Monday June 29, 2009

Due to the jet lag, I dragged myself out of bed at 9AM this morning (3 AM back at home). I slept for 10 HOURS, but could have stayed in bed even longer! I got up, had a little breakfast and put my Orbea together! I decided to drive to the start of the race and ride the course today, SO I packed up the Smart car with my bike and run gear and was SOMEHOW able to fit my bike AND me in the car as well!
After making a pit stop at “Mountainbiker”, one of the local bike shops, for CO2, I headed to the lake. I didn’t say that it was easy to get there though! I have found that I take probably 3x the amount of time that it should ACTUALLY take to get to me destinations here in Klagenfurt. I find that I drive in circles for a while till I figure out where I need to be. Once I got to the general vicinity of the race start, I headed out on the course… Woo Hoo! Felt GREAT to be on the bike!!! The course is not only well marked (orange ironman symbols align the entire bike course) but it is absolutely STUNNING! One of the most beautiful spots that I have had the pleasure of biking…and I’ve biked in some stunning areas (France, Girona, Boulder, Arizona, California, Lake Placid, Bear Mtn., the North shore of Long Island…) This course is among the most beautiful that I have seen. The bike course consists of two 56 Mile loops (or should I say 90 Km, since I am not in the US). I rode the “big loop” and omitted the “small loop”. After completing a warm up, I was to go right into a 20 min effort at ½ IM wattage, then 40 min steady at Ironman wattage and one more 20 min at ½ IM wattage before cooling down. I felt better than I thought I would after not being on the bike for 2 days! The course can be FAST at times with sections where you can cruise easily at 24-26 MPH and also some REALLY fast descents as well, but of course descents do not come without climbs, and there are plenty of them as well! The longest and toughest comes towards the end of the loop…it took me about 8 minutes to finish! Didn’t expect that! The pic on the right is one of the many villages that we bike through...each one has a banner like this one!
Once I was done with the bike, I did a short run at my Ironman Perceived effort and felt great! I was pleasantly surprised with the pace! Towards the end of the run a thunderstorm rolled in…perfect timing! I must say, that it’s a good thing I like humidity, because there is PLENTY of it out here! After completing the ride and run today, I am more excited to race than ever! I have a great feeling about this race! It’s 8:39 PM right now. The skies have cleared so I am sitting out on the terrace enjoying the weather. I have just had a visit from my Austrian friends Horst and Brigitte who brought me fresh roses from their garden and I will try to wind down and get to sleep at a normal hour. Tomorrow will be my first swim in the lake and another bike (I will be sure to bring my camera this time) then Erin arrives in the evening!