10/18/2009 - 10/24/2009 (Week 8)
I've decided that the biggest issue for me with injuries is the loss of motivation, ergo the loss of momentum. The damage is more psychological than it is physical, and so I've decided that the key for me right now is just to re-establish the habit of running again.
Just take it one day at a time, rather than try to increase distance, or stress out about mileage, I feel like the key is just to run as many days as possible. The more days that I sleep in, the worse I feel, both physically and mentally. Consistency is key. Okay, here we go now:
Sunday: 5.2 miles, 42:49 (21:06/21:43) 2 x Washington Park Loops (8:14 min/mile)
After yesterday, I didn't really feel like I had 3 laps in me, so I decided to just do 2 and not feel bad about it. Felt better than yesterday, but still felt kind of buggered about the pace... maybe its not really a pace issue, actually its an endurance issue. The first lap felt fine... I also had someone to run with. I forgot what his name was, but we kept passing eachother back and forth so finally I decided to run next to him to avoid the competition. He was nice, but he was only doing one lap, so I think I slowed down a lot after he left.
Monday: Off, travel. Feeling lousy, not sure why, since I got a lot of sleep this weekend.
Tuesday: 6 miles, 47:25 Hillcrest, Orlando, Allen (7:58 min/mile)
Woke up feeling really beat, legs feeling really heavy... but force of habit is strong, it's Tuesday, so I figured that I should try to run a little faster than usual. Unfortunately my body just wouldn't go today. I felt like I expended an inordinate amount of effort not to get anywhere. My shoe came untied at Lake/California and I caught a glimpse of my watch. Seeing that I was 30 second behind last week's split, despite having worked a lot harder, I became discouraged and jogged the rest of it in. Bah, humbug.
Wednesday: 7.1 miles, 1:00:27 from Monterrey to RB (8:31 min/mile)
Hard to get up again, but was glad to make it on this nice, easy run. Was hoping it would be a little faster, but it felt good to take it easy after a few days where running felt more like struggling.
Thursday: 6.5 miles, 50:21 Hillcrest, Orlando, San Marino (7:45 min/mile)
An excellent night run in between baking a delicious chocolate cake. I kinda remembered what good base runs used to feel like today... I started off at a nice, controlled medium pace, and then pushed a little harder towards the end. That last part from Los Robles back to home always feels like a chore, so I tend to push through it. Felt good. Wish there were more runs like this.
Friday: Off, shots. Giving the hip and the feet and whatnot a precautionary day off by not trying to cram in a night run.
Saturday: 6.7 miles, 59:40 RB Perimeter to yellow gate at JPL (8:54 min/mile)
Good grief, I honestly don't know what happened here. I felt like I was going an "easy" pace, but it didn't feel like it was THAT slow. I also felt really wiped out on anything that went uphill, which meant that I really really struggled on the climb over the reservoir. I was so freaked out that I re-mapped this route immediately when I got home. Unfortunately, I didn't find a magical half mile or so that I forgot to measure... so I spent the rest of the evening feeling unsettled and irate.
Week total: 31.5 miles, some good, some bad... but making some progress!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Hip-hip hooray?
10/11/2009 - 10/17/2009 (Week 7)
I've decided that I'm still too young to have a metal hip... which means that I've got to come up with some way to fix this hip injury. Actually, at this point "hip" injury may be a misnomer. A variety of upper leg muscles have been hurting in turn at this point, so I'm not really sure what's going on anymore.
On the upside, it doesn't seem to make a difference whether I run fast or slow, and it's basically manageable with a smattering of core exercises, extra stretching and massage. Something always feels rusty and sore at the beginning of each run, but it seems to feel okay after 50 meters or so. It doesn't hurt me while walking around during the day any more, so I figure its improving and/or workable. I'm not 100% comfortable with it, but I think its good enough to proceed. Now to get that mileage back up. Last week I ran 3 days... this week I ran 4. One step at a time, I guess.
Sunday: 5.3 miles, 42:42 for Monterrey to bridge loop (8:03 min/mile)
I just decided, after yesterday, that I'm going to start running 8 minute miles now. Just like, in the beginning, I decided that I was going to run 8:30 miles. And I did, well mostly... and eventually it started to feel comfortable. I'm not sure why now, but it's time. Legs still feeling good and fresh, but breathing is kinda raspy. Overall a pretty good run though.
Monday: Off, slept in. Feeling lousy in that "under the weather" sort of way.
