Steakums

Tonight I road this route over the course of 1 and 1/2 hours.

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Which generated this awesome graph of stuff going on.

And in the end I ate this awesome steak.

That is all.

Yesterday's Brick Redux

Well today went much better than yesterday, at least insofar as inner tubes go. I got my tire changed this morning. I looked over the entire tube and tire and found the problem. I indeed had run over something along Parmer. There was a hole in the tube, and a puncture through the tire, but whatever I had run over wasn't embedded in the tire anymore. 

I replaced the back tube and then for practice removed the front tube and put it back in as well. Working around the derailleur wasn't nearly as difficult as I was expecting it to be though.

I probably need a new tube in the front anyway. I have no idea how long it's been in there, or if the guy I bought the bike from ever changed it. I know I never have. Both the back and front tubes had to be physically pulled away from the inside of the tire. Like they were glued. I'm guessing that means they're pretty old. I'll have to ask Lace or David - one of them will know. I rubbed the front tube down with some talcum powder before reseating it though. So that'll help for now.

Today's weather was great! It was a nice break from the triple digits that we've been having. It was nice getting to ride when the sun was up, but not at the break of dawn. The downside to the break in temperature was the rise in wind. But that's something good to train with.

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The run went really well too. I got some good speed in at times. I'm finally getting used to the "controlled falling" aspect of running faster. Staying on the balls of your feet and leaning forward. I still have a tendency to lean back or be straight up and down which isn't doing me any favors, but I'm getting better. The trick is to get your knees up higher. Don't try and physically kick your leg out in front of you to go faster with a longer stride, simply bring your knee up higher and fall forward. The higher your knee the more time between your left and right foot and the your stride with lengthen naturally.

The trick is to keep getting that knee up high without wearing yourself out.

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Blowout!

Well I got my first blowout tonight. I'm here at the Weirdos parking lot and Emily is on her way over.



8:30 at night on the side of Parmer is not the place to be attempting to change your first road flat. And on top of that, it's the back tire, so I also get to learn how to deal with a chain and derailleur.

Yeah, no thanks. Not right now.

I'll get this fixed tonight and reattempt this brick in the morning.

At least I got an absolutely awesome swim in today!

Go Team Michel!

Location:W Parmer Ln,Austin,United States

Saturday Morning Brick

This is what the day looked like this morning when I took my bike outside to start my 2 hour bike training session. I would have like it to be a touch earlier, if only because I knew it was going to be pretty bright and hot by the time I got to my run.

When I first started out this morning, I was really the only cyclist on the road. I didn't see any others until I was maybe 45 minutes in. With the really nice weather this morning I was expecting a lot more cyclists on the road when it was still darker.

By the time I was half way in to the ride though, the number of cyclists on the road was crazy. A lot of people get out and ride their bikes here in Austin. With varying levels of expertise and experience.  I saw a lot of singles and pairs, and people just in regular clothes, and also a lot of groups - both out for a ride and out for training.

I got quite a ways out there before I turned around and headed back in.

And probably the best part of all of this is that the route I'm taking now is giving me more hill work than the race route. Awesome!

My Route on Parmer

The Toyota US Open Route

Of course, all of that flatter terrain just means that I'll feel the wind more. 

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All in all, it was a pretty nice ride this morning.

The run didn't go as smoothly, but mainly because my legs were pretty beat by then - even though I had tried to make a conscious effort to save some power for the run.

I was really so worn out at this point that I couldn't keep my heart rate down. If I walked briskly it dropped down to HR Zone 2 and might hover near 3, but the moment I put any speed on at all, even a slow jog, it just went up and up.

So my run was really a lot of alternating jogging and walking.

Follow the red line for super fun heart rate times. And check out that awesome hill work I'm putting in.

Overall elevation change of 197 feet

Overall elevation change of 62 feet here (minus the big drop at the end)

Ha ha! Take that Dallas! Hill Country has got you beat in the hill department!

Overall this wasn't bad either. I got to 5 miles, which I wasn't expecting to happen. I just need to work on my leg endurance for these longer bricks.

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Cadence Work

So my training this last weekend with Playtri in Dallas really helped tonight's ride. Coach Aaron's explanation of cadence really helped out. Even with the up and down of hill country, I was able to keep a more even spin with my legs tonight. I did a lot less mashing.

Really, the best part is that I wasn't totally exhausted when I was done, which will be helpful in actually getting to 25 miles, as well as subsequent 6k run.

When I need somewhere to just ride, I really enjoy going to Leffler Commercial Park. There's this huge circle of road all the way around it where you can get in a 1.7-ish miles every time you complete the circuit.


