Another Brick in the Log

Monday had another brick interval session on the slate and since I'm not the only family member with a duathlon looming in less than 2 weeks, Julian joined me.  Now, he can't keep up on the bike so while I would be hitting threshold out on the bypass he would be doing loops around the block.  For the runs, we ran together.  That is to say, he held himself back at my pace until we were in sight of the house and then left me in the dust (both times).  My wife snapped photos every chance she had --- almost 300 of them.

I started out with a nice 20-minute warm-up then hit 10 minutes at threshold.  It had been a full week since my last rest day and I felt surprisingly better than I anticipated, especially with the seasonal winds that just refuse to let up.  Julian, as planned, got comfortable on his new bike with 30 minutes around the block.

The plan for the run was race pace for 15 minutes.  In this instance that turned out to be 8:29min/mi - for me anyway.  Julian was on my heels for all but the last minute when he pulled ahead so effortlessly that my wife couldn't manage to fit both of us in the frame.  Oh well, it was a slight improvement on the 8:43 pace I had last time.

Transitioning in the garage again I head back out on the bike for 15 minutes at threshold.  I really like to make this segment count between the 2 runs and the 8bpm higher average heartrate compared to the first bike segment indicated that I did indeed push it a bit more.  I didn't overdo it as that would defeat the purpose and design of the workout.  I just stayed in the upper end of the target zone.

Check out the intense face.

Notice how I'm in front early on.

The last time I did this workout the 2nd run was absolutely brutal as my pace dropped to 9:28min/mi and I was fighting mentally the entire time.  I think that run was a big part of why I was less than enthusiastic about doing another brick workout.  This time was much better.  The pace still dropped off but to a more reasonable 8:51min/mi and I felt better overall.  My heart pounding from the end of the bike leg was very noticeable for the first half-mile but I settled in a bit after that.  Once again Julian left me in the dust at the end.

Leaving me in the dust.

What happened to Dad?

The real secret:
Never let your feet touch the ground.

Apparently Connor has learned
the "no touch" secret to fast running.

Just two dudes chillin' on Felt road bikes.

Ah, my favorite part --- the cool-down.  Since there's no heartrate target for a cool-down I had Julian join me.  Besides, I hadn't had a chance to really observe him on the road bike.  This gave me an opportunity to see how he handles a headwind, riding position, new gear shifters, and much more.  The cool-down ended up being right at 4 miles and he did really well.

Overall, the workout was about an hour and 40 minutes long with 17+ miles of cycling and 3.3mi of running.  I have no doubt Julian and I can handle the duathlon that's coming.  It's more a question of what pace we can sustain.  My running needs work and he's not fully adjusted to the new bike.  It'll be interesting as he'll beat me on the 1st run leg (and probably transition as he won't be changing shoes), I'll no doubt pass him on the bike, then he'll make up some time in transition again and have me in his sight on the final run leg.  I'll be a giant carrot out there with Julian the rabbit quickly gaining on me.  All I can do is train to do my best.  All in all, it's just another brick in the log.