1st Outdoor Ride!

Yesterday I woke up early and showered, got the kids up and had them eat breakfast and then we went to a local school to volunteer/pick up our baskets of fruits and veggies. I participate in a co-op called Bountiful Baskets. My friend suggested it to me when I was complaining about my food bill. It's so crazy how much money I spend on FOOD! It's $15 a basket, so we get 2 and it forces me to use veggies I usually don't use and definitely saves me on fruit, my kids think it's candy. Last week we had chayote squash, which I had never had, but my husband was excited because he used to eat it in the Phillipeans. I've also been able to freeze bananas for morning smoothies and make dilly beans for the kids (pickled green beans). I highly recommend looking into http://www4.bountifulbaskets.org/
After we were done we hurried to walmart to get lunch and water bottles for my 2hr 30min bike ride. We got home dropped off the food, I changed into my riding clothes and then we were off to our friends house.
I don't like riding by myself so my Tri bud, Brian, volunteered to torture himself. His wonderful wife let ALL of my kids hang out at their house!
The ride was really great. The right amount of hill work and a fantastic view. I really love all the "country" roads we have available. I was really surprised at the speed I was able to maintain, I was bouncing between 16-19mph, when last year would of been 14mph. Last year I would of gotten off my bike and walked up a hill, yesterday I pushed through the burn and climbed every single hill! We only stopped a couple of times to fix chains and I forgot to clip my helmet back together. The ride was only supposed to be 2:30 hours, but ended up being 3 hours. We got 43 miles in! I'm hoping with 8 more weeks of training I can get a little faster. I'd really like to finish 56 miles in less than 4 hours. I'm sure adrenaline will help out race day.
So it was a great 1st outdoor ride! Our cycling group is finally going to be able to start outdoor rides this week, I know we're all tired of spinning, but have greatly benefited from all the winter training we got. My one suggestion for cycling is to get NICE cycling shorts. I can not emphasize enough, you'll thank me! Check amazon, they have great deals.
Like I said earlier, 8 weeks till race day!! So starting tomorrow I start my actual 70.3 IRONMAN training. I will have 2 days off, instead of 3, and the workouts get longer. My focus will be on proper nutririon and recovery. I'll also be getting new running shoes to break in, hooray! I have my running clothes, will order my cycling clothes and then all I need is a wetsuit.

The racing season is upon us! The Race for the Cure is close, so tie up your running shoes and get out there and participate. I'll be putting a button on the page so you can easily find races that might interest you.

Most importantly, enjoy yourself while training. You deserve it!

Chris ;)