Last week was time trial week and from Monday through to Thursday, I was on a roll. I had 3 PBs for my swim(s) and my run but unfortunately, my 20km bike time trial did not go as well.
This was my 2nd 20km bike time trial. I had a goal of < 45:22. Having had a great run time trial on Thursday night, my legs were shattered and did not improve by Saturday. I was in need of a good massage and couldn't get one in time before Saturday (note to self - if I have another week like this, get massage on legs early on Friday).
I felt my legs getting heavy during the warm-up lap and I couldn't keep up with the rest of the half ironman group and turned around early before heading off to the tear-drop loop. The course was drier compared to the last time trial 6 weeks ago which was a good thing. This meant that I could stress less about slipping over if I accidently rode over the white painted lines. We rode 2 laps of the loop to familiarise ourselves before the actual start of the time trial. I was seeded at the back with Nikki (another half ironman first timer).
There isn't much to say in terms of the 20 loops I had to do for the time trial (describing a ride which consisted of 1km loop x 20 times can be boring) apart from the following:
- I had no grunt in my ride as I was just pushing my legs through (the uncomfortable pain)
- Cornering skills are still shocking and this is something which MUST improve
- Riding up hills - need to push through the lactic burn
- Riding up hills - what is the best? Small chain ring or stay in large (and stand up)?
- Nutrition - I think this was right but are there benefits to drinking (sipping) after every lap? 45min or so is a long time without drinking on the course
- Need to learn to negative split 2nd 10km compared to first without blowing up
Things to work on before the next time trial:
- Riding up hills - gauging which gears work best
- Cornering! Cornering! Cornering!
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