Bike 4 Hours

Rode for 4 hours today. All base effort, within the MAF perameters. I did exceed my max HR of 155 a couple times, but it only lasted for a moment. I know that's probably not entirely acceptable if you're following the MAF protocol to the letter, but I couldn't hold it back on some of the climbs. I find it much easier to keep the HR down on the run than on the bike. I don't know if that's because you can simply walk, or that you can slow the pace way down when you need to, even on climbs.

I learned another very important lesson today. As the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." For the entire season, I trained on and raced the same bike in the same postition. I'm not a total aero "weenie", and I don't go with a super aggresive position. To me it's more important to be able to run well off the bike and finish strong than it is to crush the bike and have a shit run, but that's just me. Running is my strength and I want to race the run, not just limp home. So anyway, I switched bikes for today's ride. I finished building up a spare tri bike that I got, made the position super aggressive, and decided to take it out on the ride today.

I didn't think it would be a big deal, but after 3 hours, I was beaten the "F" up! Bad!!! My back was aching, my right knee hurt, and my neck felt like I just spent the whole day looking up at the sky. I was miserable. So I stopped home, picked up my "real" bike, and went out for the last hour. Honestly, it was like putting on a glove. That bike just fits me. I'm still aero, more powerful, and very, very comfy.

So, just as I learned not to switch things up with running shoes, I've now learned not to mess with my bikes either. If something is working for me, I'm just gonna stick with it. There's no reason to go with the flashiest this or that just because so-and-so is rocking it on race day. From here on out there will be NO CHANGES!!!

The foot is still hurting like a mother f'er, but the calf is just about 100%. Funny how when you hurt one part of the body the other "mysterisously" get hurt compensating for the injured side:). Tomorrow is a well needed rest day. I'll look to take care of the foot and see what I can do. Hopefully if all goes well I'll be able to hit all of my key runs for next week. I'm excited to run pain free again!