I didda bidda Idaho

For today's workout, I rode the Coeur d'Alene bike course. Well, sort of. I rode a simulation of the course, and what a blast it was!! Let me share.

I know three other women doing Ironman Coeur d'Alene. The four of us, plus four other fellow triathletes, rented out a cycling studio that owns a computerized satellite-captured simulation of all 112 miles. We did not, of course, ride all 112 miles today--YIKES. We did ride for two hours and it was by far my most challenging bike workout yet this season.

Indulge me in a description of the oodles of delicious statistics the simulation provided. oooh, it was exciting! For each of the eight riders, the big screen displayed our mileage covered (different for each because we were riding at different speeds), grade, current and average mph, current and average power (in watts...think outlets and electronics: a standard outlet puts out 110 watts, a computer uses 10 watts; my average power was about 120 watts), and pancakes earned (more commonly known as calories burned). In addition, the computer also calculated who was in "first" etc, as well as how far behind (in feet) we each were from the person immediately ahead of us. I was in heaven, watching all those numbers accumulate and change by the second!

Today's workout was perfect for training because it's course reconnaissance--short of being there, I can't get any closer to Coeur d'Alene. The studio has these uber-cool bike trainers that are hooked up to the computer. With my bike mounted on the trainer and plugged into the computer, when the course hit an incline, it instantly changed the resistance on my rear wheel and I needed to adjust my pedaling and gearing to maintain speed. Same thing for descents, except--dang--I couldn't coast on the trainer. Absent gravity and weather, it was identical to riding outside. Thanks to this virtual reality, it didn't take long for me to realize how challenging the bike segment will be. It is not flat. The grades top out at 10% with sustained climbs of 8.6%. I take comfort in that cycling is my first love. This means I'll have to balance taking advantage of my cycling strength with being careful to not destroy my legs for the run.

The lesson from today: I have a long way to go to 112 miles on a course like this. And at the same time I'm light years ahead of where I was at this point last year. We'll return to the studio in March to ride half of the course, 56 miles. And then perhaps ride a longer portion at least once more before race day. As we headed to Village Inn for post-workout refueling, we all agreed that we're relieved it's only February!! At this point, it still feels like I have plenty of time to train and prepare. No doubt that in a matter of a few weeks that feeling will morph into feeling like time is zooming by. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the "Ironman is still far away" feeling. :-)