One hundred twenty-two miles is a long way. Before the ride, I was curious: what did that equal to in terms of driving distance? First, I checked Googlemaps and verified how far it was to drive from my place in Arlington, Virginia into Delaware. Not far enough. For a 122 mile bike ride, I may as well have biked to just past the New Jersey state line. It was not the sort of thing I wanted to have in my head as I embarked on my bike ride. Having failed to complete my 110-miler both times I trained for Ironman, I was a little apprehensive. However, despite the long distance, several other factors were in my favor. The weather was going to be a little cooler than it had been, I was ready to implement "lessons learned" from my 110-miler, and the route was going to be relatively flat.
The route was broken into 2 loops: a 49 miler and a 73+ miler. The first loop was potentially the easiest 49-mile ride I've ever been on. The weather was highly cooperative, the terrain was easy (just flat enough--- too flat would have been a challenge unto itself), and Susan kept me company for a bulk of the ride.
The second loop was largely a repeat of the first loop, just in reverse. As a result, it was a great chance to see the front runners heading out for loop #2 as I came in, as well as see those coming in after me as I headed out for more. Company is always welcome.
I rode with Siri for about the first 10 miles of loop #1 before she dropped me. For the rest of the second loop, I was alone. For a long stretch, I did not even see a sag vehicle. It got rather lonely. I kept telling myself that during Ironman, I'll be largely alone, so may as well get used to it.
Although the temperatures stayed in the 80s, the humidity was rather high. I kept hoping that it would begin to rain, but not a repeat of the stormy weather from the weekend before. Alas, no rain.
Around mile 90, I was much relieved to see Roy and Linda with their sag-mobile. Cool drinks, munchies, and good cheer. Fabulous! I caught up to Siri at that point, who assured me I'd probably see her again during the last 32 miles. She was feeling a bit nauseous. She must have finished strong, as I did not see her again until the ride was over.
The final 32 miles had their ups and downs. By and large, I was ready to get off my bike. Strangely, I feel like I was more mentally tired than physically tired. I started to have tears of joy stream down my cheeks when I hit the 113 mile point. For one, I had reached a new milestone in terms of distance on my bike (previous record was 112 during IM 2006), secondly, I had made it past 100 miles during a training ride, a new first, and lastly, I had less than 10 miles left to go! I could do it!
Several vehicles passed by filled with Team Z'ers during those final miles. A memorable vision was of Ed, standing on the passenger seat of his truck as he drove by, with his body poking through the sunroof, announcing he had cold water for me. There was only about a mile or two left at that point, but I was thrilled to see him and Talia. I came up to them and said, "I don't believe I'm actually going to finish this f***ing ride!" I was so thrilled!
Team Z friends and BBQ awaited at the end. Yee ha! I did it!
I earned recovery week this go-around for sure.
The route was broken into 2 loops: a 49 miler and a 73+ miler. The first loop was potentially the easiest 49-mile ride I've ever been on. The weather was highly cooperative, the terrain was easy (just flat enough--- too flat would have been a challenge unto itself), and Susan kept me company for a bulk of the ride.
The second loop was largely a repeat of the first loop, just in reverse. As a result, it was a great chance to see the front runners heading out for loop #2 as I came in, as well as see those coming in after me as I headed out for more. Company is always welcome.
I rode with Siri for about the first 10 miles of loop #1 before she dropped me. For the rest of the second loop, I was alone. For a long stretch, I did not even see a sag vehicle. It got rather lonely. I kept telling myself that during Ironman, I'll be largely alone, so may as well get used to it.
Although the temperatures stayed in the 80s, the humidity was rather high. I kept hoping that it would begin to rain, but not a repeat of the stormy weather from the weekend before. Alas, no rain.
Around mile 90, I was much relieved to see Roy and Linda with their sag-mobile. Cool drinks, munchies, and good cheer. Fabulous! I caught up to Siri at that point, who assured me I'd probably see her again during the last 32 miles. She was feeling a bit nauseous. She must have finished strong, as I did not see her again until the ride was over.
The final 32 miles had their ups and downs. By and large, I was ready to get off my bike. Strangely, I feel like I was more mentally tired than physically tired. I started to have tears of joy stream down my cheeks when I hit the 113 mile point. For one, I had reached a new milestone in terms of distance on my bike (previous record was 112 during IM 2006), secondly, I had made it past 100 miles during a training ride, a new first, and lastly, I had less than 10 miles left to go! I could do it!
Several vehicles passed by filled with Team Z'ers during those final miles. A memorable vision was of Ed, standing on the passenger seat of his truck as he drove by, with his body poking through the sunroof, announcing he had cold water for me. There was only about a mile or two left at that point, but I was thrilled to see him and Talia. I came up to them and said, "I don't believe I'm actually going to finish this f***ing ride!" I was so thrilled!
Team Z friends and BBQ awaited at the end. Yee ha! I did it!
I earned recovery week this go-around for sure.
1 comment:
Great job, Marlene. You do Rock!!! Good swim this morning, too. Glad it's all coming together for you. It's in the bag, now. Congrats!
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