Wow - I am actually going to have time to write about an event the day it happened! This is how it should be, actually, while my thoughts on it are fresh. Normally, however, I do not have the luxury of the time to do it, but today I do! Read on...
For review, today I did a "metric century" bike ride. That means a 100 kilometer ride (about 62 miles), although my GPS told me when I was done that I had only gone about 60 miles, even though I rode the entire event course - honest! At any rate, it went much better than I could have hoped! No, I wasn't anywhere near the "peloton" that lead the way, I took it easy, particularly on the first half. What made it a successful ride for me was the strategy I used, one I need to get used to using, for it is the only way I will be able to complete the Half Ironman next month - going easy on the first half and then pushing a little bit on the second half. I ended up with a very desirable "negative split" - that is, riding the second half of the event faster than the first. When a rider is able to do that, it indicates a sound pacing strategy was used. My goal for the ride overall was to finish in 4 hours of riding or less (not counting stops at aid stations - I turn off the watch during those times), and I handily did that. I finished in 3 hours 34 minutes. Here's how it broke out:
I made three "pit stops" total, one approximately each 1/4 of the way through.
Lap 1 17.19 miles 1:07:00 15.4 mph avg
Lap 2 11.83 miles 0:44:27 16.0 mph avg
Lap 3 12.09 miles 0:42:22 17.1 mph avg
Lap 4 17.81 miles 1:00:13 17.7 mph avg
Laps 1 and 4 and laps 2 and 3 are roughly equivalent (covered the same pieces of road), so that's how you can compare each segment.
Some overall totals:
Average speed: 16.5 mph
Total calories : 3445 (not sure if I buy this - seems pretty high to me)
Average heart rate: 121 bpm
Max heart rate: 175 bpm
Total ascent: 1295 feet (includes all climbs over the entire course - it's a pretty flat course overall)
Just for fun, I looked up my stats for this ride in 2006. I shouldn't have - I finished in 3 hours flat and averaged 18.8 mph over the entire course. Ah well, today's event was for completion only, but it does let me know where I am at in comparison. I went on to run the same Half Ironman race in 2006 after doing this metric century ride, too.
All is not lost, though - I think today's ride was much more enjoyable than the 2006 version! There are several reasons for this. First, I had no flat tires today (lucky, really; there were lots of other folks with blowouts along the way). I had 2 flats on this course in 2006 - not a good day. Also, there was nothing but bright Hawaiian sunshine out there today, and fairly calm winds (normal tradewinds notwithstanding). In 2006, it rained off and on over the entire duration of the event. I wrote in my notes that it was a "dirty, wet ride." Today was neither. And since I wasn't "dodging raindrops" today, there was more opportunity to take in the beautiful scenery. If you like beaches, azure blue sea, surf, mountains, and blue sky, this is one event that has all that! All in all, I am glad I did the event today.
GJS
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