brick, swim, run

Yesterday I basically did a sprint triathlon with a long swim.

I started with a brick in the afternoon. I wasn't sure how I was going to do because I was sore the previous day's 10K run and that freaking blister that showed up. I have determined that the blister was caused from running downhill because the impact of the foot inside the shoe is much more severe when running downhill that it rubs more than on flat ground. I have figured out how to run downhill, but unfortunately the one downside is this.

Back to the brick, because I was sore I did 2.5 laps of warmup before I started the race pace intervals. I think I had a tail wind because I was flying faster than I did two days before when it was an all out effort. So my legs started to loosen up and feel pretty good.

Now onto the run portion, I was super paranoid about the blister on my foot. I used a patch of moleskin directly onto the blister and then topped it with athletic tape just in case. It worked! Now only if my right calf was about to cramp up, I was good. It was that first uphill @ SUNY that always makes my legs feel like crap. Fortunately that downhill (that caused the blister) is always a salvation and smoothes things out. I finished the rest of the run out strong and the brick turned out to be one of the strongest and easiest ones that I have done.

Then came last night's swim. I was on the couch and twice I got up about to go and sat down without any motivation. I finally dragged my butt to the small pool and was excited to see that I had the entire pool and a lane to myself, for about 20 mins. Good thing the woman who I shared the lane with was good about sharing. I did about 50 lengths and had to get out because the water temp was 88 degrees! Then I continued and finished with 90, or 1800 yards. I don't know HOW I did that much with zero motivation.

Now for this morning's run I wanted to go outside, and tried to. I even walked to the start of my run, ran for about 10 seconds and realized that running outdoors was not going to happen with my blister.

So I turned around and walked home, then decided to hop on the treadmill. I did 20 minutes with 4 x 30 surges.

At least I got about 2 miles in in 20 mins. My body feels battered.

a successfull run

Ran 6.2 miles in under 54 minutes....53:24 to be exact, and I could have gone faster. We were doing intervals so it was a combination of fast and slow. Had we gone a more consistent pace, I think we could have held an 8:30 or under pace.

Unfortunately I got my first blister of the season. Doh! Good thing I am walking to work and can experiment with mole skin and tape. Hopefully I can nip this! I have to run for the next two days.

hard ride and the golden arches

Up @ 6 this morning, on the road by 7 for some HARD intervals. 4 x 30 seconds "warm up" sprints and then into my main set of 5x 5 min zone 4-5. Such great weather this morning. In fact the past two weeks we have been having perfect weather. I can't get over it!

Then I got home in time to quickly shower and get out the door to work. Didn't have time to eat @ home so off to McDonald's we go for breakfast. mmmmmmmm......mcDonalds.....mmmmmm

I guess I get to reward myself for a job well done this morning. I felt great on the bike.

another easy run under 162

Went out for another easy run....3.5 miles keeping my heart rate under 162. My legs feel great and I am ready for the onslaught of the next 3 days....which are gonna HURT.

Early bike ride in the AM.....INTERVALS!

flying dismounts

Did a transition session with my coach this morning. Basically my cycling shoes are cycling shoes and are not the best for a triathlon for getting them on and off. Oh well, next season I will go for some more appropriate shoes.

That being said, getting into my shoes ON the bike is really hard in these shoes due to the shape of the velcro straps and the shoes having a ratchet mechanism.

Fortunately getting out of them on the bike is easier and doing a flying dismount (getting off of your bike in motion into a run) is possible and actually not as hard as I had expected.

Still need more practice with the dismounts, but it should save me some time.

Sad to already think about this, but the season is approaching the end already!

I have Westchester Sept 21st in under a month, then I volunteered to be in a relay race on the 29th. I will be doing the biking portion, 15 miles, half of which is up, the 2nd half down. Then Oct 12th I am running a half marathon. The olympic I am sorta scared to do, the bike relay not so much, but the half marathon I am REALLY scared of doing. I mean I can run almost 7 miles and be fine, but I think there is a BIG difference between running 7 and running 13. I think upping my mileage for the half marathon now will only help the 6.2 I have to run in the Olympic.

the small pool

All pools in the area are closed for cleaning....ALL of them at the exact SAME time.

Fortunately the small pool at the Y is open for the next two weeks with a liveable schedule to get me through my next race. The downside is that its only 3 (or 4 VERY slim) lanes with a 20 yard length. Its like being back at Mr. Switzers when I was a kid. Unfortunately every triathlete in the area is going to have this one pool to swim in. Strange though...i had the entire pool to myself.

So my stroke count per lenth is pretty consistent that I know when I will hit the wall. Because I am in a pool that is 5 yards shorter, my count is off so I almost cracked me head once.

Then kicking on my back was deemed impossible due to no lines above me or reference to know when to stop to not crack my head.

Oh well...

I did get in 44 lengths for a half mile swim over about 30 mins---ish. It was just a recovery swim. No biggie.

race training ride

Did the Westchester Tri Training ride this morning with a HUGE group of people. I think there was over 100 people at this ride. I stayed towards the front so I could get into my aero bars and climb without passing everyone. I zoomed up the biggest and steepest hill and was happy that I could stayed standing without my legs hitting the bars. I wish I could use two bikes for this race....my road bike for the hills because my position is better suited for climbing and its a lighter bike, then use my aero bars for the flats. The 2nd half of the bike is gonna be fast. I know these long stretch sections pretty well and I know I am gonna be able to fly on this section. I am looking forward to it actually.

Today's ride took 1:45 and was 24.5 miles.....so with all of the stopping and going we only averaging 14 mph. Blah! Fortunately I was able to hit a few sections to keep my speed up.

I was sore going into today am still really sore. My legs were hurting up the climbs but I was still going pretty fast. These next two days I am gonna go EASY because Wednesday through next whenever is gonna be a 100% suffer fest. Bring it on!