I Passed Robert?

It's been two weeks since I've been on the bike and I was really worried that I'd be super slow and lose a lot of bike fitness. I might not have been the fastest person today, but a lot of that I'll attribute to the fact that my legs (quads, really) were exhausted after yesterday's weight lifting session. The next time that I think it's a good idea to left leg weights before a brick, I wish someone would remind me that it's not the best feeling in the world.

The workout today was one of the brick workouts that I really like. It's alternating short runs and bikes, so you get more transition practice. The first run we do with our bikes as practice running with our bikes. The first time I did this, I was horrible (because you're only allowed to use one hand on the saddle to push your bike). Turns out that the further away you hold your arm out from your side, the more control you have over the bike, which is a bit counter-intuitive. But, it seems as though I've gotten the hang of it as I was actually pretty good today. I went really slowly on the first run because I didn't want to take any chances since going slow has made my calves happy.

The whole workout was 4 runs with 3 bikes and each run should be faster than the last. The bike loops were supposed to be the 5-mile upper loop of the Park and we were supposed to ride in the big chain ring, but I knew pretty quickly after being on the bike that my quads weren't going to tolerate that big chain ring hill ride, so I cut a mile off the loops and went across the 102nd Street Transverse instead.

On the first bike loop, I caught up to Robert (our head coach). And then I passed him! It was unbelievable! OK, to be fair, I have to be honest, I passed him going downhill when he was coasting and I was pedaling. But, to my credit, he didn't then zoom by me later on. He stayed behind me for the rest of the loop. I couldn't believe it. I mean, I did think while biking today that I forgot how fun it is to go really fast, but I didn't think I was going that fast.

On the third bike loop, I did something that I know I should have been practicing for a while, but somehow didn't ever get around to it before. I ate while on the bike. Just a 1/2 of a Clif bar. I fully intend on eating at Westchester since I don't think that gu stuff agrees with me and I finally realized that I had better start practicing since it's a month from today! It really wasn't too bad or too hard. The wrapper was already open, so all I had to do was pull it out and then hold onto it while I ate. I put the wrapper back in my pocket right away so that I didn't lose/litter with it.

I'm planning on going to one of the training rides for the Westchester course before the actual race, so hopefully I can scope out a small section that isn't too technically challenging or where I don't have to shift a lot and I can eat there.

Here are today's stats. I always forget to use the HR monitor when biking. I think it's because I already have the bike computer and it just seems redundant, so it's not all the stats, but I did increase my running speed from lap to lap, so I'm really happy about that.

First run (with bike): ~6:00 (12:00 pace)

Second run: 5:08 (10:16 pace)
Calories: 62
Maximum HR: 174
Average HR: 170

Third run: 4:51 (9:41 pace)
Calories: 58
Maximum HR: 172
Average HR: 167

Fourth run: 4:30 (9:00 pace)
Calories: 56
Maximum HR: 174
Average HR: 170

Total Running: 2.0 miles in 20:29 (10:14 pace)
Total Biking: 12.72 miles in 49:35 (15.39 MPH average)