The 'last chance' multiple brick workout!

The brick workout. A triathlete favorite, right? I'm guessing not. An evil necessity? Most definitely.

Last weekend provided Sondra with her first taste of brick training. Unfortunately due to the heat and my hallucination, the run portion of our brick was cut seriously short. Today, I told Sondra that in preparation for next week's OWT we were going to do some brick intervals. She fondly called it our "last chance workout" ala The Biggest Loser.

We started at 9AM. Temp was decent- maybe around 73F and the humidity was up. However, it was pretty nice weather for FL. The plan was as follows:

6.6 mile bike loop at RPE of 7 followed by a 1.43 mile run (at RPE of 7 or 8). All done three times.

We did a quick warm-up lap on the bikes around the run route and then went to work. The first 6.6 mile loop had us averaging 17 mph. I averaged a 7:55 pace on my first 1.43 mile run lap. This is the first time I have ever run a sub-8 for longer than a mile. Hurray! Our second 6.6 mile loop averaged 17.5 mph and my run pace for the second run interval was 8:37.

By the third 6.6 mile loop, it was getting hot... and we were getting tired. We averaged 17.7 mph on the last loop and I hung back with Sondra for the run where we maintained a 10:03 pace. My knee has been hurting me for the past 3 days and during the second run interval I felt a few twinges. By the third run interval, the slower pace was really all that I could safely manage. In hindsight, I should have just sat that one out. I've had ice on it all evening.

All in all, our multiple brick workout was a success! We both came away from it feeling super confident and ready for next weekend. I'm glad my bike speed has picked up, but I owe a lot of it to Sondra. She's such a strong cyclist and pushes me on the bike. With each ride, I grow more comfortable on Pixie. We're really starting to feel like one.

After a quick stop at Subway for lunch, we swam some easy laps at the pool. I did 1800 yards at an easy to medium pace. I'm resting the legs tomorrow, so it'll be another pool day.

I'm getting excited about the OWT this weekend. I'm actually more excited about this race than I am about MiamiMan and I'm fairly certain it's b/c I'm doing it with Sondra. I've made a wonderful friend and I found a super compatible training partner. She really pushes me on the bike and I 'think' I push her on the run... so we are perfect for each other.

Wardrobe note: I completed the brick workout in a bathing suit today. I was a bit leery about how it would work out on the bike, but honestly it felt just fine. I think I'm a bit chafed where the suit leg met the saddle, but otherwise it worked great. My boobs have also shrunk so much that I can actually run comfortably in a Speedo-style suit. Good grief! I would have never, ever thought that was possible.

Wardrobe note #2: I test drove the freebie Pearl Izumi Streaks that I received from saverun.org today. I've run in them before, but today was the first run without socks (which is how I run my races). I now have blisters... on both heels! Bravo! Better to know now, I suppose.

Nutrition note: I used the InfinIT Lemon-Lime Sprint forumla during training today. It tasted pretty good and went down well enough. I did have a few gas bubbles during the second bike interval; it could have been the protein in the formula. I think it worked well, though. I certainly was speedier than usual on the run.