:::: MENU ::::
Posts tagged with: bike
Feb 27, 2011    |      0 comments

The Long Ride

This morning’s practice was the longest ride we’ve ever done this season! Crazy! Who would’ve thought! We started with a roughly 7 mile warm-up from Ocean Ave up San Vicente to the Brentwood Golf Course, then 2 hours up PCH and back. The new 70.3 team did 40 minutes up PCH and back. Our coaches wanted us to reset our computers after the warm-up so they can get a sense of our Half IM bike distance time. They wanted us to go beyond our cruising speed and push our speed a little more than usual, and power through those hills too – and that I did. My legs were still a little tight from yesterday’s hilly run, so I definitely felt the burn the first hour, which initially gave me doubts of finishing today strong. Fortunately, the pain eventually subsided (but I still wasn’t 100%), and was able to continue. I loved the “after the rain” weather, so we experienced beautiful views of the coast through PCH, and a clearer view of the crazy drivers there as well! Riding on PCH is fun but scary at the same time. Today, I saw one of my teammates inches away from being hit by a truck’s sideview mirror! It was definitely a close call! That’s why it’s so important to stay to the right of the white line.

Since it was a make-up ride from yesterday, it wasn’t an official IronTEAM group workout, so there were no SAG stops or staff to watch our equipment. From now on all our bike workouts will have to be followed by a run, so we were scheduled to do a 30 minute run. I had to ride back to my car, mount it on the bike rack, hoping no one will steal it, change into running gear, and go. Pace was slower than usual, but hey, I just rode for almost 70 miles! Again, every week in training I reach a new milestone, going further than I’d ever imagine.

Stats for today:
Total Bike: 68.75 miles
4 Hour Bike Distance: 61.79
4 Hour Bike Time: 4:03:08

Total Run: 3 miles
Total Run Time: 30:27

Jan 8, 2011    |      0 comments

The Zuma Brick

A few weeks ago, our first brick in Santa Monica was pretty low effort for me since I was doing IronTeam staff duties, plus San VIcente isn’t much of an incline. Today, we had our second brick at Zuma Beach near Malibu, which was a lot more challenging with rolling hills. The views were spectacular though, when I would just look over to the left and see the ocean waves, plus beams of light coming through the clouds. It was slightly overcast with a crisp cold, which was ideal in my opinion. We headed north on PCH until the road closure due to the rain storms from weeks past, then back, but looped around one more time for a total of 31 miles in 2 hours. The 30mph downhills were scary since I’ve never done that before. Being on PCH was pretty scary in itself because there’s cars & trucks zooming VERY close by at 60+ mph! According to my Garmin stats, I averaged 15mph and cadence at 80rpm (gotta work on that, to get it to 90!).

Immediately after the ride, we went to our transition areas. Oh man! Now I know why they were called “brick” workouts – my legs felt like bricks! They were soooo heavy, kinda felt like I already ran a marathon! I might of pushed it a little TOO much on the hills, but now I know, to ease up on the hills leading up to a run! We ran for 2 miles along the boardwalk, and it was surely difficult! Midway through the run, we experimented with taking an energy gel shot, then after the run, we experimented with taking recovery drinks. It wasn’t too bad as I’m already used to the weird tasting fluids from marathon training.

Overall, our team is actually coming together nicely! As you can see above, we formed a tunnel for our teammate coming back from the run. I’d have some nice chats on the ride, getting to know them better. On the out and backs, we would cheer each other on. There’s a lot of good socializing before and after practice, as well as good turnouts on post-workout breakfast!

Dec 30, 2010    |      0 comments

I Wear Tight Shorts

One of the things I had to get over when training for a triathlon is that I have to wear tight shorts for swimming and biking. Initially, I was very uncomfortable because I’ve never worn tight shorts before. I’ve never really had to. I was warned by my roommate that yes, it will feel weird, but since everyone else is wearing the same thing, the fears will wear off, and it did. Some of the last few things I needed to get for training were more shorts. Swimming almost everyday, I needed some backup shorts, and the last time I ran in biker shorts with the extra padding, it felt really weird like I took a dump in my shorts, that I needed true triathlon shorts.

A great source for endurance sports accessories and gear is Amazon.com. I initially used it for my holiday online shopping a few weeks ago, but when I saw the benefits of great deals in combination with free shipping and no sales tax, it was a no brainer to use it again. Each of the above shorts were discounted at least $15, so I jumped on it quickly! They barely arrived earlier today, so I’m just super excited to try them on!

Dec 4, 2010    |      0 comments

Try and Try Again – Our First Team Ride

What you see above was seconds after Coach Brad said, “Ok, let’s start our warm up ride in the parking lot.” and seconds before I fell infront of the whole team, trying to clip into my pedals! This morning was the first of many things in my IronTeam adventure. First time putting on the bike rack on my car (I was afraid my car was too small for such a thing), first time wearing all my apparel I bought at Performance, first time using my cadence computer, you get the picture. Pretty much everything was a first today. The first bike fall of the season was the highlight. Not only did I fall once, but I fell again because I unclipped right, then leaned to the left. Ouch! I cut my knee a bit, but I gotta get up and try, try again. After a quick Biking 101 by Coach Rob, we rode for an hour and a half, for a total of 18ish miles. It was my first time feeling how 15mph felt, which was my target pace for the event, and it wasn’t bad at all. I was messing around with my gearing, which I had no idea how to use. I was so nervous on the bike, that my hands hurt from gripping so hard, and I never let go to take a drink, which is big, big no-no! We had a lot of support staff on hand, so the practice overall went smoothly. I gotta say though, that I really like the bike aspect of triathlons!

View a Photo Gallery of our first team ride!

Pages:‹123