First the brick. I really wanted to end April with a bang. And it was time for a thursday night brick anyway, so I figured I would make it a long one. You know I always have a goal to keep 20 mph on the bike, weather stationary or road bike. Well last night I came SO CLOSE!!! When that clock rolled to 60 minutes, I was sitting on 19.75 miles, a stupid quarter mile away! Man, that is close. I ended up getting 20 miles in 61 minutes, and my legs felt pretty strong.
Then I refilled the water bottles, and moved back to the treadmill. Now this is what really amazes me. I would love for someone else to try this just to know that it doesn't only happen to me. Typically, when I just walk onto the treadmill I keep the speed around 6.0 - 6.2, and I'll slow down to a walk when I need to which is usually every 2 or 3 miles. I also walk a warm up for a minute or three. But when I'm coming off of a hard bike session like that, the run always seems easier.
Last night I walked for just over a minute, and did the entire first mile at a 6.4 speed, then did 4 more miles at 6.3 with no walking. Total was 5 miles in 48:24, which is considerably longer and faster than the rest of my recent runs. So strange. So somebody else try going hard on the bike for about 20 minutes, then go for a run. Let me know if it feels easier than just starting out for a run cold.
Now a 20/5 bike/run brick is no joke. Think I'm ready for the oly tri (24 mile bike/6.2 mile run) coming up in a month? I think I'm going to be just fine. The bike burned 678 calories, and the run burned 793 calories. That's 1471 total. And to kick off the night, I weighed in and I was down 3 pounds. I've been trying to be more careful about what I ate during the pollen fiasco, and it's really nice to see it pay off. I also did some yoga yesterday morning.
So what does that mean for April?
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April Totals
1 race (TOA Triathlon, Pics)
750meters swimming
62.5 miles on the bike
43.9 miles running
5 hours strength training
2.5 hours yoga
Considering I lost a couple of weeks to pollen, I am pretty pleased with the month. I need more swimming, duh. But the bike and run totals are ok. I sure could use more running, marathon is only 6 weeks away. But I can live with those totals. It's time to do the Tri Power assessments again, and I just didn't get around to it on wednesday.
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Race Preview
Tomorrow is the Mud Run. This is a 4 mile course with military obstacles. Michael is coming up from Charleston to run it with us, and we recruited our friend Deb to join in too. I don't know what the obstacles are, but I do know there's a 10 ft high wall we have to climb. And I know we're going to get dirty.
Our start time is 3:59 PM? WTF? Who starts a race at 4 pm? They are staggering the starts to let the faster teams through the obstacles first so there will hopefully be less waiting to get through an obstacle. We're in the C group which is supposed to be the fun, slow, fat people. So we should be in good company. If you watch the Biggest Liar, Phil and Amy from last season are running this race too, but I'm sure they will be in an earlier group. And there's a rumor floating around the neighborhood that Tara from this season is in Greenville waiting and working with Phil and Amy for the finale in a couple of weeks. She's been spotted walking around the mall and in a few local gyms according to my neighbors. So I'm hoping she's roped into doing this race tomorrow too.
In other race news, there are only 34 spots left for the Beach 2 Battleship half iron distance race that I'm doing in november. There are already tons of bloggers signed up, but if you're on the fence about a half I would suggest you get in on this one while you still can. Come and hang out with your friends! The full iron distance has a few more open spots, but get in while you can. They are both going to sell out pretty soon.
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Have a great weekend! I know the Eugene Marathon is this weekend in Oregon, and Sarah Bowen Shea (a Runner's World writer and blogger) is running it. Good luck SBS! Who else is running this one? joyRuN is gunning a marathon this weekend too. Good luck girl! And Amber is doing her first half marathon on sunday in vancouver. rock it out, Amber. You're going to love it.
Snowy Commuter Bike Ride
6 hours ago
7 comments:
great totals for April, enjoy your run tomorrow.. at 3:59 LOL. Will have to try that bike/run experiment, i'll take anything that will make it easier these days :)
I lurve running off the bike. The legs are already warmed up. The lungs have been pre-winded. All you got to do is shake off that "I've been riding a horse" feeling and go go go :-)
As a general rule of thumb, the 10% rule is good for bricks too. Your run should be 10% of your ride, but if your ride is short, then the run can be longer. Or something like that.
Great brick!!! You and the fam have a great weekend.
I find that if I do just 10 mins on the elliptical before running I can run significantly faster. Bet it would be the same with the bike. Boy do I wish I could get close to 20 mph though. Sounds like a great brick for you. Have fun at the mud run and if you see any of the BL folks try to get photos (and gossip)!
Thanks for the shoutout!!!
Have fun at the mud run, that sure sounds interesting... You'll have to post some pics :-)
Isn't mud your natural environment? Won't that give you an unfair edge? And you'll take it, won't you?
Well ... good luck anyway.
Cheater.
thanks for letting me know about the ache around the lake race.
my friend beth and i are doing the mud run tomorrow, too, and our time is 4:32--we're also in the fun, slow, fat people group. we must be slower and fatter and therefore more fun to be starting THAT late :)
have fun tomorrow!
I think it's the warm up that makes the run after the biking so much easier. I have the same reaction with my longer runs, often I don't hit a faster groove until mile 6 or 7 - I think my 5k time is faster after running a 10k as a warm up...
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