This week I'm not going to focus on the run or swim. This week it has all been about the bike. This week was a tougher one at work as I helped out pulling orders for our stores and website customers rather than sitting at my desk. This meant that each day drained me of energy more than normal and by Friday I was just worn down. I ended up skipping my planned Friday swim and opted for sleeping in and letting my body recover a bit before the long weekend of training. This proved to be a wise choice as I woke up Saturday morning feeling much more relaxed and ready to tackle the challenge ahead.
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| A quick pit stop at a bike friendly gas station. |
The weekend bike training sessions are getting longer week after week and with each new session comes a feeling of accomplishment when I end up back in the parking lot having reached a new milestone on my bike. There was more than one reason to feel proud this week, but more on that later. Once again, adding more miles didn't translate to my legs feeling more fatigue which is a comforting sign as I know I'll need to pedal through almost 40 miles more on the bike course in Chattanooga. I was afraid that we would be rained out as the forecast all week had called for 60% chance of thunderstorms. The weathermen got this weekend completely wrong as the weather was cool in the morning, and full of sunshine and blue skies throughout the afternoon. I think that even if it were raining I would still have gone out and rode long as we are now less than 60 days away from race day and missing a long bike or run workout is simply not an option. It felt like an easy ride overall which showed as our pace was a little slower at 16.4 mph, but with a couple of quick stops for bathrooms and water refills the day passed quickly. We did have to dodge a new animal at one point: chickens. Yep, if there's one consistent element of riding from the Bud Plant it's that you will always see lots of animals. Only recently have they decided to become interactive with riders, which is fine with me as long as they don't become too curious as cause wrecks.
Fear Took A Backseat
I know that for most of you triathletes out there, the concept of getting into aero position on your bike was a quick, simple transition that was free of nervousness and fear. That just wasn't me. I've wanted to get down on my clip on aero bars for the past 2 months but every time I'm out riding and start to test the waters by slowly getting into that position, I'm instantly overwhelmed with fear of wrecking as it felt incredibly unstable as I shifted my weight from the handlebars onto just one of the aero bars. I kept trying each week to get into that position and never made it completely down onto the bars. Until now. I had a break through on my ride Saturday as we were around the 40 mile mark of our 75 mile ride. Fear took a backseat as I forced myself to get completely down on the bars on a straight stretch of road. It held a steady incline which made it easier for me to pedal slowly and get used to how it felt to be in this "new" position. The result: it felt great. I felt completely stable, it instantly became easier to pedal and I was able to keep up with my riding buddy much easier. Over the remaining 35 miles of the ride I spent a lot of time in the aero position and felt more confident each time I got into and out of my new riding position. By the end of the ride it felt like I'd been doing this for a long time and was almost second nature. I'm amazed at the difference it makes when riding and can't wait to take this new style onto Chattanooga's course.
Weekly Totals: Swim - 3,000m • Bike - 116.06mi • Run - 19.81mi
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