That was the first time I have ever actually warmed up for any race longer than a sprint. But there was no parking space near the lake Valvatus when we arrived with club mate Ville Heistman about 45 minutes before the start of the half ironman finnish championships.
Got a little anxious there, jogging through the woods to the start. You know, there are things to do before jumping into the water. Like, pumping your tyres, getting marked with your race number and slipping into your wet suit.
Luckily, we got there in time and made it to the start. Perfect - almost.
There should have been an alarm sounding somewhere in my brain when someone asked whether I had done the Ironman France this year. Yeah sure, great race, I replied, wondering how he knew.
Two minutes before the start senior club mate Jari Aaltonen, the master of irony, taunted me: special kids wear special swim caps. Oops. In the haste, I had grabbed the wrong swim cap from my backsack, one which I got from Nice, and which had the totally wrong colour, wrong race number, and the Ironman France logo. Embarassing - nah.
Fast forward to the start. The swim felt easy - too easy. Suspect I'm just not pushing myself hard enough in the swim. I was faster a couple of years ago. Lazy? Don't know. More likely, after doing an ironman distance race just three weeks ago, I'm kind of stuck in the diesel, full distance mode. Note for the future: never eat pickled cucumber for breakfast before a race. Comes back to haunt you.
Bike: Felt super. Or kind of. The rain which was pouring down earlier in the morning had stopped, but I still felt chilly. I had decided to wear a longsleeved tri-suit and didn't regret it.
Heart rate unusually low, but I had decent speed. I maintained 40 kph for the first 30K lap, but slowed down to an average speed of some 38.5 kph. Again: stuck in the full distance gear. Mentally, after doing a mountainous 180K bike three weeks ago, 90K, mostly flat with some small thingies which weaker cyclists call "hills", felt very easy. But would have wanted to go faster. Couldn't. I noticed I had a 7s faster bike split than club mate and long time rival Esa Ollikainen. Great. He was two mins ahead of me after the swim, and he's a better runner.
Others wanted to go faster than they could, too: some club mates told me after the race that during the last lap I was pulling a large group of some ten or more cyclists. Drafting is illegal in a triathlon, of course, but race marshals can't see everything with more than 700 competitors racing.
My stomach felt a little nervous too, so I decided to go on water for the moment. I rather go on diesel that than eat and having to slow down if my stomach revolts.
I had an average heart rate of 151 during the bike. That's quite low for me, even for me. That's right, the full distance gear.
Transitioning to run, I kept to drinking water. I felt strong, but not a hundred per cent sharp. But compared to, for example, the Ironman France three weeks ago, or the Half-Challenge Barcelona in May, I held my position much better during the run. Oh, and the run was 5 mins faster than in Barcelona.
I think it is possible for me to pull off a half ironman without any extra energy, going on water alone, still with decent speed, because I have been doing a lot of moderately paced aerobic training on water alone. I feel this improves the most important ability of all in ironman racing: the ability to go fast for a long time, using mostly fat for energy, without going over the limit where your body starts burning a lot of carbon hydrates and producing lactic acid. In the later case, you don't go fast for very long. I don't recommend anyone to try this water thing in a race before doing some practicing, though.
The results for my category M35 can be found here: http://www.championchip.fi/tulospalvelu/01e1c502-b8b4-4dbe-b8d2-2fe7d1b48536/Miehet+35 Oh, it was the first time I was racing in a "masters" category. Feel old. But I beat quite a lot of 20+ year olds today, didn't I?
All in all, I have to be satisfied with the result, because it was only three weeks after an IM (might have mentioned that before in this blog post) and I approached it much like a training session.This week was much like a normal training week, albeit less running:
mon 1.05h/3.75K swim
tue 4hbike+1h run
wed 1.5K swim, inc. 750m fast + 10K bike TT/14.42.
thu bike 4h/144K, inc. 2h/36.5kph
fri rest day.
sat race day.
sun 8h bike! No, that was a joke.
