Tuesday, February 15, 2011

60km Time Trial At Putrajaya

Sunday, 13/2/11

One of my favourite workouts, solo time trial on the bike. Used to do 90km and 100km time trial back in 2006/ 2007 while training for Ironman Malaysia.
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With a lower fitness level and not having an Ironman race coming up, a 60km time trial would be good enough for me. Target was to average a mere 30km/h over the distance, a piece of cake for most cyclists but quite a challenge for me.
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Had a go few weeks back but gave up after 40km. Attempted again today with PowerGels, which must have helped in keeping up my energy levels thru the workout.


Started with a 12km warm up at easy pace, riding from home to Lim Kok Wing in Cyberjaya.
Started the 60km workout (after the warm up) in moderate intensity, being careful not to tire myself out too early and quiting. The route chosen was mainly a 20km loop around Putrajaya and I had to go around it at least 3 times to cover the distance.
Posted a split of 0:59:49 at 30km, just within target speed. Had a PowerGel at 40km and pushed harder in the 2nd 30km. Was up by more than a minute at 50km but realised that there would be a long 2km hill at the end of the 60km distance, at which I would lose all the time gained thus far. So, I rode harder to gain as much time as possible before the last 2 km.
My calculations were spot on. I was down to the last 2km by the time I got to the base of the long hill. Average speed was reduced to 18-20km/h, which meant that I could have easily ended the 2nd 30km outside the hour mark. Gave all I had and posted 0:59:47 in the 2nd 30km or 1:59:36 over the 60km.
Was very happy with that altho' still a long shot from my peak in 2006/2007. Love such workouts. While at it, it was just me, my bike and the open road. Everything else, especially unfinished business at the office, was irrelevant.
Rode another 42km in moderate to high intensity and ran a 5km off the bike under a scorching mid-day sun.

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