It went something like this:
Well, that was just the warm-up.
"Iron Avengers": Our capes were sparkly pink!
Ride and Tie originated as a type of horse race where a team of 2 shared a horse between them, one riding, one running. The rider would race ahead and tie the horse at a spot along the road and take off on foot. When the runner got to the horse, he’d jump on and overtake his partner on foot, leaving the horse at a later point down the road.
We put an IronTeam spin on the event, adding costumes and using mountain bikes. Because, why not?
The Ride and Tie took place at Shadow Cliffs Park in Pleasanton. It was a sunny day, a little cool, but good for being out and about. The Silicon Valley IronTeam joined us for this event, so we warmed up with some ice-breakers on the beach. There was a partner egg-on-a-fork race, a 3-legged race, and a crab-walk race. I can’t say that I enjoyed any of them, particularly the 3-legged race, wherein I took a spill that scraped up my arm. Not a propitious start.
But I’m not a crab-walker, I’m a triathlete. Bring on the running and biking! I partnered with a new teammate, Marilyn, who brought her mountain bike for us to use. She’s a little shorter than I am, so the bike was slightly awkward. Plus, it took me a while to figure out the gearing, making the few little hills a challenge. But the course was short, just 3 3-mile loops, so all in all, I ended up running about 4 miles and biking 4 miles. In between loops, we went to the beach for core challenges (pulling a tire filled with sand on a rope for 50 yards is tricky).
It was a fun event, much silliness, and nice to startle all the Pleasanton dog-walkers with our outrageous costumes and good humor. This wasn’t a “heavy fitness” day, but we need a break now and then. Next weekend, we have 2 full days of boot camp, 8am – 4pm. In a few weeks, we have our Wildflower Training Weekend (which just means doing the Wildflower long course as a practice for doing the Wildflower long course for real in May). We’ve officially entered our “Build” phase of training, where workouts will get longer and harder, so today was a gentle kick-off for the pain to come!
We put an IronTeam spin on the event, adding costumes and using mountain bikes. Because, why not?
The Ride and Tie took place at Shadow Cliffs Park in Pleasanton. It was a sunny day, a little cool, but good for being out and about. The Silicon Valley IronTeam joined us for this event, so we warmed up with some ice-breakers on the beach. There was a partner egg-on-a-fork race, a 3-legged race, and a crab-walk race. I can’t say that I enjoyed any of them, particularly the 3-legged race, wherein I took a spill that scraped up my arm. Not a propitious start.
But I’m not a crab-walker, I’m a triathlete. Bring on the running and biking! I partnered with a new teammate, Marilyn, who brought her mountain bike for us to use. She’s a little shorter than I am, so the bike was slightly awkward. Plus, it took me a while to figure out the gearing, making the few little hills a challenge. But the course was short, just 3 3-mile loops, so all in all, I ended up running about 4 miles and biking 4 miles. In between loops, we went to the beach for core challenges (pulling a tire filled with sand on a rope for 50 yards is tricky).
It was a fun event, much silliness, and nice to startle all the Pleasanton dog-walkers with our outrageous costumes and good humor. This wasn’t a “heavy fitness” day, but we need a break now and then. Next weekend, we have 2 full days of boot camp, 8am – 4pm. In a few weeks, we have our Wildflower Training Weekend (which just means doing the Wildflower long course as a practice for doing the Wildflower long course for real in May). We’ve officially entered our “Build” phase of training, where workouts will get longer and harder, so today was a gentle kick-off for the pain to come!
Week 15 Mileage
Tuesday, February 19 Run - 45 minutes, 5 miles Core - 20 minutes Wednesday, February 20 Rest day Thursday, February 21 Run - 42 minutes, 4.5 miles Friday, February 22 Spin - 1 hour Saturday, February 23 - Coached Swim - 1 hour 30 minutes, 3000 yards Run - 1 hour 20 minutes, 6.8 miles (HILLS!) Core - 27 minutes Sunday, February 24 - Ride & Tie Bike - 20 minutes, 4 miles Run - 40 minutes, 4 miles Core - 10 minutes | Totals: Swim - 1 hour 30 minutes, 3000 yards Bike - 1 hour 20 minutes, 4 miles Run - 3 hours 30 minutes, 20.5 miles Core - 1 hour Total - 7 hours 20 minutes |