Half ironman distance races are fun in the way they make you feel more good afterwards, whereas you mostly feel bad, your body aches everywhere and you'll lose your sleep for three days or so after a full ironman. After today, I feel really motivated to take on the Järnmannen Kalmar in three weeks from now. After that: the long distance European championships in Tampere. And then: think I'll take a month-long break.
PS. I wish to thank Antti Hagqvist and the volunteers making the Finntriathlon happen. Another great race, and it keeps getting bigger every year. I certainly hope the triathlon boom we are experiencing right now is sustainable. Also, thanks to all the people cheering along the course, as well as to all competitors.
lördag 16 juli 2011
tisdag 28 juni 2011
Almost as planned
Usually, it spells trouble when you stop sweating. Luckily, I was only five kilometers from the goal line at that point.
I might just have forgotten how much it can hurt to do an ironman. Maybe that's what they call it an ironman. If it would be easy, it might be called tennis. Or football.
The Ironman France is of course not your ordinary ironman. Just check out the profile. That would be ok for a bike race, but something extra when you are supposed to run a marathon on top of it.
It was my third time in Nice. The first time I was really worried about the climbs and the heat and took it really easy. The second time I had a fresh hip stress fracture going into the race and knew I wasn't going to be able to run. So I had some unfinished business in Nice.
My plan: swim something like 1.05-1.10, go out hard on the bike, knowing that the second half of the bike leg is quite easy, come into transition #2 with a total time of 6.30, then do the run in something like 4 hours.
How it went down: the swim was chaotic, with 2 600 competitors all starting at once, and none of them with a clear idea of how the swim course was drawn. According to the race briefing, there were supposed to be three buoys during the first 2.4K lap. There was two. And they were so small that you couldn't use them for navigating, so everybody was just swimming in the general, assumed direction of the next buoy. The race officials were waving and blowing whistlepipes from their canoes, trying to get people in the right direction. The second lap was a bit easier, measuring just 1.4K. But still, the swim took me 1.13. Might have been 4.5K though.
I went out hard on the bike and hit the climbs selfconfident as Mr T. I was overtaking, like, everyone, and felt strong as ever even as I went into the red zone. Nearing the top of Cote de Gattieres, the pace and the heat was getting to me and I was already doubting whether I would make it through the day.
The course is really easy after that, with only one 7K climb, flats, and mostly downhill. But I was totally drained. But, just as I had planned, I was able to use the descents to recover, drink and eat before the run.The bike split was 5.27, just as I had planned. Didn't feel exactly fresh, coming into T2, though.
The run almost came to an end before it even had started, because I fell at a loose rug in the transistion area and hurt my ankle. I thought that was it, but the pain went away as I headed out for the run along the Promenade d'Anglaise.
What a promenade. The run isn't the best part of ironman Nice. I mean, it's great with lot of spectators, and you can't really complain about the scenery either. It's just that when you run back and forth along the beach promenade four time, without the slightest shade, sooner or later you will wish it was a loop course. Or wish it was all over.
The heat was killing me. And not only me, I heard some 450 competitors DNF. I kept the pace for some 15-20K, but then the sun started taking its toll. My head was spinning and my legs felt like I was wearing shoes made out of concrete. But I decided: never gonna stop, never gonna quit. During the last lap, I was so trashed I couldn't even nod to any of my friends. I wasn't sweating anymore, a clear sign of dehydration. Usually, during the last 5K, you feel like you're flying because you know it'll be over soon. Now, it felt like even the last kilometre was one klick too much. Crossing the goal line, I wasn't celebrating much. I was more like, moaning out of pain. The run took me something like 4.25. Amazing that I'm able to run that slowly, because I didn't walk. For some reason, I didn't have to stop for peeing either, after drinking some ten litres during the day. Finished 100th among some 550 in my category, M35. Have to live with that, being among the top fifth in a highly contested age category.
