Brick of Awesomeness to the Sixth Power

Today’s brick workout was sponsored by Pepsi, makers of Ultra Violence. Today was the first time I drank the old Ultra Violence right before a workout—I had actually meant to grab a Coke, but I just went ahead and mindlessly popped the top and took a swig and it was not Coke! But then I figured since I only slept 6 hours (woke up early again and had to eat a sandwich and never quite fell back asleep), I could probably use the hard stuff today. Here are the things that made this one of the most awesome brick workouts ever:

1. Weather. It was right about 70°. Absolutely perfect for biking. It became overcast just when I started, which made the run really nice, too.
2. I found a new interval route!!! It’s 4 miles one way and has hills, only 1 stoplight and very little traffic. I stumbled upon it due to some construction on my normal route and decided to try a different way. Change is good! Most of it is east-west, which is cool, because I really like riding hard into the prevailing westerly winds, but there’s a ¼ mile stretch of hilliness that goes north-south. That ¼ mile stretch is basically a climb in one direction, and it’s nice pavement and very tasty!
3. I had lots of watts during my ride (1:30), and I discovered I have become strong enough on LGL to need a smaller cassette! I have a compact crank with a 12-25, but I decided I need an 11-23 on the back now because I need the bigger gears. I think my strategy of riding with lots of resistance on the Tacx over the winter has finally paid off. I am just used to pushing the big gears.
4. I had good speed on the run (:40) and negative split it as I was supposed to. I didn’t even feel bad running. Really! And the run had a good amount of hills in it.
5. The brick was my second and third workouts today—I did an abs/core workout early this morning. I did 3 workouts on Monday (swim, run, lift), 3 on Tuesday (bike, run, lift) and 2 on Wednesday (swim, run). Today’s workout was the strongest I’ve felt this week. Now, some of that may be the caffeine talking, but I also think I’m absorbing all the NothingNess I’ve done over the last 8 weeks. It typically takes 2-3 weeks to absorb the benefit from really hard training, and since last weekend was “just” an Olympic, it’s almost been like getting another rest week!
6. I’m adjusting to a more constant eating schedule—at least I’m getting better about frontloading more calories in the morning. Today, for example, I had a Power Bar Triple Threat, then a glass of egg protein (25g protein), 2 large bananas and a can of Ultra Violence before I did the brick (the abs/core workout was after just the Power Bar). So about 700 calories before a 2:10 and change workout. I could drink Ultrafuel instead, but in my case, I think I need the extra protein, so I’m going to stick with it. On days when I swim, it’s going to be Power Bar, swim and drink Gatorade, egg protein, bananas and maybe ½ can of Ultra Violence before I run.

It’s all good. I am feeling really strong, resilient and fit. Still, it’s a good thing tomorrow is only a swim. And a massage! And then LOTS OF BIKING on the weekend, featuring 2 more brick runs, so in 8 days I will have done 5 bricks. Fuckin’ A.