Final reminder from Missy: This is the last day to donate to Livestrong if you want me to flex for all the blogosphere to see (or at least a couple dozen readers, right?). ;)
To complete my trifecta of self-imposed time trials this week, I rode the bike portion of my bike/run workout last night at race pace. I did the race distance (14 miles) in 49:47 - just barely under my 50 minute goal time. I'm not sure how much faster I can get on the bike, so this may be quite a challenge on the Ann Arbor course.
My legs being pretty much toasted after that, I thought I'd time my run as well just to see how I did on tired legs. My legs felt heavy during the first mile, but my time was really fast - something like 7:30! I guess after puting a hard effort into pedalling, my muscles were still firing at a high level. However, I could feel myself slowing down significantly after that. The second mile was more like 8:15 - still a good time, but with three more miles to go on race day, I'd have to really pour some warrior spirit into my legs (and consume enough calories) to keep my mile pace below 9 minutes.
I have to say that I'm happy with my progress so far. I have to remember that I still have 7 weeks of training before the race. Hopefully by then, I will be ready to kick some triathlon booty and maybe take a place in my age group. How cool would that be?!
Side note on nutrition: Normally for a long bike ride, I'd consume actual, solid food to provide my body with calories and protein. However, I don't do well running with a bunch of solid food in my stomach. So, I've been trying out different sport foods to see what works best for me.
So far, I've tried a couple gels and some sport blocks. I like the taste of the blocks - they're like eating soft gum drops - but I don't like having to chew while huffing and puffing through a hard effort. The gels are easier in that sense, because I can just swish them around in my mouth and swallow.
Having decided on gels, now I just need to find some flavors that I like and decide whether I want them to have protein and/or caffein in addition to the sugar. There are more gel options than I ever imagined! Who would have thought this would be so complex!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tempo bike - 70 minutes (19.5 miles), Run 19 minutes (2.4 miles)
Did 14 miles on the bike in 49:47 and a fast first mile of running. However, my running pace was deteriorating quickly on tired legs.
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