From July 7-14, I was gone on a mission trip with the youth
group from our church. Because of
this, I missed a week’s worth of rides (and swims). I knew I needed to get back on the bike and decided to do
the Katy Flatland Century ride on July 22nd. I did the ride in 2010 when training
for IMFL and it was a great ride.
I was hoping it would be once again.
Saturday morning I got up and did my long run of the
week. Once I had showered and
packed I headed to Katy to get my packet, eat dinner, and get ready to ride.
The start of the ride was a little different this year. Instead of a mass start, there was a
rolling start. And, instead of
starting at 7:00am the rolling start began at 6:30am this year. That was nice as being in Texas, things
heat up fast. I wanted to be done
as soon as possible, so I rolled out as close to 6:30 as I could.
My goal today was to do my ride and not get caught up in
what everyone else was doing. I
wasn’t going to get caught up in the pace lines or worry about people passing
me. This ride is a flat ride and
some of the riders are fast.
Besides, not all riders do the century ride, so it’s hard in the
beginning to know who is doing what ride.
It’s obviously easier to ride 40 miles at 19mph than it is 100
miles. Today was my ride, at my
speed, whatever that speed turned out to be.
My plan from the beginning was to stop at every other aid
station. This would take care of
my potty needs and allow me to refill my bottles and take enduralyte
tablets. This worked well and kept
me feeling good on the bike.
At the half way point, I was still averaging 17.3 mph (which
for me is good) and at mile 75 the average was still 17.1. I was very happy with how the ride was
going, but I will admit the last 25 miles (and especially the last 12 miles)
were tough. I have issues with my
upper back (think traps and rhomboids) getting tight and today was no
different. Plus, it was finally
starting to get hot and at this point the crowd is thinned out greatly so there
are times you are pretty much on your own. I pushed through, however, and finished with a ride time of
5:54:22 for a 16.94 average. I
would be so happy to have that average at IMAZ, but that time does not account
for stops. I don’t stop for long
when I stop, but it does factor into your time during an IM.
After the ride, I enjoyed a veggie burger and some
lemonade. I’m so grateful they
have the veggie burger as an option.
I then went outside and got a 20 minute massage to see they could loosen
up my back. After that I showered
in the locker room at the stadium and then headed home.
This ride gives me some confidence that my training is where
it needs to be right now and that makes me happy. Now if I can just figure out the tightness issue.
1 comment:
It is always my lower back that gets stiff and hurts on long rides..I am hopign to solve that by lifting weights every other day. I can tell the crunchs, sit ups and back extensions are helping.
I haven't done a century since America's Finest Bike Ride. I have done a few metric centuries though. What event is next? I am doing a 5 k on New Year's Day.
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