Panama City Beach
Trevor, and many others, have told me it's a good idea to go and bike your Ironman course before you do it. So I took off Thursday afternoon for Panama City Beach, about 4.5 hours from home, to do the bike ride on Friday. The last time I was in Panama City, it was when I went to sign up for last year's race. And I have a lot of significant memories associated with that trip. I don't talk much about my last girlfriend here, because though about 5 people read this, it is still not the forum for that. But that trip was when we went form just fucking to more than just fucking. And nice as those memories are, that is not something I need to be concerning myself with when I'm there for the race.
So while the overwhelming primary purpose of the trip was to ride the course, I also wanted to be able to get all the nostalgia out of the way now. To look at the beach by the finish line and the Mellow Mushroom on the run course and the Origin at Seahaven and the Wal Mart and remember how it had been last year. And then get that out of my head and create some new memories. The first of which was one of the physically hardest days of my life.
Bike - 112 Miles
2 Lipodrene
3 Advil
1 Salt Tab
Note I put mileage today instead of just time. Becasue this was a set course. I drove the course the night before to get it down, marking the mileage on a piece of paper from turn to turn, then laminating and taping the directions to my aero bars, so I knew where I was going, and how far I had to go. I parked at the Boardwalk Beach resort, right at where transition would be, and headed off.
The first miles are on the beachfront, which is very pretty. I did nicely there with the bike lane and crosswind. Then I turned north and just flew. Yeah, I knew there was some tailwind, but it didn't look like much. So I was going a solid 24-25 for about 19 miles, even maintaining a speed over 30 for about half a mile on a downhill and straightaway. Yeah, that was fun. I stopped at a Shell station to buy some more water, as it was probably about 87 degrees outside, and found I had forgotten my phone and cash. Only time I've ever done that is on the most important ride I ever do. fortunately, the gas station people are very nice in the panhandle and let me fill my bottles in the bathroom for free.
Do I turned East onto Hwy 20 for a 28 miles stretch, which featured a water stop at mile 33. There were seom rolling hills from miles 38-45, which I took well. I had a crosswind, so it wasn't much of a factor, and by the time I hit the turn from 20 to Hwy. 231 South, I was averaging 20 over the first 50 miles. I was very encouraged. Then I turned south.
So that wind, it feels a lot harder when you're going the other way. I got some water at the Hardees at the 51-mile mark, knowing there was no more water for almost 40 miles. This was not fun. First, the wind started kicking my ass as I headed south, struggling to get over 18. When I finally got to the end of it, I turned onto a road that looked like packed dirt. It was not. It was almost sand. And that shit is hard to bike in. Like I almost ate it about 6 times, and could not get over 12 on the dirt. This only lasted about 3/4 of a mile, but I was not happy.I later found out I turned early, and the real course is paved. Thank fuck.
The next stretch of the ride was ok, and I headed up to the one turnaround on the course at about mile 73. At this point, I was almost out of water, and had 16 miles to go to the next water break.. I was also starting to fade. I stopped the bike at the turnaround, and just took a break. I needed the rest to get up to the next water stop.
It didn't get much better. I didn't have to fight a whole lot of wind, but I just kept going slower and slower. I'm not sure if I nuked the village on those first 50 miles, but I was going in the same gears, putting forth the same effort, and not getting over 18. At all. I was dying all the way to mile 87, where there was a Gulf Power and Electric office in the middle of nowhere, where they let me use the water fountain. Nicest power company ever.
I got to mile 92, and felt like I was about done. I stopped leaned my bike on a fence, and sat on a tree stump. This was gut check time. I had 20 miles to go and really felt like I had nothing left. But I took a gel, had a little water, and just decided to grind out this last hour and a half. Yes, at the speed I was going, that's what it was going to be.
Well, the wind got frustrating, but never more than when I hit the turn at mile 100 and the giant bridge that greets you there. That north-blowing wind is just brutal, and I struggled to get over 15 that whole stretch, It just seemed to go on forever. I hit the beach road with 7 miles to go, and that wind only let up when a condo blocked it. I have never been more grateful for Florida's rampant overdevelopment. I even biked by the Origin at Seahaven and looked up at the balcony where I had eaten breakfast naked the year before. I gave it a little smile, then went back into aero and actualyl managed to push out at about 18 for the rest of the ride.
As it was, I made it back in 6:28 of road time, averaging about 17.2 for the ride. Not stellar. Especially when you consider my water breaks and stoplights and everything else borught my total time to around 7 hours. So my goal of breaking 13 hours may not be as legit as I had though. On a course this long, I can't fight the wind too much, because I need those legs for the next 50 miles of biking and that marathon thing at the end. Energy must be conserved. I may just not be as fast as I'd hoped.