After the race, I was shivering despite it still being hot. Another sign of dehydration. But I was able to drink and eat (they had some good pizza slices and soup in the finisher area, which wasn't bad at all after going an entire day on cola, sports drinks and energy bars) and soon felt fresher.
Now, two days after the race, my right ankle is the size of a tennis ball, and my thighs hurt so much I wouldn't dream of running. Went out for a supereasy spin on the bike after assembling it, just to get moving. Life goes on.
This year I have been doing a lot of long bike rides, which, instead of the usual ironman steady pace all the way, have been partially in the upper aerobic zone and lower anaerobic zone, with the Nice bike course in mind. It seems to have paid off.
But I had a brief layoff with my run training due to the accident in march, and never quite got back to it again. Mostly, it was the lack of long aerobic runs that came back to haunt me during the run in Nice.
Next up, if there are no setbacks with my recovery and the ankle, I will race on half distance in Joroinen 15th July. Sheesh, the distance will feel easy. Then, I am planning to race the ironman distance in Kalmar in southern Sweden. It's a flat course, and I doubt the heat can be as bad as in Nice. Somehow, I don't think I will be back for a fourth time in Nice. But you never know.
I might just have forgotten how much it can hurt to do an ironman. Maybe that's what they call it an ironman. If it would be easy, it might be called tennis. Or football.
The Ironman France is of course not your ordinary ironman. Just check out the profile. That would be ok for a bike race, but something extra when you are supposed to run a marathon on top of it.
My plan: swim something like 1.05-1.10, go out hard on the bike, knowing that the second half of the bike leg is quite easy, come into transition #2 with a total time of 6.30, then do the run in something like 4 hours.
How it went down: the swim was chaotic, with 2 600 competitors all starting at once, and none of them with a clear idea of how the swim course was drawn. According to the race briefing, there were supposed to be three buoys during the first 2.4K lap. There was two. And they were so small that you couldn't use them for navigating, so everybody was just swimming in the general, assumed direction of the next buoy. The race officials were waving and blowing whistlepipes from their canoes, trying to get people in the right direction. The second lap was a bit easier, measuring just 1.4K. But still, the swim took me 1.13. Might have been 4.5K though.
I went out hard on the bike and hit the climbs selfconfident as Mr T. I was overtaking, like, everyone, and felt strong as ever even as I went into the red zone. Nearing the top of Cote de Gattieres, the pace and the heat was getting to me and I was already doubting whether I would make it through the day.
The course is really easy after that, with only one 7K climb, flats, and mostly downhill. But I was totally drained. But, just as I had planned, I was able to use the descents to recover, drink and eat before the run.The bike split was 5.27, just as I had planned. Didn't feel exactly fresh, coming into T2, though.
The run almost came to an end before it even had started, because I fell at a loose rug in the transistion area and hurt my ankle. I thought that was it, but the pain went away as I headed out for the run along the Promenade d'Anglaise.
What a promenade. The run isn't the best part of ironman Nice. I mean, it's great with lot of spectators, and you can't really complain about the scenery either. It's just that when you run back and forth along the beach promenade four time, without the slightest shade, sooner or later you will wish it was a loop course. Or wish it was all over.
The heat was killing me. And not only me, I heard some 450 competitors DNF. I kept the pace for some 15-20K, but then the sun started taking its toll. My head was spinning and my legs felt like I was wearing shoes made out of concrete. But I decided: never gonna stop, never gonna quit. During the last lap, I was so trashed I couldn't even nod to any of my friends. I wasn't sweating anymore, a clear sign of dehydration. Usually, during the last 5K, you feel like you're flying because you know it'll be over soon. Now, it felt like even the last kilometre was one klick too much. Crossing the goal line, I wasn't celebrating much. I was more like, moaning out of pain. The run took me something like 4.25. Amazing that I'm able to run that slowly, because I didn't walk. For some reason, I didn't have to stop for peeing either, after drinking some ten litres during the day. Finished 100th among some 550 in my category, M35. Have to live with that, being among the top fifth in a highly contested age category.
