One Month!

           One month to go until race day!  I finally got outside on the bike for the first time on May 13^th. I’ll only get outdoors on the bike about 4 times, and they will all be long ones! The majority of my runs have also been on the treadmill, except a few on the track at practice. Those runs went well, but when I’ve gotten outdoors running on the rolling hills, I realized it was tougher than it should have been.  Training indoors is a lot more manageable with little kids though.

Finally getting outside for a ride!

            Going outdoors for the first time had me nervous… would my time on the trainer translate over well? I never ride the trainer in aero (too uncomfortable indoors), and I wondered how I’d handle the hills. In the early part of my Race Effort work, I continued to wonder, but I ended up doing 1 hour 20 minutes at Race Effort and felt really good. The rest of the Race Effort work was broken up because of stop sings, turns, etc. but I did a total of 2:12 at RE (2:34 ride total) and doing over 51 miles. I was pleasantly surprised at how well I did, and I feel like in 4 weeks I’ll be race ready on the bike.

            On the treadmill, I’ve been able to run off the bike at a 7:15/mile pace (incline 1%), but hills do me in, and the run from my house is not kind. I had a goal of sub 7:30 pace for my first outdoor brick run, but went out too fast at 7 minutes for the first mile, before I settled in and averaged 7:14 for 4.75 miles, did an easy quarter, and finished with a half mile at 7:10 pace. Even counting my easy quarter mile, I still averaged 7:21 for the 5.5 miles. On the actual race course, there is initially one big hill up High Cliff, with the remainder being mainly flat. I think I will be able to recover from the hill to be able to handle the rest of the course (albeit still tough).

            It was only my first time outdoors, but my ride still averaged over 20 mph for the 51 miles, including the warm-up and easy spins between intervals. For the race, I’ll also be putting a disc on the back wheel, a race wheel on the front, race tires, and I’ll be wearing my aero helmet as well. I feel like I am on track to go fast on the bike!

            I felt like I barely survived the brick run though, and so I need to consider taking in more calories on the bike. Backing off to a 7:30 pace will also be more feasible. As race day gets closer, I’ll continue to dial everything in to make sure I’m ready to go. Lock laces are on my race shoes, and my wetsuit is patched. My bike is in at the shop getting a tune-up as well. One month to go and I’m ready to hit it hard and then go in and crush the race!