The Triple Brick!

BIKE 1:22, 24.1 miles, 17.6 mph
RUN 55:089, 6 miles, 9:09 m/m
BIKE 1:30, 25.7 miles, 17.1 mph
RUN 58:13, 6.1 miles, 9:33 m/m
BIKE 1:28, 25.2 miles, 17.1 mph
RUN 59:03, 6 miles, 9:50 m/m with a run 1 mile, walk 1 minute (total 5 mins walking)

Totals: 75 miles biking and 18 miles running in 7 hrs 13 mins.

IT'S DONE! I DID IT!

LC and DC joined me for the first and second parts, and their being there completely changed the day for me. The forecast for today was a swing into high temps -- high of 97F! -- from the cool and easy temps we've had the past week. Picked a great day, didn't I!

Goals:
1. Steady day, no slowing down because I went out too fast.
2. Nutrition and gear final testing.
3. Strong run at the end, OK to run/walk, but be strong.

I took Friday off to rest for this, and to be honest I needed the rest anyway. I didn't even commute in! And I treated this training day seriously, trying to mentally prepare as if it were a race. My stuff was mostly packed the night before, I got up early to be ready, and I aimed to simulate race gear and nutrition. All in place, except I should have brought my race helmets like LC and DC did! Ooops.

Round 1:
The first bike went south on the Goshen trails then out to Lower Marine Rd and back. I started off sluggish on the bike, lagging behind and wondering where my energy and speed was. I wanted to go faster but at the same time not really feeling like I could. The words from my doc about not having the reserves for this training and racing rang through my head again -- was this a first sign? Or am I not trying hard enough? I wanted to push for speed but knew I needed to hang on to energy for later in the day. It's the first 1.5 hours, not a great time to get tired!

On the way out, I looked for the berry pink powerbar I dropped on one of these hills last weekend. Worried that a squirrel would be hit by a car trying to peel if off the road, LOL. I was good on hills, maybe a bit weak feeling, but I controlled the effort. The first bike seemed slow, but in review it was the fastest!

The run was out n back on the Schoolhouse, shaded and good for everyone since we all had our own pace goals. DC and LC hammered it, I paced it. My fuelbelt was uncomfortable and bouncing. The banada fixed my Garmin/wrist bone problem and gave me a nice way to wipe my face. I drank 3 fuelbelt bottles in this run. I realized in this run that this could be a tricksy workout!! I wanted to speed up and go faster, but I knew better!! Round 1 felt pretty easy, no brick legs, and refreshing.

Round 2:
This bike went north on Goshen to loop on Nickel Plate and Nature to Schoolhouse. Another option that let everyone do their own thing. Starting off on this bike was refreshing! The cool wind, the return of speed, the legs already warmed up...this was nice! I felt less sluggish on this round, but did fight the headwinds a bit on the NP trail, setting off some tingling in my feet. And I went through 2 bottles of water on this ride, and only 1 on the previous. DC was done after this ride, I couldn't convince him to run even a little bit for 'double brick' bragging rights :)

LC joined on the run, her original plan was only 4 miles but she joined for all 6 in a repeat of the first run on Schoolhouse. It was her longest run and a return from injury. This was my strongest run by feeling, but the day was starting to wear. I forgot to start the Garmin (using Multisport Mode for the first time), brought a water bottle instead of the fuel belt, and was shuffling more at the start. Once in the run, it got better. We walked a bit around 5 miles, but other than that this was a good run. I ran out of water though! LC and I debated when the halfway point was in this day, I think after this run. So I'm halfway!

Round 3:
Alone for this round, and the heat of the day was full on. All day already I'd find myself dripping wet when we stopped at the truck. I added a third water bottle to the bike and set out for the final ride, an out n back on Schoolhouse. The most boring but also the most simple ride to end the day. By now my feet, especially my right foot, was tingling painfully. I get this when I mash too much, then lift the pressure off the shoe. I can avoid it by keeping the pressure, or by not mashing! Focus on something else and keep going!

My iced water was hot soon enough, and before I knew it I had no reserve water. I stopped near the Culver's, even though I was only 5 miles out. This break could have been an excuse to stop...not sure. But the ride went good, and I came to the truck still in a good mood but starting to make mistakes and not as mentally crisp as I could be. And during this ride I started thinking this workout wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. On the return trip I let myself go as fast as I wanted, figuring I only needed an hour of reserve energy after this for the run.

Ah the run. This was it, I finish this and this triple brick is finished! I'd decided before this all started that I'm OK with a run 1 mile/walk 1 min strategy. Given the heat, boredom of the trail, and my mental fuzziness it seemed like a good idea. In the 2nd run, LC and I thought running this in 2 segments would be a good idea so I could refill the water bottle. But calculating the mental math on this distracted me. Should I run 4 miles then 2 miles? 1.6 out and back then 1.5 out and back...run to a long sunny section then turn around to maximize shade? At 2 miles out I still have over half a water bottle, so I kept going to 3. This worked, and on the way back I started counting footsteps to 100, like LC talked about doing in the 2nd run. What a wonderful distraction! I counted maybe 6-7 rounds to keep me going.

I felt good, but was looking forward to the walk segments once I knew I was only a few tenths out. Happily this broke up into 10 min chunks -- I was ending the run at 9 mins then with a 1 min walk, this meant I was running a 9 min pace?! Well I was only able to do so because I was walking maybe, so is this a good strategy for me in the race? If I walked 5 minutes, that's a say 54-55 min run segment? It would have been the fastest run pace?

DONE! And once done I realized I felt better than I did in the same parking lot just last weekend after the 125 mile ride. I kept walking, didn't throw a silly fit of frustration, washed up, changed clothes, sent out a few texts, and was doing great mentally. Hard to compare these weekends, they may have both been 7-7.5hr workouts but the day off yesterday was much easier on me than the 12 run, 16 ride, 5 run I did before the 125 mi ride.

I came home feeling tired but good. Didn't have my carmelized banana ice cream like I planned though, DH got home late and for whatever reason I wanted to wait for him, even though that was never part of the plan. I was so excited to have it, but then didn't!

Overall:
I did nutrition every 30 mins, using bars on the first 2 bike feedings and EFS right before and during the run. I broke the bars up into 3 segments, so I was taking 80 calories twice an hour. This worked.

My fuelbelt doesn't fit, but it's hard to carry a water bottle for long distances. Look for another handheld option?

My EFS flasks also have to be carried, they're not so bad but it might could be better. Also the taller flask doesn't fit in the bike's aero net, too tall.

The non-Fruit & Nut powerbars are too sticky to unwrap and leave in the aeronet if it's hot out. Too messy and hard to work with. So they need to be wrapped or dusted with some powder.

I drank water ad libitum and never got sloshy or sick. I had a few moments of feeling full on the bike, but was OK. I peed after every bike, less and less as the rounds went by, but I think I was still behind on hydration. But OK for the training itself.

My bandana under the wrist worked but needs to be wrapped better. And wristbands might be even better, more tidy. I like being able to wipe my face.

Yes to gloves on the bike. I skipped them on the 2nd bike and only then realized how often I wipe my face with them!

What else for race prep....I'll add as I think of them.