The 113mi Ride

Well it's officially taper time! I've completed the toughest part of training: the 20mi run and the 110mi bike. I made it 113 just to say I've ridden the distance. It's only a few more miles, but the mental difference is huge!

Ready to go!

I started at about 9:30am, and the weather was perfect. Patches of sun, but mostly cloudy and cool. On Friday night as I was getting ready, I had a minor panic attack when I suddenly realized that my Infinit had not been shipped yet and I was TOTALLY OUT. Fortunately, my awesome husband saved me by letting me use the rest of his from his Ironman! Not exactly the same, but better than any other option readily available...

He had JUST the right number of scoops left.

So that was my first challenge. The second challenge was that I had sprained my finger at work (long story, but basically I was holding a student's hand to assist her to walk and she squeezed it just a little too hard). That was on Wednesday. I had to wear a splint so I wouldn't bend the sprained knuckle:

Well, this is awkward.

So yeah, that was a bit inconvenient, but it really didn't bother me that much, thankfully. It only hurt a little when I went over major bumps. Or the 10 bumps in the Taco Bell parking lot when I went to get water at mile 42. That was a bit painful. But I was still able to have a solid grip on my bike! That's pretty important...

My route was 3 loops thru Santiago Canyon, with about 6500 feet of climbing (according to my GPS - 4800 according to mapmyrun.com but I like 6500 better). I always do more climbing in training than I expect in the race, so that the flat will be fast!

I managed to maintain an 18.0mph average for the ride. Not too bad! If the conditions are right on race day, 17+ should be no problem. Notice I say "should." Anything can happen in an Ironman...

1,674 ft - piece of cake ;)

After the ride, I had the aero bars trimmed. I sometimes bump my knees when I stand up. Don't want to hurt my knees before I have to run a marathon! I also bought some new arm rest pads, because the ones I was using were a different brand than the aero bars and they didn't quite fit properly.

Saving a few grams of weight can't hurt...

Overall, I'm feeling very confident about the bike. I feel strong, but I know there will be times during the race that I won't feel so great. No matter what, I say bring it on - it's not an Ironman if it's not tough!

Metric Ironman & URA banquet

Last Saturday was a BIG day. It began at 6am when I woke up for my workout: a Metric Ironman. All this means is that I did the Ironman distance, in KILOMETERS instead of MILES. This came out to be a:

• 1.5mi swim
• 70mi bike
• 16mi run

I did the swim at Waterworks Aquatics Center, where my awesome husband set up a mock "transition" area and got my bike ready for me. From there, I did an out & back course twice, to simulate Ironman conditions. I ended the ride at home, so I could do my usual long run course. It has lots of drinking fountains, simulating aid stations.

7:30am: Here we go!

The swim went well. I was able to manage a steady pace (5:25-5:30 per 250yd) and felt good. It was a little awkward swimming in my tri suit and everything, but oh well. No way I was wearing a wetsuit in 80 degree water!

The ride started off a little chilly, because I was wet and it was a little overcast, but I like cool weather and I never felt cold.

Greg rode the first half with me so I had some company. :)

A new (more aero) wheel for me to try

My legs felt fine the whole time, but I kept saying to Greg that something felt a little "off" about that new back wheel. Is something loose? I feel rattling... He checked it out and it seemed fine. On the second out and back, going up Lake Forest, I started to feel a regular "bump" on the back wheel. Usually that means a flat. Looked behind me, no flat. Hmm. Stopped at a light, looked at it from a better angle - oh wow, the tire is popping off the rim!

Yeah that's not good. I was able to quickly let out a little air, get it back on, and pump it back up with CO2, never having to take of the wheel. The rest of the ride was uneventful, and I felt strong to the end!

2 days later: all fixed, clean, and a front aero wheel too!

The run went better than expected. I was supposed to run easy, about 9:15-9:30 pace. Well I was a bit short on time, and I bolted out from the house at about an 8:15 pace. I didn't plan on running that fast, so I tried to slow it down. Managed an 8:26 first mile. Marathon race pace is probably a bit too fast for an Ironman! Tried to slow it down more. An 8:52 pace moved to an 8:50 pace. Darn it, I really am trying!! Eventually I slowed to 9min+ but it took a while... I felt pretty good the whole time, only I was still a little hungry from earlier. Should've eaten more for breakfast, or had a gel on the bike once I started feeling hungry: lesson learned. I finally took a gel at mile 11, which kicked in a few minutes later. Much better! Greg also brought me some coke to drink at mile 13, so I could test out what that might do to my stomach if I were to drink it on race day.

After drinking the coke. Wooo, caffeine!

It was fine, and gave me some energy! I pushed the pace back up to a sub 9:00 mile and finished strong.

Why do I look so tired??

I figured out about halfway into my run that this was the longest workout I've ever done. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't realize that sooner - I may have been a little nervous! The whole thing took me 7hr40min, and even my longest/slowest Half Ironman was 7hr19min (yeah that was good old Wildflower Long Course this year).

So when I got home, I pretty much jumped in the shower, got dressed, and headed to the Up & Running Again banquet. We found out there were about 102 people running the Long Beach Half Marathon the next day - some for the first time, and some for the 7th time!

The kid on the left in the green shirt is running his 3rd...

It was a great night, and it really got me back into why I'm doing this race. I was given a few minutes to speak, so I gave a personal testimony about my experience with the group, my Ironman training, addictions, and inspiration that I've gained since knowing about Up & Running Again. I haven't been able to volunteer with the runners this season, but I want to do that for the next season, after Ironman. I want to be there during the next race... Here are some pictures from Long Beach:

With 5 weeks to go before Ironman, I'm pretty much there - and looking forward to the race and what's to come after! I'm so proud of these runners, and excited for them! At the banquet, I asked if anyone would ever consider an Ironman. A few raised their hands...