After the race, I was shivering despite it still being hot. Another sign of dehydration. But I was able to drink and eat (they had some good pizza slices and soup in the finisher area, which wasn't bad at all after going an entire day on cola, sports drinks and energy bars) and soon felt fresher.
Now, two days after the race, my right ankle is the size of a tennis ball, and my thighs hurt so much I wouldn't dream of running. Went out for a supereasy spin on the bike after assembling it, just to get moving. Life goes on.
This year I have been doing a lot of long bike rides, which, instead of the usual ironman steady pace all the way, have been partially in the upper aerobic zone and lower anaerobic zone, with the Nice bike course in mind. It seems to have paid off.
But I had a brief layoff with my run training due to the accident in march, and never quite got back to it again. Mostly, it was the lack of long aerobic runs that came back to haunt me during the run in Nice.
Next up, if there are no setbacks with my recovery and the ankle, I will race on half distance in Joroinen 15th July. Sheesh, the distance will feel easy. Then, I am planning to race the ironman distance in Kalmar in southern Sweden. It's a flat course, and I doubt the heat can be as bad as in Nice. Somehow, I don't think I will be back for a fourth time in Nice. But you never know.
fredag 10 juni 2011
New way of thinking
It might have been reflective of a new approach to training, when I skipped the our club Helsinki Triathlons traditional cup sprint and opted for a long, intense workout last tuesday. In my opinion, that kind of 4-6 hour workout at or close to ironman race pace is the single most important workout to improve in long distance triathlon. Note the difference: at or close to ironman pace means fast, not long and slow. I never like to do long and slow. Waste of time.
That said, sprints are important as well in order to improve the speed reserve and feel more comfortable at ironman pace. On thursday I did a 20K flat out bike on my own, and friday I ran 3K on the track.
But last year, I was like doing anaerobic training every other day, cycling tempo rides, running stairs, running intervals. This year, I have been doing more aerobic work, and done about one anaerobic workout per discipline a week.
I have also been riding more in the zone slightly above the aerobic threshold, between ironman pace and half ironman pace. That's a pace where my body burns a lot of stored glycogen and some lactic acid is produced in my muscles. But it is still a quite comfortable pace, which I, for example, can maintain on the bike for some two hours.
This is a typical, great workout for improving your ironman bike speed: 4h bike, beginning with a heart rate of 135 for 1h, increasing speed to a heart rate of 140 for 1h, then 145, and, finally, a heart rate of 150 for 1h. That is based on the assumption that your ironman race pace is around 145 bpm. But BEWARE. The increase in heart rate should not be due to increased fatigue or loss of liquid, so make sure you actually increase your speed. Ok, sorry, I know. This is totally paleolithic. In 2011, everyone should have a power meter, not some silly, unreliable heart rate monitor. I usually trust my speed gauge more. But then you have to take into account wind and other weather conditions as well.
That said, sprints are important as well in order to improve the speed reserve and feel more comfortable at ironman pace. On thursday I did a 20K flat out bike on my own, and friday I ran 3K on the track.
But last year, I was like doing anaerobic training every other day, cycling tempo rides, running stairs, running intervals. This year, I have been doing more aerobic work, and done about one anaerobic workout per discipline a week.
I have also been riding more in the zone slightly above the aerobic threshold, between ironman pace and half ironman pace. That's a pace where my body burns a lot of stored glycogen and some lactic acid is produced in my muscles. But it is still a quite comfortable pace, which I, for example, can maintain on the bike for some two hours.