Tuesday: 6 miles, 46:10 Hillcrest, Orlando, Allen (7:46 min/mile)
Got up a little late, and it was drizzling out. Couldn't really decide what type of a run I wanted this to be. Went out hard, then backed off for most of the middle part, but then picked it up again coming back on California. Mostly, it was because the rain was picking up, I couldn't see anything, and I just wanted to get home sooner rather than later. Totally soaked when I got home, but I was super pleased to see my first solidly sub-8 minute mile run!
Wednesday: Off, slept in again. Feeling really fatigued and exhausted, not sure why.
Thursday: 6.5 miles, 54:30 Hillcrest, Orlando, San Marino (8:23 min/mile)
Slept in again, feeling really lousy... forced myself to go on this evening run though, to avoid 3 consecutive off days (counting shot day tomorrow). I was tired when I got home from work, and it was really humid. I remember thinking 5 minutes into this run that I was really hot and uncomfortable. Took it easy, but not THAT easy... so I was kind of pissed to see the slow run time. Oh well, try again on Saturday, I guess.
Friday: Off, shots, traveling.
Saturday: 5.2 miles, 42:18 (20:49/21:29) 2 x Washington Park Loops (8:08 min/mile)
First loop with Peter in Denver. Felt really lousy, I was feeling the altitude pretty early on, and it just got worse from there. The second loop felt a little bit more controlled, but I was pretty discouraged. Made some super delicious ginger bread men with Peter afterwards, and I decided to put this run behind me.
Week total: 23 miles. Well, whatever my hip needs to get better, so be it.
I've decided that I'm still too young to have a metal hip... which means that I've got to come up with some way to fix this hip injury. Actually, at this point "hip" injury may be a misnomer. A variety of upper leg muscles have been hurting in turn at this point, so I'm not really sure what's going on anymore.
On the upside, it doesn't seem to make a difference whether I run fast or slow, and it's basically manageable with a smattering of core exercises, extra stretching and massage. Something always feels rusty and sore at the beginning of each run, but it seems to feel okay after 50 meters or so. It doesn't hurt me while walking around during the day any more, so I figure its improving and/or workable. I'm not 100% comfortable with it, but I think its good enough to proceed. Now to get that mileage back up. Last week I ran 3 days... this week I ran 4. One step at a time, I guess.
Sunday: 5.3 miles, 42:42 for Monterrey to bridge loop (8:03 min/mile)
I just decided, after yesterday, that I'm going to start running 8 minute miles now. Just like, in the beginning, I decided that I was going to run 8:30 miles. And I did, well mostly... and eventually it started to feel comfortable. I'm not sure why now, but it's time. Legs still feeling good and fresh, but breathing is kinda raspy. Overall a pretty good run though.
Monday: Off, slept in. Feeling lousy in that "under the weather" sort of way.
Tuesday: 6 miles, 46:10 Hillcrest, Orlando, Allen (7:46 min/mile)
Got up a little late, and it was drizzling out. Couldn't really decide what type of a run I wanted this to be. Went out hard, then backed off for most of the middle part, but then picked it up again coming back on California. Mostly, it was because the rain was picking up, I couldn't see anything, and I just wanted to get home sooner rather than later. Totally soaked when I got home, but I was super pleased to see my first solidly sub-8 minute mile run!
Wednesday: Off, slept in again. Feeling really fatigued and exhausted, not sure why.
Thursday: 6.5 miles, 54:30 Hillcrest, Orlando, San Marino (8:23 min/mile)
Slept in again, feeling really lousy... forced myself to go on this evening run though, to avoid 3 consecutive off days (counting shot day tomorrow). I was tired when I got home from work, and it was really humid. I remember thinking 5 minutes into this run that I was really hot and uncomfortable. Took it easy, but not THAT easy... so I was kind of pissed to see the slow run time. Oh well, try again on Saturday, I guess.
Friday: Off, shots, traveling.
Saturday: 5.2 miles, 42:18 (20:49/21:29) 2 x Washington Park Loops (8:08 min/mile)
First loop with Peter in Denver. Felt really lousy, I was feeling the altitude pretty early on, and it just got worse from there. The second loop felt a little bit more controlled, but I was pretty discouraged. Made some super delicious ginger bread men with Peter afterwards, and I decided to put this run behind me.
Week total: 23 miles. Well, whatever my hip needs to get better, so be it.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Another one bites the dust...
