Journey to IRONMAN: 3 Weeks: The Bike

Well folks, here we are again.  This time with only 3 weeks left until the big Half IRONMAN day.  I successfully finished my final BIG week of training and am now in that glorious time of taper and rest.  After my de-railer incident, my poor bike had to be in the shop until last Tuesday. I had seriously begun to wonder if I was ever going to successfully beat my 60 mile goal before IRONMAN.  Thank the Lord though, I did it!  Logging over 100 miles on the bike last week felt amazing.  

Its really funny, tell anyone that you are doing an IRONMAN and right after the "I don't know how you do it,"  you always get the "I could never do the swim!"  I'm telling you, the swim has got people scared to death.  Doesn't matter that it is the shortest distance you have to go and that to accomplish the 1.2 miles will only take about 45 minutes.  The swim is the fear factor of nearly 95% of people I have encountered.  That's funny to me because, um hello? The biking is 56 miles (112 in a full) and will take a whopping 3.5 hours to complete if I am feeling good, and if the bike stays in good shape and if I fuel right.  The cycling portion of the IRONMAN is where my race either happens or doesn't.  I can run 13.1 miles in my sleep.  Even tired I can do it.  But the bike......thats the fear factor.  It's so big and covers so much distance.

The map seems fairly undaunting, but its big.  Now don't worry, I have it.  I can do it.  I know without doubt that I can, but I am acutely aware of the scope of the cycling part of this race.  Boulder sits in the foothills which means that the elevation will be above 5000 feet and its mountainous.  Below is the elevation map for the ride.  There are hills.  Not big gut wrenching climbs, but enough climbing to create a challenge for energy conservation.  I've got it.  Don't worry.  But again.....Its BIG.  

My goal is to complete my race in 6:30.  Yes, that's 6 hours and 30 minutes.  It will be the longest I have EVER consecutively raced.  My bike will easily take up more than 1/2 of that time.  It's a good thing Lady Trek is in better shape than she's ever been in!

I've got it.......Don't worry!