Century #2: Hot TN ride with TH

RIDE 6:18 and 100.7 miles
RUN 31 mins and 3.2 miles, run/walk strategy

After last weekend's problems with a group ride, I wasn't planning to do it again at all until after MiTi. But a group is stronger, more fun, and not always a bad thing. I'd decided there were 4 people who could contact me about joining this ride that I'd accept: TH, LC, IT, and G. The others I turned away. I really did need to ride alone at my pace. But when TH said she could join, I was happy. I miss talking to her!

The ride was the Big Bottle, a new one for me. The long route was said to be 55 miles, so we planned on 55 miles twice, then a 30 min run. The only way to quickly summarize a 7 hr day is to just string together what happened in a stream of consciousness that I'm so good at :)

I forgot my EFS, probably on purpose at a subconscious level. It's just not satisfying sometimes. The first roads out of C-ville were wonderful and I'll add them to my route repertoire. TH's biking is really getting strong, I kept my pace at sub-race-pace and combined with my fatigue I couldn't have gone much faster anyway. And she was rocking it right there with me! A rock stuck in your left shoe cleat is a bad thing, especially when you can't clip out. Gwavel season for a few miles. Some guy at the 2nd rest stop was eating a loaf-like pemmican bar, how does that not sit heavy, and why did it look so much better than my powerbar? A read of the route map at the 3rd rest stop revealed the long route is 57 miles. Cloud cover is nice, especially when the bank sign says 92F. My feet were already tingling after 55 miles? A residential area tour back in to C-ville to finish the first loop in 3.5 hours, 16.1 mph ave pace. Lotsa in-town riding, but it still didn't seem that slow.

The heat of the day, the accumulated time, and the suddenly longer loop (really...55 to 57 miles shouldn't be a deterrent!) had both of us thinking that the medium 40 mile loop might be the better option. Our rationale? This was going to be a 6 hr ride even if we just do 40. It's not peak week yet, we don't need 114 miles today. It's hot. And there was a few miles of chip gravel on that long route.

So a few miles into the 2nd loop we decided to go shorter but push the pace higher than we had on the first loop. Turns out the medium ride had some gorgeous roads, no gwavel, and a brief ride on a shady MCT-like trail. In the end, no regrets going short. We tacked on 3+ miles at the end because TH wanted at least 100. DONE!

The run, oof was that hot. And after my 17 miles yesterday I wasn't much in the mood for the first mile, but settled in after that. It didn't help that there was really nowhere great to run. The park had no trails, the streets lacked sidewalks, and the one sidewalk we did find was along a busy under-construction street with bad curbs and the potential for turning traffic. We just wanted out of the sun! So when 27 mins hit with only 3 mins to go, we ended up doing short back-n-forths on a shady street. lol, whatever it takes!

My hydration was good and steady. My nutrition started late around 2hrs, but I'd had a big brekkie that kept me full. Yet I could notice when I needed a gel, I could feel the up/down ride of energy. The goal is to stay up, so I need to stay to schedule and not ignore it.

This wasn't peak week but I still hit 19.25 hours!
SWIM 5700 y in 2:14
BIKE 179.20 miles in 11:21!
RUN 37.20 miles in 5:38
COMMUTE 10 miles (I used the inbound commute as part of workouts)

SWIM MORE!!