Long Run by Bicycle

A new experience today. I’m a runner, not a biker, so I’ve never deliberately ridden a bike as far as I could in three hours, until now. Forty miles even, in 3:13. Not at all Lance-like, barely over 12 mph, but my hybrid bike is slow and I’m old, so I’m content with this “run.”

The plan was to work very hard for three hours or more, simulating a 20-mile run, in hopes of retaining whatever cardio-pulmonary fitness may be left over from the marathon four weeks ago, and possibly even improving my body’s ability to convert fat to energy. The specific fitness for running may slip during the next two weeks (and the previous three) but that’s the tradeoff.

I’d rather be running than biking, but I’m not going to run at all until Grandma’s Marathon, in hopes that my plantar-fasciitis inflamed foot will heal so that I can finish the marathon. Breathing was fast enough to qualify as a hard workout, three or four half-cranks of the pedals per full breath, and even faster toward the end as I tired out. I took lots of water but no gels.

I did get pretty tired, not being accustomed to long, hard miles on the bike, and I slowed down some during the second 20 miles. Now, afterward, when I go up a flight of stairs it feels like I’m carrying a second person. I suspect I’ll feel this ride in my legs in a day or two. The foot gave me no trouble at all; biking is apparently a non-event for plantar fasciitis.

"Men's Bread" (a sample my sweeties brought from a race), whole-wheat bread, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, dill pickles, roquefort mustard, organic cashews, organic strawberries, tortilla chips. Estimate: 11 Weight Watcher points. The cheese alone is 6 points.

It'a a recovery meal because it has (1) Carbs (bread), (2) Protein (nuts & cheese),(3) Salt (chips, pickles, & cheese).