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January 5, 2007
Slowly But Surely...
...I'm learning stuff about how bikes work. It doesn't seem like they should be as complicated as they are, but the truth is, they have lots of parts that are...well...complicated. As someone who would like to think of themselves as a cyclist (or at the very least a triathlete that cycles) I should know a lot more about the inner-workings of bikes. So that's what's good about working at the shop. I get to see different types of bikes and different types of parts and how it all fits together. I would never trust myself to put a bike together but I am slowly seeing how all the parts work with each other and what all those dang tools are for! :) But the best part of all about working at the shop is when the UPS man makes his delivery. It's like Christmas...and always a surprise as to what each package holds. Today? Two sweet BMCs (one a cool albeit non-interesting mountain bike) and another a very pretty road bike. Within another week or so, I'll officially be a bike nerd. I figure that's okay though. I'm pretty much already a swim nerd and I've been a running nerd for over 10 years. It was inevitable.
ANYWAY - I didn't start at the shop today until noon so I stuffed all my workouts into the morning.
AM swim workout:
2800 yds total @YMCA (400 yds warmup, 850 yds cooldown)
3x300 w/30 sec rest descending (slower than T-pace = 4:02-4:03) - 4:08, 4:03, 4:01
easy 50 kick
2x300 w/30 sec rest (faster than T-pace) - 3:58, 3:54
I decided that I like swimming 300s - perfect distance that isn't too long but not too short either such that you feel like you are sprinting like mad. The only downer to this morning's swim was that I had to share lanes with the woman that doesn't share lanes. She's nice enough and very eagerly offers up her lane to be shared but then she continues to swim (or rather obnoxiously flails) right down the center of the lane. I hit the lane lines more than once. But I shouldn't complain - when I have to swim with her I'm getting some real open water swimming feel. :)
After coming home, eating breakfast, getting all my stuff together, running some errands, etc... I headed to the shop and did a CompuTrainer ride which basically involved a short warmup and cooldown and about 65 minutes of a sustained tempo type pace. I probably could have worked a little harder than I did but it's hard for me to focus that long when I'm not competing. Anyway, I was on the bike for a little over 1:20 and then it was time for the shop to open!
Tomorrow morning I have the first brick workout I've done since...well...probably the last triathlon I did. I'm sure I'm going to have some serious jello legs when I get off my bike. Good stuff! :)
Posted by beth at January 5, 2007 8:09 PM