Several weeks ago, my friend Michelle (aka Wonder Woman because she's been training with only 2 working gears) and I signed up for the River Stock Tri in PA. We have both competed in sprint distance races, but neither of us has done an Olympic distance race. She is worried about the 1.5k swim distance, I'm worried about the very hilly 28k bike ride, and neither of is anywhere near smart enough to be worried about the 10k run at the end. I have been helping her with her swimming and she has been patiently accompanying me on some pretty hilly bike rides. Running??? Not so much. We are now six weeks away from the race and I have come to the realization that I need to get my feet on the pavement in earnest. And so it begins...
Today I did hill repeats on the bike for 10 miles - 1.25 miles down, 1.25 miles up, drink, turn around, repeat. The first 3 times up the hill I was able to maintain a high gear and to work the push and pull motions of my legs simultaneously and hard. By the time I headed up the hill for the 4th time I was beat, the cloud cover had disappeared and the wind died down, the temperature soared, and I made the mistake of shifting into a really low gear. Ugh. It felt like hours and sweat was pouring off my brow and into my eyes. I was really happy to see the top of the hill!
I got off the bike hoping to hit the pavement hard for at least 1 mile, but that last hill coupled with the heat took all my reserves and I ended up walk/running the mile with pretty ineffective breathing - and no technique to speak of. Sunday morning after church I am going to try to just go running and see how it goes. Stay tuned!
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