Of Mice and Marathons

Lunch: 10.3 miles, averaged 9:42. HR 142.

PM: 8.3 miles, averaged 9:12. HR 147.

It was beautiful out. I did a progressive mile starting around 9' pace and ending around 6' pace. I split 7:14. It felt very hard. I have a physical Thursday. Hoping for an antibotic just to see if that works. I'm not much for taking medicine when not necessary, but I've rarely taken antibiotics.

Felt pretty rough overall. Trying to run to relieve stress but even very easy running felts difficult.

Lunch: 10.3 miles, averaged 9:14. HR 152.

I had trouble breathing. Wondering what is going on.

PM: 35-mile ride. HR 152.

Did a solo ride. Hit a few gravel roads I haven't been down. Rode in my new race fit kit, which I love. Roads were rough in places, but super smooth in others. We need rain to get things in good shape.

I am racing Barry Roubaix this weekend. Not sure what to expect, but it should be packed and riding too close together does not thrill me. It's pretty much the most famous gravel race in the US.

I had a much better ride than my run.

Off.

I was going to run after class, but we had a happy hour event and that was much easier to do. I might double tomorrow. Friday will be easy as I am racing on the bike on Saturday. I will likely try a shakeout in the afternoon. Since my marathon buildup went to crap its much easier to focus on grading, even though I really never seem to get that much more done. Looking forward to summer.

PM: 10.3 miles, averaged 10:25. HR 140.

Felt decent. Slow, but decent. The geese were agressive. They were flying after me, which I haven't seen for a while. Tried to give them space as I know they are nesting.

Had my physical prior. She seemed to think my issue was lingering infection. Resting heart rate was 40, which is about 3 beats higher than last year and I was lighter and not in the same sort of shape.

Today was my grandmother's 95th birthday.

PM: 12-mile ride. HR 142. Did some openers.

"Openers," as I learned today is bike speak for "strides." I didn't do them in any structure fashion, but I found a stretch of suburban gravel and got my heart rate up, lungs open, and legs turning.

Nice and sunny but windy. Was going to run, but I did a little bike maintenance and wanted to make sure it was okay for tomorrow. Both nervous and excited for tomorrow. Hoping when classes end early next week my running motivation will return.

AM: Barry Roubaix 36-Mile Gravel Race. HR 167.

A mix of roads and gravel with some rough and sandy two track mixed in. Conditions were dry but very windy (around 19 MPH I think, which is rough on a bike). About 2000 feet of elevation gain and pretty much non-stop hills.

369 out of 1342 and 22 out of 59 in 32-34 age group. I've never been big on age groups, but they are meaningful to cyclists. I am not sure if this is the number of competitors or what. But they do podiums for age groups and categories.

In many ways bike races are better than running races. Later start times (at least for the Michigan Gravel Series) are one of the most noteable.

Brief Notes/Thoughts

I was hoping to come in under 2 hours, but there was a lot of wind and didn't ride with groups too much. My chain came off 3 times, and only after did I realize that the clutch was disenaged, so the proper tension was not on the derailleur. The gravel composition was fairly rocky and sandy (as opposed to dirt and small rocks w have here). One road was rutted/rugged two track, which also featured 3-4 inches of sand. I managed to stay on the bike. I gave the race a good effort, but also had a good time, especially after I linked up with the KLM (the bike shop) guys.

I will do more of these. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make the few that are throughout the summer. I will definitely do the September race I planned to do last year. Some time in the future (perhaps next spring) I would like to couple gravel races ultra training (for a flat race).