"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking."
-- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (author of Sherlock Holmes)
Monday evening TNT hosted a "transitions" workshop. They talked about how to shave seconds off your time in the transition between swim and bike and between bike and run. I listened attentively and pretty much kept my mouth shut. In Philadelphia I spent 7 minutes after the swim and about 4 minutes after the bike legs. In the triathlon world, that's practically having a picnic! But, I figure I want to make sure that everything is "just so" before I hit the road on the bike or on the run. If I hurry out of transition and I have forgotten something or am not completely ready, it's going to be a long and probably more painful leg. So, I say, take your time and get it right. But, I didn't say that at the workshop. :-)
My goal is to finish the triathlon (70 miles total). To that end I am concentrating these last three weeks on building my stamina. Since the run is the last leg of the triathlon, maintaining my stamina through that segment is crucial. So...
After taking monday off, just a little yoga and a half hour walk, I tackled my second 13 miler on tuesday. This time, my recouperation lasted no more than about 2-3 days. At the end of the run, I was walking kind of slow since both quads were "screaming" at me. I could tell I have developed a "trigger-point" in my left quad and my right quad was just overall sore. six to twelve mile bike rides on wednesday and thursday along with a lot of massage - mostly using the "stick" and my thumbs on the "trigger-point" trying to knead out the knot - cleared up the soreness in short order. Now, that's progress!
This is one of the few weeks in which I have actually trained in all 3 sports. Bicycling formed the core of the training. This is usual when I am at home. But I also had the long run and this morning I had the last swimming workshop before the race. I am one of the slowest swimmers in the workshop but I am able to complete the hour and a half workout strong. As I said, I'm all about finishing this thing.
I've started thinking about what, and how, to pack for the trip to the race. I went shopping at Dick's sporting goods and picked up a good bike lock and a small flashlight. I mounted two water bottle cages on my bike since our coach said for the 56 mile bike it's best to have two water bottles especially if you miss one of the bottle exchanges. Finally, I mounted my small "flat fix" pack under my saddle. It has a spare tube, tire levers, patch kit, and a CO2 trigger with two cartridges. I really should try that CO2 trigger out at least once before the race.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment