Bubble of Enjoyment

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.