I took gels at chows 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7. Cliff Bars at 3 and 6. I didn't finish the third. I only took 2 lipodrene and 6 Advil, probably not enough. Also went thorugh 4 salt tabs. Didn't come close to cramping, even with the lack of water, so I guess that was enough.
Run - 30 minutes
I put my bike away, put on some shorts, and headed out for a brief half hour run. I did not look particualrly good, but I felt ok. I took maybe 5 minutes between the bike and the run, though I'm gonna guess my transition will be longer. My legs felt ok, different muscles I guess. And I ran back up to the Beach Road, then back down to Mellow Mushroom. I remembered seeing all those miserable people running the marathon as I ate pizza and watched the UF/UGA game last year. Again, gave it a small smile, turned around and ran back to my car. My legs started to feel the tinyest bit sore at the end, but I know that marathon is going to be ten times longer.
So all in all, an ok trip. I didn't do as well on the bike as I'd hoped, but then again it was my first ever ride of that length. I'll know it better next time and hopefully improve. There will also be more water. The run was short, not much to say there. When it was done I finished my 3 slices of leftover Mellow Mushroom, downed a Powerade and a litre of Diet 7-Up, and got in the car. I drove back and when I arrived in Gainesville, I realized if I'd kepy running, I'd have just been getting done then. That's a long day.
But I did what I set out to do. I even saw my Cosmo article for the first time at Wal Mart. The ride was so tough, that has replaced most of my associations with the city. Mellow Mushroom was my pre-ride dinner and my 2nd turnaround on the Run. Seahaven is the 5-mile to go mark on the bike. The beach by the finish line, is, well, the finish line. So as not-awesome as the bike ride was, I still feel like this trip was definitely a success.
Showing posts with label small ring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label small ring. Show all posts
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
T65 - The Unrelenting Hills Of Kona - Bike
Kona
There used to be this Gatorade commercial with this guy who passed out 500 yards from the finish line at Kona, and they showed that to demonstrate how proper hydration can prevent such things. It featured venerable College Football commentator Keith Jackson saying that “the unrelenting hills of Kona” were too much for this world-class athlete, who later went on to win some other Ironman in Idaho because he drank Gatorade. But as I biked about 70 miles of the Kona course, Keith Jackson’s voice kept running through my head, telling me about the “unrelenting hills of Kona.’ Keith Jackson does not lie.
Bike – 4 Hours
2 Lipodrene, 3 Advil
I would have liked to have gone 2 hours down the Ironman course, and then ridden back. This way I could see over half the course, and get a good feel for the race. Sort of. But the thing about the unrelenting hills of Kona is that the miles upon miles of lave fields are not exactly conducive to any commerce. As in there’s no place to buy water between the Kona airport and a resort 25 miles away. Which was a solid few miles off the course anyway. Point being, I decided it would be wiser to bike up about 19 miles, go back 15 to a coffee shop on the side of the road, refill, and head back out onto the course leaving enough time to get back in 4 hours. Again, I had no computer, so I had to just be on the bike 4 hours, essentially meaning I probably only got in about 3:45. Whatever, it’s Kona.
I left from the old airport park where I’d run 2 days ago, where I parked the rental jeep and headed out to the course. It was 6:45 a.m., and the road was considerably less crowded. And since I knew the course, I felt a lot better on this ride. I’m not sure how fast I was going, and couldn’t really pay too much attention to it since I was just focusing on the beautiful ocean view and the lava fields. I imagined how this race must be, especially hitting the airport hill with a fierce headwind at mile 104. Seriously, that would suck.
But as I did the ride, I realized that Kona, while unrelenting, is not as impossible as the Gatorade commercial made it look. I managed to get the only sun of my Kona trip on this ride, meaning that not only were the hills unrelenting, but so was the wind and the heat. I got to the top of several hills and tried to freewheel and couldn’t because the wind was pushing so hard. But it didn’t feel deadly. Maybe I was going on Kona adrenaline, maybe I just wasn’t going hard enough, or maybe I just am a better cyclist than people who had told me how awful the course was. But any way you cut it, the ride felt strangely good. I even let this Irish guy draft behind me for a while (he asked), maybe the island mentality was rubbing off. And when I stopped for water these people from Colorado asked me if I was training for the Ironman. “In Florida,” I told them. “We’ll see how that goes then maybe I’ll come back.”
At the 2 hour mark I took another Lipodrene and 3 more Advil, and had 3 gels (every 45) and a Cliff Bar at the 2:15 mark. The last hour I started to fade, as HPD had put up one of those “Here is your speed” signs on the highway, and I was going a solid 16 down a hill. I was getting insanely thirsty by then as the lone water break wasn’t enough for the lava-field, sun and hill combination. The thirst probably slowed me down. My back felt ok, and my legs got sore. But I’m sure the Advil minimized those effects. The views on this ride were amazing, and I even stopped a couple of times for a few seconds just to take them in. once you get out of town, the ride really is pretty amazing.
