Brick

After doing a three-day hike in two days, a lot of people would consider that good reason to take the day off.  But I guess that's where I'm different.  When I get an opportunity, I take it, and when I get an edge, I like to keep it.

So Monday morning, on my day off, I got up at 6:00 AM and went for a 45-mile bike ride, followed immediately by a 12-mile run.

Throughout the ride, hills were doing a number on me.  I had to shift down more than I normally do, and even then, it was a challenge to keep going.  And by the end of the ride, even in the flats, I felt tired.  I started to wonder if going for the run was a good idea.

About 2/3 of the way through the ride, I caught up with a guy on a loaded touring bike.  I pulled up alongside him.

"Weekend tour?"
"What?  Oh, no, I'm just training.  I'm thinking of doing a Vancouver-to-San Francisco tour later this summer."

We talked about touring for a little while, until our routes split only a mile or so later.  His method of training was to load his bike with panniers and put six gallons of water in them.  That's 48 pounds of water alone.  Damn.  I don't think I ever trained quite like that for a tour.  Good on him!

After arriving home, I laced up my shoes, wondering if I'd cut my run a little short.  I'd at least head out and see how I felt.  On the plus side, it was still cloudy and a little cool out.

I started a little sluggish, which is common for brick training, but I never seem to have the stiffness or pain that some people claim to experience.  I think that's just because I'm a better runner than biker, and most triathletes (most people that do bricks) are the other way aroun.  Two miles into the run, I felt great.  And then five miles into the run, I felt great.  And eight miles into the run, I still felt great.  And at ten miles, I still felt great!

I dunno what it was.  Maybe after two long days of backpacking, I got so used to traveling on foot with extra weight that now running felt easy?  Or maybe the 10,000-foot drop in elevation made it easier?  Maybe I wasn't actually going that fast, and it just felt good because I wasn't actually running as hard (I didn't have my watch, and I'm not exactly sure on the distance either). But whatever it was, I had a great run when I expected a horrible one.

Maybe I need to visit the Sierras more often...