Yesterday I rode 89 miles. It was a beautiful day for a ride in the countryside. We really have some great biking territory here in Chapel Hill.
I set my Garmin 50 watch to display heart rate and cadence and my bike computer to show miles. My plan for the day was to
- watch heart rate to try and keep it around 141, zone 2.
- watch cadence and try to keep it around 90.
- ride to the 45 mile mark, then turn around.
Well, the best laid plans…
I could not get my heart rate up. I kept trying but just couldn’t get it up past 130’s. I have no idea why. I was doing well on cadence. My bike computer kept crapping out on me, and shutting off. So, I couldn’t watch the mileage either. When I switched it to show average speed, it was showing 13mph! I hoped that meant it kept shutting off on the downhills and not the uphills. But this really bothered me that I didn’t know my average speed. I wanted to know if my lack of ability to get my heart rate up meant I was slacking off and going slower than normal.
So, I struggled with my technology woes for the first half of the bike ride, and I was not enjoying myself. I kept thinking “Bubble of Pain“. Just keep working hard and it will pay off on race day. At about 10:30am, I figured I was at about 45 miles, so I turned around. Still struggling, still not enjoying myself. Thing is, I don’t want to be in a “Bubble of Pain” on my long rides. My long rides should be fun and relaxing. Not hard work and frustrating.
Then I remembered something else Stacey said. She said that many pro athletes race without any computer or heart rate. They pace themselves by feel alone. That got me thinking that what I really love about riding my bike is focusing on good riding form and feeling as if I am one with my bike.
So I decided to hell with the heart rate monitor and the bike computer – I was just going to RIDE and ENJOY! And I did! I had a lot of fun the second half of my long ride. I was in a “Bubble of Enjoyment”.
And I did stop and take some pictures along the way and tweeted. I won’t do that during my hard interval workouts any longer. But I will continue to tweet on my long rides. It’s fun!
Saw this scene on Old Alamance Rd near Greensboro.
I tweeted: “You know you’re in the Boonies when you witness a couch burning”
Saw this grouping of signs a couple times. Chapel Hill is the Sword of peace???
I tweeted “Funny signs”
This little shed looked like an outhouse, and I found the “No Trespassing” sign humorous!
I tweeted “been riding 5 hrs. butt foot neck all r hurtin. can some1 come get me? jj. 1 hr left.”
After I took this last picture, I had a silly yet morbid thought: By tweeting these pictures, I’m providing the CSI team with valuable clues in the event that I don’t make it back home. hahaha
I think I averaged about 17mph. I did a 4 mile brick run afterwards. I was dreading that run as I rode the last few miles home, because I was in such pain. But actually, once I got moving on the run, I felt fine. I made a pace of 10 min/mile. Hell, if I can do anywhere close to that pace at B2B, I am good to go! Not counting on anything, because I know 26.2 miles is alot longer than 4 miles. But still, I felt really good. I am starting to feel ready for my ironman.