Hardest Workout Yet

7:45 AM- 9:30 AM or so

RUN/BIKE BRICK
Time: 1:24:22
Dist: 13 mile bike in 40 minutes, Avg. Speed 19.7 mph; 5.2 mile run in approx 45 minutes. Quick transition. Total time is above.
AHR: 141 (75% mhr)
MHR: 154 (82%)

This was done along Westchester Parkway, the place where we’ve worked before. At last, the R ankle/calf was not so much a problem! I felt it, definitely, but manageable through the end. Paced myself on the run, for sure, in order to avoid the pain, and managed a nice negative split, completing all 5.2 miles. Still doing about an 8 min/mile pace; not bad, not great.

Definitely feeling competitive with a couple of these guys, Eric and Peter, who’ve been my rivals from the beginning. The good thing is they’re a little better than I am—Eric’s faster on the bike by a fair amount, and Peter’s probably a little faster than I am at both. Tough to keep up with them. I was foiled early on by a chain derailment, which took about a minute to fix…probably a reminder not to get so damn caught up in the testosterone of it. But that was a GOOD BIKE effort for me! Averaging almost 20 mph for 45 minutes is pretty damn good. And the HR at 141—75% of mhr—is pretty good. So I’m happy. I was hoping to keep pace with those guys today—but maybe it just ain’t going to happen! And that’s okay. Just have to keep my own thing going, keep steadily improving. Don’t let comparing get to me. I mean, there are guys out there who would SMOKE both Eric and Peter, so I’m not going to let it get to me. No, really, I’m not.

The main good news today: calf was manageable; plus, a 1.5 hour brick at a kick-ass pace! That was impressive for me. Hardest workout yet, I think, in terms of intensity and time. And I’ve worked out now 4 days straight. So, not sodding bad.

Tomorrow: maybe I’ll go to Trilab and look at my cadance/power output, get the bike fitted finally?? I’ll have time, after all…as for a workout, maybe another bike, easier and slower this time? Or maybe a day off…I deserve one at this point.

Don’t really know my plan this week for working out…I like doing an LSD of each sport alone on one day; then another swim and a bike/run brick with some speed work in there. That’s a five day plan right there, though I’d like to do another bike day…must keep progressing on the bike.

Good work!