Fixin' Tires and Runnin' Careful

Ride Day
time- 1:30
dist.- 25mi

Yesterday was my first Here to There ride. What that means is I started at home and rode to a destination, in this case a friend's house on Hickam. Normally I plan out a lap, so this was new. It feels more like working without a net going Here to There because for a while I'm not really close to home, or anything home-like. So if I get a flat or have a mechanical difficulty I better be able to fix it or it's a long wait or a longer walk. With this in mind I pumped up my tires and threw a spare tube in to my seat bag.
And my rear tire promptly went flat 20 minutes out. Which led to my first realization about my new bike: I don't know how to release the brakes to get the tire out. It's difference than Sandra B. (Obi Tri's bike). So first I had to figure that out, then get the tire off and switch out the tube, all of which is easy but time-consuming and no fun in the sun with cars whizzing by. Then pump it up as far as I can with my small hand pump and I'm back on the road.
It was a pretty nice ride. Felt slow to me, and I accidentally reset my JogTracker when I stopped at a Local Bike Shop (LBS) to have them fill the tire the rest of the way, so I have no idea what my average speed was. Not quick. But that's ok, we're base building here. Just getting miles on the legs, getting the engine strong. I predicted about 90 minutes before I left the house and that's what it took me ride time. Took over two hours with the tire fix and the quick LBS stop.

Run Day
time- 35min
dist- approx 3 mi

I'm still on my slow and steady running kick. I'm worried about form and my second toe (which didn't hurt all week or during my run, but is kind of sore now. To the Ice!). So I was not running fast at all, just nice and easy, trying to run with proper form so that later I can kick it up and I won't lose it.
The run felt great. Mentally, its easier to go for a run when you know the challenge won't be going all out. And by the end of the run my stride felt locked in, it felt more right. So I'm going to keep this up for a few weeks, hoping that the locked-in feeling starts happening earlier and earlier in the runs until I can get it right away. Then I'll start thinking about picking up the pace. I still have 17 (or is it 16?) weeks before the race. That's plenty of time. I need to run smart.