally drop into the mid 80's. So I thought that I'd try to just go with what seems to be natural for me and see what happens. Well, my cadence was slower, but my speed was FASTER. Not only was my speed faster, but it didn't feel like I was working as hard to put out that extra speed. Don't get me wrong, the last interval was difficult and I really had to work to keep myself on that same pace, but still. Overall I was faster. The last time I tried that interval workout, I had times that were all over the place and nothing consistent. This time, they were all within a few seconds of each other. I have since emailed both Antonio and Doug (who is the cycling coach at CFE) about what I discovered to get their opinions and thoughts on the matter. So far, no response, but I'll let you know what they say.

             Yesterday was the 12 week mark for the Boise Ironman Now, re-watch the video and have a kick ass kind of day!