Day 5 of Ten Days Running; Brick #2

I am starting to think I can run in my sleep! I also have a certain Pink Floyd song stuck in my head--guess which one?

Today's bike workout was a new type for me. I enjoyed it, because it had many manageable chunks instead of just a few intervals. I don't think I executed it as well as I could have, but I get to do it again on Thursday.

It got HOT here today--crazy summer decided to come back. Last night we had monstrous thunderstorms, and I got a little water in my family room (just seepage, so no sewer germs to worry about!). Things were dry down there until about 9PM when the sky opened up and it rained about 3" in 1 hour. Oh well, at least I didn't lose power--people across the street did, and at one point, I think there were over 300,000 homes in the Chicago area that had lost power. They are saying tonight will be Round 2, but I sure hope not. The creek that is one door away from me overflowed into the road, but came down by about 11AM, and now my sump pump isn't running constantly. We had quite the lightning show, too. I get a little scared during such storms, which is a holdover from when I was a kid and would cower in a corner during thunderstorms, especially if tornado watches or warnings were issued. The winds didn't get THAT bad here last night, and there was no tornado watch, but the thunderstorms WERE severe, and they just dumped rain every which way. I am praying they aren't so bad tonight, especially since they aren't supposed to start until after midnight.
Speaking of praying, I haven't heard back from my friend Matt about his mom. Tough enough that he's going to Afghanistan in 2 weeks, but then this. I spoke with her on Saturday, and her husband remarked how Matt typically calls her twice a day. Talk about your good son! I weep for my friends when they go through things like this, partly because I know the pain of someone close becoming ill and dying but then now I start to acknowledge my own mortality. I guess turning 50 will do that to you.

OK, back to today's bike workout:

WU: 15' Easy, include 3-4 x 30" spinups.
MS: 4 x 30/30's, 4' @ FT, 2' Easy,
6 x 30/30, 6' @ FT, 2' Easy,
8 x 30/30, 8' @ FT, 2' Easy
10 x 30/30, 10' @ FT
CD: 5' Easy

Looks interesting, doesn't it? The 30/30's are done as 30" at Vo2Max watts (I shoot for 220+), 30" easy. As I began the workout in the heat, I thought, huh, I shouldn't have trouble with this. And as it turned out, I didn't. I was able to crank out my FT watts easily (well, as easily as it ever is). I could have done better on the 30/30's, but I used that time twice to fix my contact lenses (there was all sorts of stuff blowing in the wind today) and remove my tank top (I got pretty hot). It was just nice to do a different type of workout. But then, we had to see what running would be like.

I had decided that I was NOT going to use the afterburners like I did on Sunday, as I have a good tempo run to do tomorrow. Besides, even though I didn't have trouble with the bike workout, those things are deceptive, and I knew my run legs wouldn't feel fresh as a daisy afterwards!

When I got home from biking, I was already so pigged out, but I quickly donned running shoes and visor (I'm now using a visor when it's warm, as I read your head cools better and it seems to be true) and got out the door. I didn't feel quite like I did Sunday (shuffling through sand), but it was close, since I did a high-intensity ride. Once again, though, I tried to hold back and not go out too fast, since I was supposed to negative split the run.

Mile 1--8:37. I guess that is the speed I always run my first mile from home no matter what these days. That's a good thing, though, because it means I can run faster than that! Same deal as Sunday, run up to the .75 mile mark and turn around. I picked it up just a bit, but still wanted to turn down the volume just a bit. I was hot, tired and hungry. I ran the last mile in 7:55, so not quite as peppy as Sunday, but I was really expecting over 8:00 the way I was running. Oh well, the joys of no HRM and not being able to really read the tiny little numbers on my new Timex watch!

I'm halfway through my 10 days, and actually I don't feel bad at all. Not that I was expecting to feel bad, but so far, no bad runs. I can't believe I'm doing another brick in 2 days, but I am getting ahead of myself. Next order of business is to lift tonight followed by at least 30' of stretching and a good night's sleep, then a nice swim tomorrow, then we will just have to see how running tempo feels. It should feel fine, why wouldn't it?