Let me take you back to Sunday - long ride day. For the last couple weeks I've been tinkering with the notion of nudging my mileage up beyond the 60 or 80 miles that I've done for a couple weeks now. It was expected to be overcast and cooler so I threw caution to the wind and plotted a nice 100-mile ride that would avoid any kind of urban streets or traffic lights. I wanted to ride solid for 5 hours without hills or interruptions.
I personally am a little tentative riding a new route especially when you don't know the condition of the roads. With the number of flat tires I've had lately too, I was packed to the brim with extra tubes, bars, Roctane and a little cash to stop and get some food along the way. This route was excellent and I intend to use it again in the future. Spinning aero in the big chain ring for 20-40 miles at a time is exactly what I've been looking for to simulate the ride along the Bee Line highway come race day. I was also focused on nutrition and payed close attention to what I was putting in me, how often and what I was feeling at certain mileage markers - 30, 60 and 90 miles. I felt better after this ride was done than I have coming back from shorter hillier rides.
Since then, I skipped Monday swim drills, ran 7 miles this morning and then swam 2.4 miles this evening. It rained like the ba-jesus today so I don't think I'l be cycling in the morning (too much standing water and debris in the road). I'll probably wait until the afternoon.
The knee is still acting up, though not quite as bad as a few weeks ago. I think I'm resolved not to over-extend my mileage between now and race day. Max, I may try and put on 14-16 miles for long runs but honestly if I can't, I'll be fine with that. I don't remember where I saw the quote, but it always sticks in my mind during long runs -
"[A marathon is] 20 miles of hope, 6 miles of guts"
I'm sure we're going to find out. Cheers.
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