It's Amazing What Altitude Can Do...Afterthoughts

62 mile ride

So I guess I really was sick last weekend. With everyone asking me about the race last week and me always starting off with "well, I was sick", I was starting to think that I was just using it as an excuse. I mean, I wasn't hacking up a lung or anything, so maybe I could have pushed myself harder. I'm sure most of us have this thought after a race. I know I do. I was still having trouble doing the math of how I ended up finishing only 15 minutes off of my best time. I sat down and compared prior half-IM results. Compared to the Long Course last year, my swim and bike were both faster at Vineman. Not by a lot, but still faster. I DNF'd at the Long Course (I was just getting over a foot injury and I felt it kick in during the first lap of the run and I wasn't going to risk IM Florida for this, so I dropped out), so I couldn't compare the run. In comparing the previous year, my Vineman swim was faster, but my run and ride at the Long Course were faster. I rode 3 minutes faster and ran 9 minutes faster. But I still had my best bike and run during my first half-IM in 2004. So towards the end of the week I was starting to ask myself if I really was sick or just not feeling ready for the race. Today answered that question.

I did a 62 mile ride today that was supposed to all be in Z2, with the exception of 10 minutes in Z3. I had theoretically planned on heading out around 9 to try and keep the Exposure to Extreme Heat to a minimum. However, in my head, I must have realistically planned on leaving by 10. I think I was on the road at 9:45. Clearly my brain is a lot smarter than me.

The ride started out slow, as it always does being that the first 15 minutes are a long gradual climb. Makes the Z1 warmup a little tough, but all of my rides start this way. I settled into a comfortable pace, but it was Z3 so I backed down. I settled into a new comfortable pace. I wasn't really thinking about time or speed since I had already counted on this being a long ride. However, I hit the 1 hour mark and realized that I was a lot farther along than normal. I was pretty excited, especially since I really wasn't expecting it. I figured it wouldn't last. I got to Carter Lake about 15 minutes earlier than I did last summer. I kept checking my HR. Still Z2. I did my Z3 stint on the road heading west into Carter Lake. Since it's that gradual uphill, I figured I might as well push myself here. This stretch of road used to piss me off so much last summer. No matter how well I had been riding up to that point, I always slowed to a crawl once I made that turn. Today was quite different. I definitely slowed down, but it was slightly faster than a crawl. I refilled on water and turned around to start the ride home. I tried to enjoy the ride since it was turning out so much better than I had planned. I ran into Matt with about 10 miles to go. Let me revise: I ran into Matt with about 10 easy, relatively flat miles to go. I tried to get him to turn around and ride with me but he said he wanted to go a little farther out. He told me to turn around and ride with him. I had already bragged about how well I was doing. He said he was hoping to run into me, but figured it would be farther out. I said it was because I was riding so fast. Anyhow, I started whining about turning around because it would mean that I'd have to face that hill again (the one on 75th where it does that turn and becomes 73rd. I don't know why, but this hill kills me.) He said he wanted to go to Nelson and head west to 63rd and come back on 63rd. I started whining again since I hate 63rd - the rollers kill me. So he said "Okay, I guess you don't want to get faster". That did it. I turned around and faced the rollers. Deep down inside, I've been really happy that 63rd has been under construction for most of the season. I've managed to avoid it for the most part - I think I've ridden it 3 times this year. But it was time to deal with them. Despite the fact that I was starting to get tired, I handled them much better than I used to. I didn't feel like I was struggling up all of them. Of course, I did get a little push up one of them (thank you Matt). I hit the 60 mile mark in 3 hrs, 30 minutes and then cruised the rest of the way home in Z1. Even though I was halfway into it by the time I finished, I felt like I was starting the weekend off right.

Anyhow, it turned out that I hit the 56 mile marker in about the same time it took me to ride the bike course at Vineman. And all in Z2. My average HR across the ride: 131. My upper limit of Z2 is 132, so I had plenty of room to spare. So, either I really was sick or I'm the only person on the planet that performs worse at sea level.