Brick #1

I have 3 big bricks on the schedule through the remainder of my training, 70/14, 80/15 and 90/16, and the first one was this past weekend. For some reason, leading up to this, I didn't give this workout much thought. Since it's usually the bike that frazzles me, I think after riding 80+ miles on the weekends leading up to this, 70 miles seemed really doable. Not sure why, but it didn't register just how big of a workout this was going to be. It hit me on Saturday as I was packing up my stuff and planning my nutrition that I was looking at around 6 hours of working out and that I was going to be going at it alone. I started to get a little anxious but kept telling myself that I would take it easy and use it as an opportunity to test pace and nutrition for race day. No pressure.

As for how it went…there's not much more to say other than it went GREAT! From the moment I started, I felt confident and strong. I never once thought about the overall time I was going to be out there or how hard the day might be. I kept myself in the present moment and when I was on the bike, I focused on only that and didn't let myself think about the run that followed. I focused on my nutrition plan and my cadence and made sure I kept everything steady. The miles flew by and before I knew it I was back at the car at 70.74 miles ready to run.

I packed up as quickly as I could, changed shoes, grabbed fresh water and gels and took off running in under 5 minutes. From the very first step, my legs just wanted to go, I felt great!! When I check my watch after the first mile and saw a sub 9 min pace, I immediately scaled back a bit. I had a long way to go and didn't need to push anything too soon. The first 7 miles were over before I knew it and after a quick pit stop, I headed out for the last half of the run. My body still felt great but I was getting to the point where I was looking forward to calling it a day. (There's only so many hours I can entertain myself for) At my one and only tough moment my friend happened to go by on her bike. After pulling up next to me and chatting for a few minutes, I got my second wind and was ready to tackle the last 3 miles.

I finished feeling like a million bucks and smiling ear to ear. I remembered how a few months ago I asked my coach if anyone ever gets to the point where they can even *imagine* running after a long bike ride. Now here I am…running 14 miles after a 70 mile ride and not thinking twice about it. I've been feeling stronger and more confident as the weeks go by but this weekend really made me realize how far I've come since May.