BIKE 112 miles in 6:59.58 16mph
CP's final advice to me this morning was to be smart on the bike so I can kill the run. After the swim, any plan of killing anything was out the door. Change of plans, and all on the fly. It worked, but took a lot of my second IMWI matra word: Patience.
The first 15 or so miles were on an in-town out-n-back. Riding through town was a thrill, it felt like a real bike race with spectators, crowds, signs, fencing, turns, and more. I'm glad this section came first, it buoyed my spirits. I focused on eating in this section, also on getting warm. By the end of the 15 miles, before we headed out on the highway, the sun peeked out and I started to feel better. I paused to take off the arm warmers and vest, stuffing them in my back pockets. It made for an uncomfy jersey, but it was better than shivering.
The next 40 miles were an out-n-back on two lanes of a closed highway. There were some no-pass zones, long hills, and headwinds. Still feeling sick to my stomach, I started to focus on eating. It turns out I had swallowed a lot of air in the swim, leaving me to expel the air--I'll just say that I used both means of doing so, but only after checking behind me to be sure no one was there :) Once that was taken care of, I thought I'd feel better, but not yet. Once or twice more my nutrition came back up. The first 35 miles of the ride was awful--keeping my heart rate low on hills with headwind, with a burpy tummy and gas cramps, and when the sun went behind the clouds again I started shivering again. It wasn't pleasant.
But I was rolling along and passing people. I passed a lot of people in fact! Pretty much the only ones passing me were the pro's and fast AG'ers on their second loop. I started seeing other Taters coming back, and this help my mood quite a bit. I was worrying about other Taters not making it to the bike. I was in a good mood, considering, but frustrated. I knew I was capable of riding so much faster...But I kept telling myself: be Patient, be Patient, it will come back, it will...
I hit the turn-around and put my arm warmers back on. The ride back trended down hill and had a tailwind, but I still needed the extra clothes. Did I really bring arm coolers to this race? Yes!!
The way back into town was FAST. Relatively fast anyway. But it was along this stretch somewhere around miles 40-45 that I finally started to feel better. It helped that my HR was lower, some time had passed, and my effort was minimized on the down hills. This moment inspired my bike segment song: I can feel it; coming back again; like a rolling thunder chasing the wind...
I could feel it! I could do this! But I was so far behind on nutrition! Hydration was OK, but nutrition was lagging. I can do this! I passed the half-way point, hit the Lap button the Garmin, and headed back into town to start round 2. Buoyed again by the crowds, I thought I'd be able to negative split the second bike lap. Ever since I started feeling better, I started doing the race math...I lost 30 mins here, I can gain 30 mins there, I can save time here...mental mumblings that made no sense really. My pre-race predictions for expected time were thrown out the window after T1. I can't compare IMCdA to IMWI and expect it to all come out the same.
I had to let all the expectations go and just get smart and ride to be ready to run. This is hard to do. So hard. All the weeks and months of planning, all the PR's and improvements in pace, all the expectations and hopes and dreams of a 12:something Ironman. I had to let it all go. I had to maintain Patience.
The ride through town passed runners already on the run course. If I was going to run at all in a few hours, I had to be Patient NOW and save myself on the bike.
My stop at Special Needs was fast. I had only a small zip-lock back with Sport Beans, my favorite gel flavors, and chamois butter in it. I shoved it in the last jersey pocket I had and rode off. I needed a bathroom, and I needed to eat. At the next aid station I found both. My fingers weren't working so I had trouble getting my snacks out of my pocket, but after some fumbling I succeeded. In the porta-potty I went to put on chamois butter but couldn't get my fingers to work again--I'd put the bag back in my pocket and couldn't get it out. But I noticed that I wasn't the only rider using the potty to add more cream, and that others had left mostly full packets of cream sitting near the toilet. In a flash of brilliance combined with disgust, I squeezed out enough cream from the left over packs for me to use. Did I really just admit to doing that?
Off to lap 2, passing some dancers jammin to Lady Gaga's Bad Romance. Add that to the songlist!
Lap 2 didn't go as planned. I stayed positive and strong. I didn't let the hills and headwinds get to me. My feet never hurt, but my butt and neck were starting to. But I couldn't get the fire lit under me to really ride any faster. This was probably a good thing--any faster and I would have burned up and ruined the run. But my hopes of having a negative split bike turned into "just finish under 7hrs" goal. I accepted this and kept moving. I was eating and drinking OK, and transitioned to just water and a caffeinated gel at about 104 miles to go. Am I ready to run!? Time to find out!
BIKE SUMMARY
The first 35 miles of the bike was a salvage operation. It took some time to shake off the negative feelings of the swim as well as the sickness from it. I'm happy that I stayed patient, made new plans and goals, and accepted what had happened the implications of it all. Oh it was most certainly all on my mind--rumbling around in a dance of mixed numbers, mis-calculations, and bad math. But it didn't get to me.
My form stayed good, my equipment was flawless, and thankfully my feet didn't BURN like they did at IMWI. Overall, aside from the lack of speed and fire, I think I did OK on the bike. But just OK.
In the end I calculated 40-500 calories I didn't take in on the bike. I had only 1000 calories of InfinIT, 2 powerbars, two gels, and the sport beans. In total I ate about 1800 calories after 7 hours, or about 250 per hour. My goal was 300/hour. In the days after the race, I thought I had eaten way too little on the bike, but in the end only 50/hour--that's not too bad! But it doesn't take into consideration all the energy lost warming up after the swim, that set me back. But I can't eat back what I lost by eating more than I can absorb. So in the end, my bike nutrition wasn't as bad as I thought it was!
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