Brick Workout #3

Hi. It's Laura.

Happy Monday.

The rule of thumb is that there should be nothing new on race day. This includes your clothing. You definitely want to train in whatever outfit you are going to race in. You certainly do not want to deal with chafing, blisters, wedgies or even sunburn on race day (or any day for that matter). Is there anything more annoying than a pair of shorts that slip down or a shirt that rides up?

I already know exactly what I am wearing on race day. I wear it every brick and I wore it last year on race day. Unfortunately, it has been too cold to actually wear my racing outfit so I have been piecing things together based on the weather.

Also, on race day, you don't want to start messing with your food. You need to know what you are going to be eating the night before, for breakfast before the race and during the race itself. I know last year I did not eat enough during the race and I definitely ate the wrong thing the night before. I made the mistake of eating out and having a pasta dinner (my body is not a fan of pasta).

You need to practice eating on the bike. You need to eat what you would eat (or close to it) on the bike and the night before as you go through your brick workouts. This is what training is about. Figuring out what works and what doesn't during training so there are not issues on race day.

Of course there are always issues on race day. Goggle straps snap, you get cramps in your legs, back, arms, GI issues from nerves or a bad food choice. But these things you can control. You know how to stretch, you know what to eat and you can carry an extra pair of goggles.

The one thing we can't control is weather.

Rain or shine, my brick was going to happen on Saturday. The last thing I want to figure out on race day is how to handle my bike in the rain.

Saturday morning I was out the door by 6:15. I would have like to have been out by 6:00 but I am lazy and need my coffee.

Let me back up to Friday night. I woke up at least six times Friday night, waking up every hour to wait for the rain. I was very worried about the rain (more so than even I thought). Finally at 1am, I heard the thunder and the pouring rain. This did nothing for my nerves (that I swore I didn't have). At 2:30am, I heard more thunder and more rain. I managed to doze off until about 4:00am when I listened carefully and heard no rain. I thought to myself “I can deal with wet roads” and fell back to sleep until 5:30.

So out the door I go. Because the roads were wet and there was the potential for more rain, I decided to stay in NYC. My route was one five mile loop around the park then onto Riverside. The loop in the park does not have huge dips or large climbs where the bike could potentially slip. Riverside is completely flat with no curves.

Within the first five minutes in the park, my butt was completely wet. It never occurred to me that the back tire would kick up water onto my seat and back. I mean I knew but I didn't know. My first thought was “this is going to be a long ride”, second thought “fenders!”

Once I got going and my butt was sufficiently soaked, the ride was not so bad.

The park was devoid of other cyclists. Who really wants to ride in the rain on Saturday morning at 6:30? At the beginning in the park, it was not raining. There were a handful of dedicated runners but mostly the road was empty.

The rain started about 15 minutes into my ride. I can say I did not really notice. I saw the drops into the puddles before I felt it on my face. Here we go. The rain was the hardest 15 minutes later when I made my way out to Riverside. It was not torrential but noticeable. I decided to leave my glasses alone out of fear of making my vision worse. I rode slowly, not too slow. The average speed reading on my GPS was 11.5 mph (old lady slow) instead of my normal 15-18 mph. I hit the turn around, the rain had subsided, the wind was at my back and my speed picked up. The rain never really stopped but it did lighten up to a drizzle that was virtually unnoticeable again.

I hit the transition spot, realized it was still drizzling and then took off for my two mile run. The runs have been proving to be kind of miserable off the bike. They are supposed to be.

The first brick, I had wicked cramps. The second brick, I was light headed and had leaden legs. Those runs have also been short at 10 minutes. This week run was longer at 20 minutes. I discovered that I need the first 15 minutes to recover from the bike ride. At the 15 minute mark, the side cramps disappeared and I settled into a nice run.

I didn't even notice the rain. I usually don't notice it during the run (yes, I wore my rain shoes). I always feel like I am running so slow coming off the bike. It turns out I am not running as slow as I think. I was very happy to see on my GPS that, at one point, I was running a sub 9 minute mile.

One of my biggest fears was realized on Saturday, riding in the rain. I had no idea how anxious I was of riding in the rain until I couldn't sleep on Friday night. I had imagined all kinds of disasters happening like: there is a fairly steep hill that goes into Riverside park from 72nd St and I imagined myself on the bike not being able to stop because the brakes don't work well in the rain; sliding down the last leg of that hill, out of control and unable to stop, sliding across the actual path, hitting the guard rail and going over head first still attached to the bike. Hey, it could happen. But it didn't. [Editor’s note: What, no detailed description of the injuries, the treatment, rehab and potential recovery time?] (No, because I would be dead)

The brick workout was done by 8:15 am. The Husband took me out for breakfast and I was napping by 9:30am.

I doubt that I will ever be delighted to ride in the rain but I now know how the bike works in the rain. And, on race day, if it does rain, it’s not new.

Play hard!

Laura