“Got 112?”

My tri team, OutRival Racing (ORR), organizes a free training ride every year on the IMTX course.  This year’s motto  was “got 112”?  The ride was scheduled for Saturday March 28th with a trickle start beginning at 7:00 AM.  This was my second year to do this ride, although last year only 40 miles of the course, but this event seems to grow each year.   I don’t know the official count but there seemed to be more than 300 riders from all over to participate.  There was even a RV in the parking lot when I pulled in so not sure where they came from but certainly a great event if you’re planning to do IMTX.

The weather in Houston this year has been cold and rainy so I was very excited when I looked at the extended forecast and saw sunny with 49/80 as the temps for the day.  Yes, the meteorologists  actually got it right this time.  It was perfect weather with not a cloud in the sky.

Due to construction, there were a few route options one could take.  I hooked up with some people I knew and we rolled out about 7:45.  I made a small mistake in switching out my saddle the night before.  As mentioned in previous post, I’ve given the Prologue plenty of miles but knew how uncomfortable I was after mile 60 that there was no way I was going to ride it over 100.  The ride was supported with a few aid stations along the way which worked out well since the first station we came to, I stopped and adjusted the saddle some.  I didn’t have the chafing from the wide arms on the Adamo but just couldn’t get comfortable and knee began hurting around mile 60.  I was starting to dread the 3 mile brick run I had when I got back.  Toward the end of the ride, the wind definitely started to pick up as we headed into a strong headwind on the way back.  I couldn’t help but think what great training this is though because a strong headwind coming from the south is the expectation come May but with higher temperatures.  Then I begin to feel some cramping.  Uh oh.  Why?  I thought I’ve taken in enough fluids so I back off  and go with higher cadence which seemed to help some but  I’m like a race horse (minus the speed of course) rounding the last turn because I always find when I get close to home, I begin to push harder.   I’m not sure if it’s the familiarity of it all or just excited that I’m almost done except this time I look down and see I’ve only gone about 90 miles so take some other roads to get a few extra miles and end up close to 100.

Once I get back, I try to stretch a little before taking off to do a short run.  I start out and HR shoots up so I look at watch and realize I’m going way too fast for me so slow down and once again, the hamstrings start cramping so I decide to practice my IM strategy of walking / running.  After all, if this happens during IM, I have to try something so glad it’s happening now so I can focus on walking faster.   I’m able to finish out my 3.2 mile walk / jog but realize there are still things I need to work on…specifically hydration and nutrition.

All in all…a great day.  So to answer the question, “got 112?”  Well, I came close but I know come May 16th…I’ll have it.