Duathlon Workout With Matt(s)

>> Thursday, April 29, 2010

(...and Mindy)

Sunday night, I put out the call to friends: Tues - 6:30 pm - St. Thomas track - duathlon workout - who's in??

My brother-in-law (Matt L) wanted to try a version of that workout. And Matt M said he's show up to run some intervals. And Mindy said she'd maybe show up for a run too.

Matt and I got our bikes set up, and we snapped a photo of everyone:


Oops. Cut off Matt M and the flash was on.

Then we tried to snap a better one:



Then we gave up on trying to make a perfect photo, and just decided to do the damn workout.

Here's the link to the workout that we had looked at (it's on the second page of the article). It's the same workout Marie and I did about a month ago. Only Matt and I were going to scale it back a little. We both wanted to be fresh for the Cannon Falls Duathlon which is this Saturday! And we both had tired legs from recent runs (he did a solid run the night before, and my legs were still a little sore from the half marathon).

The workout calls for a "warm-up interval" of bike / run and then 3 more intervals of bike / run. Matt and I decided to just do the warm up and 2 intervals. I was going to do them all back-to-back like the workout called for, but Matt was going to break them up into "mini-sprint bricks" by doing bike, run, 2:00 break, repeat.

Here we go!!

Spinning (warm-up): 10:00. We spun. We talked about the upcoming race. We "noticed" college girls stretching on the in-field.

Transition: 0:16.

1 Mile Run (warm-up at 90%): 2:51 / 2:55 = 5:46. I ran this a little harder than the prescribed "90%" knowing that I was only doing 2 more intervals after this. I lapped Matt and said "Hey-hey" as I ran past. His enthusiastic response was "F*ck you." That's my brother-in-law. ;)

Transition: 0:24.

Spinning: 9:33. (10x 0:30 on / 0:30 off, skipping the last "off.") The idea is to get on the bike and GO HARD right away. This wasn't too bad. Although my legs DID feel a little heavy. I think I was still feeling the half marathon from a few days before.

Transition: 0:12. That was a fast transition! Good!

1 Mile Run: 3:11 / 3:06 = 6:17. Yeah, my legs were TIRED from the race. But this workout is meant to have you get off the bike and HURT for the first part of that run. That first 200 meters seemed to take for-e-ver.

Transition: 0:19. Not bad.

Spinning: 9:40. (10x 0:30 on / 0:30 off, skipping the last "off.") This was my last interval, and my legs were feeling it! Oh, I also decided to try my new tri shorts for the first time. By the end of this workout, I'd decided NOT to wear them for the race this weekend. My "butt callous" isn't where it needs to be yet...

Transition: 0:14. Good.

1 Mile Run: 3:10 / 2:58 = 6:08. This wasn't QUITE "all out" because I didn't want to hurt anything or beat-myself up too much just 4 days before a race. I ran it HARD, but didn't kill myself. My legs were done.

48:55 total time

I snapped a photo as soon as I wrapped up:



And then I snapped a photo of Matt working on the bike, getting ready to hop off and run for the last time:



(Note the white clock leaning on my bag in the lower-left of that image. That's a clock with a second hand to make it easier to clock our "30 on / 30 off.")

So now it's a couple of easy days, and then the Cannon Falls Duathlon on Saturday!! (2 mile run, 14 mile bike, 3 mile run.) Pharmie, Matt, and I are all heading to the race. And Matt M is doing the duathlon as a team with his girlfriend, so there's a lot of St. Paul heading to Cannon Falls to represent!

Back with a Friday Funny tomorrow, and then my thoughts for the race tomorrow night...

6 comments:

Julie 6:09 AM, April 29, 2010  

Hi Steve,
What a great idea working out on the St. Thomas track:)

Good luck to you Saturday in Cannon Falls!!

teacherwoman 9:03 AM, April 29, 2010  

Sounds like a great workout! Sometimes I wished I lived in the cities!

Matt 9:51 AM, April 29, 2010  

I'm getting flashbacks to gradeschool where you couldn't be a "Matt" without having the first letter of your last name appended to your first name...

FinnyKnits 3:19 PM, April 29, 2010  

Always good for a laugh, you.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking of expanding my racing horizons to try a duathlon, having only ever participated in running-only races. (Well, and swimming, but I'm not doing a tri.)

My questions are: What's the hardest part to master in a duathlon, coming from the POV of a runner?
&
Have you found any other way to train for them aside from racking up your bike on the track and alternating? (Like setting your bike up somewhere and running to it...)

Thanks, Steve. You're a lovable freak.

Matt Ellenberger 6:07 PM, April 29, 2010  

Hey Steve,
Do you always do track work on Tuesday nights? I live in Brady hall overlooking the track so I've noticed you guys a couple times, and would love to have someone to do work with

Stacie 9:20 PM, April 29, 2010  

Good luck at the Duatholon!! Nice job with the workout. Bringing the Run DMC clock is a good idea so you can keep an eye on the seconds hand for the 30 on/30 off. Safe travels this weekend, have fun!

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