This is definitely the longest I’ve ever gone without posting! Life has been hectic lately – busy at work, busy with training, busy with Mother’s Day, etc. This weekend was by far the most epic workout weekend of all time and despite some bumps along the road, I finished what I set out to do!
Saturday was my first ride over 100 miles (I did 102!) and it was certainly not easy! I had estimated it would take me about 6 hours 40 minutes of ride time (approx.15 mph) to cover 100 miles with 4,000 feet of climbing (CdA is 41 feet/mile and this was nearly 40 feet/mile so pretty close to what we’ll be doing race day) and then added about an hour and fifteen minutes, thinking we’d be done in about 8 hours. That estimate was about 1 hour shy of the actual time of 9 hours, due to several mishaps along the way. Mishaps on the ride included:
- Bee sting to the lip (Mike – and last week Jeremy got stung on his leg!)
- 2 dropped chains (Asia both times)
- 2 flat tires (One for Jeremy, one for Mike)
- Garmin death circa mile 45 (i.e. misery for a type A numbers person)
- Shifting issues for me from miles 50-100
- More issues with arrogant men that don’t like to be passed by girls
I practiced my nutrition for race day on this ride and took with me 250/calories per hour for estimated 7 hours of ride time. Unfortunately with all these mishaps and including in stop lights, stop signs, and rest stops, we were out on the road for nearly 9 hours, so my 1,750 calories ended up equating to less than 200 calories/hour if you count overall ride time. I ended up adding about 160 extra calories in the form of a Gu and half a Coca-Cola but I think overall I was a bit undercaloried overall.I also counted up all my sodium for the day and weighed myself before and after the ride to get a gauge on my hydration. I drank about 120 ounces of water and had 2,300 mg of sodium total during the ride. I only lost 0.8 lbs from the time I woke up (pre-breakfast) to the time I finished the bike ride, so I think this worked okay, although there was a stretch where I felt dehydrated (slight headache) and I think I could have done with more water. The weather was in the 60s when we started and was in the mid-high 70s mid-day, so we were really feeling the effects of the heat (and I have a nice sunburn to prove it despite reapplying sunscreen two times on the road!).
In case you care – my nutrition for the ride (which is very similar to my race nutrition plan) was two 400 calorie bottles of Carbopro with 2 Nuuns each, 1 peanut butter banana Nutella sandwich, and 2 Stinger Waffles. Then I added 1/2 can of Coca-Cola and 1 Gu.
It Can Only Get Easier!
Overall, I didn’t feel fantastic on this ride. The last time we rode hills and I did over 90 miles, I felt really good for the majority of the ride. This wasn’t the case during the 100 miler – there were times that I just wanted to quit and it was a mental battle for quite a few of the miles. Overall I just didn’t feel as energized, strong or motivated as on previous rides. I’m not sure what the main contributing factor to this feeling was, but I’m sure there were several reasons.
The good news is, I finished the ride and I was still able to run a solid 18 miles the next day plus spend an hour on the trainer and not feel completely wiped. The 18 miler was actually easier than I anticipated. It was also good practice to be out on the road for 9 hours – that is good practice for the long day that I will have on June 24. The better news is, I plan to ride 100 miles one more time before the race and I’m SURE that it will go more smoothly. It can only get easier from here!
How do you get yourself through tough workouts? Have you ever been stung by a bee during a bike ride!?
After a VERY long and challenging ride, I would have to agree…It can only get easier! Hopefully in 6 weeks we will have the best long ride EVER at Coeur d’Alene! Thanks for hanging in there with me.
great job on your first 100 miler! mine will be coming up shortly. eeek.
I also think I would have cried if a bee stung me on the lip. OMG. that has to be the worst thing to happen.
Congrats on making it through! My first century was similarly disastrous: dropped chain, gravel roads, malfunctioning garmin AND I was alone. Sigh. But if you can get through that, you can get through CDA!
If you can handle 102 miles with all of that, I’m pretty sure you can handle anything. Nice job!
bee sting on a bike ride? How does that happen??? 🙁 One more thing to worry about for me on the bike! :oP
Despite the challenges sounds like you had a solid set of workouts this weekend! The san diego century is next saturday. want to join me? 🙂 I’m only doing the metric though, 66. I have friends doing 100.
Yeah I know – never knew riding put you at risk for bee stings! Thanks for the invite to the century! I think this weekend won’t work but it would definitely be fun to do a ride like that another time! Good luck to you!
I was stung last week on my bike!
I was riding home from work & came upon a swarm of bees. I was going down a hill & it felt like pebbles hitting me until I saw a bee. Then I felt the sting on my leg & saw the stinger sticking out. I couldn’t pull it out until I reached the bottom of the hill. My shin was swollen for a week!
Great job on your bike ride, I can’t imagine 100 right now!
Congrats on your first century ride! I love hitting new distances, even if things don’t go according to plan. All those mishaps suck, but it should leave you prepared for almost anything that comes your way!
I’ve never been stung by a bee when biking, but my husband was stung twice on a run a few years ago. It turned out he’s allergic so we had to call for a ride and take him right to the doctor for a needle in the butt!
Sounds like a lot of people have been getting stung by bees during their rides! Awesome job pushing through the ride. It sounds like it was more of a mental struggle than a physical one. This kind of mental toughness is what will get you to the finish line in CdA. Finish strong!
coke is my favorite thing to drink in the last few miles of a long ride. yum! congrats on your triple digits!
great job despite the challenges! 100 miles is a long way to go both physically and mentally. but you’re right, it will be great training for cda! i’m doing my first century this sunday (it’s an organized ride) and i’m a little nervous. it’s got more than 6,000′ of climbing, so more than cda, and will be 30 miles longer than anything i’ve done before. it was great to read this and know that even with some challenges i can make it through!
Ya it is hard but you can do it! Good luck!!!