But the ride made me realize that I can have another goal after November. If this one doesn’t kill me, I want to do Kona. I would have to train in Kona, though, staying at my uncle’s house and basically doing nothing but preparing. But it’s a dream that I could probably make happen. And being on this course made me realize Kona is no more impossible to me now than an Ironman in Florida was to me 2 years ago. Kona 2011? Definitely a possibility.
There used to be this Gatorade commercial with this guy who passed out 500 yards from the finish line at Kona, and they showed that to demonstrate how proper hydration can prevent such things. It featured venerable College Football commentator Keith Jackson saying that “the unrelenting hills of Kona” were too much for this world-class athlete, who later went on to win some other Ironman in Idaho because he drank Gatorade. But as I biked about 70 miles of the Kona course, Keith Jackson’s voice kept running through my head, telling me about the “unrelenting hills of Kona.’ Keith Jackson does not lie.
Bike – 4 Hours
2 Lipodrene, 3 Advil
I would have liked to have gone 2 hours down the Ironman course, and then ridden back. This way I could see over half the course, and get a good feel for the race. Sort of. But the thing about the unrelenting hills of Kona is that the miles upon miles of lave fields are not exactly conducive to any commerce. As in there’s no place to buy water between the Kona airport and a resort 25 miles away. Which was a solid few miles off the course anyway. Point being, I decided it would be wiser to bike up about 19 miles, go back 15 to a coffee shop on the side of the road, refill, and head back out onto the course leaving enough time to get back in 4 hours. Again, I had no computer, so I had to just be on the bike 4 hours, essentially meaning I probably only got in about 3:45. Whatever, it’s Kona.
I left from the old airport park where I’d run 2 days ago, where I parked the rental jeep and headed out to the course. It was 6:45 a.m., and the road was considerably less crowded. And since I knew the course, I felt a lot better on this ride. I’m not sure how fast I was going, and couldn’t really pay too much attention to it since I was just focusing on the beautiful ocean view and the lava fields. I imagined how this race must be, especially hitting the airport hill with a fierce headwind at mile 104. Seriously, that would suck.
But as I did the ride, I realized that Kona, while unrelenting, is not as impossible as the Gatorade commercial made it look. I managed to get the only sun of my Kona trip on this ride, meaning that not only were the hills unrelenting, but so was the wind and the heat. I got to the top of several hills and tried to freewheel and couldn’t because the wind was pushing so hard. But it didn’t feel deadly. Maybe I was going on Kona adrenaline, maybe I just wasn’t going hard enough, or maybe I just am a better cyclist than people who had told me how awful the course was. But any way you cut it, the ride felt strangely good. I even let this Irish guy draft behind me for a while (he asked), maybe the island mentality was rubbing off. And when I stopped for water these people from Colorado asked me if I was training for the Ironman. “In Florida,” I told them. “We’ll see how that goes then maybe I’ll come back.”
At the 2 hour mark I took another Lipodrene and 3 more Advil, and had 3 gels (every 45) and a Cliff Bar at the 2:15 mark. The last hour I started to fade, as HPD had put up one of those “Here is your speed” signs on the highway, and I was going a solid 16 down a hill. I was getting insanely thirsty by then as the lone water break wasn’t enough for the lava-field, sun and hill combination. The thirst probably slowed me down. My back felt ok, and my legs got sore. But I’m sure the Advil minimized those effects. The views on this ride were amazing, and I even stopped a couple of times for a few seconds just to take them in. once you get out of town, the ride really is pretty amazing.
But the ride made me realize that I can have another goal after November. If this one doesn’t kill me, I want to do Kona. I would have to train in Kona, though, staying at my uncle’s house and basically doing nothing but preparing. But it’s a dream that I could probably make happen. And being on this course made me realize Kona is no more impossible to me now than an Ironman in Florida was to me 2 years ago. Kona 2011? Definitely a possibility.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
T64 - To Feel Safe Again, Look Over Your Shoulder - Bike, Run
Kona
I spent the morning diving with my friend Robyn from High School who works as a dive instructor out here. The dives were amazing, but both Robyn and her fellow tour guide Kelly were telling me they couldn’t believe I was going to go bike for 2 hours then run for an hour after a full day of diving. In the hot sun. Not because diving is particularly draining physically, but apparently you’re supposed to let yourself cycle off all the nitrogen before working out. Like why you’re not supposed to fly. But who was I to listen to them. It was Kona and I had a bike rented for 24 hours, I’m getting my fucking money’s worth.
