Solid Workout
Sorry for the half-assed post here; tired, want to go to sleep, but want to get this workout down before turning in. Just the facts...

Background: The plan was to do the Moses Lake oly-distance tri this weekend, because it's a qualifier for the age-group nationals in Portland in September. But I needed to go long and a 500-mile roundtrip drive wasn't exactly what I had in mind. So this morning I dropped Niko off at my sister's (Grandma & Grandpa were visiting from San Jose, so it was a treat for him) on the way out to Hagg Lake. After endless days of chilly, gray and drippy weather, we got some sun and temps well into the 60s today. A great day for riding.

Numbers: I did nine loops around the lake, 93.2 miles, then ran 5.2 miles. I stopped three time to swap water bottles, twice to pee, once to have a conversation with an old fart walker who had admonished me for not "sounding my horn" as I passed him, and took a four-minute transition from bike to run. From start to finish, the workout took 6 hours, 8 minutes, 35 seconds, with almost exactly 15 minutes of stoppage. Total time from start to finish of the bike portion was 5:19:13, for an average speed of 17.5 mph. Time stopped during bike ride was 11 minutes; average speed without the stops was about 18.2. Total climbing (per MapMyRide): about 6,500 feet. Run time was 45:18, about 8:42 per mile.

Quick thoughts: This ride isn't a killer, as I mentioned in a post below, but it's good work. No extended, killer climbs, but continuous ups and downs and curves. You never can really get in a groove and just mindlessly power along at 22 or 23 mph. I rode it comfortably and was really happy that when I got off and ran my legs felt fantastic. Perhaps riding aero really does save the legs for the run. But back to the ride for a second: I've come a good distance on The New Bike in a pretty short time. Neck and shoulders didn't start to ache until I was 50 miles in (that used to happen about 20 miles in), and back didn't begin screeching until I was around 60. All in all, definite signs of progress. Give me another month or two and I'll be ready for an Ironman race! (That's right, the race is June 22.)