Starting to go long

At just over three months to the big day, it's time to start getting in some long rides. I already do swims at over twice the expected distance, so I need to build up my runs and rides. Going overdistance on the run can be very taxing on the body, so my big focus will be lots of miles on the bike, while slowly increasing my run. Today was the first time I went well over the expected 90km distance.

TTC ride times moved up to 8am, so we pushed off about 8:20 (it was the first day so lots of people were late). There were new maps, including routes of up to 120km. Since my goal was 100-120km, I was ready for the big loop, and so were three others, which made for a nice ride. The other riders were Bruce, an older gent getting ready for IM Canada; Vince, who had already done Oceanside 70.3 and IM China so far this spring; and Ian, getting ready for his first IM in Lake Placid, who was shooting for 180km on the day. I was the self-appointed ride leader, because I can read a map.

We kept a strong pace, changing the pace leader every few miles so no one burned themselves out. The return stretch, the wind picked up into our faces (no, really, it was stronger as a headwind than the tailwind we got on the way out. I'm not just saying that since I got tired). I did most of the pulling into the wind, since I'm always willing to do the work. There are few things in the world harder than rollers dead into a headwind, because each uphill seems twice as steep, and you can only manage 35-38km/h on the descents. The last 3-4km was a tail/crosswind, and I was still able to run it up to 38-40km/h, so there was still gas in the tank. Long day, tough day. We did about 124km at last count, then I came home and slept. I'll need to do more work to be able to knock out a faster 90km, and then run 13.1 miles. But this was a good starting point.

Bike: 124km, ~4 hours