I drove to Michigan this morning, stopping at the local Cracker Barrel for a pre-bike meal of pancakes. Yum. Parked at Tiscornia Park (where the Steelhead swim begins) and headed out. 56 miles and 2:56 later I was back at the car grinning from ear to ear. Though my back was a little sore, the knives were safely holstered today. I was finally able to ride the course with no trouble or extraordinary pain. God bless bike fitters. And pancakes.
I think I also discovered a strategy that might work for me on race day: I took the first hour very easy, covering 16 miles. The second hour I pushed a bit harder, covering an additional 19 miles. I covered the final 21 miles in less than an hour and finished the ride feeling great. This dividing the bike into easy/medium/hard thirds gained me the sub-3:00 time I want, reduced the pressure on still-tender muscles and set me up for a decent run. The trick will be to not waste energy keeping up with the rabbits early in the bike...as if I could anyway.
Wil wants to ride the course again on Friday. I have a 2:30 brick workout (1:30 bike, 1:00 run) tomorrow and a 2:00 run on Saturday, so Friday may not be the day to tackle 56 again. We'll see.
Looks like our every-Tuesday Steelhead training group is expanding: Shelley is joining us, primarily to give us a tiny speck on the horizon to chase!
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Steelhead Dreamin'
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
I think that your bike strategy rocks - just like for marathons, they say to start slow and ramp up as you go. Sounds like the trick - can't wait to try it out!!!
What an awesome workout. Glad you are going to have that course nailed down before the race...
Kayn told me that my strategy is EXACTLY what she wants me to do on race day. Go out easy, build, then really hit it.
Hmmm. Maybe I stumbled onto something purely by accident. Story of my life.
Pancakes RULE! I'm trying to figure out how to carry one or two along in my Bento Box on race day! The pancakes are easy; it's the maple syrup that has me stumped. Maybe in one of those little plastic bottles!
Jeez, you guys are going to have your own PELOTON! I'm so envious! Have fun!!!
You know they sell those MRE's at camping stores, I've even seen pancakes with maple syrup-just add water. Would it be the same if you squeeze one of those in like a gel pack and take a swig from your water bottle? :)
MREs! What a great idea!
Post a Comment