Bike – 2 Hours
2 Lipodrene
So I’d had it in my head that biking the Kona course, which for the unaware is the original and official Ironman bike course, used in the race you see on Wide World of Sports. Of course, I wasn’t going to bike the whole thing, I only had 2 hours. But I had likened it to an amateur baseball player getting to play a game at Yankee Stadium. This would be the case if Yankee stadium were filled with Semi Trucks, mopeds, and right turn only lanes that force you to cut across traffic not once but twice about every half mile. This road wasn’t majestic. It was no magical experience. It was fucking Waldo Road with better scenery. Basically, this course was a busy highway with exhaust being blown in your face, with a fierce headwind and endless hills to boot.
I did ok on the ride. I needed to get used to the course, and the Dura Ace componentry on the Cannondale bike I rented was like shifting on silk. So I played around with the gears a lot. But again I had no computer and no aero bars, which made things kinda tough. I had no idea what my speed was, and there was nowhere to get water either. The first hour I spent more or less frustrated by the traffic constantly having to look over my left shoulder to make sure I didn’t end up as a permanent part of the Kona Ironman Bike Course. And I do not look over my right shoulder well, as more than once I have cut off an unsuspecting motorist. This is what led to me getting rear ended in Orlando, and will probably eventually result in a more serious injury. This is why I don’t like biking anywhere that’s not a continuous bike lane. I just can’t look over my shoulder.
The ride was good to familiarize me with the Kona course, but otherwise was very unimpressive. Because of the good componentry, I used the small ring a lot, more than in any other ride I think I’ve ever been on. The endless hills may have contributed to that too. So that was certainly different. But this was not the majestic experience I had expected.
Run – 1 Hour
1 Lipodrene
I had planned to brick this workout, but the Bike shop closed earlier than I thought so I couldn’t leave the bike there while I ran, and Jill had the Jeep, so I had to have her come pick me up and then run at home. For some reason she wasn’t excited to sit around an industrial shopping center while I ran for an hour. She was late getting me, and by the time I got back to the house in Captain Cook, it was 6:45. Uncle Steve’s house in Kona is on a steep, windy road in what looks like a cleaner version of Nicaragua. Just total jungle, a stark contrast to the Lava fields of the bike course. Also, because it’s Kona, and therefore “rustic,” there aren’t any sidewalks. It took my about 5 minutes to realize this run was probably not safe.
I started off running down the hill and approached a sharp curve about every hundred yards. With the IPod on, I couldn’t hear any cars, so I just had to cross the street every time I came up to one, having to constantly look behind me as I ran to make sure no cars were coming in the direction I was running. At one point a small VW Bug cam speeding around a curve and swerving between lanes. I’m not sure if they just wanted to play “Scare the Houle,” but it was quite disconcerting. After 20 minutes of constantly looking back and crossing the street, I decided this was not a safe run. Especially with an iPod on. So despite the return run being completely uphill, I turned the music off.
The run back was actually pretty good as I kept stride all the way up the hill, and made it back up in only a couple of minutes more than it took me to run down. So despite my cutting the run 20 minutes short (it was pitch black by the time I got home, I figured it was better to cut it short and live to train another day) I feel there was some training value there.
But man, 10 hours in the sun takes its toll. I finished dinner in the un-air conditioned house, and felt like I wanted to die. I took a cold towel, put in on top of myself like one might a blanket, and passed out by 8:30. I did however chug about 5 water bottles of ice water, as I knew the next day’s workout would take its toll.
I spent the morning diving with my friend Robyn from High School who works as a dive instructor out here. The dives were amazing, but both Robyn and her fellow tour guide Kelly were telling me they couldn’t believe I was going to go bike for 2 hours then run for an hour after a full day of diving. In the hot sun. Not because diving is particularly draining physically, but apparently you’re supposed to let yourself cycle off all the nitrogen before working out. Like why you’re not supposed to fly. But who was I to listen to them. It was Kona and I had a bike rented for 24 hours, I’m getting my fucking money’s worth.
Bike – 2 Hours
2 Lipodrene
So I’d had it in my head that biking the Kona course, which for the unaware is the original and official Ironman bike course, used in the race you see on Wide World of Sports. Of course, I wasn’t going to bike the whole thing, I only had 2 hours. But I had likened it to an amateur baseball player getting to play a game at Yankee Stadium. This would be the case if Yankee stadium were filled with Semi Trucks, mopeds, and right turn only lanes that force you to cut across traffic not once but twice about every half mile. This road wasn’t majestic. It was no magical experience. It was fucking Waldo Road with better scenery. Basically, this course was a busy highway with exhaust being blown in your face, with a fierce headwind and endless hills to boot.
