This was the final big workout before beginning the taper down for Ironman, and the most memorable. It started out easy enough: 30-mile bike ride followed by a 6-mile run. 3 times. Piece of cake. At this point in the training, a 30-mile bike ride along with a 6-mile run just got me warmed up.
However, I was in for a surprise. After the first set, I felt pretty good, so the next set I hammered the 30-mile bike ride. Big mistake. I got off the bike and had massive leg cramps on the run for the first two miles. Just when I thought I was feeling good again, the 2nd 6-mile run was over and I was back on the bike. This time, the 30-mile bike ride was really tough, and I had trouble maintaining cadence. The the 3rd 6-mile run was a cramp fest on the legs again for the first two miles.
So that turned out to be the toughest workout on my entire ironman schedule. And the next morning, I had a 4000m open water swim race out at Hagg Lake.