This is a typical, great workout for improving your ironman bike speed: 4h bike, beginning with a heart rate of 135 for 1h, increasing speed to a heart rate of 140 for 1h, then 145, and, finally, a heart rate of 150 for 1h. That is based on the assumption that your ironman race pace is around 145 bpm. But BEWARE. The increase in heart rate should not be due to increased fatigue or loss of liquid, so make sure you actually increase your speed. Ok, sorry, I know. This is totally paleolithic. In 2011, everyone should have a power meter, not some silly, unreliable heart rate monitor. I usually trust my speed gauge more. But then you have to take into account wind and other weather conditions as well.
måndag 6 juni 2011
Return to competition
I should have had a flock of humming birds in my stomach, but instead, heading for the start in Calella (that's 60 km north of Barcelona, all of thee geographically uneducated) I was calm as nerves-of-steel-hockey goalie Tim Thomas running on tranquilizers. In fact, so calm I was worried being too calm.
After all, it was less than two months after the crash that sent me in an ambulance to hospital. I had been cycling since mid-March, but running and swimming much less.
Maybe it was a good thing we arrived three days ahead of the Barcelona Half Challenge, a rare luxury as long as the location is within the same time zone, plus or minus 1 hour. I was fearing boredom, but we used the spare time with Henrika Malmstroem (note the international spelling) for familiarizing ourselves with the bike course and getting used to the sea. I did a solid preparation 20K race-paced ride on friday, two days ahead of the race.
We were lucky as well in getting our bikes and luggage without delays, as some of our friends leaving Finland on friday didn't get their stuff due to an unannounced strike on the Helsinki-Vantaa airport. In fact, I tried to get tickets for Finnair's friday afternoon flight, which we took last year, travelling with senior citizen Peter Groenholm (note the international spelling), but, since it was fully booked, opted for Lufthansa's thursday flight.
I had no idea what to expect before the swim, but the sea was calm at the 8.25 a.m. wave start and I could find a good lane and felt strong throughout. 33 mins exiting the water.
Felt strong as ever on the bike. Last year, the route was a little bit too short, some 85K, but this year it was a full 90K. I finished with a bike split of 2.22, which translates to close to 38kph on the average. The course, of course, was totally flat. Highest point 25 meters above sea level.
Only two guys overtook me on the bike – Finnish native Pablo Erat, and some other guy on a Cervelo P3 just like mine, except painted in world champion rainbow colours. No problems there.
It seems the 1/2-IM-specific bike workouts which I have been doing have been working well. I have done lots of, for example, 3-4 h rides where I do the last 1h at a forced, half ironman pace.
On the run, on the other hand, at least two dozen guys ran past me during the first kilometers. Tells me something about my strengths/weaknesses. Haven't been running much fast tempo runs this year, whichs shows during a distance as short as 21K. The upside: I didn't get fatigued, and could pick up my pace towards the end, catching quite a few of those backs which I saw disappearing on the horizon during the first 5K. Two guys surprised me by sneaking up on me right before the finish line (I would like to see a shot of the finish camera, because I would like to contest them being ranked before me in the final results). Anyway, I finished 38th among a field of 226 contestants.
Next up is Ironman Nice. A little different bike course, but otherwise this was good rehearsal. Sea swim, and some Mediterranean heat during the run as well.
After all, it was less than two months after the crash that sent me in an ambulance to hospital. I had been cycling since mid-March, but running and swimming much less.
Maybe it was a good thing we arrived three days ahead of the Barcelona Half Challenge, a rare luxury as long as the location is within the same time zone, plus or minus 1 hour. I was fearing boredom, but we used the spare time with Henrika Malmstroem (note the international spelling) for familiarizing ourselves with the bike course and getting used to the sea. I did a solid preparation 20K race-paced ride on friday, two days ahead of the race.
We were lucky as well in getting our bikes and luggage without delays, as some of our friends leaving Finland on friday didn't get their stuff due to an unannounced strike on the Helsinki-Vantaa airport. In fact, I tried to get tickets for Finnair's friday afternoon flight, which we took last year, travelling with senior citizen Peter Groenholm (note the international spelling), but, since it was fully booked, opted for Lufthansa's thursday flight.
I had no idea what to expect before the swim, but the sea was calm at the 8.25 a.m. wave start and I could find a good lane and felt strong throughout. 33 mins exiting the water.
