Literally and figuratively. I had to ride an extra km to make the first part true. Since I've gone 200 kms a couple of times in the past I decided today was gonna be 201. It was also literally longest from a time perspective, because it took me almost 7 hours, which was respectively about 10 and 20 minutes slower than my previous undertakings. And like I said it was also the longest ride in a figurative sense as my mind just wouldn't relax. I had negative thoughts throughout, not the least of which was remembering that I still had to run after it was over. It probably didn't help knowing that I wouldn't even head out on that run until after 5 pm, as the weather necessitated a late start.
By the time I got back I had convinced myself that whatever run I got in was gonna have to do, and after a decent start it fizzled out at 4 kms. It was a tough decision to start walking but I knew beyond a doubt that I was only hurting myself by continuing. I managed to jog/walk another 4 kms....it was the only way to get home!
So what do I make of all this? What does it mean? Honestly I'm pretty sure it means I'm not in as good a shape as I was this time last year, or 4 years ago for that matter. I admit however that I don't know this for a fact and as such I'm gonna leave myself open to the possibility that it just because I've worked so hard, and that the hard work will all pay off on race day. More importantly I'm not gonna let it matter. All this Ironman training has kept my lungs, my heart, and my muscles healthy for another year and for that alone I am grateful. I can still tire out my grandchildren and not too many people can say that!.
Besides it's not all about the time is it? It's about the toys you can justify. I managed to sneak this little baby into the fold recently. My new bike computer.
It's quite an amazing little gadget. As you can see it can display up to 8 data fields, everyone of which is programmable with probably 50 different options. You can see that I chose speed, avg speed, distance, and time which are all fairly standard, but that's when it starts to get really cool. I love the elevation one because at any time you know whether your higher or lower than previous points, particularly where you started from. Grade is just plain cool because it tells you how steep the hill is. Of course heart rate is obvious and it's information I never had on my bike without having to twist my wrist around to look at my watch. The beautiful thing is that it uses the same chest strap as the one I use for my watch. Direction is also a nice added feature, as it helps to manage wind expectations. It keeps you from fooling yourself. The other one I wish I had space for is temperature but even though It isn't on the display the gadget keeps track of it and you can check it out later. That's how I can tell you that the average temperature for my 7 hours was 31.4 degrees. Which might also be a factor I suppose in the relative toughness of the trip eh?
Speaking of which, here's an interesting bit of nonsense that I learned yesterday. I kept track and I consumed 8 litres of water, and 1.3 kgs of carbohydrate powder for a grand total in old math of 19 pounds of intake!!! I never peed once the entire workout, and yet I weighed 5 pounds less when I got back than before I left!! Holy shit!!
So that's it for the really long stuff. I'm gonna take a different approach with the last 4 weeks than I have in the past and let the chips fall where they may. Normally I would still be doing 180 kms next Saturday but I have pretty well decided on half that, with a little longer run instead. I'll see how I feel when next weekend gets here but if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that I want to arrive in Mont Tremblant rested. I need to try to squeeze one last longer run in this week still and I will probably wait until Wednesday rather than my usual Tuesday.
"I'm so damn tired I can't even check for spelling mistakes" ---Peter W Rooyakkers
Life is good!
Love
Peter
By the time I got back I had convinced myself that whatever run I got in was gonna have to do, and after a decent start it fizzled out at 4 kms. It was a tough decision to start walking but I knew beyond a doubt that I was only hurting myself by continuing. I managed to jog/walk another 4 kms....it was the only way to get home!
So what do I make of all this? What does it mean? Honestly I'm pretty sure it means I'm not in as good a shape as I was this time last year, or 4 years ago for that matter. I admit however that I don't know this for a fact and as such I'm gonna leave myself open to the possibility that it just because I've worked so hard, and that the hard work will all pay off on race day. More importantly I'm not gonna let it matter. All this Ironman training has kept my lungs, my heart, and my muscles healthy for another year and for that alone I am grateful. I can still tire out my grandchildren and not too many people can say that!.
Besides it's not all about the time is it? It's about the toys you can justify. I managed to sneak this little baby into the fold recently. My new bike computer.
It's quite an amazing little gadget. As you can see it can display up to 8 data fields, everyone of which is programmable with probably 50 different options. You can see that I chose speed, avg speed, distance, and time which are all fairly standard, but that's when it starts to get really cool. I love the elevation one because at any time you know whether your higher or lower than previous points, particularly where you started from. Grade is just plain cool because it tells you how steep the hill is. Of course heart rate is obvious and it's information I never had on my bike without having to twist my wrist around to look at my watch. The beautiful thing is that it uses the same chest strap as the one I use for my watch. Direction is also a nice added feature, as it helps to manage wind expectations. It keeps you from fooling yourself. The other one I wish I had space for is temperature but even though It isn't on the display the gadget keeps track of it and you can check it out later. That's how I can tell you that the average temperature for my 7 hours was 31.4 degrees. Which might also be a factor I suppose in the relative toughness of the trip eh?
Speaking of which, here's an interesting bit of nonsense that I learned yesterday. I kept track and I consumed 8 litres of water, and 1.3 kgs of carbohydrate powder for a grand total in old math of 19 pounds of intake!!! I never peed once the entire workout, and yet I weighed 5 pounds less when I got back than before I left!! Holy shit!!
So that's it for the really long stuff. I'm gonna take a different approach with the last 4 weeks than I have in the past and let the chips fall where they may. Normally I would still be doing 180 kms next Saturday but I have pretty well decided on half that, with a little longer run instead. I'll see how I feel when next weekend gets here but if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that I want to arrive in Mont Tremblant rested. I need to try to squeeze one last longer run in this week still and I will probably wait until Wednesday rather than my usual Tuesday.
"I'm so damn tired I can't even check for spelling mistakes" ---Peter W Rooyakkers
Life is good!
Love
Peter
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