Dude, where's my helmet?

Today's ride hinged on what the weather was going to do...if the wind was blowing like yesterday, the ride was going to be canceled.  This fact put me in a bit of a funk this morning...that, and only getting about 4 hours of sleep.  Luckily, the wind died down to about 10-12mph and James confirmed that the ride was on.  I quickly changed my clothes and checked the air in our tires.  Mike changed his clothes and grabbed our "biking" bag.  Unfortunately, the bag did not include my helmet.

Yesterday afternoon, Mike and I were trying out a shorter stem on my tri bike that James lent us.  Unfortunately, one of the bolts snapped off while Mike was putting it on my bike.  I rode the bike briefly to see how a shorter stem felt, but it really wasn't enough time to be sure.  Anyway, when I brought the bike back in so Mike could put my original stem back on the bike, I took my helmet off and set it down on the table.  As a result, when Mike grabbed our bag with our shoes and gloves, it only contained one helmet...Mike's.

We arrived at Bear Creek High School at 12:30 and promptly started unloading our gear.  It was at that point that I realized we didn't have my helmet.  Now, let me just mention that when I normally grab our bike bag, I check to make sure everything is in there...I'm just saying.   Mike, although unhappy about me not having my helmet and my earlier foul mood, was a sport about it and went home to get my helmet.

While we waited for Mike to return with my helmet, Eric and I got to talking and found out that we both drove MGB GT's in high school (and I thought I was the only one).  Wish my car was as clean as the one below, but it was close ;-)  British Racing Green with chrome spoke wheels.

Anyway, Mike returned with my helmet and we headed off for our ride.  It seemed like we faced a headwind for the majority of the ride.  If you check out our Garmin stats, you can see our pace really pick up about mile 17, when the wind was finally at our backs.  Even though it is easy to blame the wind for my slower pace, the truth is that my legs were tired!  I ran 13.1 on Friday, ran about 4.5 on Saturday and to be honest, I was feeling the miles today.

Windy Sunday Ride by tpengilly at Garmin Connect - Details

Goals for Next Week

Lucky me, I have a 5 day work week, NOT!!!  The only good thing about this is the fact that it keeps my eating fairly clean.  Hopefully my Triathlon Training Bible will show up tomorrow and I can begin outlining my training plan to 70.3.  

I'm going to practice changing gears on the new bike as well as continuing my nightly tire changing drills. 

PS

Thank you James and Eric for being patient while we rounded up my helmet :-)

Compression Socks & Cowboy Boots

T.G.I.F.

Today is one of my "off" Fridays.  So, instead of trying to sleep in and lay around all morning, I got my butt (along with +Mike Pengilly's butt ) out the door and over to the pool in Lodi for 5am practice.  I concentrated on technique...hip rotation, keeping my hands wide, pulling water etc.  Unfortunately, this requires a tremendous amount of concentration and as a result, I had no brain power left to remember to breathe.  I found myself out of breath every time I came into the wall.

That being said, I am actually starting to like swim practice.  Part of this could be because I haven't had to do any kind of intervals in a while or it could be because I am actually having moments where everything seems to be coming together and I feel like I'm slipping through the water.

Mike on the other hand, was having a stand out morning.  James has been working with him to help correct his stroke.  Today, everything seemed to come together and Mike was swimming like I have never seen.  It really was amazing!

Nutrition Mishap

I woke up at 4am so I would have time to eat something before heading to the pool.  I had a banana and about a cup of greek yogurt.  Combined it was probably 250 calories.  After practice, I came home, had some coffee and a pink grapefruit.  I really didn't think much about it because I felt really good.  Since a short run was planned with the tri group on Saturday, with a bike ride on Sunday afternoon, I decided to do my long slow run this morning.

I was so concerned with updating my iPod that I almost left the house without my water (not smart).  What I did forget though, was something to eat mid-way through the run.  I didn't consider the small amount of calories I had eaten until it was too late.

The first two miles were tough, it was still pretty cold outside and I could not feel my feet.  At about mile 2.5, I regained some feeling in my toes and everything started to feel right.  I worked on hip rotation (a recurring theme this week), keeping my shoulders loose, and landing mid foot.  The nice thing about running is that I don't have to worry about breathing (or flip turns).

Around mile seven, I normally start to feel good.  However, today, I felt sluggish and the run seemed more difficult than usual.  At that point it dawned on me that I had not eaten enough to fuel a 13.1 mile run and I had not packed anything to eat.  Ugh!!  I kept running and finished the 13.1 miles but it was hard.  According to Garmin, this was a PR for me, but it didn't feel like it.  I have my watch programmed to stop when I stop moving, and I stopped more than normal today.

Furlough Friday by tpengilly at Garmin Connect - Details

I burned more than 1,500 calories on the run and tried to replenish some of them with my P90X Results & Recovery drink.  This drink is only 220 calories and not nearly enough after that run.  Luckily, Mike came home and was starving, so I showered and got ready to go to lunch.  I rubbed on some cryo gel, squeezed into my compression socks and slipped on my cowboy boots.  Lets go, I'm starving!!

Barb's Race Update

I booked our room for race weekend and I ordered a book to help me develop a training plan.  I know the race is not until the end of July, but you can never be too prepared.