Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Midweek Looonnnngg Bikes – Part II

Wednesday Early Morning Loonnng Run

I was all set to run into work on Wednesday morning.  I woke up at 2 am to the sound of pouring rain.  When the alarm went off at 4:30 it looked like things had dried out, but it started pouring just as I was taking Finlay for a walk.  I didn’t want to run in that! 

Wednesday Afternoon Loonnng Bike

I opted to get my mid-week long ride in this afternoon – 2 hours!  I mapped out a new ride from my house then out on the rural roads towards Cochrane.  That is one of the things I love about where I live.  5 minutes and it looks like you are in the middle of nowhere!  Since this was a brand new route for me (and I have a history of missing turns/getting lost) I decided to upload the course to my Garmin for the first time ever.  You need to add in flags within the course in Garmin Training Center to get a beep telling you to turn though. 

Continuing along the theme of using technology to power my ride I decided to put my iPhone to use.  Since the phone can play music through a speaker I loaded up the tunes, put the phone in my Bento box and pedaled away.  This way I could hear cars coming but the tunes provided some additional entertainment along the way. 

The route I mapped out was beautiful.  And hilly!  I took the time to look up and appreciate the scenery.  This new route was great and I’d definitely ride it again.  I rode past farms and tons of horses, plus an amazing stable.  The weather was nice and warm, and not too windy either.  For a little reprieve on the way back I finished up riding along highway 1A from Cochrane towards town.  Slight downhill and a chance to get down into aero and just pedal, pedal, pedal quickly home!  I finished up with 1:56 of riding, just over 32 miles with 1031 feet of climbing.  Cycling Calgary 29-07-2009, Elevation - Distance
Fingers crossed for good weather luck tomorrow for my long run!

8 comments:

Lindsay said...

and again with the hills! nice job getting in a 2-hr ride mid-week. hope the weather holds up for you today!!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

i love your idea of the iPhone in the Bento box!! Having the maps app could be helpful too LOL :D Awesome ride.

TNTcoach Ken said...

Woman, you're a training machine! I have to get some of your drugs.....

Marlene said...

Nice ride! Love the iphone idea. I've never uploaded a route to my Garmin, but sounds like a handy tool.

I hope the weather cooperated for your long run today!

kristen said...

I don't blame you at all for not running in that rain. We've been having some CRAZY rain this month and for the most part I've chosen to avoid it but I've been caught a few times and it was not fun.

Great idea with the phone!

Brian said...

You are rockin this training! Dont think for a second your not ready, you are soo ready!

Marci said...

You are so kicking butt with your training! I love the music on bike idea, where do you put your speakers7

ShirleyPerly said...

There is something decadent about doing long workouts middle of the week :-)

I hope the weather in Seattle cools down. I've heard the Pacific NW area is 90-100 lately!