10/04/2009 - 10/10/2009 (Week 6)
Things fall apart. Shit. The worst part is that I'm still not entirely sure what has broken, but something has definitely gone awry, because I wasn't walking normally on Tuesday after the workout. The best case scenario is a tweaked L hip flexor, which has happened to me with some regularity, and can be resolved with more diligent implementation of core strengthening. The worst case scenario is a stress fracture of the femural joint. I've been taking my gummy calcium bears, dammit! Clearly my runty left side doesn't respond to encouragement, so fine... die, left leg, die.
Sunday: 11.6 miles, 1:42:11 in the Arroyo then around the RB perimeter (8:49 min/mile)
Aaaaaahhhhh... turtle turtle. Why is not my long run pace improving?! I really didn't want to run today, but around noon, I finally cobbled together enough motivation to head out. It felt fine, except for I could tell that I was getting tired, and I was really dehydrated towards the end. I knew I should just have stopped for water at the RB or the casting pond, but for some reason I was determined not to stop. I think that the reality is that I run all of my runs as accelerations... in the Arroyo, I think I start out at 8:45 pace and then pick it up on the second half to average 8:30, but on this run, the picking it up thing never happened. It didn't feel particularly horrible... just long, and slow. I think it was too early for this jump, I should have stuck with a few more weeks of the 9 mile long run. Blahhhh.....
Monday: Off. I had felt really good immediately after yesterday's run, but woke up today with some aches and pains that distinctly felt like the beginning stages of injury, rather than a good healthy sore. Took a precautionary day off.
Tuesday: 6.5 miles, 2 x 700m, 2 x 1500m, 2 x 700m pickups with 100m jog rest at Lacy
Woke up at 6:50 am and realized that I wasn't going to run today if I didn't rush to 7 am practice (team has started T/Th morning workouts again). The prospect of 2 continuous days off scared me more than the twinge I still felt in my L hip, so I rushed out, and then sprinted again to Lacy bc I had missed the start yet again.
Felt like a good workout, my goal was to practice running fast, but still remain comfortable and consistent. I'm just not ready for a super high intensity thing right now, so these continuous loops are really ideal. Times were 3:03, 3:00, 6:44, 6:54, 3:13, 3:14. Legs were comfortable throughout, but I struggled cardiovascularly on the 1500's and that carried over towards the end. Not exactly sure how to fix this gap, cardio always lags leg strength for me, but its usually not as bad as this. (Strangely on the bike, its the reverse... )
Wednesday - Friday: Off. L hip took a turn for the worse after Tuesday, should have listened to the tweak while it was just that. The joint seemed to seize up after Tuesday's workout, I had trouble walking normally. Tried to sort out exactly what was wrong, but it was difficult. Just kept trying to stretch and loosen it, but a number of things seemed to have clenched around the joint. Kind of scary. There was a large improvement in the first day, but residual issues persisted for many days afterwards. In addition, some small muscles keep spasming in my calf. Bad news bears.
Saturday: 4.2 miles, 33:21 Glenarm/Hillcrest (7:56 min/mile)
Short run to test out the hip. Smelled like burnt tires out. Ran at noon, so it was warmer than I would have liked. I felt sluggish and my breathing was out of whack, but I assumed I was going really slow and I just felt badly bc of the days off, and the temperature. Felt better about the run once I got home and realized that I was going a decent pace. Did a lot of stretching and exercises afterwards. I felt like my L hip was different from my R hip, but it felt like a difference of strength vs. a difference of injuredness. It may have been better to take it a bit easier on the first day back, but I'm actually heartened to see the faster pace because it demonstrates that I'm still getting full extension out of my stride. Towards the end of my last cycle of injuries, I couldn't run faster than a 9 minute mile, simply because I had shortened my stride drastically to minimize the pain.
Week Total: 22.3 miles, ack, wrong direction!
Things fall apart. Shit. The worst part is that I'm still not entirely sure what has broken, but something has definitely gone awry, because I wasn't walking normally on Tuesday after the workout. The best case scenario is a tweaked L hip flexor, which has happened to me with some regularity, and can be resolved with more diligent implementation of core strengthening. The worst case scenario is a stress fracture of the femural joint. I've been taking my gummy calcium bears, dammit! Clearly my runty left side doesn't respond to encouragement, so fine... die, left leg, die.
