Birthday Brick

I ended up just taking the day off from schedule workouts yesterday and just ended up playing softball last night. We won both games and it was probably the most fun I have had in a long time.

Today I got in a ride/run brick. For those of you that don't know what a brick is, it is a training session that involves 2 workouts back to back. This is my first one of the season and it went well overall considering how hot it was. I am also still running on low energy levels from last week as I probably still haven't restored my glycogen stores from last week so that probably makes everything a little harder/slower.

I rode 33 miles at 20 mph. I rode almost the entire time in the aero bars and really felt comfortable there. I could tell a significant reduction in wind resistance and I am happy to have them. I totally work less when I use them. I took one of my normal "Gu" packs at about the 20 mile mark. I ran out of water/gatorade around mile 27 but I was sucking that stuff back quick today due to heat. Overall, I felt like I had almost the perfect nutrition levels on the bike.

Then I transitioned to my run. I came in my house and put on my running shoes, drank some water and put on my running belt. I had 32 ounces of water/gatorade in the 4 water bottles on that and I thought that would be enough. I also ate a clif bar and took a different "Gu" pack. I got this one for free this past weekend and it is made from a company called Vega Sport. It is a plant based energy pack and tasted like crap. I also didn't feel like it didn't anything in comparison to my normal Gu packs. The 90 degree heat was bearing down on me from the start and I slowing starting running out of energy and felt like I was overheating. I didn't pick a course that was very well shaded and that showed. After mile 3, I had to start walking a couple times once I got to the shade. My miles times definitely slowed quite a bit but I was determined to finish the 6 miles I started out to do. I ended up running 6 miles at a 9:22 pace, but every mile was slower than the previous and it was significantly noticeable during mile 5 and 6 as I had to stop and walk a little longer for both of those.

In all today was really good though. I don't think I will try different energy packs again as I already know which ones work. I also realized I should have taken 3 of them over the course of the workout. It's amazing how different I can feel if I don't properly fuel while I am out there. I also really need to get a visor for running to keep the sweat out of my eyes as well as provide a little protection from the sun.