tough ride

My legs werent firing on all cylinders tonight, but I still rode somewhat fast.

I really weighed my bike down by putting on a rear aero wing that fits my tube and tire level bag, CO2 cartidges and inflator. I can also attach water bottle holders to it. I also put on the large bento box. I can really feel the weight difference. Kinda disappointing :(

Strange ride tonight. On one road, they put down crushed stone for a 2 mile stretch. Talk about sketchy! Not only was I worried about flatting, but it was like biking on ice due to the loose gravel.

Then at the bottom of that hill I was going over a small bump and as soon as I got over it there was a huge deer right there. We both made eye contact with "WTF!!!" looks on both of our faces. The deer I think panicked and froze cuz it didnt know what to do. It was pretty funny! We were within 5 feet of each other. I'd say that was one of my closer encounters with deer.

Finally, I heard this metallic clunk when I hit a bump. I thought nothing of it until I got back and realized one of my CO2 cartidges was no longer there. bummer.

OH! And the days are really getting shorter. Finished my ride @ 7:15 and it was getting to the almost too dark stage to ride.

run is coming back

I went out for the same 3 miler that I did on Thursday. I did it 1:30 faster for a time of 26:15, or an 8:45 pace. Considering the nasty humidity out there, I'd say my running legs are slowly coming back to life.

faaaaaast bike

I got out for my first official ride on the new Cervelo. Oh man is it fast!

I did this loop that has great rodes to time trial on and I did it twice to get a feel for the bike. Because I am in a different position (more aggressive) my arms aren't used to supporting me that way, so my triceps were burning a bit after these 10 min efforts that I did. Its ok though, this happened with my last bike.

The thing that amazes me with this bike is the lack of hesitation of power from my legs to the wheels. When I hit the gas, the bike goes!

And the other thing is weight. On a few ups, I didn't feel like I was climbing. I was just riding like normal, but at a pitch. This bike is soooooo much lighter that it almost feels like I can climb it better than my road bike.

Simply an amazing machine. I just gotta get the engine tuned up a bit :)

plan for the fall/early winter

So because I got my ass handed to me on the run @ Timberman, guess what I am going to work on this fall/early winter. RUNNING!

I was turned onto Hal Hidgon's running plans. I really like them; they make sense to me and other than having one long run a week, most of the runs in the beginner/intermediate plans are short distances, but multiple times a week. So it will be new increasing my running frequency, rather than distance. I think this is really going to improve my running.

So I am thinking about doing a 10K on November 8th down in Lindenhurst on Long Island. Its the Long Island Run for the Warriors. Im going to follow Hal's intermediate plan minus one day of running for this race. I will start this plan Sept 20th.

I found this race using a REALLY awesome running race finder website called runningintheusa.com

The search method is easy to use.

And finally, after the 10K, Im going to start building up for a 12 week plan to run the NYRR Manhatten Half Marathon next January 24th. This plan starts the day of the 10K.

This should keep me VERY active through the off season and should maintain what I have and build it up to give me a solid run base going into the start of the next season of triathlon.

Timberman Power

Here is the power file from Timberman. I had a personal best ride! (I was not wearing a HRM)

hit the reset button

So everything has changed almost overnight. After Timberman, I felt a release or a break from the season. The weather has actually done the same. This morning the weather was NOT humid, and it actually felt quite cool. There were leaves on the ground already!

This is why I mentally hit the reset button this morning. The season as I knew it is over with. No more triathlons till next year. Kinda sad, but the 4 that I did this season were all HUGE successes and I'm looking forward to another year.

So I went for my first run this morning and did 3 miles in 27:45 for a 9:15 pace. It didnt feel like my legs were connected to the ground for about the first mile. I didn't hurt, I was just slow. By mile 2 and 3 I was feeling back to normal on the run. I finished feeling the best. Im going to stick to 3 mile runs for the next week just to make sure I dont come back too hard and burn myself.

post race

Its been 3 full days since Timberman. I have done nothing but eat really greasy food/bbq and ice cream. Oh man oh man oh man has it been good :)

My quads are what still hurt, but not as bad as yesterday. My recovery has improved a full 100% since yesterday. What a difference a day makes! My back still hurts a bit from the sunburn, but even that has improved immensly since yesterday.

So now the triathlete in me says, "NOW WHAT!?!?!"

Well, I want to have some fun this fall and challenge myself.

I have been thinking about doing this for awhile. I call it the "5 Broken Sprint Tris in 5 days" challenge. Basically you do this:
-swim 900 yards in the AM
-bike 15 miles @ lunch
-run 5K after work

you start it on a monday and finish it by friday. You do it at a normal pace, so no need to race it, unless you naturally feel up to it, meaning if you feel like you can push it, push it. If you feel sluggish, then do it sluggish.

The point of this challenge is to do 15 workouts in 5 days and see if any trends appear, such as each day you get slower and slower, or you see if you get faster and faster. Or maybe you start out strong, stutter, but then get faster by the end of the week. Its a fun way to stay motivated, yet not kill yourself. Im curious to see what my times do as the week progresses. I just hope the weather stays consistent and I dont get rained out, since I'd like the bike and run to be outdoors, otherwise you are at the mercy of the machine you are on and I hate that.

Another challenge is to do compare my old TT bike vs my new one. I think I am going to tackle this one first because it will make me ride hard for my upcoming bike relay in 4 weeks. Basically you ride the same course using 2 different bikes putting up two different times. I hope over 5 days I find a trend. I will ride the old bike first, then ride the new one 2nd.

Two things can happen with this:
#1. I go slower on the old TT bike because my position is not as good and the bike is not as light.
#2. I am warmed up from the old TT bike and I will go faster on the new bike anyways.

Its not a very scientific test, but its fun to try and should make me work hard on the bike, which is really what counts @ the end of the day. I wish I had a 2nd PowerTap for this test, but I cant switch the wheel between the two bikes because the Cervelo is a 10 speed, and the old TT bike is a 9. I will have to use time instead.

Not sure when I will start these challenges, but its something to keep me busy on the start of the off season.