transition- the actual.

Hi. It's Laura

Well well, now I know.

After all of my research on Friday, I came up with a plan for my transition on Saturday.

I will need The Husband and probably The Dog. I train in Central Park and for weeks I have been trying to figure out where I can lock up my bike before I set out on the run portion of my Brick workout. I cannot find one anywhere. I discussed with The Husband and he agreed to help me.

He will wait with my gear while I ride and then hold my bike and stuff while I run.

This is a good plan (of course he thought of it).

I was soooo in my head Friday night about my upcoming practice transition. And this is exactly why we practice (how do you get to Carnegie Hall?). I couldn't get my gear together Friday night so, because of the weather forecast, I had to wait until Saturday morning.

I laid out my hat, sunglasses, salve, Chap Stick and everything else I thought I would need to make the change, folded it up into a backpack and handed it off to The Husband with strict instructions (I had a plan and I was sticking to it). I should mention here that I had no idea my control freak tendencies got worse when I am stressed (thanks to The Husband for pointing that out)

We leave for the park (with The Dog, probably a bad idea, mine) Saturday morning. You never know what you’re going to get in the park. I got "bike race in progress" @#%$#*&!

Just what I needed. If you have ever rode your bike in Central Park any day of the week the cyclist act like they are in the Tour De France. They dominate the roadway and for some reason must ride up against the runners. So just like the pool, I used it as training. What else was I to do?

During my hour long ride, I encounter the race twice. First time was on the East Side. I must say, impressive. My average speed on flat is 17mph. The lead rider and his escorts passed me like I was standing still. Less than a minute later, the pack come up behind me and they sound like a freight train. The may be jerks on the road during their practice rides but they are impressive when doing their thing in a race.

Back to me.

The Husband set up my transition area near 72nd street ramp and I passed him with 12 minutes to go. I fly by and say "I will be back in 12”. I needed to crank out those last 12 minutes and try some of the tips I read about. I headed around the lower loops one more time. On the crossover, I unbuckled my shoes while riding. As I got closer to the spot I tried to pull my foot out of the shoe and success! But wait, not so fast. I forgot the part where they tell you not to the let peddle flip over with the shoe on it because it will hit the ground and you will fall. I didn't fall completely. The shoe caught the ground, knocked me sideways and pushed the handle bars into my butt. Owie Ow. I put the shoe back on and peddled to the transition.

Helmet off, sunglass change, shoes change, hat and I’m off. I feel really weird.

The endorphins from my ride have kicked in and I 'm a little light headed. My legs feel like lead (bricks if you will) but I am running. And I am running with a cramp. The cramp is so severe it reminded me of when I first started running and didn't know how to breathe. I walked for 30 second hoping that would help but it didn't. Now I know the run is only 10 minutes so I suck it up and watch my watch the entire time. 30 seconds, 15 seconds, DONE! YES YES!

This was way harder than I thought. I really don't understand the whole cramping thing considering I was hydrating the entire time. It could also just be the stress of the transition. I will figure it out because I get to do it again next weekend! My fingers are crossed that it will be easier.

Play hard!

Laura