First (planned) brick of the year!

[Day 62]

Today's Workout: Trainer ride brick, 90 mins + 4 mi run
Summary:

• Trainer set:
• WU: 
• 10 mins easy 
• 8 x :30/:30 spin ups 
• 2 mins easy 
• Main Set: 
• 5/5/5 @ base +1, 80-85/85-90/90-95 rpm 
• 2 mins recovery 
• 4/4/4 @ base +1, 80-85/85-90/90-95 rpm 
• 2 mins recovery 
• 3/3/3 @ base +1, 80-85/85-90/90-95 rpm 
• 2 mins recovery 
• 2/2/2 @ base +1, 80-85/85-90/90-95 rpm 
• 2 mins recovery 
• 1/1/1 @ base +1, 80-85/85-90/90-95 rpm 
• 2 mins recovery 
• 15 mins steady state riding (cover the clock, just find whatever gearing/cadence works for you) 
• Run set: 3 miles hard, 1 mile easy
• Garmin numbers:
• Ride: 22.05 mi, 1:30:24, 14.6 mph
• Transition: 2:40.70 (slow today because I had to change into cold weather running gear)
• Run: 4.26 mi, 38:34, 9:04 average pace, 175 spm 
• Run splits by mile: 8:37, 8:56, 8:55, 9:44, 9:13 (0.26 mi only)

Hit Rate: 67/73 (91.7%)

I'm really proud of this one! Recap in narrative form today. I think I had expected to feel really awful because I was pretty sore/tight today from yesterday and I was also sort of scared of throwing that round of 4s into the main set, but it went okay! I am actually super proud of myself because I worked really hard at being positive going into this workout. During the warm up and during each recovery interval I literally talked to myself out loud and just tried to say really positive things and reaffirm that I could do this and I had it in me and I think it went a long way towards getting me through the ride portion. I definitely was tired going into the workout because it was the afternoon and I'm always tired in the afternoons and I felt like I was going to fall asleep on my handlebars at first, but I got into it and it definitely woke me up and gave me more energy as I went on.

The transition was a little slow because of the inevitable delays of having to change into winter running gear (and try to dry myself off as thoroughly as I could with a towel so I wouldn't freeze as soon as I got outside) but I kept it under 3 minutes which I'm fine with as far as transition time goes. I love running off the bike. I think my legs are firing so many muscles on the bike that when I switch to the run, my brain recruits a bunch of muscles it typically doesn't when I'm running, so the amount of power in each of my strides blows my mind and it feels so good to have that kind of strength in my running. I can never really find that spot when I'm just going for a run, so I think the extra level of sensory awareness I get from running off the bike is always nice. Also I'm already warmed up, which is one of the things I struggle the most with when I'm running. It usually takes me forever to get into it when I just run, but running off the bike is almost easier because I'm already warm and my body is so ready to go.

I pushed the pace today because I felt good, so I wanted to take as many miles fast as I could. I was definitely fading in mile 3, was hovering between 9:05-9:10 average for probably 2/3s of the mile and then decided in the last little stretch that I really wanted to get that mile in under 9:00 so I put in a pretty good surge and kicked really hard to try and get there. I was pretty sure in the last minute or so of that mile that I was going to throw up, I worked really hard to keep the contents of my stomach in my stomach. I was impressed that I finished out in under 10:00 pace once I slowed down for my cool down mile given that I pushed pretty hard on that run, so I'm really happy with how that went. Also worth noting that the spm stayed high, which is good because that's usually something I worry about when I run coming off the bike. Glad I kept that up too, it was definitely something I was trying actively to think about (that along with running form in general).

I think the craziest thing is looking back on just a year and a half ago when I was new to this sport and my longest bricks were like 12 or 18 miles of biking (I honestly don't remember) plus a 6 km run and it felt like death and I was just holding on for dear life by the time I was 5+ minutes into the run. This workout was already longer than that and the fact that I could even think about pushing pace and feeling strong blows my mind. I've come so far, it's pretty cool to see that play out. Don't get me wrong, I still live in a constant state of "ugh I'm so bad at biking and running", but in fairness I am way way better than I used to be.

Gonna finish up with laundry and pack up for tomorrow and maybe do a tiny tiny bit of work before I hit the sack tonight. Swim tomorrow morning, only one workout, rain in the forecast which is sort of uncool but I'll get up and see how that actually plays out. If the weather seems bearable, I'll brave it for the swim. Fingers crossed! (:

Much love,
Jess