Long, STRONG ride
Now that was a workout!
As I wrote earlier in the week, this has been a bike-heavy week. Coming into today, I’d already spent 4:15 on the bike, all of it indoors on the trainer. This weekend, I have long rides scheduled for both today and tomorrow. Fortunately, we decided to come out to Long Island for the weekend, where it’s much easier and more fun to do the long rides.
Today I was scheduled to ride 100 miles in six hours and then get off the bike and do a short, slow run. I was pretty nervous about the ride – I’d never done more than around 70 miles and while my knee had been feeling much better on Thursday (even after a pretty hard run) and Friday, I was a little concerned that a long ride might re-aggravate it. I was also concerned about bonking, like I did the last time I rode out here, in February. After that ride though, I’d talked with John about nutrition and it was clear that my difficulties were at least partly (and probably, mostly) because I didn’t take in enough calories or drink enough fluids. Today, I had a plan – I wanted to get between 250-300 calories and 20 ounces of water per hour. I think that I actually should be getting more of both every hour, but I figured that range would be sufficient for today and was conscious about upsetting my stomach by eating/drinking too much.
I’ve spent some time (way too much time) thinking about my nutrition plan.
In the last week, I tricked out my bike with two new toys:
Profile Design AeroDrink:
and
Beaker Concepts Hydrotail (as shown on Norman Stadler’s bike in his 2006 Kona Ironman Championship Race):
I hoped both would make it easier for me to take in enough calories and drink enough fluids. My plan for today was to fill two water bottles with InfiniT (about 375 calories in each) and fill the AeroDrink with water. I would stop to buy water and refill the AeroDrink as necessary during the ride. I also had a few gels, a ClifBar and a PowerBar. In races, I’m going to ditch the ClifBars/PowerBars and get all of my calories from InfiniT and gels.
I rode off this morning under a cloudy sky. It had poured rain all day yesterday, but it wasn’t supposed to rain today. It was cool out, but comfortable for a ride. I felt great right from the start. I was conscious of how I felt on the way out to Montauk last time AND remembered how horrible the return trip was, so I held back on the way out east. I got to Montauk Point and headed back. Then, I rode and rode and just kept riding. I was averaging a little under 20 mph and keeping my heart rate in zones 1 and 2 (except during a few of the tougher climbs, when I hit zone 3). I took a tour through the east end. I kept waiting to get tired and slow down, but it never really happened. After about three hours, I stopped to buy a bottle of water. I rode through Sag Harbor and North Sea and then back around through Wainscott. I hit the century mark after about 5:15. I kept going and finally came home just a few minutes under six hours. It happened to be nearly exactly 112 miles – what an interesting distance to ride! I’d ridden the Ironman distance. And I felt great doing it; I suffered a little between miles 80-85 and my rear-end was aching a little, but I really felt good and actually enjoyed the ride. The “enjoyment” was probably in part because I knew I didn’t have to run a marathon after getting off the bike!
After I dropped the bike at home, I quickly changed shoes and took off for a short, slow run around the block. The run also went great – I kept the effort easy and, obviously, I only did about 1/15 of the Ironman run distance, but, nevertheless I’m happy with how easy the transition was after such a long ride.
I’m tired tonight, but feel much better than I’d anticipated I would – so far at least. I took an ice bath and stretched for a while. I’ve also eaten a TON of food since coming home. But let’s see how I feel tomorrow morning, when I wake up knowing that I have to get right back on the bike!
Bike – April 25
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 113
Indoor ride
Run – April 26
Distance: 10.5 miles
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 152
Course: West Side Highway north
Conditions: Sunny, crisp (low 50’s)
Bike – April 27
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 115
Indoor ride
Bike – April 28
Distance: 112.1 miles
Time: 5:56
Average heart rate: 120
Course: All the F over the Hamptons – East Hampton, Amagansett, Montauk, Sag Harbor, North Sea, Southampton
Conditions: Varied, mostly overcast and cool (mid-50’s), sunny and warmer for last hour
Run – April 29
Distance: 1.75 miles
Time: 15 minutes
Average heart rate: 142
Course: Just around the block
Conditions: Sunny, warm