Top Brick Moments

This Saturday's brick - a 30 mile bike ride and 10 mile run - definitely had some good, bad and ugly moments.

The Top 5 Bad and Ugly:

1. Totally screwed up the gearing with Patriot Sangria on nasty hill number two by crossing the "waited too long to go into my small chain ring" point. Ended up having to escape the bike vs. toppling over.
2. The last 4 of the 10 mile run. Most of my running buddies were on the half ironman schedule - with a 6 mile run. Without their company, the weather seemed hotter, my water breaks were longer and my legs felt increasingly tired.
3. The ugly blister on my pinky toe after the run.
4. The bizarre heat or sweat rash that appeared the morning after the brick - 50 tiny little puss pimples. Gross. This is the second time this has happened to me after a long workout. Does this happen to anyone else? Any ideas how to prevent it?
5. No TRIgirl coffee. Other than TRIgirl CD and her husband, West Creek was empty by the time I finished the brick.

The Top 5 Good:

1. Awesome new bike route plotted out by TRIgirl CD which starts at West Creek and winds through the rural backroads of four counties. Lovely scenery, quiet roads, great company. Nice little bonus - the bike route was actually 37 vs. 30 miles.
2. Patriot and I made peace on the rolling hills and the one nasty hill TRIgirl CD mentioned. (I thought the worst was over until I hit the second one, which must not have phased our route planner as she is a rock star cyclist.) I am starting to figure out the gears I need to be in with her to not loose too much cadence when climbing some hills.
3. Getting through the 10 mile run. The first six miles with TRIgirls SD, MW, KO, LD and MW went well. We frequently found ourselves dropping below the 10:30-11:00 minute miles we were aiming for - sometimes even seeing paces in the 9 minute range. I could have justified stopping at 6 because the bike was longer than planned. I pushed for 8 to try and meet last week's long brick run, then decided to try for 9 to add 1 mile, then figured it was only 1 more mile to hit the 10. I've really been trying to remind myself that to finish Ironman Florida, I will have to push myself when my mind or body wants to quit. I am hoping that plugging through the tough workouts will help build my confidence and will be something I can remember and draw from this November.
4. The water stop set up by TRIgirl CD and her husband that became our nirvana every three miles for fabulously chilled water to drink - and to dump on our sweaty selves.
5. The wonderful two hour post workout snooze - nothing like a good nap after a draining brick workout!