50 mile bike ride

Original title. I know.

I just finished my first 50 mile bike ride.

This is what I figured out

 

Terrain:

• I think I live in the hilliest city in the world
• The race course is also hilly, so I just need to embrace this, be thankful, and quit bitching about it
• I had to dismount twice (within the same few miles) for a monster of a hill that had a few spots to catch my breath on, but ultimately I just couldn't make it up the whole thing.
• Most hills look worse than they really are
• I rode two long streches of road twice each because they had nice shoulders, but mentally it was challenging. Next time I just want to do an out and back, or a loop.

Nutrition:

• I made a major mistake of bringing a ton of protein, but barely any carbs
• Next time I’m going to try pieces of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the first half. I don’t think my body will like taking in nothing but perpetuem and gels for five to six hours straight. I need sustenance. Just need to figure out what it should be. Any other suggestions for this? please please pretty please.

Misc:

• The typical sore spots (vaj-jay-jay, neck) didn’t start getting sore until around mile 40 which means the threshold for uncomfortableness is rising. yay.
• I really really need people to ride with. That was lonely.
• The onset of a bonk on the bike is FAR more dangerous than while running
• Intersections on a hill can suck it
• Why do some people not give you any room even when there is no oncoming traffic?

Stats:

• 49.37 miles/4:03
• average moving pace was only 12.2 but I wasn’t focusing on time.Simply on getting it done. Hopefully this will come down as I get stronger.
• 2501 ft in elevation gain 
• This is according to Garmin and sometimes I really wonder about the accuracy. Today, I believe it.
• 140 av bpm

 

Weeks 1 – 3: the short version

wOw. Time flies when your training. Here is my lame attempt to recount the first three weeks of my Half Iron Training.

Week 1: This isn’t too bad. I love swimming and I love running. What’s a couple of extra spin classes thrown in the week. HA! Fortunately, the plan I’m using starts out with  VERY low volume swimming. As in only 1000m three times a week. I compromised and made the main set 1000m and only a few hundred meters for a warm up/cool down/drills. For me it’s just not feasible to do a solid workout within a 1000m and still get in a proper warm up and cool down. Anyways, week 1 success.

Swim – 3600 meters

Bike – 50 miles + 1:15 spin class

Run – 24 miles

Week 2: Hindsight! Definitely feeling the training volume in week 2.  Respecting the training and pulling back on my running mileage. No need to burn out. I think my heart rate is starting to decline which is something I’ve wanted for a long time! Realized this week that I need to start eating WAY more calories and drinking only water during workouts is not cutting it.  Starting to focus on nutrition. The requirements are quite different from marathon training.

Swim – 4200 meters

Bike – 30 miles + 2 x 1:15 spin classes

Run – 14 miles

 

Week 3: Found PERPETUEM. Love It! Saving grace. Finally getting the hang of all the variation. I can’t wait for next week. Recovery week :)

Swim – 4850 meters

Bike – 62 miles + 1 hour spin class

Run – 18 miles

_____________________________________________

Today I ran in the Tacoma City Half Marathon. I wasn’t racing it, just running it to ‘remember the distance’ a little. There was no expectations, no time goals, no pace pressure, no nerves, no multiple poops (just the standard one), no stress. It was so much fun. I took the time to thank and acknowledge every volunteer and give lots of encouragement to the other runners. I had a great time. It’s something I really need to do more often to remember why I do all this in the first place: Because I Love It!

It was also a good time for me to test out my new love, aka Perpetual. I took my handheld and just sipped on it all the way through the course. I almost took a gel around mile 8, but it was more just to see how the cocktail would mix with a gel. Anybody have any experience with this? Does it cause tummy issues?

I also ran by heart rate (and feel, but mostly heart rate). I kept it in the 150 – 160 (which is Z2 for me – yeah, high. I know.) Anyways, I pushed strong on the hills and then brought my HR back down on the other side. It was actually kind of, like a new game. I also really liked that my garmin screen wasn’t locked on my pace and I could just let it go. I had lots more in the tank after finishing which was part of the goal.

Time - 2:13/10:11 pace (unofficial)/166 ave bpm