Today was my three-hour ride day.I'm all about training like you race, and racing like you train.
One thing I hear repeatedly in triathlete race reports is, "Ugh! The Gatorade on the course was warm, the stuff in my special needs bag had been left out in the sun, everything was warm and yucky so I stopped drinking it. I got dehydrated and bonked."
Well, get used to it. Suck it up, Buttercup! Warm Gatorade (or whatever drink you're using) rehydrates just as well as cold Gatorade, plus it doesn't take energy from your body to warm it up to body temperature. We don't drink it for cool refreshment, we drink it to maintain the fluid balance in our body. Gatorade is what they're going to be serving up on the Ironman courses, so it pays to get accustomed to it in advance. Think of it as medicine and choke it down.
That's what I did today on my ride! Gatorade mixed up at room temperature, warmed up in the sun on the back of my bike. Took a drink every time my watch timer went off at 10-minute intervals, and then in addition whenever I thought about it. About 50-60 ounces of it total down the hatch over the course of the ride. I covered 44.5 miles at a reasonably comfortable pace, 15.5 mph average. I'd like to increase that pace a bit, but today I was riding in 95*F and 105*F heat index, so that was my pace today, gosh darn it, and I'm going to be happy with it.
My "added value" cycling workout today was to pick it up and STOMP on the pedals for 120 pedal-strokes every five minutes - at the same time I worked on maintaining a round, balanced pedal-stroke. That gave me some great acceleration practice (about the best I can do, riding in the flatlands), and over nearly three hours of riding adds up to a lot of leg-strength training!
9 comments:
STOMPS are great exercises!
You are my heroine! It pays to be smart out in that heat. You are very smart about your warm Gatorade drinking training strategy; great idea.
You mean they actually chill Gatorade???? Who knew???
what are you my long lost twin?
i rode my bike today -- same as you
i drank gatorade today -- same as you
i worked on my pedal stroke -- same as you
i prepared for Ironman 140.6 Florida -- same as you!
There is a good article in the paper today about Paul Timmons who swam from Cape May, NJ to Lewes, DE (15 miles) There is a video on Delawareonline.com and something at beebemedicalfoundation.org. I know you are swimming the bay soon so thought you might be interested.
Woo, thank you, m! That's a long freakin' way!!! I've taken that ferry many times and that's over an hour trip!
I usually start with my gatorade iced, or at least cold. It warms up over time (especially the second bottle on long rides), and it's something with which we must deal.
On my run, Sunday, I went through about 44 oz of Gatorade, plus part of a bottle of refrigerator cold water (most of which went over my head and body).
Train the way you race. And remember to race the way you trained.
Yeah, I practiced with warm drinks on my last long ride, too.
Although an interesting bit of info I once heard is that there is a benefit to drinking it cold/cool: it helps lower your core temp. So on those 105 degree days it can help you keep from over heating. =)
Good move, Nancy. I do train the way I race. On race day, everything is smooth sailing.
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