I did ok on the ride. I needed to get used to the course, and the Dura Ace componentry on the Cannondale bike I rented was like shifting on silk. So I played around with the gears a lot. But again I had no computer and no aero bars, which made things kinda tough. I had no idea what my speed was, and there was nowhere to get water either. The first hour I spent more or less frustrated by the traffic constantly having to look over my left shoulder to make sure I didn’t end up as a permanent part of the Kona Ironman Bike Course. And I do not look over my right shoulder well, as more than once I have cut off an unsuspecting motorist. This is what led to me getting rear ended in Orlando, and will probably eventually result in a more serious injury. This is why I don’t like biking anywhere that’s not a continuous bike lane. I just can’t look over my shoulder.
The ride was good to familiarize me with the Kona course, but otherwise was very unimpressive. Because of the good componentry, I used the small ring a lot, more than in any other ride I think I’ve ever been on. The endless hills may have contributed to that too. So that was certainly different. But this was not the majestic experience I had expected.
Run – 1 Hour
1 Lipodrene
I had planned to brick this workout, but the Bike shop closed earlier than I thought so I couldn’t leave the bike there while I ran, and Jill had the Jeep, so I had to have her come pick me up and then run at home. For some reason she wasn’t excited to sit around an industrial shopping center while I ran for an hour. She was late getting me, and by the time I got back to the house in Captain Cook, it was 6:45. Uncle Steve’s house in Kona is on a steep, windy road in what looks like a cleaner version of Nicaragua. Just total jungle, a stark contrast to the Lava fields of the bike course. Also, because it’s Kona, and therefore “rustic,” there aren’t any sidewalks. It took my about 5 minutes to realize this run was probably not safe.
I started off running down the hill and approached a sharp curve about every hundred yards. With the IPod on, I couldn’t hear any cars, so I just had to cross the street every time I came up to one, having to constantly look behind me as I ran to make sure no cars were coming in the direction I was running. At one point a small VW Bug cam speeding around a curve and swerving between lanes. I’m not sure if they just wanted to play “Scare the Houle,” but it was quite disconcerting. After 20 minutes of constantly looking back and crossing the street, I decided this was not a safe run. Especially with an iPod on. So despite the return run being completely uphill, I turned the music off.
The run back was actually pretty good as I kept stride all the way up the hill, and made it back up in only a couple of minutes more than it took me to run down. So despite my cutting the run 20 minutes short (it was pitch black by the time I got home, I figured it was better to cut it short and live to train another day) I feel there was some training value there.
But man, 10 hours in the sun takes its toll. I finished dinner in the un-air conditioned house, and felt like I wanted to die. I took a cold towel, put in on top of myself like one might a blanket, and passed out by 8:30. I did however chug about 5 water bottles of ice water, as I knew the next day’s workout would take its toll.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
T45 - Glad I Cleaned My Bike - Swim/Bike
Gainesville
This workout was supposed to be a swim/bike brick, preferably in open water. Well, lacking any sort of large, swimmable bodies of water around here the open water part was out. And the pool here at Jefferson is too small to train in, and I don't know of any good rides near GHFC. So, in short, no brick. Though I think in the fall if I have a day with nothing to do and a longer one of these, I may do the 3 hour sdrive down to Ft. DeSoto in St. Petersburg, just for shits and giggles.
Swim - 1000m continuous
2 Lipodrene
I headed out early today to try and leave the afternoon free for drinking or doing whatever since I was taking Saturday as a rest day. Got to the pool, and even without a warmup I was able to swim this strongly. I didn't time myself, which I need to start doing, but I felt like I was pushing through pretty much the whole way. Definitely one of my best continuous swims. I only hope I can keep a pace like this in my first race in August.
Bike - 2 Hours
1 Lipodrene
It was probably 45 minutes between the end of my swim and the time I got on the bike, so I can't really qualify this as a brick. I took a gel before I left, and had 2 more for the ride. I decided to try and use Trevor's suggestion of riding like I was training with him, and was able to keep that pace pretty well, maybe 40 seconds slower to the point we turned around. I got past that about a half a mile, and my computer decides to go out. Basically, the eye on the wheel gets knocked off line, and all of a sudden I have no speed and no clock. And it's hard to push your speed when you don't know what your speed is. So I pull over and attempt to realign it, and just as I do, I feel the rain start coming down.
Nothing is fucking better, I might add, than spending an hour cleaning your bike with cleaners and q-tips, really getting all the sand out of it, and then having the rain just dump on you the NEXT FUCKING DAY. So not only did my computer go out, the rain was coming down and filthying up my pristine bike. And, of course, it was the first time I"d been caught in the rain on the bike all year. Fuck. I finally got the eye lined up again, and kept a good pace down to the end of Hawthorne. Although the rain did slow me down. I made it down averaging 18.9, in just over 57 minutes. And, some little kids on bikes decided they wanted to pass their sister on the trail just as I was hunkering down to the finish, and I had to swerve onto the dirt/mud to avoid them. I would have crashed were this a year ago, but fortunately I was ok.
