Deanne did her long bike yesterday (5 hours!), so we only biked together for the first hour of my 4-hour ride this morning. She was feeling pretty beat up which was bad for her, but good for me because it was easier for me to stay with her. Yay!
After we split off, I headed to the dreaded water-tower hill to tackle it alone. After the first time up, I started to strategize: try to make it to that telephone pole before switching to an easier gear, try to make it to that tree before I stand up, and so on. Each time I pushed it a little bit harder. On my third trip up I had some company: a group of guys biked up it with me, and as we pushed to the top of the hill, one guy gasped "Happy Mother's Day" to me. So sweet.I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to make a fourth trip. And it was so worth it because right by the top of the hill, I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and looked over to see a giant deer standing less than 10 feet away from me, and another one lying down right next to it. At first I thought they were lawn ornaments because they were so still. Or maybe I was hallucinating. Who knows. I have no witnesses. But in any case, I was feeling quite proud of myself for making it up that hill four times.
After my hill workout I continued on my regular route and when I was riding through the woods in Ipswich I came upon a Mom struggling to bike up a hill with her toddler daughter in a bike-seat on the back and a flat rear tire. I rode up beside her and asked her if she knew she had a flat tire. She didn't. I stopped and asked if I could help her, and she said she lived close, but asked if she could use my cell-phone to call her husband to come get her. Once she was all set, I rode away, patting myself on the back for being such a good Samaritan, helping a fellow Mom on Mother's Day (so far I'm quite a big fan of myself this morning!).
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, but I had a great time. The weather was warm enough to wear bike shorts, there wasn't much traffic, and I felt really good.
My nutrition consisted of:
1/2 bagel with PB and 1/2 cup coffee w/ skim milk (pre-ride)
2 bottles Gatorade
1 bottle water
6 Gels
Once home, I ran in, used the bathroom, and headed out for my 45 min. run. I felt great except for a few twinges in my left hamstring which has been bothering me for the last few days. Thankfully, tomorrow is a rest day. And tomorrow starts the beginning of the Peak phase! Yikes!
You are certainly NOT a bad friend Kerry. I don't know how you remember your own name let alone a birthday while trying to train for an IM and be a mom and a wife all at the same time!!! Way to kick the water-tower hill's ass. Wonder what the real name is of that road??? Who cares....it will forever be the water-tower hill to us.
ReplyDeleteNice work Kerry! and Happy Mother's Day!! xoxo
ReplyDeleteThis sounds SO much better than all the time you spent on the highway. Glad it started strong. Also, while I will never do any of this, I find myself oddly fascinated with how much food it takes to get through these training sessions - and with what kind of food.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I went on line to see if I could calculate how many calories I burned, and it was probably somewhere around 2400 -- well over a whole day's worth! I definitely felt it the rest of the day.
ReplyDeletehow many miles does a 4 hour ride like that come out to be?? and I too find the food facts fascinating. I know I would never be able to do an event like this and I certainly would not be able to stomach all of the GU and sports drinks and food while doing it. You are doing a great job tracking everything and training well. :-)
ReplyDeleteNormally I ride between 16-17 mph, so that would have been between 64-68 miles, but going up and down that hill slowed me down, so it was about 62.
ReplyDeleteRach, I don't know how you get by with so little food and water when you run! I can get through about 10 miles with nothing, but that's only if it's not hot out, and that's my limit. But for this I'm trying to eat a GU every 1/2 hour and a full sports bottle every hour. So for 7 hrs on the bike, and who knows how long on the run, that's well over 20 GUs for the day! I'm never going to want to look at those things again.
ugh... I bet! i only took 3 during my marathon and the last one was a struggle!
ReplyDelete