Road to Kona built by bricks

Here we are with less than 7 weeks to go until Kona! I swear these things creep up a little faster every time. Same as with Ironman Texas I do my 'super brick' at about 8 and 4 weeks out from the race.
 
You might have noticed the lack of updates. Since Ironman Texas I haven't had any big races or workouts. I have however been out of town the last four weekends so didn't get any run over 15 miles in or bike rides over 70. As such this brick went about as you would expect it to with that little preparation.
 
The idea is fairly simple, 1 hour swim, 90 minute rest, 5 hour bike, 90 minute rest and 2 hour run.
 
The Swim
 
Yesterday my Garmin swim watch decided it was done functioning (waterproof is a relative term) so I don't have an exact lap count. I believe it was somewhere between 3100 and 3300. The swim itself was fairly uneventful, but an eventful swim is rarely a good thing. At this point in the year swimming become the preferred exercise just because it's air conditioned.
 
After a quick rinse off I polished off a Bonk Breaker and a few glasses of water and I was ready to ride!

 
The Bike
 


I cannot stress enough how important
it is to reapply sunscreen

I struggled through this one. It was a few too many steps beyond warm and I couldn't seem to pull my
power up where it needed to be. I did a 160 average at Ironman Texas and only managed 138 during this. While some of this can be attributed to the heat, it was also my longest ride in a month so I accept some fault. I finished with 93 miles under my belt and ready to sit. Thankfully Ruby's Lube made it so I could still sit! 
 

Throughout the ride I finished off two more Bonk Breaker bars and 9 bottles of water or Gatorade and 1 bottle of Bio Fuse. The bonk breakers cut into 8 pieces a bar are perfect for a bite ever 15 minutes.


 

The Run
 
So 5PM rolls around and it's still 102 degrees out. Running in the heat is an entirely different animal and it's important to remember that your paces are dramatically affected by heat and humidity. Always watch your heart rate and base your pace off that.

I started the run with three miles strung together at which point my heart rate wouldn't stay below 180bpm so I started taking a walk break every mile. 10.9 miles in two hours is not ideal but I'll take what I can get!






Every pizza is a personal pizza when you
believe in yourself.

Post Workout

As always it was vitally important to rehydrate after this. I finished the run feeling severely hung-over, but four tall glasses of water and some electrolyte later I was like a functioning human being again. I will probably follow the long workout with a short easy spin the next day to get the muscles more recovered.

So my road to Kona is built by brick. Not all of them are pretty ones but they all move me forward regardless. This was not a particularly fun experience but it's an important part of getting ready for Kona!