7.19.2006

Bike Time Trial

Last night I did the monthly Run-FAR bike time trial on South MoPac. It's an 8mi loop and you get chip timed. It was a scorcher last night - 103F (39.5C!). So yeah, pretty hot. We're having a hot week in Austin that's for sure! After a decent 20 minute warm-up I started the time trial. The last time I did this TT was last August (post-Vineman) and I averaged 22.2mph. Last night I was just hoping to come in around 21mph, and use this as a benchmark for future improvement (there's another TT in August and September). I decided to push bigger gears last night and maintain a lower cadence than usual (85rpm compared to 95rpm). I definitely felt it in my legs, which were getting pretty tired by the end. My sprint finish was done on very wobbly legs! But I really feel that I gave it everything I had last night and I came away with a 22.2mph average :) This isn't the fastest I've ever done (fastest was 22.9mph pre-Vineman last year) but certainly not the slowest. I'm satisfied with my result. I'm also really looking forward to hopefully seeing some improvement after some coaching sessions with Matt!

Tonight my tired legs get to do some trail running with Nedra, then a much-needed soak in Barton Springs afterwards. It's going to be another sizzler of a day - maximum of 102F, right around the time I'll be running. Thank goodness the trail will be shady!

Fingers crossed for a cool change... then again, it's only mid-July and summer has really only just begun. Eeek.

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