Tri Tuesday!

Once again its Tri Tuesday....

Started the morning with an 1100 yard swim.  Not my best swim workout and I'm kind of dissapointed in myself.  I expected better after a few days off from swimming, and a complete rest day on Monday.  I did manage a bunch of 100's and one 200 today so that was good.  But I really wanted to do a 250 and I was beyond the turn after the 200, got distracted, and then managed to not rotate enough and suck in a mouthfull of water, gag, and then put my feet down.  So I was annoyed at myself.  No big deal right?  So I rested for a couple of minutes and then tried again.  Twice.  Both times I never got beyond a 100.  I either couldn't relax enough in the water today for long enough, or I was just fighting mental blocks today.  But I was annoyed afterwards.  Not the greatest workouts.  I really need to think hard about what my swimming plan is going to be going forwards from here.  I need to be able to swim a half mile continuously and I need to put the best plan forward to reach that goal by the end of July.  I have just over a month.  Now I know I can get through the distance with some breaks, and I'm not worried about anything happening...  I'd just rather swim the whole thing without stopping, getting run over, and without it taking me thirty minutes!  That would suck!

Anyway...    finished the swim, did ten minutes in the hot tub to relax my shoulders and then headed back to the ranch where I got ready for my brick workout.  Actually I made a quick stop at the bike store for an LED flashy light to go on the back of my bike because it was really foggy out today, so I figured I'd play it safe, and I left mine at home.  Oops.

My plan today was to do an olympic size brick.  14 miles doesn't seem like a long enough ride to me, nor do 5K runs.  So a 30 mile ride and 10K run seemed appropriate.  By the time I got my gear ready to go the sun was out in force.  I kept the flasher on just in case I ran into fog elsewhere on the island (I did) but I managed to only have to wear a tri top and bottom it was so nice out which was great considering how cold my long ride was the other day.  The bike today felt really good.  I only averaged 18mph for the route which wasn't great, but I'll take it.  I'm not trying to make excuses but I do think the road surface here is coming into play.  So much of it is this nasty chip seal stuff.  Its like someone spread gravel all over the road and then poured tarmac over it.  So its like gravel glued to the road.  Its not very smooth and it vibrates the crap out of you on a fast descent.  Its kind of annoying.  I suspect on smoother roads my average speed would have been higher, but whatever.  It was the usual island full of rollers today but I did well to attack the hills and hammer the descents as best I could.  The ride was really fun actually.  The weather however was crazy!  Felt like about 70-75 degrees in the sun and HOT! and then I got to the west side of the island and the fog was still there.  You would ride into the fog and the breeze and it felt like the temperature dropped twenty degrees.  It was freezing!  And then you would pop out in a sheltered part in the sun and it was hot again.  Weird.

Last night I read a great thread on slowtwitch about a recent accident a pro was involved in with a car that he's recovering from, and then another similar thread on BT about the same thing.  So bike accidents were in my head today.  I was determined to be more aware and to be carefull to not do anything dumb on my last ride on the island.  But never the less I almost had two accidents today.  One where I came round a corner and there was a momma racoon with two babies in two right in the middle of my lane.  We both looked at each other like AHHHHHH!!!!!  (I was descending at close to 30mph at the time!) and then they ran right while I swerved left.  Yikes!  That was close!  Caught my breath and then laughed it off and kept going.  The other one I as hammering down a very slight descent and a pickup truck passes me and then turns right into a driveway in the distance.  As I reach the driveway he BACKS UP back into the road!  Apparently he just pulled into the driveway for a U Turn.  I yelled, he stopped, I swerved and lived instead of going into the back of the pickup bed and over the top of it.  Ugh.  That one was close!  Too close!  The dude didn't even look, and I thought he was going to keep going up the driveway or had stopped to get out and get the mail or something.

So those were two close calls....   in retrospect however I did do some stupid stuff today.  The downtown here is really small and my ride went through it twice.  Both times I FLEW through the town and the stop signs and the intersections.  Granted I looked, the intersections were very open with great visibility, but is keeping my average speed up worth being stupid?  no.  Its not.  Mental note...   stop riding dumb!

Now here's the good bit....    so after all that I was about three miles from the house.  I had put my tri shoes on the bike and went without socks.  My plan was to try the 30 in no socks as well as the 5K and see how my feet took it.  So as I'm hammering away towards the house it occured to me that I could try a flying dismount.  After all theres noone here to see me fall over!  So without thinking about it too much I went for it.  Lifted one foot up on a descent and stopped pedalling, opened the velcro, pulled my foot out and put it back on top the shoe and kept pedalling.  Pedalled a few strokes and then did the same to my other foot.  Then I approached the last hill on the way to the house.  An UP hill.  Hmm....  hopefully I can climb with my feet on top of the shoes.  Yep.  That wasn't bad at all!  Rounded the turn into the driveway of the house and headed to the grass in case I dumped and then did a flying dismount...  one foot over the top of the bar onto the top of the other foot, hit the brakes, jumped off, grabbed the saddle and ran towards my transition area.  Put the bike down, threw my shoes on, took two steps, remembered to take my helmet off and then off I went on the run.

When I first started the run I thought my watch was off.  Really...  7'30s pace after the ride?  My calves actually felt great in the transition and usually they are jelly.  Maybe I didn't ride hard enough?  I was afraid I'd ridden TOO hard.  Apparently not!  I was flying.  I felt great.  No leg issues at all really.  Best transition yet by far.  I settled into my stride very quickly and in the end I averaged 8'09s for the 10K on a hilly course.  So that was awesome.  The 10K run felt really good.  And I even managed to down a GU and keep my fluids up during it which is something I'm trying to get accustomed to.  I'm not so sure I like GUs but I'm going to keep trying to use them as I know they will help. 

All in all a great great brick workout today.  Sadly my last bike ride on the island.  Tomorrow I have to pack my bike back up and get it ready to go home on thursday.  Great workout day.  I've been home resting for about a couple of hours and soon I'm headed off for a three hour sunset kayak trip to hopefully see the Orcas from a kayak.  Which is awesome and an amazing experience as I did that last year.  Fortunately I'm going with my friend Andrew and they will be providing tandems so I wont have to put in too hard a workout during the paddle.  I'll make him do all the work.  : )

Only one more day left on this fabulous island away from all the realies of real life, work, and all that entails.  Its been a fantastic escape from reality, and some of the best quality training I've ever done.  I'm really proud of all the work I put in out here.  Time for me to go get ready to paddle.  I hope my fellow tri club members are having fun at the TT tonight.  I'm looking forward to racing it next week and seeing everyone again.