First go at Portland Tri rehearsal route

I'm doing the Portland Tri in August, and it has a big hill in it (450ft in 3.23 miles). I suck at hills, which I found out during the Bear Lake Brawl last year (and those were small hills). So I found a hill with a similar profile in terms of elevation gain and distance; there is probably a small difference but this is the one I'm "rehearsing" on for the Portland Tri, which is going to be my biggest race of the year.

Today was the first day I did this hill for a workout. I only did the hill once, but the Portland Tri is a three-loop bike route, which means I have to do the hill three times. But I needed to find out what it felt like. I averaged 12mph up the hill, which I have no idea if that's bad or good. I don't remember any significant wind but there was a breeze into my face on the uphill. It was good to get the first go at this hill out of the way. Now I know how long the workout will take if I do it three times, including the route there (up and over a different big hill on the way out and back, too). The weather was great! 70degrees and sunny! If I average 12mph on the up, I have to average 32 (unrealistic!) on the down to come out at 22mph overall average, which is 2mph shy of my goal. So I guess I have to get that hill speed up to 14 three times in a row. 14mph on the up with a 30mph on the down averages 22mph, too. Maybe I shouldn't over-analyze.

Bike stem update: the new 80mm stem is certainly shorter, but I still didn't keep my hands at the end of the aero bars, which is where they are supposed to be. A 50mm is probably where I would be most comfortable, and that is 1.2 inches shorter. I'm not going to spend another $30 on a stem this year, so I'm stuck with a good-enough-but-not-perfect setup for this year. I could definitely feel that I wasn't sliding forward on the bars, and I think my legs felt better because of it. Also, there was certainly less pressure on the pressure points on the seat, which is always good. My back and neck felt some additional strain from the new position, but I'll get used to that. It's a bit harder to hold my head up with the shorter stem.

Also did an easy 3 miler with Paul in the cruiser earlier in the day. It's nice to just go for a jog (not run) with Paul and Sooner (my dog) on a beautiful day.

I also finally tried something to help my calf muscle pain, which is a recurring pain (not really an injury) every spring that eventually goes away at some point about half way into the summer. I tried the old rolling pin trick, and it worked great. That pain is about completely gone when I walk, and I couldn't even feel it on the run today. I'm going to keep doing it for several minutes several times a day.