Saturday, April 25, 2009

Triathlon Training Day 7: BRICK - 14Mile Cycle + 5K Run


Got up this morning and had a protein shake and a whole wheat bagel with some peanut butter. I wanted to have some fuel to burn in me before I tried my 14 mile Cycle and 5K run!

I surfed the web for a little bit, watched some SportCenter and then went out to the garage and setup m "Transition Area". My plan was to drop the bike off in the garage and slip on my running shorts, hat, some more sunscreen, towel off, iPod, hydrate a little, and then start the run. I tuned up my bike, put air in the tires, and started to roll. It was a perfect 73 degrees when I started. I made the turn out of my cul-de-sac and BOOM! The wind hit me right in the chest. Dammit, is the only thing I could think of at the time. I put my head down and just pedaled! I have a 7 mile route mapped out in my neighborhood that I have been doing. On this route their are 3 pretty good straight-a-ways that let me make up some serious time that I lose at stop signs. I can usually average about 25mph on these straight shots. Well, today I did my 7 mile route 2 times and of the 6 straight-a-ways, 4 had the wind blowing directly in my face!! So, instead of averaging 25 mph on these, I was struggling to do 15-16 mph. The good news is that most of the ride is up and down tree lined streets so the wind is only noticeable on these wide open straight-a-ways. And my Triathlon is scheduled for August 2nd. For those of you that have ever been to Texas in August know that wind is not an issue at this time of the year!

I hit my garage right at the 14 mile mark and looked down at my watch and my time was 49:42 secs. Not great, but not real bad either! I was pretty happy with the time but more importantly I still had energy to do the run! So, I got to the garage/T1 and tossed off my helmet, parked the bike, slipped on my running shorts over top of my tri shorts, put on my hat, clipped the iPod to my waist, and grabbed a towel to dry off the sweat and ..... YUK!!! I was covered in Pug fur! I accidentally used the same towel that was used to dry off the Pugs when they were in the rain two days ago. It was all over my face and in my mouth -- this really sucked. Not to be discouraged I calmly walk to the side of the house and turned the garden hose on myself! Problem solved - should have done this in the first place - it felt great! Ran into the house and grabbed a new, clean towel and was off again!

I started to run and my watch had me right at the 55 minute mark. That means my first transition was 5+ minutes - not good - but 3 minutes was wasted on Pug hair removal and I am going to guess this will not be a common occurrence!

Now I am running and I feel all goofy and uncoordinated. This is when I realize that my legs still think they are cycling! I slowed a little and just focused on putting one foot in front of the other - sounds elementary but it was necessary. After about a 1/2 mile my right calf started to cramp up. I stopped and stretch it out on the curb for about 10 seconds and it felt fine the rest of the way. It took me about a mile in to find my "groove" running. But after that I kept my HR between 150-155 Bpm and before I knew it I was rolling back into my garage.

My total time was 1 hour, 24 minutes and 35 seconds. My HRM said I burned 915 calories during that time and even though I was a sweaty mess I still felt pretty good!

Overall I really enjoyed doing this and got one heck of a workout in. I am ready for the Cycle portion of the tri, P90X really got my legs ready for this portion. I am getting better at the running portion. Each time out I improve and by the time August comes around I am optimistic that my time will be closer to 24 to 25 minutes in the 5K. Swimming is my challenge right now. I think I could swim 500 meters and probably still do 14 miles on the bike. No way could I do a 5K after that right now. Swimming just takes too much out of me, but with training, practice, and education I am hopeful that I will be a competent swimmer by the time my event rolls around.

First Week Down!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

4 comments:

  1. Great post!!! You did well on your brick. I love the story about the pug's towel. I had to laugh.

    Hitting the wind is a bear!

    I wanted to do a brick today, however, since it is my son's b-day I am taking this day as a rest day. I am glad one of us could "get 'er done".

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  2. Great story! I do love reading your posts! I wanted to let you know it happened just like you said it would. I am a CAT scan tech at a hospital and I ran into an ER doctor that I hadnt seen in a while and he gushed over my progress. I told him about p90x and the nutrition and he seemed very interested. He said what he was doing before just stopped giving him that burn... I said I dont think p90x ever stops giving it to you! And here some hints for your other readers still doing the X... AB RIPPER is easier with your shoes off the first few times, then add your shoes for a lil extra weight. Kashi cereal has a high protein cereal that helps on those mornings you don't have time for egg whites and it is actually good! Max protein from GNC is good, even mixed with water... not as hardcore as the stuff you use, but very filling and tastes great! I have a few more, but dont want to be too "long-winded".

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  3. Boomer - the wind is destroying me! Our weather has been nothing but wind for the last 2 weeks? Usually that is not the case in Houston so I am excited for this crap to stop. Unfortunately when it does we will just have a TON of humidity which I can then promptly complain about!

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  4. p90xtreme mama - That is good to hear people our taking notice. Yesterday when my wife and I went outside for a run one of the neighbors who we haven't seen in awhile stopped us and want to know what our "secret" was because we both look so grea? Only thing I could say was P90x and hard work - it is pretty simple actually.

    I am also a believer in taking the shoes off for ARX! I shared this with my buddy Mike a few months ago and he thinks I am crazy so it is nice to know you and I feel the same way - maybe we are both crazy!

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