Sunday: 11.6 miles, 1:42:11 in the Arroyo then around the RB perimeter (8:49 min/mile)
Aaaaaahhhhh... turtle turtle. Why is not my long run pace improving?! I really didn't want to run today, but around noon, I finally cobbled together enough motivation to head out. It felt fine, except for I could tell that I was getting tired, and I was really dehydrated towards the end. I knew I should just have stopped for water at the RB or the casting pond, but for some reason I was determined not to stop. I think that the reality is that I run all of my runs as accelerations... in the Arroyo, I think I start out at 8:45 pace and then pick it up on the second half to average 8:30, but on this run, the picking it up thing never happened. It didn't feel particularly horrible... just long, and slow. I think it was too early for this jump, I should have stuck with a few more weeks of the 9 mile long run. Blahhhh.....
Monday: Off. I had felt really good immediately after yesterday's run, but woke up today with some aches and pains that distinctly felt like the beginning stages of injury, rather than a good healthy sore. Took a precautionary day off.
Tuesday: 6.5 miles, 2 x 700m, 2 x 1500m, 2 x 700m pickups with 100m jog rest at Lacy
Woke up at 6:50 am and realized that I wasn't going to run today if I didn't rush to 7 am practice (team has started T/Th morning workouts again). The prospect of 2 continuous days off scared me more than the twinge I still felt in my L hip, so I rushed out, and then sprinted again to Lacy bc I had missed the start yet again.
Felt like a good workout, my goal was to practice running fast, but still remain comfortable and consistent. I'm just not ready for a super high intensity thing right now, so these continuous loops are really ideal. Times were 3:03, 3:00, 6:44, 6:54, 3:13, 3:14. Legs were comfortable throughout, but I struggled cardiovascularly on the 1500's and that carried over towards the end. Not exactly sure how to fix this gap, cardio always lags leg strength for me, but its usually not as bad as this. (Strangely on the bike, its the reverse... )
Wednesday - Friday: Off. L hip took a turn for the worse after Tuesday, should have listened to the tweak while it was just that. The joint seemed to seize up after Tuesday's workout, I had trouble walking normally. Tried to sort out exactly what was wrong, but it was difficult. Just kept trying to stretch and loosen it, but a number of things seemed to have clenched around the joint. Kind of scary. There was a large improvement in the first day, but residual issues persisted for many days afterwards. In addition, some small muscles keep spasming in my calf. Bad news bears.
Saturday: 4.2 miles, 33:21 Glenarm/Hillcrest (7:56 min/mile)
Short run to test out the hip. Smelled like burnt tires out. Ran at noon, so it was warmer than I would have liked. I felt sluggish and my breathing was out of whack, but I assumed I was going really slow and I just felt badly bc of the days off, and the temperature. Felt better about the run once I got home and realized that I was going a decent pace. Did a lot of stretching and exercises afterwards. I felt like my L hip was different from my R hip, but it felt like a difference of strength vs. a difference of injuredness. It may have been better to take it a bit easier on the first day back, but I'm actually heartened to see the faster pace because it demonstrates that I'm still getting full extension out of my stride. Towards the end of my last cycle of injuries, I couldn't run faster than a 9 minute mile, simply because I had shortened my stride drastically to minimize the pain.
Week Total: 22.3 miles, ack, wrong direction!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Rest week devolves to lazy...
09/27/2009 - 10/03/2009 (Week 5)
First rest week, and I've got two things going against me. One is that pre-season is over, so there isn't 6:30 am practice to get my lazy ass out of bed in the morning. Two is that I have a history of post-achievement motivational issues. And yes, running 42 miles last week is an achievement... because that's only happened twice so far in the past 2 years. Sad, yeah, I know...
The wheels kind of came off the wagon early this week, with the dreaded 2 consecutive off days, but I rallied to cobble together 35 miles in 5 days. I think the situation is under control, but I was afflicted by some serious ennui for a while there. Part of the problem is that I've been requiring a ridiculous amount of sleep recently. Since I returned from Colorado, 7 hours isn't cutting it. Kind of disturbing... but I'll chalk it up to recovering from altitude.
Sunday: 7.8 miles, 1:07:03 for 3 x Washington Park Loops in Denver (8:36 min/mile)
(22:00/22:38/22:25 lap splits) Argh, feeling lousy today. Not sure exactly why, but it was harder and slower than yesterday. It didn't feel like a complete meltdown, so I just tried to keep some sort of a steady pace and not do anything crazy. Glad to be done. ~ 6 mile hike to ~9000ft with Peter and his parents afterwards.
Monday: Off. Traveling. Didn't perceive that I was super tired, but apparently I was.
