August 12, 2012

To Brick or Not to Brick?

I am just 14 days away from my second sprint tri, and well into the thick of my training.  Sunday is typically my "brick day," and I had great plans of biking to the gym for a nice long swim this morning, followed immediately by a bike and run.  That is, until I woke up and realized it was 55 degrees.  FIFTY-FIVE.  A month ago it was over 100!  What the heck is going on??  I'm loving the cooler weather and totally rocked a 5 mile run yesterday morning in it, but I wasn't so sure I was on board with the idea of biking and running in completely soaked tri clothes, or even just with wet hair if I changed clothes post-swim.  I was *this close* to rolling over and just going back to sleep, but then I convinced myself that a bike-run brick was better than no brick at all and dragged myself out of bed (or more accurately, off of the couch where I fell asleep last night.  Winning.).

Side Note: And okay, to be completely honest with you, I was a little bit enticed by the chance to break out my beloved ARM WARMERS for the first time since spring.  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture with them.  I know you are devastated.  

The bike-run transition is the one I struggle most with since my legs just feel like COMPLETE JELLO getting off of the bike.  I knew it would be excellent practice to do a really hard bike ride followed by a short run, so I gathered up my gear (including arm warmers!), packed it into the trunk of my Prius, and headed to my favorite trail, an 8.5+ mile loop.  In the car on the way there, I gave myself a pep talk, telling myself I would bike two full loops (and some change) for a full 18 miles.  Idk about you, but anytime I'm running a loop and need to go PAST my car for a second lap, it is usually way too enticing to call it a day early.
I'm happy to report, though, that I powered my little legs through 18 miles!  I haven't ridden that far since May I'm pretty sure--I've been in a total cycling rut lately, pathetically rarely getting over 10 miles, so this felt awesome!  I must give major credit to a podcast episode of NPR's "This American Life" for getting me through most of this ride.  Perfect bike listening!  After the bike ride (during which I saw a disturbing amount of tiny dead mice on the trail...okay, maybe 3, but I think 3 constitutes a disturbing amount when referring to animal carcasses!), I set out for two additional miles on foot, wobbly legs and all.  These were tough and I was crazy tired already, but I made it!  Woohoo, stretch break in the grass!!
In the spirit of a chillier-than-anticipated morning, I treated myself to hot oatmeal with plenty of brown sugar, PB, and blueberries:
Oh, and today I also learned that I am just not a protein shake kind of girl...blech.  I am sticking to chocolate milk!  The oatmeal was pretty awesome, though.  It's been forever since I've made hot oatmeal!  Yum.  I loved this weather this weekend, but am desperately hoping it isn't in the 50s for my tri!  Wet clothes + cool breezes = not a happy teacher runner.  :)

What made your weekend wonderful?

Do you modify your training plan when you're tempted to skip workouts, or are you super hard-core and power through no matter what?

4 comments:

  1. I just started biking three weeks ago and can't believe how crazy it feels to run after a bike ride. I do confess to skipping out on some of my hard workouts sometimes. Lately they have all been pretty easy recovery type runs though. Great job on your hard workout!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You were impressed with my half time ... but I'm SUPER impressed with your tri training! I think anyone who attempts a tri is a goddess. I've thought about trying one, but to be honest, the swimming part really scares me. Plus I hate wearing bathing suits -- ha ha!
    Congrats on the great bike workout!

    ❀Barbara❀
    Grade ONEderful
    My Running Shortz

    ReplyDelete
  3. My second sprint tri is the same day as yours. Let's send positive thoughts to each other. I plan to do one more the next weekend and have wondered what happens as it gets colder. Sure the wet suit keeps you warm in the water but once you get out on that bike??????

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your tri adventures are awesome to read about!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...