Big Brick

For those not familiar with triathlon terminology, a brick is when you do a workout that includes two or more of the three disciplines of swimming, biking or running. Today was a big brick. A long brick. Up at 3am, out by 3:40. Rode 80 miles, and then ran 10. Ride was magical. Massive thunderheads far off to the North, and West, creating spectacular light shows in the pre-dawn sky, and above, where it was totally clear, there was a meteor shower going on. Air was very soggy and warm, but no fog due to a steady west breeze.

80 mile ride by rjhill4th at Garmin Connect - Details

The run was a bit warm and a bit tough. Didn't hydrate quite as well as I should have. HR was quite high throughout the run, seemingly far above the 8:15 pace I maintained, could have been the heat, the hydration, or the fact that I'd just ridden a fairly hard 80 miles, or all of the above. Have to play with hydration strategies in the next big brick.

10 mile run by rjhill4th at Garmin Connect - Details

Naperville

Naperville sprint last Sunday. Shaved 1:21 off my time last year. Won the 50-54 age group. (66 guys) Came in 21st out of 1,594. Had the 14th fastest bike split, and had the fastest bike split I've ever had in any triathlon ever. (24.9mph av. speed) All in all a solid race. Here's the details:

http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php#racetop

Fogged Out

Sunday I rode 114 miles out to Belvidere and back. Most notable about this adventure was the fog. I left the house at 3:30am, under a quarter moon. West of Randall road, about 4 miles into the ride, the fog grew very, very dense. Visibility varied between 5o feet and 50 yards. Dense. My headlamp was no help at all, in fact when it was on, it was virtually blinding me, so I turned it off and rode by the moonlight. At one point, I nearly crashed when I ran over a medium sized dead animal that I could not see until I was on top of it. I didn't go back to look at it, but judging by the impact jolt, it was either a raccoon or a possum. The fog persisted until well after sunset, about 3.5 hours of the ride. The upside of the fog was it was made my hydration needs rather minimal. Did the whole ride on two bottles and a cup of coffee, without getting parched. That's the last LONG workout until the Naperville sprint, coming up this Sunday. Be interesting to see the impact of all these long workouts on a sprint race.

Rockford 114 by rjhill4th at Garmin Connect - Details

Today I did a short run with speed work. Two 6:25 miles in the middle of a 6 mile run. Legs a little soft after yesterdays long ride...

6 mile by rjhill4th at Garmin Connect - Details

20 Mile/20 Mile

Aerobically speaking, things are looking good. Friday I started with a fast 20 mile training ride, in which I averaged 22.5 mph, and maintained an average heart rate of 124bpm. I then went for a 20 mile run, did five hill repeats at Johnsons Mound in the middle, and managed a "reverse split"--second ten I ran faster pace than the first. Now I just need to get my pace and my leg strength up to my aerobic capacity. 20 miles is the furthest I've run in 10 years. Here's the ride:

Fast training 20 by rjhill4th at Garmin Connect - Details

and the run

20 mile run by rjhill4th at Garmin Connect - Details