There is a road in West Glenville/Charlton that can make you cry, and its name is Potter Road. My friend and triathlon training buddy Greta first introduced me to this road last season during a bike ride. I am usually pretty wussy when I ride and do my best to avoid hill work. However, Greta is very good about pushing me outside of my comfort zone.
"We're doing a good one today," she'd said, adding that she liked to use it for hill repeats. I knew it was going to be bad.
The first indicator was that the route to GET TO Potter Road was entirely uphill. Fun. And then the hill began. I had to come out of the saddle early, huffing and puffing to the top. But I managed to get up. When I caught up with Greta, I said, "Yeah, that was tough, but I did it!"
"That wasn't the hill."
And she wasn't kidding. The "real" hill was a swear-word inducing, thigh-burning, heave-your-body-into-each-pedalstroke mess. I BARELY reached the top, thinking my heart was going to burst out of my chest from beating so hard. It was quite a reality check for me.
After that day, I added the Potter Road hill to my mid-week bike rides. I was swearing so much each time I rode it that I'm sure the Potter Road residents knew me as "that cycling girl with Tourette Syndrome." But by the end of the season, I was notably better on hills. Now, I use that route as a barometer on my overall leg strength and fitness. The first time this season that I planned to tackle the hill was last week. And...it just didn't happen. I basically psyched myself out all the way there. I built the hill up in my head as this gigantic obstacle that I wasn't yet fit enough to overcome. I got within one block of Potter before turning back and picking a different route.
On this week's long ride, I was determined to conquer it. I set my mind and headed out for Potter. I told myself if the fake-out hill kicked my butt, I could turn around and pick another route. But it didn't. And neither did the real hill. Sure, it was hard, but I did it -- and without as much strain as I thought there would be.
The lesson I learned is that a lot of this stuff is mental. Last week, I took a defeatist attitude and couldn't accomplish my goal. This week, I had a more positive approach and met the goal. It's a good lesson to add to my racing toolbox.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Saturday, April 19, 2014
The Toughest Workout Yet
Today was by far my most challenging workout this season. A 42-mile bike, followed immediately by a 4.25-mile run. It went pretty well, but it reminded me that, no matter how many hours you put into the indoor bike trainer, it is no substitute for biking outdoors.
I also learned that my legs were pretty much done after 42 miles. So I need to be a little less aggressive with my mileage progression. I scaled back my bike progression to just 5 miles added per week (about 20 mins). I am not going to get as long a bike as I wanted in before the Tour de Cure 100-miler, but I would rather be under-trained than over-reach and risk injuring myself. 100 miles on the bike is going to suck, no matter how prepared I am.
The sunshine and temperature were great; however, I did have numerous bike gripes, which I will list here for your amusement:
The brick runs are just flat out hard at this point, both physically and mentally. The first mile is the worst. I wonder how in the world I am going to get through the whole thing. Then I hit a turning point at about mile 3 when I start to feel good, and then I finish strong. I just have to keep this in mind at my races, although it won't help me much during sprint-distance triathlons, when the run leg is over after 3.1 miles. At least that last 0.1 mile will feel great!
I've had to adapt my nutritional strategy since last year. For some reason, I can no longer tolerate sports drink during my runs. It makes me nauseous. I am okay with it on the bike, but I stick to energy gels and water on the runs. I worry that I will encounter electrolyte deficiencies as my run mileage increases, so I may have to consider using salt tablets. For now, I'll just see how my body reacts and tweak as needed.
That's all for now! Time to go eat everything in the house.
I also learned that my legs were pretty much done after 42 miles. So I need to be a little less aggressive with my mileage progression. I scaled back my bike progression to just 5 miles added per week (about 20 mins). I am not going to get as long a bike as I wanted in before the Tour de Cure 100-miler, but I would rather be under-trained than over-reach and risk injuring myself. 100 miles on the bike is going to suck, no matter how prepared I am.
The sunshine and temperature were great; however, I did have numerous bike gripes, which I will list here for your amusement:
- The roads are in HORRIBLE shape. The shoulders are full of holes, torn up, or crumbled away. At one point, a car decided to ride right behind me and honk at me incessantly, even though the shoulder was eroded and I had nowhere to go. Good times.
- The road shoulders are full of debris. Among the miscellaneous rocks, gravel, sand, mufflers, and sharp metal objects, I actually encountered a board with a nail in it. If I was on The Simpsons, I could use it to fight off space aliens (anyone remember that episode?).
- Some drivers are just buttholes. On top of my encounter from #1 above, I was approaching a 4-way intersection with a traffic light and I was going straight. I had the green light. The oncoming car ahead of me was making a left turn. Rather than let me have the right of way, he decided to peel out and turn in front of me...while I was in the intersection. Thank you, brakes.
- Wind. I still hate you. That is all.
The brick runs are just flat out hard at this point, both physically and mentally. The first mile is the worst. I wonder how in the world I am going to get through the whole thing. Then I hit a turning point at about mile 3 when I start to feel good, and then I finish strong. I just have to keep this in mind at my races, although it won't help me much during sprint-distance triathlons, when the run leg is over after 3.1 miles. At least that last 0.1 mile will feel great!
I've had to adapt my nutritional strategy since last year. For some reason, I can no longer tolerate sports drink during my runs. It makes me nauseous. I am okay with it on the bike, but I stick to energy gels and water on the runs. I worry that I will encounter electrolyte deficiencies as my run mileage increases, so I may have to consider using salt tablets. For now, I'll just see how my body reacts and tweak as needed.
