Is That A Triathlon Bag?

First, I'd just like to pat myself on the back for working out 4 days in a row. Something that hasn't happened in quite a long time. I definitely had to fight with myself to get out of bed this morning. Drew was working late again last night and had to be at work early again today, so it was very tempting to want to stay cuddled up with him. Instead, I got up and got ready for my brick workout.

Of course, when I get there and the first thing that Robert says when explaining the workout is, "this workout is designed to be hard", I just inwardly groaned. My legs already felt like jello just riding my bike to the Park this morning and I'm really trying to save something in them for my NYRR run tonight. Not to mention it was 80 degrees outside at 5 AM.

The format of the workout was 0.5 mile run followed by 4 miles biking. Rinse and repeat as often as you can for the next 90 minutes. I ended up doing three runs and three bikes. I was doing okay for the first run and the first bike. The second run was tough because we were supposed to be thinking about going faster each time, and I really thought about it then. (Please note that I often think about running faster, it just doesn't always happen). By the time I got back on the bike the second time, my legs were just burning.

I decided that in the interest of this run later tonight, I would back off a bit and use easier gears, which would sacrifice some speed, but I'd still get the miles in. Then I did the third run and realized that I should start wrapping things up for the day. I decided to do a third bike, but to really just use the opportunity to spin my legs out and take it easy on the way. So, I did the last 4 mile loop on the bike and then headed home.

As I was doing the last four mile loop on the bike, a guy on roller blades came up next to me and asked me if that was a triathlon bag on my back. I had my bright green Publix bag with me that I got at the Atlanta Half-Marathon Expo. I have to say, it's a great bag! It's got strips of reflective stuff down both sides, which is great for riding in the street and it also has a front pocket.

I was a bit thrown off when he asked me if my bag was a triathlon bag. Yes, I had it with me because I was doing a brick, which is triathlon related. But, I got the bag at a half-marathon expo. To me, it's mostly just a handy bag to cart my running shoes around it. And I guess if I was going to think of a triathlon bag, I'd think about one of those big transition backpacks, not this little drawstring bag that I've got! To me it's just a Publix bag. Not sport-specific.

I did pack my running stuff for tonight in the same Publix bag, so I guess maybe that makes it not a triathlon bag? Either way, I'm excited about this race tonight. It's downtown, so it'll be fun to do a race that's not in the Park. The high here today is 93 and they are saying that we have the potential for some thunderstorms later today, so I'm hoping that I don't get drenched, although that might be preferable to just regular 93 degree weather? My goal for tonight is just to run the whole race. I'm not going out there to set some sort of speed record for myself, I just want to be able to run three miles and have fun!

Running
Time: 13:27 (Run 1: 4:28 / Run 2: 4:24 / Run 3: 4:35)
Distance: 1.50 miles
Pace: 8:58/mile
Calories: 129
Maximum HR: 185 (87%)
Average HR: 174 (82%)

Biking
Time: 51:37 (Bike 1: 16:02 / Bike 2: 16:30 / Bike 3: 19:05)
Distance: 12.50 miles (14.87 miles total)
Pace: 14.50 MPH average
Calories: 446
Maximum HR: 176 (83%)
Average HR: 161 (76%)