Thursday, April 22, 2010

My First Brick Workout

Well...   ok maybe not so much a brick as a small paving stone...   or really more like a decorative pebble.  But technically it did involve two disciplines. 

This morning I got up at 4:50AM and was out the door headed to the Y Pool by just after 5.  I was in the pool by 5:30 AM.  Ok...   so I'm in the pool now what?  I was told not to do any freestyle until I had learned the full technique so thats out.  But I am allowed to practice the rolling drill I learned yesterday.  But my fins haven't arrived yet so that drill was tricky as the only propulsion is from the kick.  Which without fins is not terribly fast.  But I did three lengths of the pool with the rolling drill and then got out.  Only about a ten minute workout.  But the pool was filling up fast and I felt a little awkward doing this inneficient drill and weaving a bit from side to side in my lane as others were quickly having to share lanes as more people showed up.  In fact all five lanes filled up and some had two people in them by 5:40.  Ten minutes after the pool opened.  So I headed back to the changing room and threw on my bike clothes and then headed out on the bike.  Not a great swim workout but I really need to learn more from Jacki before I go too much further.  But at least I got in the water that has to count for something right?  Its a start.

On the bike I headed down to blackstone boulevard again.  I was warmed up and cranking by 6am.  It was nice being out as the sun was rising.  Very pretty out there.  I did the first lap of the boulevard as a warmup but I was up to speed by the back half.  On the second lap I started thinking I need to start getting some hill time in.  So every lap after that when I crossed Rochambeau I would turn and tackle the hill, and then head back down it and resume my lap.  I LOVE the way this bike feels on hills.  Not that I have much to compare it to.  But I like that feeling when you stand up on the pedals and fight your way up the hill.  It makes me smile.  So I did that hill three times and did four laps of the boulevard and then back to the car for a total of 17 miles.  Stupidly I forgot my garmin so no data beyond time and distance for me today unfortunately.  Oh well.  Clearly I'll have to be more carefull when packing up my stuff the night before as theres no way I'm going to remember anything at 5AM!

All in all a nice morning....   and getting up at 5am to go train makes me feel strong and dedicated.  I like that.

Heres a shot of the bike lane on the boulevard towards the end of my ride this morning once the sun was mostly up.

And lookie what came in the mail yesterday!  Its official.  I'm now a licensed triathlete in training!


I whited out the member number as it seemed like the smart thing to do.  Another good day, legs feeling good (although my right calf is always a bit sore after a ride and is the only muscle in my legs begging for a good stretch afterwards) and a nice stretch afterwards leaves them feeling fresh.  The thought of running a half marathon after a long ride is still a bit odd to me.  And really really appealing!

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