I went to ride back and the rain hit me again, considerable slowing me down. Then I got to the big hill in the hammock and decided to try out the small ring as Trevor had suggested. The guy has given me a ton of good training advice over the years, but I can safely say I am not a fan of the small ring. I felt like I wasn't using any less energy than in the big ring, and I was going slower. So, basically, same output with a worse result. I may try it again on a day when I don't have a bunch or other aggravations and my attitude is a little better, but I was disappointed to have only made it back in 2:01. 4 minutes longer than it took me to go down, and my final average speed was 18.4. So I lost a lot of speed coming back.
Not all rides will have this many aggravations, and hopefully I can continue to build on the speed from earlier in the week.
This workout was supposed to be a swim/bike brick, preferably in open water. Well, lacking any sort of large, swimmable bodies of water around here the open water part was out. And the pool here at Jefferson is too small to train in, and I don't know of any good rides near GHFC. So, in short, no brick. Though I think in the fall if I have a day with nothing to do and a longer one of these, I may do the 3 hour sdrive down to Ft. DeSoto in St. Petersburg, just for shits and giggles.
Swim - 1000m continuous
2 Lipodrene
I headed out early today to try and leave the afternoon free for drinking or doing whatever since I was taking Saturday as a rest day. Got to the pool, and even without a warmup I was able to swim this strongly. I didn't time myself, which I need to start doing, but I felt like I was pushing through pretty much the whole way. Definitely one of my best continuous swims. I only hope I can keep a pace like this in my first race in August.
Bike - 2 Hours
1 Lipodrene
It was probably 45 minutes between the end of my swim and the time I got on the bike, so I can't really qualify this as a brick. I took a gel before I left, and had 2 more for the ride. I decided to try and use Trevor's suggestion of riding like I was training with him, and was able to keep that pace pretty well, maybe 40 seconds slower to the point we turned around. I got past that about a half a mile, and my computer decides to go out. Basically, the eye on the wheel gets knocked off line, and all of a sudden I have no speed and no clock. And it's hard to push your speed when you don't know what your speed is. So I pull over and attempt to realign it, and just as I do, I feel the rain start coming down.
Nothing is fucking better, I might add, than spending an hour cleaning your bike with cleaners and q-tips, really getting all the sand out of it, and then having the rain just dump on you the NEXT FUCKING DAY. So not only did my computer go out, the rain was coming down and filthying up my pristine bike. And, of course, it was the first time I"d been caught in the rain on the bike all year. Fuck. I finally got the eye lined up again, and kept a good pace down to the end of Hawthorne. Although the rain did slow me down. I made it down averaging 18.9, in just over 57 minutes. And, some little kids on bikes decided they wanted to pass their sister on the trail just as I was hunkering down to the finish, and I had to swerve onto the dirt/mud to avoid them. I would have crashed were this a year ago, but fortunately I was ok.
I went to ride back and the rain hit me again, considerable slowing me down. Then I got to the big hill in the hammock and decided to try out the small ring as Trevor had suggested. The guy has given me a ton of good training advice over the years, but I can safely say I am not a fan of the small ring. I felt like I wasn't using any less energy than in the big ring, and I was going slower. So, basically, same output with a worse result. I may try it again on a day when I don't have a bunch or other aggravations and my attitude is a little better, but I was disappointed to have only made it back in 2:01. 4 minutes longer than it took me to go down, and my final average speed was 18.4. So I lost a lot of speed coming back.
Not all rides will have this many aggravations, and hopefully I can continue to build on the speed from earlier in the week.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
T42 - Nuking The Village - Bike/Run Brick
Gainesville
This is an expression I learned from the guy who taught me how to blog, a fellow named Matt in New York who wrote a blog called the IJC. I won't talk about him here, but the term refers to a night when you go out drinking, and start doing shots and chugging beers like a moron to the point that you are either incoherent and passed out by midnight, or you power through the entire night being "that guy," who requires extensive babysitting. Either way, you went too hard, too early, and now at the end you're a total fucking mess. I didn't go out drinking, but today's workout, I nuked my village. Think I just got a little too excited and forgot I had a brick.
Bike - 1 Hour
2 Lipodrene (down to my last pill, that refill better fucking get here soon!)
I took yesterday off as my knee seems to have decided it wants to start acting up again (no idea why)and thought it better to switch the rest day that was supposed to be today to Monday, then do last Sunday's workout today and skip the Tuesday workout altogether. You lost yet? Basically I am skipping the first workout of this recovery week and doing the last one from the last week of Base 1 instead, since they are almost identical. ANYWAY.....
