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Weekend recap and Harriman Bike Course

Today I went up to Harriman State Park and checked out the bike course for Saturday’s race. The course is described as follows on the official race site: “The bike course is a difficult 14-mile loop course with 1,500 total feet of elevation gain/loss per lap.” For the 56 mile half ironman, we will obviously do four loops. I have been hearing and reading a lot about how hilly the course is and wanted to see for myself before race day. Let me tell you, that course is no joke. The elevation profile for the course is below, and that hill between miles 9-11 (and 23-25, and 37-39 and 51-53!) is tough. And I mean TOUGH. I was grinding away on the small gears and if I don’t think my spedometer ever showed a number higher than 9.0 mph.

I don’t really know how to read these charts, but it’s pretty easy to tell that the nearly vertical line that starts around mile nine and climbs up to over 1,100 feet is one tough puppy of a hill. Today I proved that to myself.

Now, I wasn’t killing myself up there, but I was putting out a “moderate” effort. I’m hopeful that on race-day, laps one and two will be a little faster than what I rode today, but I have no idea what’s going to happen on laps three and four. Last weekend (as explained below), also using a “moderate” effort out on Long Island, I rode 56 miles on a rolling course in about 2:42. I will be shocked if I can do those four loops in less than 3:10 (and if it’s rainy, as is currently forecasted, probably much slower). There are some great descents, especially the one leading into that beastly hill, but the course is windy and twisty and it was hard/scary to use too much of that speed to help with going up the hills. I’m really glad I checked the course out today – now I know what I’m in for and will be more comfortable on the course on Saturday morning.

The other thing about that course is that the park is absolutely beautiful. There are a bunch of big lakes and campgrounds. I’m a little disappointed that I’ve never made it up there before. If I lived closer, I’d try to ride there all the time – if you ride those hills regularly in training, I can’t imagine there are many race courses to be afraid of!

This weekend was a pretty great one for training. We went out to Wainscott for Mother’s Day, and a trip out east means good riding. Saturday I did a pretty intense four hour brick – three hours on the bike and an hour run. Assaf and Robyn were out there with us and Assaf did some of the ride with me and then all of the run. I pushed it a little harder on the bike than I have been doing in the past, but didn’t kill myself. I rode great – averaging right about 21mph. On the way out to Montauk there was a pretty brutal headwind, but I tucked deep into my aero position and just pushed through it. Then, on the way back, there was a nice six or eight mile stretch that I really pushed, just to see what it felt like. It felt pretty great – especially because I had a good tailwind and could really roll! After the ride, I quickly transitioned and took off for a run with Assaf. I definitely ran harder than I’d planned, but I was feeling good and it’s easy to push myself a little when I’m running with Assaf.

Now, I’m into the final preparations for Saturday’s race – the rest of the week is a few pretty chill training sessions. I’ve got to eat up and rest up for a big day Saturday.

Brick – May 12
Bike:
Distance: 63.6 miles
Time: 3:06
Average heart rate: 125
Course: Wainscott to Montauk + detours
Run:
Distance: 7.5 miles
Time: 58 minutes
Average heart rate: 149
Course: House to beach
Conditions: Sunny, warm, mid-60’s

Bike – May 13
Distance: 27.7 miles
Time: 1:32
Average heart rate: 113
Course: Wainscott to East Hampton, Sag Harbor
Conditions: Sunny, warm, mid-60’s, some wind, BEAUTIFUL

Run – May 14
Distance: 6 miles
Time: 46 minutes
Average heart rate: 146
Course: West Side Highway
Conditions: Sunny, mid/high-50’s

Swim – May 14
Distance: 2,400 yards
Time: 45 minutes

Bike – May 15
Distance: 27.6 miles
Time: 1:33
Average heart rate: 132
Course: Harriman State Park – 2 loops
Conditions: Sunny, warm, some wind