And running in all this?

Yes, there is still running in all this. Some will say that it's the most important sport out of all three in triathlon. Not only you have to be able to run, but you have to be able to run on tired legs. Needless to say, running has been hard. I don't remember when was the last time that I went for a run and didn't ask myself how my legs were going to survive, or how long it was going to take them to feel lighter and faster. I still run 3-4 times a week, with the long run being on Monday or Tuesday, after many hours spent in the saddle on weekends.

It is said that fitness gained on the bike transfers on the run, but not vice versa. Somehow it works and I have been feeling improvement over the past months, especially in speed workouts. These usually happen on Wednesdays when I meet my coach and a few other "regulars" on the track for series of 600s, 800s or 1000s. Fartleks are now a thing of the past, not hard enough according to my coach.
Then on Saturday I have a run off the bike, usually for 15min, followed by hills, tempo or aerobic run on Sundays, no more than 8-10k. For a colourful visual, see below.

Happy little boxes

These are the workouts that I end up completing in a week, the schedule on paper is generally a bit harder. I seem to end up missing a workout each week because of life. I try to put in the most important ones, usually, but I'm only human and certainly not a robot. I do what I can to keep this sport from becoming a chore, I think it's important to choose your battles and still enjoy yourself, especially when most of your joy comes from sweat.

So anyway, this post is not for sharing with you my latest PR or number of laps I completed without puking on the track. None of this happened by the way, but I'm not sure what I could tell you about my running that you don't already know, or that I feel it'd be worth sharing. If you are curious, you can dissect all my workouts on Runkeeper. I have nothing to hide, it's all there.

To end on a cheerful note though, last weekend, in the middle of the 110km bikefest, I met with Nicole and her happy bunch of running acolytes. She organized a "runch" at her place in Milton and since I wasn't scheduled to run that day, I joined the fest after putting in 2.5h of solid bike riding. It was as wonderful as you could imagine a group of sweaty, euphoric adults, eager to share their favorite culinary creations at the end of a rewarding run.

I only partook in the eating, but I promised Nicole to join them on the next edition of the event, which should definitely become a "thing" (psst, can we make it on Sunday?). Who said running wasn't fun, especially with friends huffing and puffing in tandem?