New Race Distances?

LONG BIKE

Distance: 19+ miles
Time: 1:29:23
Route: From lower Griffith (at Western) West on Hollywood to Nichol’s Canyon; up and over to Mulholland; down to Cahuenga, Barham, Forest Lawn, Griffith Loop up and over past observatory, back down the hill to my car.
Avg. Speed: 12.8 mph (hilly!)
Top Speed: 37 mph (the Barham Hill is fun!)
AHR: 124
MHR: 145
Comments: Good ride, as always. Nice route—recommended by my Doctor. Not actually that much longer than my usual route—only 5 miles over it—but fun. Nichols is a nice climb, though I saddled it the whole time up to Woodrow Wilson, which connects Nichols to Mulholland. Then the Griffith climb was a little easier, since I know it pretty well by now—spent a lot of the time out of the saddle on that one. Fun course, definitely…the long rides are fun and at times challenging—I certainly like climbing hills, that’s for sure. Getting stronger in the pins…keeping HR down, gearing way down and just spinning up. Must continue to work on Time Trial, flat stuff, though certainly the best routes I know are hilly. Bike chain came off once! May need to get a brief tune up before I do the race.

Question: will I taper for this race or no? I’ve been saying, oh, I’m going to train through it, and maybe I will…but I do want to do well at it.

Almost had a heart attack when I saw distances for the race: 1000 meters, 40 km, 8 km, until I realized that that was for a different, longer course race than the one I’m doing. Thank god. Considered dropping out at that point!

Tomorrow: swim swim and recovery run. Should I return to the ocean? I suppose, ideally, but I don’t like to ocean swim without company. Check LA Tri club for a possibility? Hmmm…Alternative (more practical) SCAQ or alternative workout in pool followed by 25 minute treadmill run, easy. Or outdoor run, easy (preferable). No problems…then Friday off, a Saturday brick and a Sunday long run/recovery. Bike. No Scott on Sunday (that I can remember) so I’ll be able to put in a good one in the AM.