Brick By Brick

First, let me say that my thoughts and prayers are with the people of London tonight, after another murder attack by those malignant cockroaches who want us to believe that their death-centered world view is actually an improvement.

It must not be a coincidence that I'm doing brick workouts as there's talk of a Pink Floyd reunion. And I'm not really a Floyd fan; too icy and utterly lacking in any warmth or humanity. Maybe that's the point, I dunno.

Yesterday's 3:00 bike was followed up today with a scheduled 1:30 bike transitioning into a 1:00 run. I actually biked for 1:39 and 29 miles; the route I chose offered 4 large hills just to keep things interesting. The run lasted 53 minutes and 6.5 miles, making for an 8:13 pace. I'll take that to the Steelhead bank any time.

Per Karyn's instructions, i'm working on my Steelhead hydration and nutrition strategy, weighing myself before and after workouts and accounting for each ounce of Gatorade and every gel consumed. I'm using the new Gatorade Endurance Formula since that's what the Steelhead's aid stations will be serving. Cutting it with a little bit of water reduces some of the syrupy sweetness. For Gels, I'm totally sold on Crank's eGels, and plan to use 7 total throughout the race. I'm thinking one 30 minutes before the swim start, three on the bike and 3 on the run. (And, no, this is not a paid endorsement. As I've said before, while I can be bought, I haven't been.)

Tomorrow I'll tackle the Steelhead (hey, that's a pun! Get it? Fishing TACKLE? STEELHEAD'S a fish? Oh, never mind.) swim a time or two, crash on the beach for a while, read a book and watch the bikinis go by. It's supposed to get really hot again next week, so I'll have lots more opportunity to hydrate, sweat and hydrate some more. Yee-hah!