Brick Workout #2 Before Tri for Joe

According to the loud DJs coming across the alarm clock radio this morning, there was a thin fog that was causing delays. I laid in bed with my eyes closed, trying to talk myself into believing it was Saturday. After I realized I didn't have the power to change the days and finally opened my eyes, I saw a beautiful, fresh sky – a welcome sight after so many cloudy days in a row. Looking out the window, I thought how it would have been a great morning for a run. Misty morning runs are my favorite. But I was planning to do another brick workout in the evening after work.

It was a mini-duathlon of sorts. Instead of doing three runs and two bike sessions, I decided to just do two runs and one bike in between, just like the race, but much shorter. With the Idlewild 5K this weekend, I didn't want to take too much out of my legs. I decided to bike longer so I'd get the lead feeling in my legs for the second run. After it was all finished, the only thing missing from this brick compared to the last brick was one 1 mile run.

I set my bike up outside like last time. I have my new tire on.

It has some interesting tread.

I wore new shorts that I would like to use for the duathlon. My current bike shorts are a little too big. I look and feel like I am running in a diaper. Until I can find a good deal on thin padded shorts (which is nearly impossible) I wanted to see if non-padded shorts would work for a short 12 miles on the bike. I'm not sure. It will be close to 45 minutes. Today was only 22 minutes. Hmmm.

I went out the door after some quick arm and leg stretches. I only wanted to run smooth. I honestly didn't think I'd be able to run the same speed as the last brick workout I did two weeks ago. But when I got to the end of the street, my watch said 4:02. Huh. I turned around, still focusing on keeping my breathing under control and keeping my legs smooth and stride strong. I got back to the driveway and stopped my watch.
7:56.

:)

To my knowledge, I've never ever ever ran under 8 minutes for the distance of 1 mile. Ever. !!!!!!!!!!

I practically skipped through the house, stopping quickly to jot my time down. Then I went out the back door where my bike awaited me. I threw my shoes on, thinking about all the setup for transition at the duathlon and how I haven't done that in a few years now, and hopped on the saddle. I began an easy spin. The seat wasn't too uncomfortable.

As there is nothing to do while on the bike trainer except watch the dogs or the neighbors mow, neither of which were entertaining, I decided to concentrate on my pedal stroke. I tried to feel the power in a circular motion rather than the mashing down motion. I soon got bored and did a few 1 minute pickups, changing gears and going faster, leaning over into the lower position on the handlebars. When I got to 20 minutes, I finally felt warmed up. So I did just a couple more minutes and then it was time for run number 2.

With Harley-dog in my face, trying to lick my sweat, I changed my shoes. I think I should get the quick-pull laces for the duathlon. Not that I'm speedy or going to place, but there is a lot of time that can be gained in transition, and good grief tying my shoes seems to take forever! I went back through the house, wrote down my times and then went out for my second run.

I prepared myself mentally for running out of juice. If I could just manage a 9 minute pace, that would be realistic and I'd be happy with that. I got to the half mile and saw 4:10. OK, I'll go for 8:20. Running back was smooth. I landed back in the driveway at 8:11, a negative split again.

YAY!!!!

The results.

I sat back outside after walking around a little bit and relaxed. I should have mowed that prairie in the background. There's tomorrow I guess.

I have no idea what to expect for the 5K Sunday. I surely couldn't keep that pace up for 3 miles in a row. So what pace can I maintain? This is getting tricky now that I can actually run different paces. In the past, 5Ks meant run a comfortable hard and then I'd run out whatever is left when I thought I could. Now I feel like I have this huge pace range to play with. If I go out too fast, I'll be screwed. But I don't want to go out too slow and not get the lowest time I can. Hmmmm...

Oh fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun!!!!!