Of Mice and Marathons

PM: 120' on the trainer, including a ~60' Zwift race.

Decided against a long run once again, but thought a race might get me in the mood for racing bike next weeked and lacing up my running shoes to do a running race for the first time since 2018 the weekend after. Worked quite well. Put down a decent effort. 

64' @ 275 watts @ 165 BPM

Lunch: 8 miles, averaged 8:09. HR 151.

Legs were not snappy but they moved quite well. I haven't run low 8s without too much effort for a long time. Honest easy for sure, but within the easy to moderate zone. A few sub-8s as well. 

Night: 4.4 miles, averaged 10:11. HR 133. 

Picked my bike up from the shop. It needed a bunch of parts replaced, which was not cheap: $650, but I was worried that the frame might have been cracked or something when they told me to call. I took the boys in after picking them up from school, which was interesting. They were having fun until they weren't.

Lunch: 1:45 on the trainer while the boys napped. 189W. HR 128.

Mostly easy but 5' hard toward the end. I think it was 346 watts.

The boys had a good Halloween I think. It started to snow and got cold, so we cut our trick or treating short, but I think they had fun. They were definitely more excited and got the concept this year. Ended up with a ground covering of snow. TFE!

Lunch: 8 miles, averaged 8:10. HR 153.

Steady aerobic. Had to watch out for some slippery spots.

PM: 60' on the trainer. 190W. HR 129.

I was going to run again, but it was cold and the trainer seemed more inviting.

PM: 8 miles, averaged 8:09. HR 152.

Didn't run at lunch as I napped, but probably good to cut back before the mountain bike race this weekend.

AM: 83' on the fat bike. 165W. HR 139.

Did a faster perimeter lap at Orion Oaks after warming up. Realized I needed to bed in my brakes so I worked on that in the afternoon. 

Picked the boys up at school and finished packing for Traverse City for Iceman. Stressful day. The boys didn't fall alsleep until midnight as they had a late name in the car. I was not thrilled.

AM: ~2 hours 35' total. 

Iceman in 2:13:51. HR 165.

6 out of 27 for Fat Bike 39 and Under. 1121 out of 4137 overall.

I skipped out on this race last year as my elbow wasn't 100% and the year before that it was COVID, but it was one of my earliest bike race and my only mountain bike race. I was pretty anxious about the race because it is a bit of a drive and I have an overwhelming amout of work to do, but I decided to just go through with it. The boys were pretty challenging in the hotel with a late nap in the car and they didn't get to bed until midnight. I was losing my mind.

Got to the race, pretty chilly but the temp came up a bit as my wave was taking off and it was perfect. I was shooting for 2:00-2:10, but there was more single track than previous years as they wanted to make it more of a "true" mountain bike race. I think I did well packing my stuff and bringing a number of clothing options and felt I dressed almost perfectly. My feet and legs were sweaty but they weren't uncomfortable. Managed to get down a fair amount of my two bottles of Maurten 320. I'd love to be able to use that in a marathon.

Got out fairly well at the aiport and we were holding 17+, but it is flat and a few tar portions. Slowed down on the single track, pressed hard on the two track and passed people on the climbs. I don't think I got passed on any of the significant climbs, which was nice. There are some very short, but very steep climbs. I know people were getting cheesed off with me and another guy on a fat bike, but sucks being you. Get out of the gate faster and put down faster times so you are in a faster wave. Averaged a bit over 13 MPH on my Garmin. Really tried to press to 14 because I knew the Garmin tax in the woods might be significant (a least a mile if the course was measured with an accurate device).

My bars tagged a tree and threw me but I think I leap frogged the bars or something because I was off the bike and running/stumbling/catching myself, to the applause of the guy behind me for me not eating it. I was riding a bit scared after that but still pressed. It's just hard when you have strong legs and lungs and no skill or confidence, but that is something to work on. I bruised my arm on either my bars or a very small tree. Cannot recall as there was a clear cut area we were going through so there weren't a ton of trees. 

Short cool down to the shool where Megan and the boys playing, the same place they were in 2021. 

I had an okay bike racing season: one deplorable disasterous race, a really solid race, a okay race, and a race I was decently please with. I am looking forward to changing gears and running a half marathon next weekend, my first running race since Detroit International Half in October 2018. Where does the time go?