Breakthroughs and Progress

This weekend, my friends, was a breakthrough work out weekend. I haven't had one of those in a very very long time. In fact, I really can't remember the last time I had a 'true' breakthrough work out.

This weekend, I did a 60 mile bike ride followed by a 35 min brick run. The workout started off with the usual 'I don't wanna do this ride' feeling since I was riding alone. Predictably, at around mile 20 or so, my negative feelings turned into positive ones and as usual, around mile 40, my left knee started giving me trouble.

Yawn. Shocker. What's so 'break-through' about that right? Well. I'll tell ya.

I was aero ~70%-80% of the time.

That means that, instead of riding normally on the handle-bars like I usually do, I forced myself to be in the aero-dynamic triathlon position almost the entire ride. I only got up on the handle bars when I had to break at stop lights, or I needed to stretch a bit, or I was climbing a hill.

Aside from that, I stayed snug and tight and in the aero position.

And you know what? Besides letting me bike just a little bit faster, being Aero did something MONUMENTAL for me.

Being in AERO let me RUN right after riding 60 miles almost INSTANTANEOUSLY!! That's HUGE!!

Normally it takes me ~15 minutes, sometimes 20 minutes of run-walking to adjust to running after riding my bike. My legs feel cramped up like bricks (that makes no sense), and I have to force and convince myself to chill out. It's painful, uncomfortable and I-Just-don't-like- it.

Well...not this time folks! The aero position is designed to not only provide you with a little more speed, but it also allows your 'running muscles' (mainly hamstrings and glutes) to be less fatigued so that you can run after biking more easily.


So this sunday:

1) I feuled right (almost 2 bottles of gatorade, 1 bottle of water, 2 gels 1 bonk-breaker bar = ~800 calories on the bike)

and

2) I stayed in aero

and as a result

3) I ran ran ran ran at a sub 10 min mile pace right off the bat and felt A-MAZING!



I don't know what my exact pace was, but it felt like 9:45/9:30 min miles. After my 35 min brick run was over, I felt like I could have run at that pace for another hour if I just had some fluids and a gel. To give you an idea of what an improvement that is, I normally run ~10:30-11:00 min miles when I first get off the bike, until my legs have adjusted to running.

I get it!! I finally get why Aero is so key! And I finally get what a proper positioning on the bike can do for you!

And that, my friend, is called a break through workout.

I didn't even know that an almost instantaneous transition was possible until now and I'm sooo excited about it!

I'm gonna stay aero during the WildFlower Half Iron for as much and as long as I can help it, and hopefully, things will run just as smoothly during the WildFlower race (pun definitely intended) as they did on Sunday.


I also had a 'break through' in my understanding of friendships and relationships in general.

I realized that sometimes, you gotta cut your friends some slack. That you gotta cut people some slack.

I realized that sometime good, amazing people can have momentary lapses of judgement.

I realized that not everyone is perfect (I certainly am not) and that's ok.

I realized that everyone is allowed to be a little selfish every now and then.

I realized that If you care enough, you just gotta let people know when they're doing something that is inadvertly hurting you.

Chances are, if they're your close friends and care about you, they'll realize this and will rectify the situation, or apologize if it isn't salvageable.

I realized that You gotta trust people, especially your close friends and have a little faith.

Because ultimately, in many, many situations in life, If you ain't got faith, and you ain't got Hope... what else do you got?