Felt strong as ever on the bike. Last year, the route was a little bit too short, some 85K, but this year it was a full 90K. I finished with a bike split of 2.22, which translates to close to 38kph on the average. The course, of course, was totally flat. Highest point 25 meters above sea level.
Only two guys overtook me on the bike – Finnish native Pablo Erat, and some other guy on a Cervelo P3 just like mine, except painted in world champion rainbow colours. No problems there.
It seems the 1/2-IM-specific bike workouts which I have been doing have been working well. I have done lots of, for example, 3-4 h rides where I do the last 1h at a forced, half ironman pace.
On the run, on the other hand, at least two dozen guys ran past me during the first kilometers. Tells me something about my strengths/weaknesses. Haven't been running much fast tempo runs this year, whichs shows during a distance as short as 21K. The upside: I didn't get fatigued, and could pick up my pace towards the end, catching quite a few of those backs which I saw disappearing on the horizon during the first 5K. Two guys surprised me by sneaking up on me right before the finish line (I would like to see a shot of the finish camera, because I would like to contest them being ranked before me in the final results). Anyway, I finished 38th among a field of 226 contestants.
Next up is Ironman Nice. A little different bike course, but otherwise this was good rehearsal. Sea swim, and some Mediterranean heat during the run as well.
torsdag 5 maj 2011
Bricks are good
Interesting, to say the least. Who said brick runs are no good?
I have done nothing but brick runs since february, before my accident and a trip to the hospital. All of my running has been on top of a bike workout. And all of it has been endurance. No fast running at all.
Still, my first track session today went really well. Hadn't lost much of a step. Well, I admit, I'm not such a great runner anyway, so there never was much fine-tuning in my stride.
It was also a great relief to find I can still run, because my self confidence has been quite low after the accident and the forced rest. In fact, I was worried. A collapsed lung isn't something to fool around with.
I had a similar experience last week, when I did the first wednesday's Pepen tempo, a 10K time trial. My time was very much ok, and it felt very comforting to find I can still ride a bike at about the same speed as before.
Swimming? Not so great. But I'm getting there, hopefully. I have been swimming, what, four or five times since the crash. Took a while before the pain in the ribs subsided.
Had a good two weeks of training with the Eastern holiday and a week of vacation on top of that. The weather was splendid, so I got a little volume on the bike.
The two weeks 18.4-1.5.2011:
Swimming: 2.15h/6.6km
Running:7.35h/86km
Cycling: 38h/1234km
Total: 47.55 h
I have done nothing but brick runs since february, before my accident and a trip to the hospital. All of my running has been on top of a bike workout. And all of it has been endurance. No fast running at all.
Still, my first track session today went really well. Hadn't lost much of a step. Well, I admit, I'm not such a great runner anyway, so there never was much fine-tuning in my stride.
It was also a great relief to find I can still run, because my self confidence has been quite low after the accident and the forced rest. In fact, I was worried. A collapsed lung isn't something to fool around with.
I had a similar experience last week, when I did the first wednesday's Pepen tempo, a 10K time trial. My time was very much ok, and it felt very comforting to find I can still ride a bike at about the same speed as before.
Swimming? Not so great. But I'm getting there, hopefully. I have been swimming, what, four or five times since the crash. Took a while before the pain in the ribs subsided.
Had a good two weeks of training with the Eastern holiday and a week of vacation on top of that. The weather was splendid, so I got a little volume on the bike.
