Sunday, September 16, 2012

Bike Fit, Fall Temps & BREAD!

Hello, friends!  I can't believe it...the Redman is only 6 days away!

Today I just finished my last big BRICK (bike then run) workout of the training season!  The recent cool down made for a comfortable ride.  I rode with the OBS Sunday Starbucks ride today.  Most of the group rides downtown to Starbucks and then back to Stars and Stripes Park.  A few of us ride on to the Boathouse, Overholser and back to Hefner.  I have always chosen the longer route for a great 2 hour training ride!  I am thankful things went well today because I have not felt fast or comfortable since I got refitted which brings me to an important note...

DON'T GET REFITTED ON YOUR BIKE 3 WEEKS AWAY FROM A BIG RACE!

3 weeks ago Steve Schlegel saw me riding Clark Kent around Lake Hefner and said I should come in to get fitted properly.  I have never done a formal fitting for this bike so I went in and Aaron helped me out and even set me up with a new Adamo Race Saddle to demo.  After a few rides I did not like the new fit at all.  I went back in and Aaron stretched me back out and made the fit resemble what I started with.  Coach Ryan says it takes 3-4 weeks for your muscles to get used to a new bike fit.  Since I trained all summer the old way I should have left it but by the grace of God, I think Superman and I are back to our speedy selves again.  Thankfully I enjoy my new fit but I am not sold on the saddle yet.  TRI shorts have less padding than bike shorts and therefore are not as pleasant for long rides.  The reason for the minimal padding is swimming.  If I swam in bike shorts I would have a "wet diaper" feeling for the rest of the race!  Thanks to Schlegel for letting me borrow the saddle until the Redman is over!

OBS Streak

One week ago my triathlon buddy, Janna and I did the OBS Streak.  The Streak started in Mitch Park.  We had a record low of 50 degrees that morning so it was a bit chilly for the first hour or so!  We had LOTS of hills to quickly warm us up!  It could have been the extreme hills or the new fit but I did not feel very fast during the ride.  The slow down made me a bit discouraged however I picked up the pace around mile 50 when we reached a patch of flat ground!  I would highly recommend this ride to any cyclists.  The water stops were stocked and full of smiling volunteers!  We love our volunteers!

Usually after a big ride I hit up the pasta lunch but this TRI girl had to keep working out.  Besides the Chicago Triathlon, this may have been one of my biggest workouts of the training season!  I cycled 63 hilly miles and then ran for 6 miles around Mitch Park.  Whew! What a day!  But I felt strong on the run which boosted my spirits a bit.

Cool Spell

Thursday a powerful upper level storm system moved over Oklahoma and Texas bringing in clouds, rain and unseasonably cool temperatures.  Being a Chicago girl, I love the cooler temps!  However, I must say that this weather made me want to stay inside, eat, sleep and not train.  I had to muster up some motivation to get my butt going.

Riding in the Rain

My workout cheat sheet! (Or cheat hand?)
Despite my deep desire to be lazy, I forced myself to get outside and do a 2 hour bike ride on Thursday...but it was pouring!  Being a meteorologist has its advantages! I checked the radar and noted that the rain was primarily moving through Central and Western parts of the Metro and moving from south to north.  I decided to go to Lake Stanley Draper on the Eastern side of the Metro.  It worked!  When I arrived at Draper is was cloudy and cool but DRY.  My rain poncho acted like a sail trying to pull me the other way...it's not very aerodynamic!  This ended up being a challenging ride.  I just think I wasn't motivated.  Towards the end of the ride it started raining.  The rain must have slicked the road because I started riding a lot faster! I had a scary moment when I nearly hydroplaned on a turn!  Riding in the rain is actually fun but I was ready to head home, take a hot shower and make some homemade tortilla soup!
Yeah, I made that! Watch out, Rachel Ray.

Running in the Cold

MADE ME FEEL LIKE AN ALL STAR compared to running in the heat.  I hope it's cool on Saturday.  Right now it's looking great with highs in the low to mid-70s.  Let's hope it stays that way! I'll keep you posted.

Best Part of Training

So this is my favorite part of training.  I not only start tapering...but start CARB LOADING!  Baguettes of OKC...your days are numbered.  I am coming to eat you!  Also, I do not know if Lucky Charms count for carb loading but I just ate 5 bowls for dinner.  Oops.

I apologize for the random nature of this post.  Stay tuned for more details on the Redman including information on how to volunteer and of course, the forecast!  Have a great week!

1 comment:

  1. Great post. Is that avocado in the soup?? Some foods will make you tired digesting them, (I don't know if avocados are in that group or not). You can read about them here.

    http://www.avocadosource.com/CAS_Yearbooks/CAS_76_1992/CAS_1992_123.htm (I don't know that I would feed it to babies, even smashed into pulp. But the other info seems good)
    More Here also: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/avocado

    But I think when it comes to calories and protein you'd have a hard time finding something more dense in calories and protein than avocados. I think recently we picked up some avocados for 99cents each. I'm very weird person (in general). I halve them then break them apart, then cut them into quarters to take the seed out. Then I just eat them plain. Yeah, no salt nothing, I love them. You have to kind of ding the shell to make sure they're ripe enough or it's awkward getting the seed out. The only thing I can think of that might have denser protein content is just breaking an egg in a small bowl (like an inch larger in radius than the egg) of water and "nuking" it roughly 40 secs (depending on power of your individual microwave and if you want the yoke soft, 40 secs makes it a little soft in mine) then draining out the water (water & bowl may be very hot) and adding salt if you like. It's basically a pretty good quality hardboiled egg---no oil to clean up and you got a good quality egg in about 1 minute.

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