Spokes ‘n Spurs Ride

On Saturday, we did the Spokes ‘n Spurs ride.

I find that I look forward to these organized rides. It’s fun to be out there with a bunch of people, and it’s so nice having a marked route and volunteers at intersections and all. I am amazed at how cheap they are, when you compare them to runs; I guess the fact that you aren’t closing any roads eliminates a lot of cost, but I also have the sneaking suspicion that road races are expensive in part because that’s what the market will tolerate. Call me cynical.

Cathy had some bad luck with her cleat and had to call it a day. I caught up with my husband and, later, our third training partner Malinda found us, so there was a tiny clump of us soldiering on. It was cold and windy (I was wearing some new leg warmers, which the hubby termed “Ironman lingere,” that irritated me beyond belief until I stripped them off at the half-way point). Fat full gloves wreak my nutrition plan, as I can’t do anything remotely fine-motor-skilled-related in them. And then somehow, there seemed to be about 10 miles of steady uphills at the end.

At first, I was bummed because this ride felt harder and was slower than my half IM ride at Longhorn, which flew by and felt like a joy (well, except for that *&$%# Danskin hill at the end). But I was working my RPMs on Saturday, which meant a little slower pace, and I’m also not where I was in October — being at your goal race is one thing, while being in the endurance phase of your build for an IM is a whole different story. So that bummed feeling lasted less than the 20-minutes of my post-ride run, which was actually quite nice…and I attribute that to spinning more on the ride. Good stuff.

I was really tired on Sunday, and so the long run and swim that day were actually the first workouts I’ve had where it was a struggle to make myself do them. Without my wonderful friend and training partner, I’m sure the workouts would’ve suffered in some way, at the best a subpar effort and at the worst, not getting done.

Week 9: IM Training Totals

swim  2:30
bike    5:13
run      3:27
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total   11:00