Part II, Big Trainnig Week

Day 4: (photos are of Jonathan and Steve at the top of Camel Back Mountain, Derrick Lee Cubs first baseman and myself in the bleachers)
We began the day by doing 500 repeats at the outdoor pool. The first and fourth swim were straight free style, while the second and were pull and some stroke work. The goal of this 500's is tempo pacing and I always strive for my last 500 to be as fast as my first. The lower altitude and salt water contributed to two of my fastest 500 splits in the last 4 years. It would be so nice to have this facility available back home.
We left the aquatics center and immediately headed to Camel Mountain to tackle the echo canyon trail. At the start of the trail head Jonathan informed us that the trail was "only 1.2 miles to the top". We were ready to bail when someone informed us "it may say 1.2 miles but when you get to the top it will feel like 6.2". We had been told earlier in the week that even people in excellent shape take 1.5 hours to go up and back so off we went. Steve took off running while Jonathan and I hiked. The trail proved to be a challenge and in no time I was breathing harder than I had all week long. There was a series of high steps, boulders which you had to hoist yourself over and numerous other challenges. Bottom line is this was not your ordinary hike. It took us 43 minutes up and 43 minutes to get down. Our legs were spent when we got back to the car.
We went out for a quick bite to eat and then went out for a bike ride to shake out the legs. We found a flat stretch of road that looped through a golf course, around a casino and down a few deserted roads. The ride turned into a bit of a hammer fest for a few loops and was harder then planned. On our last loop I convinced the boys to pull into the Casino. Jonathan offered to watch the bikes as Steve and I went in dressed in our cycling gear and still wearing our helmets and shoes. I sat down at a blackjack table and Steve provided some advice. As we sat down the elderly lady next to me asked me "which planet did you just come in from?". I played a few hands and one of the Pit guys asked "boys may I ask why the helmets are still on?". Steve replied, "easier to wer than to hold". We are convinced the boys in the back were watching us fairly closely. I played one shoe, won $20 bucks in 15 minutes and we were gone. We only road 35 miles today but it was a hard ride given the climb and swim earlier in the day. Total bike miles so far is 200.
This was by far the hardest training day to date. I was toast when we arrived home around 5. We left for the pool around 8:30 and had been in motion most of the day.

Day 5:
Day 5 was a repeat of the first day loop. I woke up at 3:30 in the morning and was hungry. I was too tired to head down stairs to get food but couldn't fall back to sleep so I just lay there. I was up at 6:15 to make an early dinner as we agreed to get out the door early since Jonathan had a 100+ mile ride and Steve and I were going to a sprint training game between the Cubs and Giants at 1. I thought the pace was hard from the minute we began the ride and went into survival mode early. There was a lot of climbing and long ascents on this route and I knew I was in for a long day. On top of this I forgot to put water in my front water bottle carrier. Yesterday my front water bottle carrier broke so essentially I was down to one bottle of water (rookie mistake). I asked for a break 1:30 into the ride so I could buy more water and when I got off my bike my back tightened. Fortunately I was able to recover and actually started riding stronger than I had all week.
There is a 9 mile stretch of road that is a 3% grade the whole way. It is a great stretch of road to build muscular endurance but when you are tired and hungry it sucks. I positioined myself in the back of the line and though to myself, it would be better to draft than fall off the back and have a go at this myself. I hung tough for the first 6 miles then "it" happened. Steve made his move and as he went to the front informed everyone "I think Pete is about to crack and I'm going to bury him". I saw him grab a gear and the cadence increased. I said to myself "white on rice" which basically is "stick to him". I stayed with him for a long time and he made several speed increases. He finally sat up and told me "you hung tough, I'm impressed". I was fairly proud of myself until a mile later when he went again. I didn't answer the bell for the second round and finished the last 1.5 miles by myself. The rest of the ride was uneventful and Steve and I made it home in time to get to the ball park.
On the way home we stopped at a Smoothie Store to get something to drink. As is the case you get 3 free ingrediants in your drink. I choose, protein, viatiman C and BEE POLLEN. I'm not sure what happened next but the minute I started drinking my heart started racing ( I think it was the Bee Pollen). I thouhgt I was just tired and dehydrated so I laid down. I dind't feel any better a half hour later so I went downstairs and put on my Heart Rate Monitor. My heart rate was at 145 and I was standing still. Crap, I'm at the top of zone 3 and I'm not doing anything. I spoke with Chris Jules who is a client and an ER Doctor. He asked me some questions and asked me to call him back in an hour. We had just experienced something similar with our son a few weeks back. The questions they asked him in the ER were, are you lighted head? Dizzy? or experience any pain? I spoke to Kathy who has years of experience as Cardiac nurse and she said I would be wasting my time going to the ER but to stay in clsoe contact with her and Chris. That evening I didn't feel very good but managed to go out to dinner with the boys. By Friday monring I was better but still not feeling myself. I managed to swim 3000 yards in the pool but called it a week and went home and packed up the bike.