Pumpkinvine Ride - "Race" Report

Ross and I participated in the Pumpkinvine Ride on Saturday morning.  We really wanted to do the century ride, but had to choose the 65 mile route instead because the girls had to be at the auditorium at 1:30 for their dance recital.

I had a 4 hour ride scheduled for Saturday from my IM training program so this was a great way to get it done!  Ross and I did a 30 minute brick run right after finishing the 65 mile ride.  I was really glad to have him there because I think he really pushed me harder on the run that I would have pushed myself :)  We finished the 65 mile bike ride in 3:45 and did our brick run at an overall 8:20 pace.  I felt really good coming off the bike.  I did not bring my fuel belt to carry water  - I just grabbed a water bottle and carried it on the run.  I really wished I had my fuel belt - my arms and shoulders were a bit tired from biking - ugh!  But on the bright side, my feet were not numb coming off the bike  -- yay!

I have decided to focus on "real food" as my nutrition for my half and full Ironman this summer.  I have never really used GU or gels in any of my marathon training or races so I didn't want to start using these in my Ironman training.  I found a great cookbook called Feed Zone Portables by Thomas and Lim.  I have tried about 15 of the recipes in the book and I love all of them!  On Saturday, I took some waffles and applesauce with me.  I also put a mixture of oatmeal, walnuts, bread, and a banana mixed up in a fuel belt bottle.  I had an oatmeal/blueberry/greek yogurt burrito for breakfast before the ride started.  I also carried water and grape Nuun with me to drink.  My stomach felt great going into the run too.  I know it's not a true gauge of 112 miles on the bike into the run --- but I was really happy with the way that I felt.

During the ride, this guy came up behind us as we were fighting a headwind.  He said "you can draft off of me!"  He stayed with us for a few minutes and then moved on ahead.  We primarily biked through Amish country and naturally encountered a few horse and buggies.  The guy who wanted us to draft off of him - decided to draft off of the horse and buggy ahead of us.  In my mind, I knew this was not a good idea :)  .... you can probably guess what happened after a few minutes of this guy "drafting" off the horse and buggy .......... yep!  the horse pooped!  and I seriously thought I was going to wet my bike shorts!  I was laughing so hard watching this guy trying to dodge the poop!  In fact, I think I laughed for the next 5 miles just thinking about it!