Countdown

It occurs to me that I really need to plan my training leading up to my first triathlon. I have my first run this weekend, a second run two weeks after that, a half-century the week before the tri, volunteering at the Tour of California the week before that, I need to practice my transitions, I want to try riding without socks to see what that's like, and I want to ride the UCLA route before the race. Yeah, I need to get organized. I sat down with a calendar and a list of all that I need to do between now and March 8. I think I have it nailed. The big question mark is my running. I'll know more on Sunday!

Last Sunday's ride went better than I thought it would. I noticed that on Saturday's ride I was shifting more confidently than I used to. It's an old bike and the shifters are on the downtube. I was pretty shaky on the bike after I first bought it so shifting was scary. I'm much better now so I decided to do more shifting on Sunday, which seems to have helped me with an almost identical time to Saturday despite tired legs.

I stayed in the saddle up the Woodley hill but tried to power up it rather than just survive. I got about 3/4 the way up before my heart felt like it was going to explode. Progress, progress.

The Crank Sports gels have been working out well. They are a bit on the sweet side, so I wouldn't want to live on them, and I miss the chocolate Gu. However, for the shortish distances I am doing they are just fine and the price sure is right.