Today Kicked Ass!

There's no other way to say it. Some days you just have a great day and today was one of them. My plan called for a 3 hour ride followed by a 30 min run but I've felt like my plan was a little light on biking so I planned to up that to 3:30 if I felt good.

The forecast was cloudy but mid 50s to low 60s with showers late afternoon so I decided not to wait before heading out.

One of the big things I've been working on is a nutrition plan and last night while preparing everything for the ride today I felt like a mad scientist mixing potions :) Salt has been a big factor for me and I seem to have GI issues when I use the extra sodium products like PowerGel or Gatorade Endurance so I decided to go old school and just add 1/8 tsp of table salt to my bottles and see if I could stomach it.

With dry roads I took my tri bike off the trainer for her maiden voyage of the season and it was awesome! I rode from my house to Gaston then up to Hagg Lake and around the lake (1400ft of climbing) then back to my house.

The day started out cloudy and cool but after about the first hour the sun came out and it was gorgeous :) I got some new Zoot tri shorts with pockets and was looking forward to trying them outside the house in real world conditions. Other than some localized seat irritation later in the ride (note to self - more vaseline for mid-ride), my new shorts worked great and my nutrition plan kicked ass!

For breakfast I had:

1 Banana
2 slices Sprouted Wheat bread w/2 tbs Better N' Peanut Butter and 2 tbs Spreadable Fruit

Hour 1:
2 GU
1 Bottle GU20 w/300mg extra salt
1 Aero Bottle H20

Hour 2:
1 Bottle CarboPro Lemonade w/300 mg extra salt
1 GU
1 Aero Bottle H20

Hour 3+:
1 Uncrustables - The most amazing invention ever! White bread with creamy PB and strawberry jelly all formed into a circle with no crust. Totally portable and after 2.5 hours on the bike, so delicious :)
1 Bottle GU20
1 Aero Bottle H20
1 GU

I've finally figured out that I tend to get stressed out over speed and distance so I've just stopped looking at it all while riding. My bike computer is set to only show me actual riding time. I'd planned to go 3:30 but by the time I got around the lake and back home I'd ended up doing 3:41.32

After pulling into the garage I hopped off my bike for a transition run.

It took about 5:40 to get shoes and socks off, lube up my feet and put new socks and running shoes on. Then I stretched, got my Fuel Bottle of H20 and Sports Beans along with my hat, MP3 player and cell phone and I was off.

My legs felt great and I ended up doing 2.8 miles in 31.27 which for me is smoking (11.14 min mile).

Once I got back it was time for the big reveal as they say on TV. How many miles had I gone in 3:41? I was hoping for 55 given the climbing around the lake and knowing that my previous ride out to Gaston had taken about 2.5 hours and been 41 miles without the segment out and around the lake.

So imagine my suprise when I saw - 60.54 miles!!!!!

WOO HOO - That's a 16.3 mile average :)

I am so stoked!

Today was beautiful, my nutrition was spot on and I feel great. It was a confidence building day to be sure.