A couple weeks ago I went on my longest training ride yet, 115 miles. I knew this would be a big milestone in my training for Ironman. I was excited for this.
When it came to planning a rooute I asked several other cyclists in the area who had done longer rides as to what they recommended to make it a safe and smooth long ride. I chose to ride from a Whataburger in Gulf Breeze instead of crossing over the three-mile bridge by myself on the bike to make things slightly safer. The plan would be to then continue on 98 , crossover onto Garcon Point bridge , up Avalon and then up 87 to Brewton and back.
The night before I went ahead and miixed my hydration and nutrition for the bike ride as well as dropped some of my nutrition off to a friend who would meet me at an early midway point so I would not have to stop at a gas station right away. I then laid out all my clothing and accessories I would need for the following day. For dinner I had a healthy turkey and broccoli stirfry with lots of water to drink.
When I woke up that morning I was feeling great and I was super stoked for my long ride. I went ahead and put air in my tires before I left. I finished loading up my car with my bike and anything else I would need for the ride and headed over to Gulf Breeze. I then went back into the house and started to get ready. For me getting ready for the bike ride I made sure to put sunblock on, lots of body glide and chamois butter, brush my teeth and take my endurolytes. Breakfast was two rice cakes with peanut butter on them, which has come to be one of my favorite pre-workout breakfasts.
The day was looking absolutely beautiful and perfect for a bike ride. Driving over the bridge there was a beautiful sunrise and I was only getting more excited. When I got to Whataburger I parked my car and took my bike out but notice that my rear tire was flat. I was shocked to find this because I just filled up my tires with air back at the house. That's when I realized I was experiencing my first flat tire ever. But because of how odd the timing was of the tire going flat I thought there something wrong so I had to call for help to make sure that it was alright. This cost me to have a much later start my bike right than I wanted but thankfully it had been oddly cooler that morning so really was not a big deal as to me leaving later than I originally planned. That is part of being a triathlete one - perform and two- be able to execute when things don't go your way.
Riding to Gulf Breeze on 98 was a pain in the butt. The roads were completely awful and not well-maintained which was shocking considering it was Gulf Breeze. I was happy to finally get on Garçon Point Bridge. The climb was a challenge but it was so rewarding going down. Avalon was not as bad as expected and instead of hitting Avalon & 90 I turned on commerce and went thru the back neighborhood to get to 87.
I finally made it to Blackwater State Park Parking Lot where my good friend, Dawn, brought me two bottles of my execute and some other nutrition so I wouldn't have to hit up a gas station so early on. After refueling really quickly, and grabbing another tube, I took off on Northbound 87 for Brewton,AL. Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, it's long bike ride!
Traffic wasn't bad at all on 87, normally isn't which is why I choose this route often. Coach hadn't specified what my HR needed to be so I maintained an easy, comfortable pace since I had never ridden 115 miles before, I didn't want to burn out too quickly which would also allow me to get a good idea for pacing myself with my Ironman. During the ride I honestly just pictured race day most of the time. Other times found myself wondering how badly I smelled, if anyone was around when I needed to pee, what I was going to devour after this long ride, you know- normal triathlete stuff, haha. I also sung to myself, songs like "You Spin Me Right Round baby, right round", and "This is How we Roll", "Ready, Set, Let's Roll", and many more funny ones relation to spinning/rolling. Several times I caught myself saying really random funny things, like whenever I go down hill I'll say "I'm flying Jack!" bahaha. Or I mimic the famous line from the movie Cool Runnings " Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, it's long bike ride!"
When I finally hit my half way mark, I was excited because I wasn't feeling bad at all- physically, mentally, and emotionally. I had been averaging around 16-17 mph. On the way back I did stop to take a selfie of me at the "Florida State Line" sign cause I just find it awesome that these long rides have me riding into another state! I even rewarded myself and turned my Pandora radio on my phone and listened to some fun music on my trip back.
Trip back was just as smooth as the first part. I did stop at a Tom Thumb just after passing NAS Whiting Field to get some Powerade and a Snickers, don't judge me! I cut thru commerce park again which was funny because I had to pee again and there were so many vehicles and I already have to pep talk myself into doing it but its really hard when you're ready to go and a car comes by. I have stage fright! When I finally hit mile 90, around Avalon blvd, thats when I started feeling like I'd been on a bike for 5 hours. I wasn't exhausted, just not as pumped as I was before hand.
When I got back to Gulf Breeze I was still short a few miles so I kept turning off into random neighborhoods and circling them. At this point I was just trying not to go crazy and ready to finish my ride. I had to do like 5 laps in the parking lot where the Whataburger was in order to hit a perfect 115! It ended up taking me about 6.5 hours, averaging about 17 mph, which I was very pleased with because I wasn't trying to go fast, just be comfortable.
What did I get out of this ride? Well here a few things:
-Chamois Butter is amazing! After 6.5 hours on the bike my butt was very comfortable and non irritated.
-Cliff Bloks are super yummy and will be what I eat for the bike portion of my Ironman.
-My tri shirt/sports bra can hold quite a few things, I managed to pack in 4 packages of Cliff Bloks, a tube of enduralytes, and my phone.
-No sunscreen helps a 6.5 hr ride
-I'm stronger then I think I am
-It's ok to pee on yourself as an adult, kinda
And most of all, I finally felt ready for Ironman. I was faced with a problem early on in my day, though frustrating I didn't let it get me down. I still had a great ride and now truly feel that I can ride those 112 miles with confidence and smile. With now 15 days left until my Ironman, I'm beyond stoked! Just focusing on my tapering, taking care of my body through trigger point therapy, stretching, eating right, and getting plenty of rest.
One more blog post to follow in the next week or so then it will be race time!
