First Big Brick

Yesterday was my first big brick workout in preparation for Ironman Wisconsin. I had a 60 mile ride/14 mile run on the schedule, so I had to get myself "ready" for it- both physically and mentally. Saturday was a planned DAY OFF on the schedule and trust me, I took it. I knew that my nutrition was going to be key, and I am going to be strictly following a nutrition plan during my training rides and runs that will mimic race day.

Saturday: I went to Sports Chalet and bought some Power Bar Gels- 6 of them. I also bought a couple of Clif Bars in case I needed it- along with some Gatorade for hydration. I wouldn't have bought so many Gels had the weather not been fore casted to be in the 90's. But, I thought I would use the Gels as my sodium replenishment as well- since there is some sodium in those things. Saturday night, I went out with a friend and had some salad and pasta. I also had some ice cream for dessert- a big cheat, but thought if I was going to do it, that tonight was the night. I went to bed by 10:30 and set the alarm for 6am.

Sunday: Alarm went off and I re-set it for 7am. I thought I could buy one more hour of sleep and still get out of the front door by 8am. I got up at 7, made my oatmeal, pumped my tires up, filled my water bottles, got dressed, and was on my way.

Workout: My plan was to ride out to Santa Paula on the 126 and back. It was really pleasant weather-wise, so that was nice. Had to stop once to use the potty, but then got right back on. Rode to the turnaround in 1 hour/40 mins. I headed back to Santa Clarita and got back to the house 10 minutes off of pace-but there was more climbing on the way back. I transitioned and the time was 3 hours, 28 minutes. I through on my running stuff- including my hat and fuel belt. I also grabbed a water bottle to carry with me the entire time. It was 11:20am, but getting close to 90 degrees outside. I set off at a pretty easy pace and had a goal of a 2 hour run- I would drive it later to see how far I went. I had felt really good on my ride, and the first 30 minutes of the run, I felt ok- but, knew I was just warming up. I had to keep my heart rate down- as I wanted to keep it around 150. It never got up above 160, and didn't go down below 150. I finished the run in a total run time of 2:12 (2 hours, 12 minutes). I drove the course later and I had ran a total of 14 miles.

After I was done, I went upstairs and took a cold bath- jumped right in with my running clothes on. I soaked my legs and it felt really good. My legs definitely needed it, as they were still sore from the big run I had on Friday. Overall, it was a great first brick workout!

Great job to Rachel, by the way, who is now officially an IRONMAN! She finished Ironman Lake Placid in 12 hours, 43 minutes. Great Job to her!