The two weeks 18.4-1.5.2011:
Swimming: 2.15h/6.6km
Running:7.35h/86km
Cycling: 38h/1234km
Total: 47.55 h
söndag 17 april 2011
First week of training
Maybe the week that was could be seen as my first week of actual, serious, down-to-business training since I crashed in early march. Got out cycling, got my feet wet in the pool and ran some faster miles. Saturday was a good workout.
monday noon: warmup + 20K hard effort on the tri-bike. um. not fast. 32 mins. yesterday's 180K ride seemed to weigh in on my legs.
afternoon/evening: 3h/99K ride on road bike.
tuesday: hill intervals: 15*1.30-1.45. total bike time 1.30h
wednesday: 3h/99K road bike + 1h/11K run. my back is protesting against the drop bar rides.
thursday: swim 10*100m/1.30-1.40. total 1.5K. first swim since the crash. and I felt it. boy did I feel it.
friday: 55 mins bike, inc. 20K hard ride/32 mins. + run 25 mins/6K. first running/cycling in shorts this year.
saturday: 3h/102K ride on the tri-bike +1h/11K run. this was a good workout. felt the fatigue working evening shift afterwards.
sunday: 55 mins bike, inc. 20K hard ride/32 mins. felt like having flamingo legs.
monday noon: warmup + 20K hard effort on the tri-bike. um. not fast. 32 mins. yesterday's 180K ride seemed to weigh in on my legs.
afternoon/evening: 3h/99K ride on road bike.
tuesday: hill intervals: 15*1.30-1.45. total bike time 1.30h
wednesday: 3h/99K road bike + 1h/11K run. my back is protesting against the drop bar rides.
thursday: swim 10*100m/1.30-1.40. total 1.5K. first swim since the crash. and I felt it. boy did I feel it.
friday: 55 mins bike, inc. 20K hard ride/32 mins. + run 25 mins/6K. first running/cycling in shorts this year.
saturday: 3h/102K ride on the tri-bike +1h/11K run. this was a good workout. felt the fatigue working evening shift afterwards.
sunday: 55 mins bike, inc. 20K hard ride/32 mins. felt like having flamingo legs.
tisdag 12 april 2011
On the road again!
A lot of firsts last week: first ride outdoors since I got hit by a car six weeks ago, first ride with a road bike this year, first ride with my new gir's carbon ride.
It all came back to me – what I love about the sport of cycling and triathlon. There's nothing better than the speed and thrill on the road.
Began easily, as I am known to usually do, with a 6 hour ride on sunday. Great fun. Didn't even let the 17-meter-per-second-wind gusts ruin my day.
Next day, I had to try my triathlon/TT bike. WOW. Can't beat the feeling, cruising down the road at 45kph. 55kph sure feels good too, but that's a little harder for me to sustain...
But, after, initally, two weeks of inactivity, then three weeks of indoor cycling on the bike trainer, I must reiterate what I have always been saying: the indoor bike trainer just isn't the same as riding outdoors. It's just too easy on your legs. Great cardiac training, sure, but not enough strain for the legs.
Now, I will have to ride lots and lots of miles to find my legs. And then, there's this thing of me needing to get back to swimming too.
Last week was a good start. 20h15mins, of which 17h15 mins cycling and 3h running. More. More. More.
The first race of the season in Barcelona is coming up awfully fast. I have only one week of running since the crash, and no speed work.
It all came back to me – what I love about the sport of cycling and triathlon. There's nothing better than the speed and thrill on the road.
Began easily, as I am known to usually do, with a 6 hour ride on sunday. Great fun. Didn't even let the 17-meter-per-second-wind gusts ruin my day.
Next day, I had to try my triathlon/TT bike. WOW. Can't beat the feeling, cruising down the road at 45kph. 55kph sure feels good too, but that's a little harder for me to sustain...
But, after, initally, two weeks of inactivity, then three weeks of indoor cycling on the bike trainer, I must reiterate what I have always been saying: the indoor bike trainer just isn't the same as riding outdoors. It's just too easy on your legs. Great cardiac training, sure, but not enough strain for the legs.
Now, I will have to ride lots and lots of miles to find my legs. And then, there's this thing of me needing to get back to swimming too.
Last week was a good start. 20h15mins, of which 17h15 mins cycling and 3h running. More. More. More.
The first race of the season in Barcelona is coming up awfully fast. I have only one week of running since the crash, and no speed work.
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