It seems my Ironman training has come full circle. In the beginning, long rides sucked. I was uncomfortable on the bike, I was unfamiliar with the routes, I wasn't used to long days in the saddle, and I was still working out the kinks in my nutrition plan. All of that is in the past! And yet...
Training starts out that way, then long rides get longer, you become at home on the bike, all your trusted routes become familiar, you get your nutrition down. As this progression happens, you find yourself no longer dreading rides, but looking forward to them, like an old friend.
Then comes the time, right around the peakest peak of training, when you are just surviving till it is time to taper, when rides have become too long, routes have become too familiar, you cannot put another tried-and-true fig newton into your mouth, and you just want off the bike! And it feels like you have spent 6 months busting your ass to end up right back where you started!
Yes, you have gained endurance. But if you are like me, you have not gotten any faster! Are you noticing this theme with me?! So, let's take inventory. Of the 3 sports involved, after 6 months of focused training, I have gotten faster in exactly 1 of them.
On my 90 mile ride last week, I realized that 70 miles is the absolute upper limit of how far I can enjoy a ride. Every mile beyond that is just me on a bike, clinging to my sanity. Thinking back, this has been the turning point of just about every long ride. On Monday's long ride, I felt myself starting to unravel--I just wanted to stop my bike and sit on the side of the road for the rest of my life, and I started talking to my legs ("Just keep turning. We will get to stop eventually."). I looked down at my odometer and, sure enough, it said 68.75 miles. So 70 miles does seem to be the magic limit. Unfortunately I still had 16 miles to go before I could stop.
The good news is, no matter how bad my ride is, and no matter how far I go, my body is always ready to run when I get off the bike! My swim will be slow, my bike will be slow, but when I start that run, hopefully, I will be ready! I am totally burnt out on swimming and biking, but I still love running! I think that is because 1. I have done a lot of my running in other places, so I am not bored, 2. It is the one discipline in which I have actually improved, and 3. Running was my first love--when biking starts to hurt, I hate it, but when running starts to hurt, I still love it! Maybe even more!
Monday's ride was supposed to be 100 miles, but I cut it to 85. I have literally been riding the same 3 routes for about 9 months now, and I just can't ride them anymore! I rode a combination of the greenbelt and the IMAZ route, and then I was out of ideas, and I just couldn't handle repeating anymore of the same ground. That and, when I realized that after 6 months of long rides and intervals on the trainer, I was no faster, I thought, "Is 100 miles vs. 85 miles today really going to make a difference at this point?!"
Next week I start tapering, which means I will not have to toe that thin line of sanity at 70 miles ever again!
Training starts out that way, then long rides get longer, you become at home on the bike, all your trusted routes become familiar, you get your nutrition down. As this progression happens, you find yourself no longer dreading rides, but looking forward to them, like an old friend.
Then comes the time, right around the peakest peak of training, when you are just surviving till it is time to taper, when rides have become too long, routes have become too familiar, you cannot put another tried-and-true fig newton into your mouth, and you just want off the bike! And it feels like you have spent 6 months busting your ass to end up right back where you started!
Yes, you have gained endurance. But if you are like me, you have not gotten any faster! Are you noticing this theme with me?! So, let's take inventory. Of the 3 sports involved, after 6 months of focused training, I have gotten faster in exactly 1 of them.
On my 90 mile ride last week, I realized that 70 miles is the absolute upper limit of how far I can enjoy a ride. Every mile beyond that is just me on a bike, clinging to my sanity. Thinking back, this has been the turning point of just about every long ride. On Monday's long ride, I felt myself starting to unravel--I just wanted to stop my bike and sit on the side of the road for the rest of my life, and I started talking to my legs ("Just keep turning. We will get to stop eventually."). I looked down at my odometer and, sure enough, it said 68.75 miles. So 70 miles does seem to be the magic limit. Unfortunately I still had 16 miles to go before I could stop.
The good news is, no matter how bad my ride is, and no matter how far I go, my body is always ready to run when I get off the bike! My swim will be slow, my bike will be slow, but when I start that run, hopefully, I will be ready! I am totally burnt out on swimming and biking, but I still love running! I think that is because 1. I have done a lot of my running in other places, so I am not bored, 2. It is the one discipline in which I have actually improved, and 3. Running was my first love--when biking starts to hurt, I hate it, but when running starts to hurt, I still love it! Maybe even more!
Monday's ride was supposed to be 100 miles, but I cut it to 85. I have literally been riding the same 3 routes for about 9 months now, and I just can't ride them anymore! I rode a combination of the greenbelt and the IMAZ route, and then I was out of ideas, and I just couldn't handle repeating anymore of the same ground. That and, when I realized that after 6 months of long rides and intervals on the trainer, I was no faster, I thought, "Is 100 miles vs. 85 miles today really going to make a difference at this point?!"
Next week I start tapering, which means I will not have to toe that thin line of sanity at 70 miles ever again!
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