Cycling Is Hungry Work

Yesterday I really had every intention on going out for a ride. But then I didn't want to wake up. Which was okay, because I could go after work. Except I ended up having to stay late at work. So, the bike ride didn't happen. Oh well. I realize that maybe I should be taking this triathlon that I have in, um, 18 days, more seriously, but I've come to the realization that I'm doing this for fun. Get it people? No super secret time goals. Nothing. Just fun.

I've especially decided to embrace the fun aspect of doing the NYC triathlon this year since it looks like they'll be going to a lottery next year and that's no fun at all. If this is my one shot for a while, I might as well enjoy myself!

With that in mind, I know that I still need to keep up the workouts so that I can finish with a smile on my face. We'll be away for the long weekend in Wisconsin, so I won't be able to bike or swim there, so I figure I should get in some decent rides before we leave. This morning I headed out for some loops in the Park.

Again, I didn't want to kill my legs all in one go, so I figured I'd just do one loop and then try to keep it consistent from there. I think I finished the first loop in just under 24 minutes and then tried to not have that increase. Nothing too notable about the ride this morning. I think I had my shoes too tight because after doing the second loop, both of my feet felt like they were non-existent from being numb, so I stopped quickly and loosened the straps on my shoes and headed off for the third loop. So much better! I'm going to have to remember this on race day as I'm sure I have the tendency to over, rather than under, tighten.

My feet weren't the only thing on my mind this morning, though. Even though I ate about 200 calories before I left for my ride, I was starving about 40 minutes into it. Why is it that biking makes me so hungry? Is it because while I'm running my stomach is bouncing around a lot more and I don't notice if I'm hungry? Whatever it is, I was ready to gnaw my arm off by the time I got home today. As luck would have it, Drew was home from his workout earlier than usual and was in the midst of making breakfast when I walked in the door!

I ended up doing three loops this morning, which felt really good. I'm hoping to do the same tomorrow morning before we head off for the weekend. I'm pretty happy that I've consistently been at 15 MPH or over the last few rides. I understand this is a small victory for a lot of people, but it's nice to see that I'm slowly gaining ground on the bike. I had hoped that I would have spent a lot more time on the bike this year by now, but I figure that after NYC is over, I can just do whatever I want and get in some really good long rides and not have to worry about anything!

Biking
Time: 1:13:26
Distance: 18.45 miles (20.30 miles total)
Pace: 15.07 MPH
Calories: 596
Maximum HR: 171 (81%)
Average HR: 154 (73%)