313 days until Ironman Arizona.

I did my brick today with my new tri shorts from Hammer Nutrition. They’re a bit shorter than bike shorts—about four inches shorter judging from this photo:

I’m not going to lie, I felt a little immodest in these shorts as well as a little, um, shall we say “less padded.” Reactions from others ranged from the funny—Mrs. Fat Triathlete singing “Who Wears Short Shorts?”

—to the flattering (two wolf whistles from women in passing cars), to the vaguely humiliating (some guy on a Cervelo slowing down long enough to compliment my farmer’s tan, wish me a safe ride and then take off so fast he left Millennium Falcon-style color streaks.)

Still, once I was off the bike and running, I have to say these shorts are way more comfortable than bike shorts—at least for running. With tri shorts, you don’t get that feeling that you skipped the porta-potty and elected to just take a dump and deal with it. (That’s what running in bike shorts always feels like to me, anyway.) Still, I felt, um, “less padded” enough that as soon as I got home I Googled “erectile dysfunction cycling” and found this terrifying article.

My perineum hurts just thinking about it.

Today’s easy brick workout:

• Bike: 02:12:08, 37.03 miles, 16.8 mph, 144 bpm, 95.0 rpm
• Run: 51:21, 5.08 miles, 10:07/mile, 159 bpm

Interesting thing today: I tried the walk/run method described in the book—the idea is you run ten minutes and then speed-walk one minute. Much to my surprise, it really helped keep my overall average speed high[1] for a not-unreasonable heart rate, especially considering I ran a very, very hilly course today.

[1] Relatively speaking, of course. I am the Fat Triathlete, after all.