Double Double

Posted my first career non race day double double yesterday. 44 miles on the bike followed by 10+ by foot. There will be no pursuing the elusive triathlon triple double, that would be crazy. The swim alone would take me all day.

The morning started out innocently enough. Met up with Anna and Deanna with the plan to do a long brick. Both are getting ready for Spirit of Racine, their first half, and wanted to get a long brick in before tapering for the race. I didn't ask specifics, was just happy to have company for the morning workout.

Ride was easy enough. Racine is supposed to be a flat course so Anna mapped out a relatively flat route out of Madison, through Cottage Grove and Stoughton, before heading back up to Madison. Felt like we rode at a pretty good clip the entire way and I managed to keep my heart rate in check for the entire ride. Nice morning, air was muggy and thick, but tolerable.

Back to Anna's house for transition to run and we're off. I actually felt pretty good at this point. Half way into the first mile I asked how far they were planning on running. 10 miles was the answer. Gulp. I hadn't mentally prepared for 10 miles.

I complained (a lot), but the first 5 miles were not bad. The girls were running at a pretty good pace (9:10's) and even though they kept promising to slow down, they never did. At one point I may have called a motorist an asshole because he stopped at a crosswalk allowing us to keep running, 3 seconds of walking would have been much appreciated.

It only got worse on the second half, and the last three miles were pretty much hell. I searched high and low for a valid reason to stop and walk but never found one. It was hard, but other than general soreness, nothing really hurt, so suck it up I did. Finished 10.34 miles at a 9:07/mile pace.

That run turned what likely would have been a one nap afternoon into a two nap afternoon. I was tired.