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Riding 68.5 miles

    It took 4 hours and 45 minutes to ride 68.5 miles.
    Here’s the route:

    Live Oak and Trabuco Canyon had some crazy hills; felt great going down Antonio Pkwy; didn’t care for riding through Laguna or Corona del Mar (too much traffic and not enough room).

    At this rate it’ll take me 7 hours to do the 112 Ironman ride; too long.
    Granted the Ironman ride will be far different that today’s. The Ironman ride is primarily flat, with the highest elevation @ 500 feet, whereas today – at times we climbed 1,500′.

    On a positive note, my nutrition discipline was much better with this ride. Still around mile 45 I felt a need for sodium (strangely, not sure why I felt that way; just my body talking to me). This ride every 15-20 minutes I ate some Power Bar and electrolyte gels, and surprise, surprise – energy stayed strong. This was much better than last week where I only had electrolyte gels for 90% of the ride, causing me to feel bonked & to start eating the Power Bar with just a few miles to go.

    The one disconcerting thing is my sore knees. That shouldn’t be. If the bike fits right, the knees should be pain free. Thankfully this coming week I’m off to get a professional bike fit.

    Plus, what’s very exciting is the guy who’s fitting me has worked with some of the top racers in the world. If he says it’s ok, I’ll name drop some people he’s worked with at a later date. I met him a few months back when he came to speak at my tri group’s monthly meeting. Needless to say I’m very excited to have his help and insight.

    Last week we met for our first one-on-one meeting, and he shared some great tips. One was that I don’t need to buy a new bike. Rather, he said keep the 10 year old frame, upgrade the rest and rent race wheels for the Ironman. That tip alone will save me $2,000 (at minimum). Thanks Jim.

    Training tip of the day: put sun block everywhere. At mile 55 I discovered my jersey was too short in the back, and now I have a burn mark on my lower back in the shape of a smile. Not funny. Ouch.

    Speaking of clothes, sometime soon I’ll add a few comments on what to wear during an Ironman. This is proving to be more of a challenge than I thought it’d be.

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