Better Late Than Never

This Sunday, the first full day of my 30's, I will be competing in my first triathlon. It is a Sprint Tri in Indianola consisting of a 300 yd swim, 13.5 mile bike ride and 3 mile run. I'm super excited...especially for the 300 yard swim, which I feel is completely within the realm of my swimming abilities (unlike the nearly one mile of swimming for the Hy-Vee Tri, my greatest source of anxiety!).

On a side note, I started running again this week (just 2 miles Monday and this morning), I am cautiously optimistic that the knee will hold up for the run; but after having to walk 8 miles of the OKC half, I know that I will still be happy if I have to walk the "run" portion.

So, this morning I attempted something that I probably should have done before now, but the weather hasn't really cooperated, thus...Better Late Than Never. I did a BRICK workout...(a BRICK is when you train in back to back events). Today I did a Bike/Run BRICK.

I've actually attempted this before, 2 years ago before I even knew there was a title for the workout. This was also before I was a "runner", so I all I remember is getting off my bike after 5 miles and running the hardest mile of my life...I felt like I was running in concrete shoes and I was probably running a 12+ mile pace at the fastest! It was shocking! I don't know why it didn't occur to me at the time that it might be difficult.

So, it was with my limited BRICK experience that I decided to attempt it again this morning. Got started a little late on my bike, but I got a good, steady 5 miles in before meeting up with my favorite running partner, Janet. After a slow transition...had to put my knee brace on, remove a couple of layers, stretch out a bit (I am a rookie, after all, I think that allows me a little stalling before my first cycle/run BRICK). I was ready to run (at least that was what I was telling myself).

Wow~yep, it was still tough, but nothing like I remember. I start off slow, assuming that the weight in my legs will ease up as I keep running. We huffed and puffed along until the Garmin jingled at the mile mark...YAY!....time to turn around!

By then, just as I expected, the weight has lifted but now a new wave of fatigue has set in...probably (hopefully) because I only got about 4 hours of sleep last night but, MAN...I was beat!

When the Garmin jingled again, signaling the end of our run I looked at our pace and I'm not going to lie, I was totally prepared for a shockingly slow number. I was tired, I was sore. Average Pace: 9:49. I know, for some rock stars out there 9:49 might SEEM like a shockingly slow pace. But for me, coming straight off the bike, coming back from this knee injury, it was REALLY good! I WAS shocked, but in a good way!

And with that, I have my first BRICK workout in the books...just one more notch on that "BECOMING A TRIATHLETE" belt! I hope to get on my bike a little more this week, maybe try one more BRICK and then on to Sunday...CAN'T WAIT!!