Saturday, August 6, 2011

Big Brick

Today I went out and did what I'm calling a "baseline brick" for The Big Kahuna 70.3 triathlon in Santa Cruz early next month.  First I went out and rode just over 53 miles with OC Velo.  Then I came home, changed and headed straight out for a 10 mile run.  Both are familiar distances on their own, but this is the first time I strung them together to see what would happen.

Laguna Canyon
The ride was south through Newport Beach, Irvine and Laguna Beach.  It was a pretty routine ride and at times a little more mellow than I had hoped for.  One of the highlights of the ride is a 2 mile climb to the height of land on El Toro Road in Laguna Woods and then a gentle 6 or 7 mile descent down El Toro, into Laguna Canyon and on to Pacific Coast Highway.  To me, this particular stretch of the ride affords a perfect view of the classic Southern California landscape.  The south end of El Toro Road is especially wild, running through large areas of coastal chaparral.  Laguna Canyon is a deep, twisty canyon that ends at one of the nicest beach communities around.

The climb and the descent

It's good to have great training partners, and I've got one.  About 15 miles out of Huntington Beach, Craig told me to get on his wheel.  He wanted to hammer but knew I needed to stay as fresh as possible for the run.  We made it back to Huntington Beach pretty quick, hitting 22 or 23 miles an hour when we had the road to do so.  When we got back to town, Craig headed home to get ready to see Cowboys & Aliens with his son.  When I got home, I got ready to run.

Bolsa Chica Beach Path
I was in and out of the house in 15 minutes.  Not quite the transition time I'll want to lay down in Santa Cruz, but then again I won't have to change clothes and check my e-mail on race day.  The route I took is a familiar one - out of the house, west to the beach and then south on the Bolsa Chica beach path.  At about 7 miles, I turned inland and ran back to the house.  It's essentially a big quasi-triangle that circles the Bolsa Chica Wetlands.

It was a pretty typical run, save for miles 2 and 3, where for some reason things got a little rough.  But by the time I hit the beach I had found my legs and finished the run strong.


The Stats:

The Bike - 53.32 miles in 3:08:34; Average speed 17 MPH

The Run - 10 miles in 1:22:27; Average pace 8:14/mile

As I mentioned, I would have liked to have had a faster bike split.  But you know how group rides are sometimes, and all things considered I'm happy to go with the flow.  Luckily, the second half was the fast half and despite drafting off of Craig for the last 15 miles, I definitely felt the ride in my legs when I started running.  I'm happy with the run.  I'll be going for a faster pace on race day but I feel today was aggressive enough to test my ability but not so over the top where recovery is going to take awhile.

Going into this workout, I was pretty sure that things would go fine.  That said, I'm glad to have done it as it was definitely a confidence builder.  So when it comes time to execute the race next month, I'll be building off some experience.

10 comments:

KovasP said...

That is seriously fast coming off a long ride - great running, must be a great confidence boost. I, for one, am hoping for a similar transition in Santa Cruz, with a quick blog post to let us know how the first leg went.

Jason said...

Dude, laying down 8:14/mi is terrific. Great job on the ride/run. You will be more than prepared for that 70.3 and will crush it as your bike speed is def faster than what you put in on this brick.

Tri4Success said...

Shoot man, you're on cruise control. The Big Kahuna has been put on notice. You are ready.

XLMIC said...

Way to finish strong. Your bike will be more spectacular come race day…we know that. Very solid.
What I'd like to see next time is for you to extend out one of those run legs to bring it either closer to a true triangle or, even better, a trapezoid :)

Jennifer said...

Wow, it took you 15 minutes to check email and change? I mounted my iPhone to my bike, now I can check email, surf the net and check the weather all while I am riding. I bet you could fashion up some kind of special stick to hold in your mouth so that you can stay in aero position and still surf. It would be the bomb! You should try it. I see a lucrative patent in all of this. Of course then you should become an insurance agent to sell insurance to all morons who use it and have accidents. $$$!

TRI714 said...

Dude that was an awesome run !! I added a few miles making sure I got at least 60 in. I was more than happy to keep you out of the wind. I have no problem being the domestique for a good cause :-).

it's all about pace said...

nice run split!

Unknown said...

That's a great training piece. You're going to do so well next month.

Unknown said...

شركة الصفا والمروه لخدمات التنظيف
شركة تنظيف بالدمام
شركة تنظيف منازل بالدمام
شركة تنظيف خزانات بالدمام
شركة تنظيف مجالس بالدمام
شركة نقل عفش بالدمام
شركة رش مبيدات بالدمام
شركة تسليك مجاري بالدمام
شركة تنظيف شقق بالدمام
شركة تنظيف فلل بالدمام
شركة مكافحة حشرات بالدمام
شركة كشف تسربات المياة بالدمام

Unknown said...


شركة تنظيف بالخبر
شركة مكافحة النمل الابيض بالخبر
شركة تنظيف خزانات بالخبر
شركة نقل اثاث بالخبر
شركة كشف تسربات المياة بالخبر
شركة مكافحة النمل الابيض بالخبر
شركة تسليك مجاري بالخبر

شركة مكافحة حشرات بالدمام
شركة مكافحة النمل الابيض بالجبيل
شركة تسليك مجاري بالجبيل
شركة كشف تسربات المياة بالجبيل

شركة تنظيف بالاحساء
شركة تسليك مجاري بالاحساء
شركة كشف تسربات المياة بالاحساء

شركة تسليك مجاري بالرياض
شركة تسليك مجاري بجدة
شركة تسليك مجاري بتبوك
شركة تسليك مجاري ببقيق
شركة تسليك مجاري بالطائف
شركة تسليك مجاري بالباحة
شركة تسليك مجاري بالخفجي
شركة تسليك مجاري بعنك-سيهات
شركة تسليك مجاري بالنعيرية
شركة مكافحة النمل الابيض بالخبر

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