Two Months Too Long

I have a confession to make...I have not been on my bike since Ironman Arizona!  It's not that I didn't WANT to ride it, it's just that between our schedules and the winter weather, there haven't really been any opportunities to ride outside.  And, the thought of riding on my trainer just didn't seem appealing to me in the least bit!  BUT, last week, I got a notice that a group of girls, including Julie and Kathleen, were going to meet up for a computrainer ride at Peak to Peak Training on Saturday morning.

Source

I've never used a computrainer before, but I heard that it is pretty cool.  So, I decided to break my 2 month streak and sign up for the session.  The only problem was that it started at 5:30AM, which meant I had to get up at 4:30 to be there on time to get set up and going.  I have not woken up that early since IMAZ!  With IMAZ training, I was always getting up at the "butt-crack of dawn," but since my race, I have to admit it's been nice sleeping in till 6:45ish every morning.

My 4:30 alarm totally woke me up from a deep sleep, but I crawled out of bed, got dressed, ate a PureFit bar (review coming soon), and headed to the session.  There were 7 of us total, and we all looked like we just crawled out of bed, but none of us cared...it was awesome!

All of our bikes set up!  How awesome are the fans?!

One of the owners of Peak to Peak Training got all of our bikes hooked up and set up to do the Ironman St. George course.  Now, not having ridden my bike in 2 months, I didn't know what to expect of my body/legs and knowing we were doing IMSG, one of the hardest IM bike courses, kind of scared me!

BUT, once we started, I was surprised at how good I felt.  It seriously felt like I hadn't taken 2 months off from riding at all.  I felt strong and although there were some hills I had to get up out of my saddle to power up, my legs responded pretty good to the crazy hills.  :)

Here is what I thought was really cool about the computrainer:
1) The resistance automatically changes depending on whether you're going uphill, flat, or downhill so it is almost like you're riding outside.
2)  You can track your progress throughout the course and see when a hill is coming up
3)  It gives you tons of data including speed, avg. speed, watts, avg. watts, distance, etc.  I actually really liked watching the data and can definitely see why people buy these over a regular trainer to train with.

Drenched with sweat after the ride

Overall, I REALLY liked the session.  I liked it so much that as soon as I got home, I got online to see how much they cost!  WOW...they are expensive!  I don't think I'll be getting one anytime soon, but I WILL definitely do another session with the girls!  It was challenging, but fun, and the setting was WAY better than riding my trainer by myself at home.  I got to chat with Kathleen and Julie throughout the session, and it made the time fly by.  I am so glad I decided to do it because I think this was just what I needed to kick my butt into gear and get back on my bike.  Woohoo! :)