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Posts tagged with: brick
Jul 9, 2011    |      0 comments

The 5/3 Monster Brick

This morning’s workout was the infamous “5/3 Monster Brick” that our coaches have been telling us about (meaning 5 hours bike, 3 hours run). I chose the picture above because you know what? The monster was probably more afraid of the IronTEAM than we were afraid of it. We were a bunch of fearless teammates who will take on whatever the coaches give us!

The coaches intentionally chose Westlake Village because of the expected heat this weekend, which will simulate what it will be like on raceday for us Vineman racers. For the Louisville team, they had to even wear cotton shirts under their normal gear because it will be even more humid & hot over there. Yikes! I was really looking forward to this workout because it was the last major build of the season, plus I installed my new 11/28 cassette last night so I wanted to see what difference it would make (it made a HUGE difference in climbing). The majority of the bike course was all that we’ve seen before, so the biggest variant was the heat, so our hydration strategy had to be dialed in. I actually felt really great on the bike – I even got up to 42mph at one point, a new season high! In the 5 hours, I managed to ride in about 78 miles, which wasn’t too bad considering all the hills 7 heat.

It was the run where everything started to break down. I don’t know exactly what I did wrong. Maybe it was the lack of sleep the previous few days? Maybe it was not enough water? Maybe I didn’t set up the nutrition on the bike well enough to power my run? It just wasn’t my running day. I felt tired early on, and was I really bonking at mile 5?! I did quite a bit of walking, as this was probably my most difficult feeling run of the season. I was so hungry that my stomach was growling. I even yawned at one point. Really?!? I talked to my coaches and they said I probably didn’t have enough carbs. That’s something I’ll have to double check, and it really goes to show how important calculating nutrition is, especially on really hot days, where things can go really bad if not planned correctly. Through the aches and pains, I eventually got through the 16.5 miles with life-saving SAG stops by teammates Traci and Elizabeth, then a moving SAG by Kristi who helped with my hunger with some yams that she had in her bento box. If this was a true taste of what’s to come at Vineman, this definitely humbled me a bit, as I can’t take things for granted and really have to pay attention to the details. Oh, the weekend isn’t over yet! Open water swim + run tomorrow. Bring it!

Jun 18, 2011    |      0 comments

The Infamous Piuma

One of the things I remembered from conversations with last year’s IronTEAM participants was an odd word called “Piuma”. I didn’t know exactly what it was or what it referred to, but I just know it related to one of the practices. Now this morning, I finally knew what it meant. It’s a road out in Westlake (or in the vicinity of), called Piuma Rd. I checked the the bike route the night before and there it presented itself to me, in the elevation chart. What the! 2,000ish feet climb over the course of 8 miles?! Well, last year, people did this climb before Wildflower, so I can see why people complained about it last year. Yes, it was one crazy climb though! It just would never end! This one made Nasty Grade look like a baby. It didn’t get super steep like Nasty, but it was just super long. The descent was fun, but oh so scary! Imagine going down 30+ mph AND having some turns. I’m not that comfortable on the downhills yet, so you know I was pumping my brakes like crazy! Just when I thought the climbing was over, towards the end of the course, we did more climbing! The heat was coming in pretty strong too!

After all that, I felt surprisingly OK, but of course, my legs were heavy. What was next? A 12 mile run! Oh my! The ride took approximately 4:15, then the run, which were 3 loops around Westlake streets circling the lake, took 2:30. I took a bunch of walk breaks on this one, which will probably simulate what I’ll be doing on raceday. Heavy legs and heat are no bueno! This practice was definitely one of the toughest to date!


The Route

Dec 11, 2010    |      0 comments

First Brick & First Tire Change

This morning was our second bike practice with the team, and actually our first brick, which is a bike/run combo. Coach Rob said it’s called a Brick because your legs will feel like bricks. They just wanted to ease this feeling in by after doing a 90 min ride around Santa Monica from Ocean/San Vicente to the Brentwood golf course, we’ll be doing a quick 5 minute run. Since I’m on staff, I was scheduled to be sweeper, making sure everyone was on course. It was a bit weird because it’s still pretty new to me, and naturally, I’ll be the last one anyway. My level of effort was low on the bike, as I was sweeping, plus still getting used to the gears. Most importantly, the clips. I fell AGAIN when trying to cross San Vicente’s middle island. I didn’t clip out in time when I stopped pretty suddenly because of a fast car going west on San V. Ouch! Sure enough, I got up and rode again, with a stinging throb to my left leg.

Bike was done, and I was off to our transition areas. Didn’t stress out on the transition to much, as I was happy to run. It was VERY weird though running in bike shorts. It felt like I was running with a diaper with a big load (because of the heavy bike padding). Now I understand why there’s a distinction between having bike shorts and tri shorts. I think I’ll invest in a better seat instead, because come raceday, I’ll be in my tri shorts. Once the run was complete, the team gathered around Coach Rob and he pretty much showed us how to change a tire. After he showed us, we had to deflate our own tires. Luckily for me, my roommate Carlos showed me the night before, so I thought it was pretty easy changing out the tire. I’m just not comfortable yet using that CO2 inflator.

Another practice of many firsts, done. First brick, first tire change.

View Photos From Brick Practice