It’s not that my track bike has dust on it from last September. I actually added a few nicks and dings to its frame a few weeks ago thanks to my superwoman flight. My left knee still boasts a bright pink patch of new skin. My tattered ego and hesitant jump have been beat into submission since then with multiple hard efforts out on the track. So that shouldn’t be a problem.
For lots of reasons, I rarely write about my husband on this blog, except maybe in passing. It’s human nature to focus on the negatives, as anyone with kids must caution themselves, and I’d never want to criticize him publically (duh), so I don’t write about him when I’m annoyed with him. It’s also extraordinarily easy to take someone you’ve lived with for almost 12 years for granted, so I don’t write about him when I’m happy with him (which fortunately is most of the time).
Beth Willis used this really cool app to turn my last blog post into a “word cloud”…I thought it was really cool and a little uncanny…
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Another decision: shoes on the bike in T1 and T2, or running in bike shoes. Again, I chose to simulate my goal race, so I put on shoes in T1 and clopped out with my bike. On the way back, I deliberated again: should I get my feet out, as I usually do, and run barefoot through transition? I decided against it, since I didn’t want sand or grass on my feet before I put on my socks. There’s enough discomfort coming in the run, I reasoned; I might as well have clean feet. Bad choice. I couldn’t get one of my shoes unclipped (it’d picked up some sand when I took a quick potty break by the side of the road!) and wound up ingloriously tipping to my side at the dismount line. Jon Van Ark, who took these great pictures of me, was a gentleman and didn’t snap any of me lying on the ground under my bike.
It was very hot by then, and I was glad to have chosen to run with my Fuel Belt. I’d also debated between a hat and a visor. Since the aid stations were supposed to have wet towels, I chose a visor, thinking I’d drape the towels over my head. But there were no towels, just ice that could be scooped into a hat.
I’m not one to reflect much around birthdays, or even really remember them. But 33 was a year I looked forward to due to my crazy superstitions (and the crappy year that went before) and I feel like I made the most of it, so I allowed myself a little introspection early this morning.
Guess what I just found this morning? The missing Honda keys. Damn! Good thing I didn’t pay $500 to have it towed into Honda and then pay them to install the ignition switch. I can hear Ryan giggling now….
And check out what will be in the July issue of Rock and Ice - thanks Patrick!
This is a great workout if you find yourself stuck inside for timing or weather issues. You can do the run portions inside on a treadmill or outside, while the bike can be stationary or on a trainer (preferred). If you are running on the treadmill, keep the incline steady at 1%. If you run outside, alter your speed on hills to hold to the designated RPE. Anyone can do this because it’s defined through RPE…if you can’t run and keep the RPE as low as it should be, simply insert short walking breaks that get effort and HR down to where they should be…you get great practice at transitions too - try to keep them as fast as possible.
The goal of sports training is to apply stress to the body and elicit supercompensation—a refilling of the well of energy, as it were, but with the well getting fuller than it was before. It’s like pruning a fruit tree so that it grows back more productive. You stress, rest, and become stronger.
