Triathlon Training: 2 Weeks to Go!

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It's Saturday, so that meant waking up and going for a BRiC! I love waking up to do BRiCs, no lie. It's a little weird, but a good way to entice me to do a bike ride is to promise myself to run afterwards. I've been cutting myself too much slack during this triathlon training, though, so today I was determined to do one of the workouts that Tim (my boyfriend's brother who has done a multitude of triathlons, include a few Ironmans) suggested I do.

The challenge:
3 hour bike ride
1 hour run

I'm always racing people on the trails, always trying to crank out my speed as hard as I can. Terrible of me, I know, but I'm an overly competitive person deep down on the inside. Today my boyfriend ("R") told me to pay more attention to the time, not distance or speed, and just turn around at 90 minutes. It was hard, especially since the "bike time" mode on my computer displays the speed at the same time.

I started out super easy (14-16mph), got into a steady pace (18-20mph), and stayed that speed through the return trip (with moments of having to slow down to pass or break for intersections). I covered about 48 miles in 2:50-2:55 (came back a little faster). I quickly transitioned ("quickly" is a loose term--had to put away my bike, put on my shoes and watch, toss off my jersey, grab some water/Gatorade, about 5 minutes total) into my run.

The weather today was gorgeous. Low humidity. Low temps (70's-low 80's Fahrenheit). My run went smoothly, but I'll admit the first few miles were tough (after a bike ride, running always feels a little funky). I ran about 8.85 miles in 1:05:40 for a 7:25/mile pace. I'm pleasantly surprised by that, since I wasn't wearing my Garmin (just my trusty Timex), was aiming for a time of 1 hour, and wasn't expecting much more than 7.5-8 miles. I think if I knew my distance, then I would have run around a little further to make it 9 miles. Haha.

After stretching (yes! I stretch now!), I did 3x1 minute planks (front, side, side) for a total of 9 minutes planking. I felt pretty good.

I'm feeling pretty optimistic about this half distance triathlon. I can't swim fast, so I'm expecting only a 40-60 minute swim. I'm going to have to hold back on the bike, so probably 16 mph, 3:37:30 for the bike. I'm hoping to run under 2 hours for the run. That all totals up to about 6:37:30 (assuming minimal time for transitions). I better beat that time!

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