Well, as I am typing this and look at the picture, I completely ignore the weather forecast that calls for 6 inches of snow tomorrow... Think happy thoughts... think happy thoughts.
Training Duathlon
On Saturday, the Upstate Tri Club organized a training duathlon out on the Furman campus. The duathlon consisted of a 5K run, 13.5 mile bike and another 5K run. Around 30 people showed and several brought along family, so we were quite a crowd.
The whole thing was scheduled to start at 1PM. I took it easy in the morning, slept in and then just stayed in bed for a little while longer, then ran some errands and got back to the house at around 12PM. The whole morning I forgot to drink and by the time I got back in I was thirsty... Once you are thirsty, you are already way too dehydrated. Great job, Kathrin! :-( So while I was trying to get my crap together, I sipped on some water to at least put something back in my system. I was at the transition area a little after 12.30pm and then I noticed that I forgot my bike shoes. Fortunately I live just around the corner and was able to make it back on time. Still... That's what you get if you prepare at the last minute.
I started off running at the very back of the group and took it easy, but actually felt pretty good. Maybe half a mile into the 5K I started picking up people and I did that for the whole distance. I can't remember being passed at all. At 5K, I hit the lap button on my Garmin and saw that I had a time of 28:13 mins. This is the lowest 5K time I had in a while and I wasn't even pushing it. Once I passed the 5K mark, I kept on running easy and made a little pit stop before returning to the transition area. This was training after all, so no need to go all crazy here.
Going on the bike felt good and I was glad that I put on a windbreaker in the transition area, since I was sweaty and the wind was really cold. The bike route started out on a familiar route for me, but 3 miles into it, I was on new terrain. On hilly terrain that is... Later I saw on the computer that the we did over 1,000 feet of climbing over 13.5 miles. There were a couple of hills that really hurt. Of course it didn't help that I started feeling the effects of my little water consumption earlier that day... I started cramping in my back and it was especially bad on the hills. Even though I started downing water like a crazy person once I got on the bike, it was just too late to catch up. My bike split had an average speed of 14.4 mph and I was disappointed about that, but I guess that was all I had in me that day.
By the time I was back at the transition area, I already decided that I am not going to do the second 5K... Maybe just a little one mile cool down jog or something, but once I got off the bike, I didn't even feel a cool down jog. Instead I had something to eat and a lot to drink and socialized a little.
When I got back home from the duathlon, I took the doggy on a long walk... That made my back feel better and made the doggy happy.... WIN WIN!
Girl's Ride Out
I am painfully aware of the fact, that my bike fitness is nowhere near I was end of last season. The ride during the duathlon was witness of this fact too, even though other factors sure also played into my performance... Like hydration! DUH!!!
Trainer rides can only do so much, especially if none of your trainer rides exceeded one hour in over two months. The ultimate cure for bad bike fitness is getting out there on the bike and ride it. So of course I was in, when Katie (not coach Katie) asked me if I was up for a ride. We decided to do the Donaldson Country Loop which I never did before... Just follow the light blue/ green arrows! ;-) The sun was shining, but it was still chilly, so we had on several layers. I can't wait for the days, when I don't have to think about how many layers I need. On the bottom I dressed quite light, I didn't even have booties or toasty toes, but I had three thin layers on on top and that worked quite good. The country ride is a nice loop with lots of rolling hills on back country roads and only very little traffic. Katie dropped me a lot which just made me push harder, so it was certainly good training for me. Over 31 miles, we did 1,500 feet of climbing with an 15.6 mph average for the ride... Not bad...
When daylight saving time is finally here, I will definitely take my bike to work at least once a week and join one of the evening rides that start just a little down the road... I think I can't hide it.... I am itching for SPRING!
So long! ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment