Now that’s one slick brick!

Today was the last day of the workouts that I have created myself.  The next time I go out it will be on a pre-designed workout schedule that will take me from the first day of triathlon training up until race day.  EXCITING!

So for my last day out I wanted to do a brick.  Least weekend I replaced the mountain bike knobby tires with “slicks.”  Let me tell you something, this makes a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE!  Actually there were times where I felt I didn’t have enough gears and could go much faster.

I’ll tell you what, training on this bike is going to give me some pretty serious leg muscles.  Someday when I DO get a better bike (tri bike or road bike) I will be screaming fast!   I just know it.

There are two very important things I learned from today’s workout and they both involve bike related issues….

• Number 1:
  When hydrating during the race, do not wait until the last five minutes to slam the rest of your Gatorade, water or WHATEVER you hydrate yourself with.  This will only cause a gut ache when you start running.   After all, if you prepared yourself for just a run, you would not slam a drink right before you headed out the door, right?  You would SLOWLY hydrate over time.  Rookie mistake!
• Number 2:
  If it is the middle of summer in Florida (or just about anyplace but Florida in particular) do your workouts early in the morning or in late, late afternoon.  NOT when then sun is at its highest!  I had planned to do a very early morning brick but did not get up in time so went out and did this around 12:00 noon when it was about 87 degrees out and about 90 percent humidity.  Another rookie mistake that I need to remember as I move into the next few months of training.  STICK TO THE PLAN!

I got off the bike and headed into my run.  I actually transitioned in about 30 seconds (probably even less) but I am not going to concentrate on that yet as I don’t know all the ins and outs of that.

As stated above, I started off with a gut ache, no thanks to my downing of 16 ounces of fluid in about 30 seconds.  I had another Gatorade sitting and waiting for me at the transition point (my back patio) and grabbed that as I headed out.  Only took a few sips of that during the run as I was worried about too much fluid again.

My pacing was slow but I guess it could have been worse.  Due to my Nike+ app I continued past my scheduled 3.1 so the other app could catch up.

My final running time for the 3.1 was 24’32.  As I look back and review some of my reading materials, my heart rate was a little too high on the bike in order to have fresh legs for the run.  I may know how to run but I have quite a bit to learn on the bike!  Oh, and when I through the swimming in the whole mix?  WOW!

I all of a sudden have a much better appreciation for what I am going to attempt over the next few months.