I had to wait until 4:15 to start the bike, and as I was getting my water bottles ready, Trevor looked up from his iPhone and asked how long I was going. Having just gotten his Super Cervelo fixed, he wanted to come along. Usually long rides with Trevor consist of me keeping up with him for about 10 minutes, wasting my legs, and dropping back for the other 2 hours and 50 minutes. But today was an hour, so I figured why not push it a little. See how long I could keep up. This is a guy who averaged over 20 for the entire Ironman, so it's a good lead to follow.
He managed to lose me at the first stoplight (I hit the red) but did wait at the trailhead. I kept up with him at a solid 22-24 clip until we got to some hills, where he kept that clip and pulled ahead. Well, lasted about 14 minutes this time, I thought. Still, an improvement. But once the hills flattened out he has slowed down and looked over at me when I caught him and said "I was just seeing if I could drop you. I can't keep that pace, shit. I thought I'd lose you a while ago." With that I shot up the first big hill in the hammock at over 20, maintaining that almost to the top. Trevor pulled back out in front for much of the rest of the ride, but I hung with him at 22-24, taking the lead a few times to give him a break from pulling. Although I made a point to avoid drafting as much as I could since that wouldn't really be keeping his pace as much as using his bike to make me go faster. But at the end of the ride, I'd more or less hung with him the whole time. Took a gel at 45.
When we got back to the light at Main, he was like "You're a real strong rider. The only way I'm dropping you is tactical shit like knowing when to push it going around curves and up hills, and timing light and accelerations. That's advances shit you can work on and get a good 20 seconds on people every time." He also advised me to start practicing using my small ring. Since I don't feel like a pussy now for using it, I feel like this should be to my advantage. But on flat ground, I can keep up with this guy. And that's a major stride from where I'd been previously. So that felt good. I ended up averaging 19.4 for the ride, and when I got back I had some serious adrenaline going. So I took the iPOd, feeling a good run coming on as well.
Run - 60 Minutes. At least, that was the plan.
Soooo, yeah. Learned a few things today. Good as my legs felt on that ride (they never burned for more than a few seconds, even going up hills) at minute 22 of run they went out. Now, granted, I was running up and down the hills on the backside of the campus loop at a much faster pace than usual because I was so pumped from the ride, and I had the iPod on. And though I've decided I was overusing that Silversun Pickups CD on so many levels, I think I can still use it for workouts. And it worked here. But as soon as "Panic Switch" ended, my legs did too. Like the just went "Hey, fuck you pal. These quads have been working harder than ever the past hour and a half, and you can just hold the fuck on while we take a little breather." So I took me second gel a little early and let them relax as I stopped and did some stretching.
Well, all that adrenaline must have made me forget about my knee, because as soon as I started up again, it was like someone had re-ripped my meniscus. Also, probably becasue I was tired I was plodding more than usual and putting more stress on my knees, but after another half mile or so, my knee was done. My legs felt better, but the knee was just not feeling this run. So, for only the second time ever, I adopted my "quitters punishment" policy and forced myself to walk the rest of the course home, even though turning around would have been a lot shorted. You're gonna be miserable either way, I figure, and the only way to be miserable for less time is to start running again. But every time I tried, my knee was once again telling me to go fuck myself. And I wasn't going to push it as I'd rather puss out on a run during a recovery week than do damage that may hinder longer runs down the road.
So a few things. First, on bricks, don't go balls to the wall on the bike. This was not a max effort today, but it was a hard effort, and having a 6.8 mile run after that I probably should have laid back a little. Also, on long runs after long bikes (or at least fast bikes) I'm going to stick to a flat course to preserve my quads. I don't feel bad about this given that the Ironman course is, in fact, completely flat. I may jsut do a series of stadium-and-backs so that if my knee gives out, I don't have to walk 4.5 miles home. On a bad knee.
I'm not sure why my fucking knee has decided to be a bitch again, but whatever. Short of surgery I can't really control that. But this is my last run of recovery week (in keeping with the recovering theme) unless I feel 100% on Sunday, which is a scheduled 90-minute run. The week after that is swim-intensive, so this should be just the break it needs before getting a real test in 2 weeks.
This is an expression I learned from the guy who taught me how to blog, a fellow named Matt in New York who wrote a blog called the IJC. I won't talk about him here, but the term refers to a night when you go out drinking, and start doing shots and chugging beers like a moron to the point that you are either incoherent and passed out by midnight, or you power through the entire night being "that guy," who requires extensive babysitting. Either way, you went too hard, too early, and now at the end you're a total fucking mess. I didn't go out drinking, but today's workout, I nuked my village. Think I just got a little too excited and forgot I had a brick.
