Spring Training

Spring has brought unseasonably warm (80+) weather and perfect conditions for runners and cyclists alike.  We took advantage of this last week during Katie's spring break week as we made our way to Pensacola, FL and back for rest, relaxation and some great training.


Saturday


We kicked off the week with a Saturday "St. Patrick's Day" 5K in Nashville, TN.  I spectated while Katie ran her first 5K of the year.  She finished in under 24 minutes but thanks to a timing chip malfunction we aren't sure exactly where she finished but would have fallen in the top 10 of 300 females in her age group.  I thought this was impressive considering her back of the pack start and pushing through a crowd of 2500+ runners.

Sunday


After arriving in Pensacola, we visited the the Gulf Islands National Seashore where I climbed up a roughly two story old artillery bunker and then went for a short barefoot run of about 30 minutes on the beach.  I forgot how incredibly difficult it is to run in sinking sand and the top of my right foot felt pretty sore but overall I was just happy to be running with my feet free and soaking in ocean water and air.


Later I went out for an out and back bike ride with roughly 15 miles of hard effort sandwiched between two easy spins for a total of 45 miles.  This was a mostly flat route with four "bridge" climbs over the harbor.


Monday


Monday Katie and I rode from Pensacola Beach through the Gulf Islands National Seashore to Fort Pickens and back to Pensacola Beach.  We did the mistake of riding with the wind first so our first taste of ocean headwind was a shock.  This barrier island is a "must ride" in my opinion as it is 48 miles long and almost entirely national park and natural beaches with few visitors.  There aren't many cars either, and either large bike lane shoulders or bike paths are on both sides of the road.  We fueled our 40 mile ride with some delicious vegetable and fruit smoothies as there was unfortunately no ice cream available on the island.

We also found a local running store called Running Wild and had to stop in and check it out.  We chatted with the owner and discovered that the area definitely has far more triathletes than trail runners (which I thought might be the case given how many aerobars on other bikes we saw while out riding).  We tried a new flavor of GU (Peanut Butter) which we both liked a lot, and got a new electrolyte drink that I especially liked.  I've not seen Nuun brand "Kona Cola" electrolyte tablets before but they made the water taste just like a watered down flat diet coke which might sound questionable but is great with a little ice.  I definitely will add these to my rotation of drinks.

Tuesday


We rode another "out and back" route on the island over a bridge to the mainland and back, with a stop for fish tacos in between.  Since we had the wind at our back we pressed through a "time trial" in what looked like Death Valley between ocean and harbor in the Navarre Beach Park.  Katie and I both tried to reach a "flat land speed record" and were each successful.  I topped out on the flat in my big chain ring at 37 mph which was a shock to me.  It was still extremely difficult to sustain this "max speed" for more than 10 to 15 seconds even with the mega tailwind at our back.  It was another good day of cycling ending with almost 30 miles.


After our ride, we also ran an "out and back" on the desolate park beach for about 25 minutes.  With the rough ocean washing up anything and everything, we saw a portuguese man-o-war roughly ever 10 to 20 feet along the sand so that added some extra challenge to the barefoot running.


Wednesday


Wednesday morning Katie and I ran along the Pensacola Scenic Bluffs Highway and then down to the Bay Bluffs Park for a total of about 55 minutes of easy running and hiking.  The Pensacola Bluffs Scenic Highway is definitely beautiful with nicely rolling hills, cliffs reminiscent of a California coastal highway, and beautiful views over the harbor.  I saw plenty of other runners and cyclists on this route, so it must be a local favorite.

In the afternoon I got in a longer ride north of Pensacola over the Highway 90 (Scenic Bluffs Highway) Escambia Bay Bridge to the Blackwater Heritage Trail (long paved trail) and then back for a total of 75 miles.  This was my first ever double road flat so I was glad I brought along a second spare tube.  There were plenty of reasonably challenging rolling hills along much of this route as well so I ended up reasonably beat by my return.

Thursday


In the evening I rode an out and back 30 mile route to Pensacola Beach from the Pensacola mainland, crossing both the 3 mile Pensacola Bay bridge and the Pensacola Beach bridge.  This was by far the windiest day and I was absolutely decimated by the wind as I struggled to cross the 3 mile bridge at more than 11 mph.


On the way back, I then felt the true power of this wind over the 3 mile bridge.  Over the entire 3 mile bridge crossing I was able to sustain between 30 and 35 mph.  I felt plenty of fear as well as exhilaration as I tried to visualize how I would abandon my bike in the sea and swim to shore should I fly off the side of the bridge.  At this speed with gusts of wind pushing me forward this seemed like a real possibility to prepare for.  Regardless, it was amazing to push my big ring that hard and I briefly got an idea of what it must be like to be awesome (in the cycling sense).


For the week . . .


Racing: 1 5k for Katie


Running: 110 minutes with some walking mixed in . . . but who cares, I was running again!


Cycling: 220 miles


This was a great week for Katie and I as we both trained and ate well.  Also, with a little bit of running (finally) I felt a growing sense of confidence in my formerly injured foot.  I kept rolling my foot over a golf ball each morning and evening which really seemed to eliminate both any tightness and pain.  Had IU beaten Kentucky during our end of week visit to Atlanta it would have been a beyond perfect week.


Finally after we returned I took advantage of the Sunday weather and ran my first "real" run in months of 3 miles on the Bloomington Rail Trail with Katie.  I followed this up with almost 40 miles of cycling including some tough climbing on TC Steele road, and still came home with no foot pain.