Running 3.1 miles isn’t bad. I’m use to it.
Running 3.1 miles AFTER riding 20 miles on the bike is a BITCH!
My Jan thru Jun six month averages are: 6,300 swim meters, 30 miles cycling and 20 miles running.
I HAD a JULY monthly goal of: 12,000 swim meters, 60 cycling miles and 40 running miles.
The increases are significant. The averages for the first 6 month of the year are pretty dismal as there was not much increase from month to month. Practically NONE! So stepping it up for July is a significant accomplishment. This will be a huge step in training as base distances and total time spent doing them is now the focus of my attention. Not speed. This is the only way to show improvement. Wheras the first 6 months it was just a routine. Nothing changed. Now, everything will change.
I’m focusing on Olympic distance Triathlon training (1.5 K Swim/20K Bike/10K Run). Once I surpass this its on to Half-Ironman distances also called “Ironman 70.3″ (1.2 mile swim/56 mile Bike/13.1 mile run)! The discipline’s mileages total 70.3 hence the Ironman 70.3 title. This is qualification distances for the Ford Ironman Championships in Kona, Hawaii. Double the mileage and you got a full Ironman distance.
You know what’s unforgiving? Disneyland. The walking, the standing in lines, the high cost of food and souvenirs… and then they have the nerve to shut down Space Mountain and cancel the fireworks after we sat on the hard ground for two hours! Yes, we waited, and waited, and waited. And then it was canceled. (HungryWriter Blog Entry: Disneyland 2006)
The weather at Disney – forgiving. It wasn’t that hot! Which made Disney bareable.
Why do I mention this? Well, after spending ALL DAY at Disneyland yesterday (Saturday), I was completely exhausted. Being this tired made it tougher to even fall asleep and after falling asleep having a good night’s sleep.
The plan was to wake up at 7AM today and do a BRick which included a 20 mile bike ride and a 3.1 mile run. Why? Because I needed 20 more miles on the bike and 5 more miles in my running shoes to meet my July goals.
I woke up around 8ish today. There was no way Donna and the kids would have made it around the Rose Bowl so I ventured out myself. Not at 8ish, not at 9ish, more like 10ish in the morning. More close to 11ish, but still 10ish.
This meant many things. It would be too damn hot to do 20 miles on the bike and run a 5K. With Disneyland fatigue still an issue, I just might have to cut the cycling miles short. I may have to even cut the run all together.
But that’s not what I did. I tortured myself. Not only did I do 20 miles on the bike, on my second lap of the Rose Bowl I took a side street and rode UP a hill that seemed like Mt. Everest! I looked behind me and was on the verge of turning back around when I used that mind game thing – the one where you tell yourself its really easy and fun. It didn’t work. It was hard and painful. But I got my butt off the saddle and pedaled, pedaled and pedaled and made it up the hill, around the block and back down to the Rose Bowl! Whew! What a ride. I decided not to do that again and proceeded with several more laps around the Rose Bowl.
I decided not to rush my Transition time from Bike to Run. So I got off my bike and took my time getting shoes on, hydrating and gulping down a thick lime flavored gel. Gross. Three minutes. I took twice as long as normal. But that was okay. I strolled over to the road. I strapped on my iPod arm band before starting a slow, heavy legged, grueling jog.
Here’s what I’ve learned. If I can make it 1 mile on the run without stopping, I can make it period. I didn’t look at my pace, I didn’t look at my distance, I just kept my feet moving. Moving… moving… moving. My Garmin beeped, I looked down, I was at a mile… It was done. The next two miles would all be mental as my legs remembered what to do and they just kept doing it.
Thank you to the weather for again, begin ‘forgivable’.
I set goals along the route. Goals with no real reward. ‘Cept for accomplishing them. Get to this goal about a half mile ahead and… and what? Keep going. That’s all I had. So many times I felt like stopping, but I decided that I wasn’t going to stop.
I mean, there was NOTHING really at stake here. It wasn’t a race, it wasn’t much of anything really, just a training day that I might overload on and collapse. I could stop at any time with no regrets really. All I’d say is, “I couldn’t do it.” I had tons of excuses. A day at Disney, a personal best 20 mile bike ride… the weather. Although the weather wasn’t bad at all… so all I had was Disney and a long ass ride.
But I decided that no matter what it takes, I wasn’t going to stop, I wasn’t going to walk, I was going to run. And run I did. It’s good mental training.
Did I finish? Hell, ya baby! And it felt gooooood!
A 20 mile ride and a 5K run! All in 1 hour 47 minutes and 08 seconds with a 3 minute transition.
I was so happy that I did everything without stopping that I couldn’t wait to do it again. When can I do this again? Next Sunday maybe? 25 mile ride and a 10K run? Okay, maybe that’s pushing it too soon.
BIKE SPLITS
Mile 1 0:04:19
Mile 2 0:02:52
Mile 3 0:02:50
Mile 4 0:06:05
Mile 5 0:03:26
Mile 6 0:02:42
Mile 7 0:03:25
Mile 8 0:03:41
Mile 9 0:02:56
Mile 10 0:03:32
Mile 11 0:03:48
Mile 12 0:02:57
Mile 13 0:03:24
Mile 14 0:04:00
Mile 15 0:02:58
Mile 16 0:03:35
Mile 17 0:04:35
Mile 18 0:02:45
Mile 19 0:03:42
Mile 20 0:05:06
Mile 20.32 0:01:11
TOTAL BIKE: 1:13:49
Transition: 0:03:00
RUN SPLITS
Mile 1 0:10:55
Mile 2 0:10:35
Mile 3 0:10:42
Mile 3.1 0:01:07
TOTAL RUN: 0:33:19
TOTAL TIME: 1:47:08
Not bad on the Run Splits. My bike splits were average but my cadence was low. This is something I have to work on.
Side note: My swim goals were NOT met by 4,800 meters. They will be met in August as everything is stepped up once again.
Next up for August: 14,000 swim meters, 70 bike miles, 50 run miles.
Next up for September: The Los Angeles Triathlon!!! (Sept 10, 2006).
Check my Training Log Progress @ www.beginnertriathlete.com: 7/24/2006 – 7/30/2006 Training Log