The Toughest Workout Yet

Today was by far my most challenging workout this season.  A 42-mile bike, followed immediately by a 4.25-mile run.  It went pretty well, but it reminded me that, no matter how many hours you put into the indoor bike trainer, it is no substitute for biking outdoors.

I also learned that my legs were pretty much done after 42 miles.  So I need to be a little less aggressive with my mileage progression.  I scaled back my bike progression to just 5 miles added per week (about 20 mins).  I am not going to get as long a bike as I wanted in before the Tour de Cure 100-miler, but I would rather be under-trained than over-reach and risk injuring myself.  100 miles on the bike is going to suck, no matter how prepared I am.

The sunshine and temperature were great; however, I did have numerous bike gripes, which I will list here for your amusement:

1. The roads are in HORRIBLE shape.  The shoulders are full of holes, torn up, or crumbled away.  At one point, a car decided to ride right behind me and honk at me incessantly, even though the shoulder was eroded and I had nowhere to go.  Good times.
2. The road shoulders are full of debris.  Among the miscellaneous rocks, gravel, sand, mufflers, and sharp metal objects, I actually encountered a board with a nail in it.  If I was on The Simpsons, I could use it to fight off space aliens (anyone remember that episode?).
3. Some drivers are just buttholes.  On top of my encounter from #1 above, I was approaching a 4-way intersection with a traffic light and I was going straight.  I had the green light.  The oncoming car ahead of me was making a left turn.  Rather than let me have the right of way, he decided to peel out and turn in front of me...while I was in the intersection.  Thank you, brakes.
4. Wind.  I still hate you.  That is all.

 With the bike ride over, I went out for my brick run.  I was actually pretty pumped (well, as pumped as you can be after a 42-mile bike ride, realizing you still have more work ahead) because the weather is finally warm enough to break out my Xero Shoes, which are basically running sandals.  I enjoy minimalist running and have progressed to this over time.  If you like to run, you should definitely check out the book, "Born to Run."  However, I realize minimalism doesn't work for everybody.  But I love it!

The brick runs are just flat out hard at this point, both physically and mentally.  The first mile is the worst.  I wonder how in the world I am going to get through the whole thing.  Then I hit a turning point at about mile 3 when I start to feel good, and then I finish strong.  I just have to keep this in mind at my races, although it won't help me much during sprint-distance triathlons, when the run leg is over after 3.1 miles.  At least that last 0.1 mile will feel great!

I've had to adapt my nutritional strategy since last year.  For some reason, I can no longer tolerate sports drink during my runs.  It makes me nauseous.  I am okay with it on the bike, but I stick to energy gels and water on the runs.  I worry that I will encounter electrolyte deficiencies as my run mileage increases, so I may have to consider using salt tablets.  For now, I'll just see how my body reacts and tweak as needed.

That's all for now!  Time to go eat everything in the house.