Bike - 1 Hour
2 Lipodrene (down to my last pill, that refill better fucking get here soon!)
I took yesterday off as my knee seems to have decided it wants to start acting up again (no idea why)and thought it better to switch the rest day that was supposed to be today to Monday, then do last Sunday's workout today and skip the Tuesday workout altogether. You lost yet? Basically I am skipping the first workout of this recovery week and doing the last one from the last week of Base 1 instead, since they are almost identical. ANYWAY.....
I had to wait until 4:15 to start the bike, and as I was getting my water bottles ready, Trevor looked up from his iPhone and asked how long I was going. Having just gotten his Super Cervelo fixed, he wanted to come along. Usually long rides with Trevor consist of me keeping up with him for about 10 minutes, wasting my legs, and dropping back for the other 2 hours and 50 minutes. But today was an hour, so I figured why not push it a little. See how long I could keep up. This is a guy who averaged over 20 for the entire Ironman, so it's a good lead to follow.
He managed to lose me at the first stoplight (I hit the red) but did wait at the trailhead. I kept up with him at a solid 22-24 clip until we got to some hills, where he kept that clip and pulled ahead. Well, lasted about 14 minutes this time, I thought. Still, an improvement. But once the hills flattened out he has slowed down and looked over at me when I caught him and said "I was just seeing if I could drop you. I can't keep that pace, shit. I thought I'd lose you a while ago." With that I shot up the first big hill in the hammock at over 20, maintaining that almost to the top. Trevor pulled back out in front for much of the rest of the ride, but I hung with him at 22-24, taking the lead a few times to give him a break from pulling. Although I made a point to avoid drafting as much as I could since that wouldn't really be keeping his pace as much as using his bike to make me go faster. But at the end of the ride, I'd more or less hung with him the whole time. Took a gel at 45.
When we got back to the light at Main, he was like "You're a real strong rider. The only way I'm dropping you is tactical shit like knowing when to push it going around curves and up hills, and timing light and accelerations. That's advances shit you can work on and get a good 20 seconds on people every time." He also advised me to start practicing using my small ring. Since I don't feel like a pussy now for using it, I feel like this should be to my advantage. But on flat ground, I can keep up with this guy. And that's a major stride from where I'd been previously. So that felt good. I ended up averaging 19.4 for the ride, and when I got back I had some serious adrenaline going. So I took the iPOd, feeling a good run coming on as well.
Run - 60 Minutes. At least, that was the plan.
Soooo, yeah. Learned a few things today. Good as my legs felt on that ride (they never burned for more than a few seconds, even going up hills) at minute 22 of run they went out. Now, granted, I was running up and down the hills on the backside of the campus loop at a much faster pace than usual because I was so pumped from the ride, and I had the iPod on. And though I've decided I was overusing that Silversun Pickups CD on so many levels, I think I can still use it for workouts. And it worked here. But as soon as "Panic Switch" ended, my legs did too. Like the just went "Hey, fuck you pal. These quads have been working harder than ever the past hour and a half, and you can just hold the fuck on while we take a little breather." So I took me second gel a little early and let them relax as I stopped and did some stretching.
Well, all that adrenaline must have made me forget about my knee, because as soon as I started up again, it was like someone had re-ripped my meniscus. Also, probably becasue I was tired I was plodding more than usual and putting more stress on my knees, but after another half mile or so, my knee was done. My legs felt better, but the knee was just not feeling this run. So, for only the second time ever, I adopted my "quitters punishment" policy and forced myself to walk the rest of the course home, even though turning around would have been a lot shorted. You're gonna be miserable either way, I figure, and the only way to be miserable for less time is to start running again. But every time I tried, my knee was once again telling me to go fuck myself. And I wasn't going to push it as I'd rather puss out on a run during a recovery week than do damage that may hinder longer runs down the road.
So a few things. First, on bricks, don't go balls to the wall on the bike. This was not a max effort today, but it was a hard effort, and having a 6.8 mile run after that I probably should have laid back a little. Also, on long runs after long bikes (or at least fast bikes) I'm going to stick to a flat course to preserve my quads. I don't feel bad about this given that the Ironman course is, in fact, completely flat. I may jsut do a series of stadium-and-backs so that if my knee gives out, I don't have to walk 4.5 miles home. On a bad knee.
I'm not sure why my fucking knee has decided to be a bitch again, but whatever. Short of surgery I can't really control that. But this is my last run of recovery week (in keeping with the recovering theme) unless I feel 100% on Sunday, which is a scheduled 90-minute run. The week after that is swim-intensive, so this should be just the break it needs before getting a real test in 2 weeks.
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