The final frontier

My final hard training weekend before things get easy. Okay, maybe not easy, but easier.

I decided to try out the aero helmet for Saturday's bike ride. Wanted to see if overheating would be a problem. Ironically, it was quite windy that Saturday, winds were blowing in excess of 35kph. Hence, there was quite a bit of ventilation. Also, the temperature were somewhere in the low 30s at it's highest, not too extreme.

Anyway, the helmet didn't cause any problems in terms of heating up my head. It did sometimes get caught up in the cross winds though.

I scheduled a lunch break somewhere after the 100km mark. My average speed was 28.8kph then. Li-Ann is in Sydney for her conference, so I wouldn't be able to have lunch with her after my ride anyway. I indulged myself in Hungry Jack's triple cheeseburger stunner meal - a burger, small fries, small drink and a sundae for only A$6.95 (no, I'm not getting paid for this promo). I helped myself with the free drink refills.

After lunch, I was mainly riding into the head winds. But patience is a virtue, and sure enough the last few kms of my ride was greatly wind assisted. I completed the 162.8km distance (slightly longer than my usual 160km, must be the detour for lunch hehheh) in 5:41:57 (not including rest stops, average 28.5kph). Not my best, but given the rough wind conditions, I'm pretty satisfied.

Sunday morning, I woke up with a pair of pretty tired legs. I wasn't sure if I could do a long run. I took comfort in knowing that I've done a long run on Tuesday, the Australia Day holiday already. So I told myself I'll just take one loop at a time and see how it goes.

The results were pleasantly surprising! It's amazing when the race comes nearer, how much more motivation there is. The first four 4.35km loops were ran in 19:09, 19:03, 19:27, 19:31 (water stops at the 3rd and 4th loop) and I shocked myself that I had the energy to sprint the 5th loop in 18:41. Completed the 21.6km distance in 1:35:51 (average 4:26 per km), I was stoked!

27 days to go... I can't wait!