Saturday, September 29, 2007

94 miles and then some...

I woke up at 6:00 this morning to meet a group of Ironman Florida people down in Coronado for a ride. Or, rather I should say a "century" since it was close to 100 miles. I rode for 5.5 hours and it worked out to be 94.5 miles. After I rode, I was ready to see how my legs would be in a run situation. Honestly, I felt like this would be a true test--it's the furthest I have ever ridden and wasn't really sure how my legs would be. During the ride my nutrition was spot-on, no issues and I felt very well hydrated and well fed throughout the whole ride (yay!). I hopped off the bike, put on my running shoes and off I went. My legs felt GREAT. I couldn' believe it. I had done a little stretching of my calves while I was riding, but didn't know how my legs would be overall.

I'm not sure if it's all the transition runs i've done or what it is....but I was really happy that my legs felt "good to go." Honestly, my transition runs haven't been "long" perse, but, they must be doing some good because I felt great. Hmmm, ok, let's hope that transfers over to Ironman Day!

The interesting part of the bike ride was that my knees actually hurt, which never happens, then again i've only ridden up to 85 miles...made me nervous for the run, but I think I just need to be careful in my taper not to push.

The other funny thing I learned a lesson: Under no circumstances should I ever, ever do squats, lunges or any exercises that tire out my glutes before I ride. I have been working on building muscle in my quads and well, that old rear end to give some strength to my knees and strengthen my hips---hmm, yeah, not a good idea to do that before a long ride. The first 35-40 miles were tight and tiresome due to my tired butt! I know you're all thinking "why is she doing glute exercises," thanks to my sister the physical therapist who visited last weekend,---she has given me exercises to help prevent more injuries to my knee and diagnosed me-while LAUGHING -----that I have "weak hips".. Great! Add another thing into my training schedule =0. Seriously, the exercises help, so i'm happy about that.

Today I found myself riding..and busy: every 10 minutes I was doing something, eating or drinking...

I was also playing a game with myself--that involved me going over some thing i've learned while Ironman training and I think i'll do that in my ride for Ironman. Keeps me busy. For example: I've learned that I would rather ride my bike 100 miles than run for an hour, or I've learned that I *can* actually get faster in running, or more sentimentally: I realized that Ironman training holds a special place in my heart-----and i'll be proud of all the hours that i've put into this--but I realize triathlon is just a portion of my life and i've spent so much time training---that I miss simple things like just walking with Dave and my dogs.

Speaking of Dave--I think about him whenever i'm training--because he's usually at home excited to hear how my training went, or he's out training for his next marathon. I recognized today that, other than myself, no one wants this finish for me---more than he does. I realized the true value of "i'm so proud of you,".....and sometimes after a long day--it's nice to hear that from someone who understands how hard it is to work for something you want so badly, and knows the everyday things you trade in to get what you really want. I'm very lucky to have someone who doesn't roll his eyes when I leave at 6:45 a.m. on a Saturday morning and I come back at 2:00 p.m.--too tired to really do much of anything. He's been awesome and i'm so excited he's able to take time from residency to come to my race!!! He hasn't been able to make any of them this year with his schedule, naturally--saving the best for last.

Sorry this is a long one, one of those days I really got thinking. Don't worry, during my taper you'll hear more stories about eating and relaxing!! =0 Thanks for reading!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm still thinking of the 94 mile bike ride. I'd have died. Really. You continue to amaze me!
Love ya! Lauren

Anonymous said...

That is an awesome bike ride!!! Way do go mer!!! You are gonna be ready for Florida!!!