Malibu Triathlon Training: Day 1

June 3
Being horribly out of shape, I decided to take things a little easy on my first "official" training ride, as the last thing I need is a pulled hammy on Day 1. And since my time with the family is fairly limited on a daily basis, I decided I would do the bulk of my riding at night, after Dash was in bed. So that means that on most nights, I'm not leaving the house until around 9:00 pm, which is actually not too bad because the weather is really nice at that time in these parts.

So anyway, here are the vitals:

Distance: 3.18 miles
Duration: 16:42
Avg. Pace: 5:15
Avg. Speed: 11.43 mph
Climbed: 212 feet

As you can see on the map, I basically just did a "lap" around our neighborhood. It starts with a slight climb, then goes downhill pretty quickly at the end of Mile 1 (I maxed out at 32.7 mph). The second mile is fairly flat, with a slight climb starting at the end of Mile 2. Around the 2.8 Mile mark, things start to get much more interesting. For approximately the next mile, it feels like riding up a 60-degree incline. The total elevation change over that mile is 185 vertical feet, and on this night, I couldn't make it much past Mile 3 (which explains the abrupt end of my route on the map). Out of breath with a cramp developing in my left calf and my legs feeling like spaghetti, I decided I had had enough for Day 1 and walked the rest of the way home.

I wasn't exactly setting the world on fire -- or even causing much of a spark, for that matter -- but all I really wanted to do was break a sweat, put some wear on my tires and get used to moving my body again. So in that regard, mission accomplished!