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And it's off of the main road so there's very little traffic, and it's also just a road around buildings and parking lots so it's even less traffic later in the evening after everyone's gone home. It has some places where you can get a lot of speed up without losing your cadence, and it has some spots of steadily increasing slope to work your anaerobic spinning.

I wish it were a little bigger around, because after a 3 or 4 times around it starts to get dull like a bike treadmill. But not like a trainer.

I did see some deer snacking on some deliciously dry grass on my second and third times around though, so that was cool. A doe and a fawn. Yay!

I need to get back out to the veloway one of these saturdays.

Whatcha gonna do with all those lumps?

All those lumps up in your jumps?

I'ma gon-gonna take some potassium…

Charlie Horse knows what's up with the Potassium.

My calves are crying right now. I just finished a 4.13 mile run, and there are still parts of me that do not like running on the balls of my feet. And by parts of me, I mean everything below my knees.



In other news… why do furries have to make everything creepy?

Google Image search will always disappoint you.

Endurance Night

Oh man, what was I thinking tonight. So I wasn't able to get my run in yesterday, but I can't just miss workouts. That's a sure way to not be prepared in October.

So what did I do?

Both Workouts!

In a row...

I went and got a 45 minute, 4.06 mile run in. Went home and walked Cooper. Sucked down a Gu since I hadn't eaten since 2-ish. Filled up my water bottles. And took my bike downstairs and started my ride.

1 hour 4 minutes, 14.21 miles.


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I am worn out tonight. I am looking forward to getting into bed soon, but first I need to stretch out some, or else my calves are going to contract like a white dwarf star.

A Better Swim

Northwest was a much nicer pool to swim at tonight. I had that lane all to myself for the entire hour. And everyone around me in the other lap lanes were, get this, swimming laps!

Can you believe that?

In the end I completed 2000 meters. Not bad for being pretty out of shape in the pool.

Tomorrow: an hour of running!

A 19 mile evening

Last night was a pretty good workout all around. I'm getting slightly faster on my bike and my calves aren't hurting from running on the balls of my feet - although I did do a lot more walking last night than running. Also the arch on my right foot feels a bit tight, and I'm not sure why.

Also everyone was right - Lacey, David, the guy at Bicycle Sport Shop. Riding in clipless pedals and shoes completely changes how things feel when you're riding. I felt like it was a more efficient ride last night, and although I pedaled almost the entire time with very little coasting, I didn't feel so winded when I was done since I was utilizing my upstroke on the crank.

Tonight swimming. I've got to find a better place to swim than Canyon Vista Pool.

Bleeding for my Training

Yay! Good times this evening.





The first in probably a long line of tri related injuries. Hopefully not, but I'm sure some sort of injuries are inevitable.

Knuckle, meet gear.




While exchanging my old strappy pedals with some clipless pedals tonight, I misjudged the force needed to actually get the pedal loosened. I wasn't thinking about anything other than the wrench, and was surprised and frustrated the moment the pedal moved and my knuckle slammed into the bike gear. Went deeper then I would have expected, but not as deep as it could have.

I got it good and cleaned out, but may have a tattoo there once it heals up. Not sure if I got all of the gear grease out of the wound. I hope so though.

I'm also not sure if I should have gotten a stitch or two in this. Guess we'll see tomorrow, eh?

Swimly swimly

So at Canyon Vista pool, which is at the ritziest public middle school I've seen (a pool and a track?!), Lap Swim at 8:00p apparently actually means Recreational Swim with Lane Ropes.

The guy in the lane when I first got in didn't hear me ask if I could share the lane with him. So I hope he didn't care. Which he may have since he got out 15 minutes later. Although that was likely because he was all tuckered out from hanging out at the ends of the lane.

Swim one length of Pool.

Rest for 5 minutes.

Swim another length.

Finished! Good workout team!

The girl to my left asked if I knew about circle swimming. I replied, "Yes, but that guy is swimming to slowly and that kid is swimming too poorly for me to circle the lane with either of them."

That's alright though, cause the two little sisters who kept swimming into my lane wanted to race each other. And by race I mean thrash around a lot and not move in any way indicative of "racing".

But in the end I got 1500 M in and it's been a long time since I've done that, but it felt really good. I need to get my endurance back up so that I can actually do some sort of drills and whatnot.

A rough start

It's been a rough week getting started into training. I think mainly because it's going to take a lot more discipline down here than if I were up in Dallas. I have access to what the workout is, but I only see the team once a month on Saturdays. It's so easy to just sit on the couch and not go out and watch another half hour of Food Network, but that doesn't help me accomplish my goal. It doesn't get me prepared for the Toyota US Open in October. It doesn't honor my mom or give her the tribute she deserves.


I have got to find a place to swim during the week.

Location:McNeil Dr, Austin