That's all for now! Time to go eat everything in the house.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
It's Getting Real
I just entered my key training phase for Ironman this week. If you've been reading this blog, you know that I'm following a customized version of Hansons' Marathon Method for my run training. If you haven't been reading, it basically spreads your weekly run volume out over the week, rather than the traditional method of saving the bulk of your miles for a weekend long run.
You may think this sounds easier. It's not. What happens is, since you are running more frequently during the week, your legs are toast by long run day. When you are running 10 miles, it's more like 16. The longest you ever run in this program is 16 miles. But it's meant to simulate the LAST 16 miles of a marathon, not the first.
In the book, the authors warn you that, during your build-up phase, the long runs will seem easy and you will be tempted to go faster than you should. And they also warn you that if you don't tone them down, it will all catch up with you in a glorious long run blowout from hell.
That is what happened last week. I was cruising along, feeling good, and then about two-thirds of the way in, I hit the wall. Hard. And limped home.
Today I was a little smarter. I had 10 miles slated for the day. I went out smarter and held back for the first 5, going VERY slowly. Then, for the final 5, I just let my body do what it wanted to do. The result was much better. I felt fatigued by mile 9.5, just in time for a nice cool-down jog.
So now I have to be much more mindful of my pacing. I'll use the rule of thumb above from now on. Hold back the first half, and then let go the second half.
I'm really enjoying the plan so far. I feel stronger than ever. My hope is that I finally finish a marathon without limping and taking walk breaks during the last hour. I just want to finish feeling good.
You may think this sounds easier. It's not. What happens is, since you are running more frequently during the week, your legs are toast by long run day. When you are running 10 miles, it's more like 16. The longest you ever run in this program is 16 miles. But it's meant to simulate the LAST 16 miles of a marathon, not the first.
In the book, the authors warn you that, during your build-up phase, the long runs will seem easy and you will be tempted to go faster than you should. And they also warn you that if you don't tone them down, it will all catch up with you in a glorious long run blowout from hell.
That is what happened last week. I was cruising along, feeling good, and then about two-thirds of the way in, I hit the wall. Hard. And limped home.
Today I was a little smarter. I had 10 miles slated for the day. I went out smarter and held back for the first 5, going VERY slowly. Then, for the final 5, I just let my body do what it wanted to do. The result was much better. I felt fatigued by mile 9.5, just in time for a nice cool-down jog.
So now I have to be much more mindful of my pacing. I'll use the rule of thumb above from now on. Hold back the first half, and then let go the second half.
I'm really enjoying the plan so far. I feel stronger than ever. My hope is that I finally finish a marathon without limping and taking walk breaks during the last hour. I just want to finish feeling good.
Monday, April 7, 2014
It's Just Like... Riding a Bike
Due to a combination of utter disgust for the indoor spinner and the well-deserved break in the weather, last week was the first official "bike outside" week.
I was relieved to find that the bike handling skills that I'd worked so hard to obtain were not lost over the winter. I am a spaz on the bike and am always one blink away from falling over. So activities like reaching for a water bottle, signaling turns, and taking bites of a PowerBar were challenging for me to master. I made a concerted effort to at least perform them passably last year, and this year those skills are still intact.
I did learn a FUN lesson on Tuesday's inaugural ride: mud + clipless pedals = foot-to-pedal glue. I was going down the bike path and encountered a large mud patch (gee, wonder why... maybe the 20 feet of snow melting?). It was the equivalent of quicksand, so I had to hop off the bike, carry the bike over the mud patch, and then clip back on. In the process, my bike shoes and clips got a nice layer of mud on them. So I clipped back into my pedals and, as I rode, the mud began to dry. And harden. As I approached the end of the bike path, I went to clip out. Nothing happened. CLIP OUT! CLIP OUT! AHHHH! Luckily, I was able to force my shoes free just in time to stop from ramming the bike path barrier. And I managed not to tip over.
I went out again on Saturday...which ended up being a mistake. Weather forecasters: there is a difference between "windy" and "gale forces that will blow your mailbox into your neighbor's living room." My friend and I started out, only to turn around 20 minutes into our ride when we both almost got BLOWN into a ditch. But at least we tried!
Hopefully this week will keep getting warmer and warmer, and the rides will be less eventful.
I was relieved to find that the bike handling skills that I'd worked so hard to obtain were not lost over the winter. I am a spaz on the bike and am always one blink away from falling over. So activities like reaching for a water bottle, signaling turns, and taking bites of a PowerBar were challenging for me to master. I made a concerted effort to at least perform them passably last year, and this year those skills are still intact.
I did learn a FUN lesson on Tuesday's inaugural ride: mud + clipless pedals = foot-to-pedal glue. I was going down the bike path and encountered a large mud patch (gee, wonder why... maybe the 20 feet of snow melting?). It was the equivalent of quicksand, so I had to hop off the bike, carry the bike over the mud patch, and then clip back on. In the process, my bike shoes and clips got a nice layer of mud on them. So I clipped back into my pedals and, as I rode, the mud began to dry. And harden. As I approached the end of the bike path, I went to clip out. Nothing happened. CLIP OUT! CLIP OUT! AHHHH! Luckily, I was able to force my shoes free just in time to stop from ramming the bike path barrier. And I managed not to tip over.
I went out again on Saturday...which ended up being a mistake. Weather forecasters: there is a difference between "windy" and "gale forces that will blow your mailbox into your neighbor's living room." My friend and I started out, only to turn around 20 minutes into our ride when we both almost got BLOWN into a ditch. But at least we tried!
Hopefully this week will keep getting warmer and warmer, and the rides will be less eventful.
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