We had a bit of a warm weather streak this past week.  So, I pulled my bike back off the trainer and out of the basement.  This ended up being one of my highest mileage weeks to date; mainly because I was able to get a couple of long bike rides in.

Running

I covered about 23 miles on foot this week.  Not as much running mileage as I would like, but I am trying to give my hamstring a bit of a rest.  It has flared up on me during a couple of runs, but nothing major.  I have tried to remember to ice it at night, but I usually forget because it only bothers me when I run and I forget about it afterwards.  As wanted, I got in one speed workout on Friday.  I did a 2 mile warm up, then 1/4 mile intervals on the track up the high school and then a cool down back home.

Swimming

Nothing too eventful on the water front.  I have pretty much settled into a 2500 yard workout routine each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I actually ended up going a little long this week with 7750 yards total.  There is a great group of regulars up at the pool which makes it a fun time (not that we can really talk while we swim).  At least we are all suffering (in a fun way of course) together.  I have been trying to mix up my workouts so that it doesn’t get too repetitive with some focused on endurance (longer intervals) and others focused on speed (shorter intervals).

Biking

Biking was by far my focus of the week.  With the warmer weather, I took as much advantage of it as I could.  I did a quick 20 mile ride on Tuesday.  It was still bit cool that day and I didn’t have a lot of time to devote to a ride.  Thursday was my miserable, yet wonderful, muddy ride to Grand Haven.  I clocked 40 that day even though it felt like much more. 

Then, on Sunday, with temperatures in the mid 60’s I headed out again.  I didn’t have a route in mind, but eventually found myself drawn to the White Pine Trail and 20 miles later I was in Rockford.  The trail was very crowded, especially as I got close to Rockford.  It was amazing how many grown men felt the need to weave side to side on the trail for no apparent reason whatsoever.  Also, I managed to (unintentionally) spook a number of people by saying “on the left” as I approached.  I didn’t know what else I go do, but people were jumping out of their skin when I tried to give fair warning.

Anyways, the ride was very enjoyable.  It ended up being just about 40 miles.  Compared to my ride to Grand Haven, this ride was nearly 18 minutes faster and a lot more enjoyable.

In the end, I managed 101 miles for the week with 3 rides and nearly 6 hours spent in the saddle.

All in all, it was another great week.  As for this week, I’ll probably try and do a bit more running this week as long as my hamstring cooperates.  We’ll see if the nice weather keeps up of if it is back to the trainer.  Stay tuned!

Finally getting around to posting about my long bike ride yesterday.  I did a 3 hour ride out the White Pine Trail past Rockford and back with a few laps around Reeds Lake to add on some distance.  I got a late start to the morning; the prospect of being able to sleep in until 10:00 got the best of me, so I didn’t head out on my ride until around noon.  When I started the ride it was cool and overcast, but the sun came out about a half hour into ride, reminding me that I forgot to put on sunscreen.  I did get a little red on my shoulders, but it isn’t too bad.

This way my first ride with my new water bottle holder.  I bought a Profile Design saddle mount water bottle holder the other week in preparation for Steelhead.  I usually go through a water bottle per hour, so I figured I would need at least 3 bottles for the bike portion.  This would give me an extra two water bottles – or so I thought.  With the way it mounts, my saddle bag (which hold my spare tube, tools, CO2 cartridge, etc.) no longer fits under the seat.  So, in order to carry the essentials, I stuffed everything into an old water bottle and put it in the mount.  I still get the one extra water bottle, which is all I really need, so I am happy.  Other than the issue with the saddle bag, the water bottle holder works great.  Each holder has a rubber band around it which holds the bottles securely so that they don’t rattle around.  The bottles are in there pretty tight and I didn’t attempt to try and pull one out while I was riding, but may have to try that this week.

My ride on the White Pine Trail was much busier than it was last time; probably because it was later in the day.  I was very surprised at the number of people riding without helmets.  And they were more than just casual riders.  I saw riders on triathlon bikes in aero with no helmets.  I know it’s relatively safer on the trail rather than the road, but still, there are quite a few cross streets (that no one stops at) and lots of other traffic on the trail itself.  My biggest concern was the kids on bikes (or more to the point – their parents) who weren’t paying attention to others on the trail and would drift from side to side without a care in the world.

It was busiest the closer I got to Rockford, but was quite peaceful at other portions of the trail that were further from the trail heads.

One of the quieter sections of the trail.

In the end, it was a 50.14 mi ride in 2:52:37 averaging 17.4 mph.  I felt pretty good at the end which is a good sign for next weekend.  If I could keep the same pace for the bike portion, that would get me in under 3:15 under the bike.  I’d like to get a bit closer to an even 3 hours for the bike, so I may try and push my average closer to 18mph.  It may be fairly easy to meet that goal because I won’t have any of the traffic stops during the race, but I’ll just have to see how I feel.

The full course

Post-ride with Green Lightning and the Red Bullet in the background