This morning I did 55 miles on the mt. bike. I took the same basic route I did last week on my 50 miler up to Thatcher and then down the Onieda Narrows. I went farther up past Thatcher this time to give me the extra 5, so 36 miles were on dirt, 19 on pavement. I had a north wind blowing this morning and since my first 25 miles is basically north I had a headwind all that way not to mention the first 16 has a lot of climbing. When I turned around at Thatcher I had about 4 miles of tailwind but when I entered the Narrows it got calm. By the time I came out the other end of the Narrows the wind had changed and was coming from the south so other than that 4 miles I had either headwind or no wind the entire ride. I averaged 15.5 MPH which is the same as last weeks ride but I worked a lot harder this time because of the wind.. With the sudden buildup in bike miles since my injury my quads have been complaining a bit even on some easy rides. Today I was feeling a bit beat from around mile 25 to 40 but I seemed to get more energy the last 10 to 15 and finished quite strong and felt good afterward.
I watched some of the LOTOJA riders come through town Saturday and have to admire them going 205 miles. I know this morning another 150 didn't sound to good. Maybe I'm crazy but I'd like to try it some day.
My ride took 3:30. That makes two days in a row doing 3 hours or more. Cardio wise I should be ready for St George. The question is weather my hamstring will allow me to get in some downhill and marathon paced miles and at least one 20 miler in the next 3 weeks. I had some sore muscles after yesterdays 12 mile run which reminds me how much I've lost the last 5 weeks. Fortunately my hamy seemed ok afterward. I plan to start tapering from the bike miles as I increase my running miles over the next 3 1/2 weeks. I feel like I've got to risk pushing it a bit because if I play it safe I won't be ready to run SGM anyway. | 