Tiffany is an amazing runner - she just won her age group in the Colorado Marathon last week (3:19) and she's running New York City marathon next weekend. And if that wasn't enough, in August she signed up for Ironman Cozumel, giving her only 3 months to train!
Tiffany is one of those rare people that make you laugh within minutes of meeting her. She has an infectious smile and great sense of humor. She's the perfect person to do a long ride with because I think we laughed the entire way.
And I learned something very important: Don't ride 100 miles in the "up" position on a tri bike! I normally ride in the aero position which is what you're supposed to do on a tri bike. But Tiffany had a road bike and even though she had aero bars, she didn't like them so she stayed "up" the entire way. Because we were talking so much, I did too but I learned that you use different muscles sitting that way AND it puts a lot more pressure "down there" and I now have a serious case of saddle soreness!
Tiffany's husband, Patrick, came along for most of the ride. He just signed up for Ironman Wisconsin (Sept 2011) and like Tiffany, is a fast runner but fairly new to the sport of triathlon.
We rode to Boulder and back. The foliage was past it's peak but still beautiful to look at. The road we took is one of my favorites (same road I've taken several times with Scott) because its mostly flat and has such a nice view of the foothills. The road winds its way through the countryside and for this reason, it is a popular road for cyclists.
Tiffany flatted not long after the start of the ride and it took awhile to get it fixed, but it was good to go over changing a flat again. It started to get really windy as we sat on the roadside and I wondered if we would be able to finish the ride. The weather seemed to change from warm to cold, sunny to cloudy, windy to still several times during the ride.
When we headed back, we noticed that we were only at 54 miles when we went through Hygiene. By then, we had been riding 3-4 hrs and we both commented on how 70.3 races are the way to go because after 3 hrs on a bike....well, it takes a serious cyclist to want to keep going. Tiffany and I briefly toyed with the idea of just going back and ending the ride with 80 miles. But we quickly dissed that idea and decided to go for the full 100.
Patrick peeled off at mile 79 and Tiffany and I kept going to north Ft Collins. We were both so tired and my knees were killing me. But chatted all the way through FC and back to her house in south FC. All in all a GREAT ride!
And just to show how amazing Tiffany is, I got an email from her today saying that she ran 6 miles on the treadmill after the ride...she's definitely Ironman material!
Today I did a fairly hard Master's swim workout. I didn't get to do the entire workout but probably got in at least 2000 yards. My legs are not that sore which is nice! I'm looking forward to running tomorrow and doing Spinervals on Thursday. Then, on Saturday, I plan to run 3 hrs and ride a fast 50 on Sunday. After that, it's taper time!!!
1 comment:
Well done on the century ... not long now :)
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