Brick

And Boise training continues.....  Last Saturday called for a medium brick, so I headed out to Aurora Rez and did a good chunk of the Harvest Moon HIM course.  The Boise course is hilly, so I figure if I alternate between Harvest Moon and riding up Crowfoot (a street with a big ass hill near my house) a bunch, I will be set.  No nightmares of walking up hills for me this year! 

Full disclosure - the RDs put that dang aid station smack in the middle of the uphill AGAIN this year.  I need to do a hand-up for water this time.  If I stop, I will end up walking up that stupid hill... again.  Dumbest spot for an aid station ever!

I met with a fellow tri dork who was also riding the course.  Only he is crazy fast.  I kept telling him that I was fine riding solo and that he should go ride his own ride.  But then he hung with me the whole time.  I'm not sure I should be annoyed or flattered.

It was only mildly windy and super sunny.  I was in shorts (yay!), a tank top, and a jacket.  We left at 8 AM and I had to ride 2.5 hours, so just shy of 40 miles.  At the turn around, I was dying and took off the jacket.  Sleeveless on the last day of March.... craziness.

Not the most scenic, but hey, its close to the house.

The ride was pretty uneventful.  I did have an interesting slip and slide adventure.  I found a large (several feet) pothole that was filled in with sand/dirt/asphalt chunks.  It looked solid before I rode through it.  Nope, it was like riding in sand.  A bit scary, but fortunately I had good balance and cruised through it.  Also had one big truck honk at me for riding in the road.  When the shoulder/"bike lane" in 6 wide and full of sand and debris, I'm sorry, I'm going to ride in the road.  Hey, at least he didn't throw anything at me. 
I felt ok going up the hills.  A bit wussy (probably just comparing myself to the other guy who smoked me) but I stayed in my big ring and somehow, my heart rate stayed below 160.  Interesting.  I'm used to dying as I climb....

zoomed in a bit to show the hills.  They looked more impressive in real life.  Having my
garmin map would be handy too... if only I could find the USB connector thingy
to download my data....

The one good thing about riding out here is that you can ride into the Rez (for free) and use their bathroom facilities.  Woot!

After riding 38 miles, I took off to go run in the heat.  Ugh.  I had 20-40 min of running on my schedule.  And of course, it was hilly.  Boo.  I took off on the dirt path next to the road leading into the Rez and after (no kidding) 3 minutes I had to stop and walk.  Crapola.  I kept pushing onward and did ok until the dirt path turned into weeds and large cracks in the dirt, resulting in ~1 mintute or so of walking.  Fortunately this was at the turn around point (I compromised and told myself to run 3 miles).  Then I pushed myself to run the whole way back, including up some hills.  Holy schmoley, it felt hot.  Sadly, it was maybe 75 degrees.

wow, those are some pasty white arms

Today was a test of my new nutrition regime.  I brought 2.5 hrs worth of fluid of Grape EFS for the bike (40 oz Profile bottle and an 8 oz running bottle).  Sadly, I still had about ~1/4 of my profile bottle left by the time I finshed.  FAIL.  For the run, I had some leftover Liquid Shot from the previous weekend (I froze it so it wouldn't spoil).  I mixed it with water (equal amount LS and water) so I could sip it frequently and not have to also carry water.  Not sure my stomach liked this plan as the side cramps started up mid-way through my run.  Bummer.  I may be stuck with taking in nutrition every 2 miles and carring extra water with me.  I will experiment and see.

Afterwards I was TOASTY and hungry and headed over to Jamba Juice.  I freaking love Jamba Juice.  The home for a shower, ice bath, nap, and quality time with Gunny on the couch.