T106 - Redemption on the Rickenbacker - Bike

Miami

Bike - 90 Minutes

3 Sudafed
2 Lipodrene
I made a deal with myself on Thursday that if I slept in and didn't do my 90 minute ride, I"d have to do it Sunday in Miami. And when I woke up after 10 hours of sleep, feeling congested and miserable Sunday morning, I seriously considered reneging on that deal. But I had nothing better to do and was in no hurry to get back to Gainesville, and after Friday's sub-par showing onthe Rickenbacker I needed to remind myself I still had it.

Well, it's amazing what a difference good sleep makes. Even after my 4 Hour training day Friday and the Half Marathon Sunday, when I got on the bike Sunday around noon I just felt better. Yeah, my legs were a little sore, but I felt like I could push it today. Maybe it was the sorter distance, or maybe it was the Sudafed (yeah, I gotta think that had SOMETHING to do with it) but once I hit the road out of Bill Baggs state park, I just felt strong.

I kept up a solid 20-21 through the Village of Key Biscayne, where you constantly have to be watching for cars coming out of luxury condos and stupid Miami drivers turning without signaling. I've crashed into one once last summer, it wasn't fun. And then I hit Crandon park and maintained over 20, and even kept up 19-20 when I hit the wind on the road out to Jimbo's. Heading back from Jimbo's I was going about 24 the whole time, and I used the tailwind to help me maintain that until I got to Mount Miami. Made it up that going about 14 and did about 32 on the way down, maintaining over 30 almost to the turnaround.

I figured the way back would not be so good as I had the headwind blowing in from the Atlantic, but it was fine. I still maintained about 20 up into Crandon Park (except for the bridge, of course) and ended up getting back to my car at `1:03. Or about 16 minutes faster than the day before. This was definitely the ride I had been looking for on the Rickenbacker.

To fill out the workout I biked to the end of Crandon Park and back, and despite the inherent slowdowns in Bill Baggs park ended up averaging 19.2 for the ride, going nearly 30 miles in 1:33. Definitely left me with some confidence, especially becasue my second trip through Crandon I didn't drop below 21 the whole time. The average on this ride gets fucked because of all the stopping and slowing and lights in the Village and for all the Sunday riders on the Key. Though one of the most scenic rides in America, it's also the only real bike course in a city of 2.2 millino people. On a hot Sunday, you do the math.

And it was hot, but I didn't even feel it. I biked with my shirt off, which was awesome. Made the ride feel like a day at the beach, and is something I'm starting to wish I'd done more this cycle. Oh well. Still a great ride to close out legit training.

Yep, this was it. This was my last real training day before the race. There's some keeping loose and warmed up stuff this week, but this closes the book on Ironman training. This is as ready as I'm gonna be. And today's ride was an excellent confidence builder going in. The next week will be minimal training hours, but I'm going to talk a lot about various race prep stuff too. Heading to PCB on Wednesday. This is it. One week form now, it'll all be over. And that, really, is much scarier to me than the race itself.