Biking from Boulder to Ft. Collins

I don’t really care for riding loops or out and back routes on a bike. I think I was spoiled by a bike trip I went on where we scouted a bike tour through the Belgian countryside. Recently, I also did the ExperiencePlus! Bicycle Tours Pedaling the Andes tour with my friend M.E. (I blogged about it here and the PTA series here) We woke up everyday in one awesome spot, we got on a bike and rode through awesome spots to another awesome spot where we would spend the night and do it all over again. I decided to try to simulate this experience here in Colorado – fortunately, I’m already in an awesome spot. Lindsay Brust

I woke up in Boulder yesterday morning, and after work, I started riding to Ft. Collins. Google Maps told me it was about 50 miles away, and while I was only suppose to ride 75 minutes I felt like a 50 mile ride would give me a little confidence about the 56 mile biking leg for the half Ironman. Plus, it’s a long Memorial Day weekend I don’t have any other plans, so what the heck. Here’s the route I took.

The elevation wasn’t too bad either. A long slow downhill north.

I started off about 3:20pm fueled with this fantastically delicious yogurt, granola, strawberries and blueberries concoction.

My friend and co-worker, Lauren rode me out the first 26 or so miles. It was a beautiful day, though I spent most of these first 26 miles with my eyes glued to her back wheel knowing that I wouldn’t have to work as hard to keep up if I stayed in her draft.

She eventually decided to head back and turned around at an intersection about 6 miles south west of Loveland. I plugged in some music and braved the east blowing wind on my own until I made it to the meeting point M.E. and I had settled on in Loveland. I chowed down on a packet of Justin’s Nut Butter (Chocolate Almond) and waited for my next set of friends to pull me the rest of the way to the Fort.  It’s a good thing I have friends who know something about bikes because as I waited, the air slowly deflated from my back tire. By the time they arrived my tire was totally flat. It turns out I had picked up a tiny piece of glass somewhere along the way. Fortunately, Seth (M.E. fiance) had a patch kit with him and after about 10 minutes of fiddling with my tire, we were ready to hit the road again. I just hoped this approaching cloud didn’t decide to dampen my adventure.

We made it the rest of the 10 miles to Ft. Collins in a light sprinkle and pulled up to their house just before my boyfriend Jason arrived in the car to have a yummy dinner and then drive me back to Boulder. Today, I feel great, and tired. My legs are a little heavy and I’m a little sleepy. I couldn’t be happier with my adventure. If you are training for a tri, or anything else, I would highly recommend two things:

1. Great people to keep you company
2. Turning your workouts into adventures. It takes them off of your to do list and put them on your fun list.

Lifestyle Change Help: Find Someone To Kick Your Butt

Last week I wrote about needing to change my lifestyle. I’m currently training about 7 respectable hours a week and I need to be closer to 15 hours per week. The easiest way to double my time would be to add morning sessions. The thing is, my bed is really comfy. I mean seriously. Comfy. Way softer and warmer then the chilly morning air.

In order to add these morning workouts, I considered going to be earlier and having my one (sometimes large) glass of wine earlier in the evening so that I can rehydrate before bed. There are two key variables that I didn’t mention in my earlier post that are worth mentioning.

1. Lay out your clothes the night before. I find that the best rationalization to stay in bed in the morning is not knowing where my sports bra is and not wanting to wake up Jason looking for it. If I remove that excuse, I have to work a lot harder to make up another one. So, last night I piled my workout clothes and my coat, hat, gloves, iPod and water bottle on the bed in the second bedroom.

2. Solicit help. A couple of you posted comments about having a workout buddy. I’m sure that would help but I’m afraid that I’m a moody exerciser. If it’s nice I want to be outside. If it’s cold, I want to be at the gym. Sometimes I’ve been planning to swim but I just HAVE to go for a run. I’m unreliable. I would probably suck as a morning workout buddy.

What does work is asking Jason to make me do something. I have found that there is absolutely, hands down, nothing more persuasive then this dude (sometimes literally) pushing me out of bed when my alarm clock goes off. I start thinking of excuses as to why I can’t go (I was sore today) but nothing competes with Jason sleepily saying things like, “go get ’em tiger… rawwwwrrr….. zzzz….” or my personal favorite, “you are awesome, I’m so proud of you…zzzz.” It’s so difficult to tell him to just shut up and let me sleep. So, I go, and while occasionally I’m grouchy with him for the push, once I’m out the door, I realize how luck I am to have someone so supportive.

Gym Bag Checklist

Nothing is more frustrating to me then dragging myself out of bed and hauling myself to the gym to realize that I’ve forgotten something I absolutely can’t workout without: Shoes, socks, head phones, coffee. You get the picture. I’ve borrowed hair ties from girls in the locker room, I’ve washed my face with the soap next to the sink in the locker room, one time, I even borrowed an iPod from the girl working the front desk. As a gift to myself during this busy training season, I’m going to treat myself to a fully stocked gym bag. This is what I’m not leaving home without ever again…

The bag features:

• Separate vented shoe compartment
• Pockets outside for phone, cash, or other last minute items

Essentials:

• Sports bra
• Socks – gotta have clean socks!
• Extra set of headphones that live in the gym bag
• Hair tie or bobby pins
• Nutrition: Shot blocks and Cliff bar in case I get hungry or need a little boost during brick workouts
• Toiletries: Make-up removing wipes, face lotion, deodorant, some light make-up in case you are going back to work or to meet friends afterwards, hair gel (people with longer hair then me might want a hair dryer or comb) – even if you have this all at home, I think it’s worth it to invest in a second set. This way, you never have an excuse to stay home, not pack your bag or end up frustrated because your face is flaking off after washing it with gym-sink soap
• Water bottle

Running:

• Running shoes – if you are flush with cash, get a pair to live in your gym bag
• Shorts
• Tank top / sweat wicking shirt

Biking:

• Clip shoes for spinning classes
• (running shorts and tank top or sweat wicking shirt are included in running list)

Swimming:

• Swim suit
• Goggles
• Swim cap
• Towel

Am I missing anything?