Last hard weekend

For the bike anyway. But before I get to that, an update on my running.

I have been doing aqua running for two weekends and avoiding running on dry land for nearly three weeks. The swollen area on my right shin still hurts if applied any pressure, but the pain is virtually non existent as I walk briskly or even quick stepping down the stairs. So, I decided to give it a go on Friday morning. My usual 13km route, 3 x 4.35 loop. I started off at a reasonably conservative pace. Was pretty happy with the first loop, 18:47. But the moment I started the second loop, the right leg felt really tight, so I slowed it down, 19:34. As it eased off, I picked up the pace a bit and finished the last loop in 18:57, giving total time of 57:14, averaging 4:24 per km.

There was no pain during the run, but the swell might have gotten more inflamed. Perhaps I should slow down the pace. After all, I'm intending to run at a 5 minute per km pace (with 1 minute of walking after every 2km) during the marathon leg at Ironman Western Australia anyway. I'll reassess the right shin throughout this week, if it's still not ready, I might go back to aqua running.

Now, on to the bike. With Li-Ann away, I planned a 200km ride on Saturday, one that I could do with as many breaks I needed to take, with no worries of speed, and not having to feel guilty of spending too long a time away from darling. I've been wanting to do this for quite while, but never had the confidence or the patience.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) for me, I had to choose this day when the winds were blowing above 20kph. I started my ride at 7.30am (I like my sleep haha). Despite not having any target pace in mind, it was nice to be able to keep an average of 28.5kph, but only until my first pit-stop in Hungry Jack's South Perth, at the 124km mark. The winds toned down after that but somehow there was no clear direction as to where it was blowing from. So there seemed to be a tussle whichever way I was riding. I became tired and decided to take a short rest under the trees at the 162km mark. By then, the pace had dropped to 28.1kph.

15km after that, I dropped by the IGA Supermarket to get myself some refills. The cheapest option was a 3L bottle of apple juice, which I drank some of it and ate a Powerbar Performance bar. Even after filling up my water bottle, there was still plenty left. It took me a while to finish it, as I didn't want it to go to waste. I probably drank enough apple juice to last me for the rest of my ride, as I didn't drink anything probably until the last 10km. And I probably had enough sugar in my system to keep my head spinning for the rest of the day. But luckily I was on the bike, so my legs did the spinning haha.

Managed to do a short sprint towards the end, despite riding straight into headwinds. Finally got to my car at 3.30pm, 8 hours from when I started. Total ride time was 7:07:18 for 200.4km, an average of 28.1kph.

This probably sounds cliche, but throughout my ride, there were so many times I wanted to cut it short. But having Li-Ann in my thoughts and mind, kept me going. Ironically though, when she's around, there are times when my rides are cut short so that I could see her earlier haha. Can't wait for her to be back tomorrow!