Group rides, running shoes and shaved heads.

Wow, so last night, my pal and I grilled some burgers, and let me tell you they were easily some of the best burgers I've ever had. They were pre-seasoned and we got some cream Havarti cheese with jalapeños in it. Pair that with a fresh tomato and some baked beans and you got yourself a meal. Every time we grill burgers I say they're the best I've ever had so I'm excited to see what the next ones are like. How this relates to my training? Oh yeah, I always seem to feel better after a really full dinner with a decent amount of protein.

I woke up this morning feeling great and ready for a ride with the team. I rode out to our meet up spot which is about 10 miles from my house, so it takes about 30 min to get there. A nice warm up. The normal group wasn't there. They were out spray painting the roads for the criterium race we're putting on in 2 weeks. I got there a few minutes early and it was only 3 of us, then everyone started to show up It was mostly older guys in they're 50's (which really isn't old, but way older than me). You might say, "Oh so you had a really easy ride today then". No mam, no sir. The older guys are the ones who you have to watch out for. They've been riding their whole life and can and will teach you a thing or 2. It was a nice paced ride. We averaged between 22 and 23 for most of the ride. It was a fun ride. Even though the older guys are bad asses they usually aren't much for sprinting or fast climbing so for once I was able to hold my own on the climbs and sprints. When I got back to my house my speedometer said 55 miles. I was feeling pretty good.

Feeling pretty good is usually enough for me to put on my running shoes and hit the running trails for a few miles. Considering I had just done 55 miles on my road bike and not my tri bike I figured I'd make it a short run, so I went for a quick 4 miler. I felt good. My legs were tired but cardiovascularly I was OK. Like I had said in my last post, I think for me personally, the most important thing will be finding that rhythm and just keeping the pace constant. No need to power through 13 miles. I wouldn't make it out alive. I think I can keep an 8 min/mile pace pretty easily for that distance and after a 1.2 mile swim and 56 mile bike ride I'll need a slower pace than I'm used to to finish in one piece.

One thing I noticed today was that I hydrate totally differently when I'm doing a group ride or riding with a buddy in more of a road cycling state of mind. When I'm doing tri training the focus is on keeping a powerful pace the whole time and taking in calories at a regular interval. On group rides its all about getting in fluids and keeping the intensity high. Not that any of this is important but I noticed it today. I didn't use any gels, and just drank when I needed it which was mostly after huge uphills or sprints. Makes sense I guess...

Ahhhh, so the exciting part. I got home. Started to watch the tour. Saw Dave Z warming up for the prologue. He had shaved his head (if you recall he used to have some pretty tall hair). I said wow that looks pretty cool. I thought, I have some clippers. I wet my hair, and went at it. I don't have much hair any more and it feels great. It doesn't look half bad either. Actually, without coming off as being conceited it looks pretty damn good compared to having a little bit of hair on my head and not knowing what to do with it. At the very least I look like a triathlete now.

Thanks for reading my blog. I keep finding out more and more people actually read this. It's nice to know. I do mostly for myself to keep track of my training but it's nice to know other people are interested.

Listening to: August Burns Red's new CD... Oh man it's crazy.

Feeling: Lighter