Weekend Adventures

Pat and I went to our nephew John’s High School graduation in Walla Walla, WA this past weekend.  We drive through Coeur d’Alene to get there so I took the opportunity to ride the IRONMAN course on Friday morning.  It is a 2-loop course, each loop is 56 miles and is very HILLY.    It was a beautiful day for a ride.

Coeur d'Alene Lake and my new bike

I got to test out my new bike.  It feels different but, I felt really strong/good on this bike.  My legs were definitely burning during this ride but, overall I was really happy with how well the bike performed.  My fitness/strength for climbing hills needs some work but, there is time.

Stats from the ride:

Time – 3:16:10

Distance – 55 miles

Average Speed – 16.8 mph
Average Cadence - 83 rpm

The image below shows the elevation, my speed, heartrate and cadence for this ride over distance.  You can see by the elevation graph that this course is a lot of climbing.  After the first 20 miles or so, the next 15 is mostly climbing.  And it hurts, in a good way! :)

I rode this course at the end of April and my average speed was 14.9 MPH.  So, almost 2 MPH faster this time.  Things contributing to this speed increase: 

• Better fitness level/stronger
• New/better/faster bike!
• Better weather (last time it was cold!) 

I do have to say that after both times of riding this course my legs were burning.  It’s somewhat concerning that on race day, this bike ride will be followed by a 26.2 mile run.  ARGH! :)  I can do it!

On Saturday morning, Pat and I got a nice 8.5 mile run done on one of our favorite trails in Walla Walla.  It was a hot morning and I definitely suffered a bit during this run.  I am not prepared to run in heat like that yet.  But, I better figure it out because it will be hot during the CDA IM run in August. 

Lastly, we enjoyed a nice family gathering for John’s graduation!  John will be heading to Western in the Fall where he will play football for the Bulldogs.  Congratulations John!