Tuesday: Off. Slept in, and then had to work late... decided not to do a late night run, such that I could get up for a proper run tomorrow.
Wednesday: 7.1 miles, 1:00:32 Monterrey to RB and back (8:32 min/mile)
Felt lousy again, can't imagine why after so much rest... but my body usually feels sort of groggy and out of sorts after days off. Started really easy, picked it up a bit on the second half, but it was still slow overall. Not too stressed out about it, just needed to get out and do something today to get back on the ball.
Thursday: 9.2 miles, 1:16:25 Hillcrest/Sierra Madre/Huntington/El Molino (8:18 min/mile)
Still couldn't get up in the morning, but this time I forced myself to run after work. Running at night around Pasadena is actually really nice, but this time I was afflicted by gastrointestinal distress, which made it... less nice. Went easy planning to do ~ 10 miles, but had to cut off the last part and head home early due to the stomach situation becoming intractable. Felt really good other than that. I was kind of sad that I didn't get to work the El Molino hill, because I had to concentrate on not crapping my pants. Stomach hurt for hours afterwards, couldn't eat anything... bad times.
Friday: 6 miles, 49:20 Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen back on California (8:18 min/mile)
Shots in the morning, but had to run after work to account for the unintended rest day on Tuesday. Felt kind of sore and weak presumably due to lack of food, and stomach still feeling kind of bad, but it was much better than yesterday. Easy until last 0.4 miles down Marengo to get home, felt really good picking up the pace a little bit. Running on the pavement is starting to feel really good and easy, and the paces are coming down. Not sure what it is about the trails that makes it that much harder.
Saturday: 5.3 miles, 45:21 Monterrey to Third Bridge Loop (8:33 min/mile)
This run kind of felt like a chore. The 12 hour turnaround is still hard for me, but I decided to sacrifice this run to get back on the morning schedule rather than Sunday's long run. My legs felt mostly okay though, so I think the badness came from forgetting to take my Zyrtec yesterday night, so I was stuffy and chest felt tight and congested in the morning. Mostly easy, but had to pick it up the last 5 minutes, to avoid being passed by Old Guy.
Week Total: 35.4 miles, why don't I feel more rested? Oh, because of the sub-optimal configuration of off days...
First rest week, and I've got two things going against me. One is that pre-season is over, so there isn't 6:30 am practice to get my lazy ass out of bed in the morning. Two is that I have a history of post-achievement motivational issues. And yes, running 42 miles last week is an achievement... because that's only happened twice so far in the past 2 years. Sad, yeah, I know...
The wheels kind of came off the wagon early this week, with the dreaded 2 consecutive off days, but I rallied to cobble together 35 miles in 5 days. I think the situation is under control, but I was afflicted by some serious ennui for a while there. Part of the problem is that I've been requiring a ridiculous amount of sleep recently. Since I returned from Colorado, 7 hours isn't cutting it. Kind of disturbing... but I'll chalk it up to recovering from altitude.
Sunday: 7.8 miles, 1:07:03 for 3 x Washington Park Loops in Denver (8:36 min/mile)
(22:00/22:38/22:25 lap splits) Argh, feeling lousy today. Not sure exactly why, but it was harder and slower than yesterday. It didn't feel like a complete meltdown, so I just tried to keep some sort of a steady pace and not do anything crazy. Glad to be done. ~ 6 mile hike to ~9000ft with Peter and his parents afterwards.
Monday: Off. Traveling. Didn't perceive that I was super tired, but apparently I was.
Tuesday: Off. Slept in, and then had to work late... decided not to do a late night run, such that I could get up for a proper run tomorrow.
Wednesday: 7.1 miles, 1:00:32 Monterrey to RB and back (8:32 min/mile)
Felt lousy again, can't imagine why after so much rest... but my body usually feels sort of groggy and out of sorts after days off. Started really easy, picked it up a bit on the second half, but it was still slow overall. Not too stressed out about it, just needed to get out and do something today to get back on the ball.
Thursday: 9.2 miles, 1:16:25 Hillcrest/Sierra Madre/Huntington/El Molino (8:18 min/mile)
Still couldn't get up in the morning, but this time I forced myself to run after work. Running at night around Pasadena is actually really nice, but this time I was afflicted by gastrointestinal distress, which made it... less nice. Went easy planning to do ~ 10 miles, but had to cut off the last part and head home early due to the stomach situation becoming intractable. Felt really good other than that. I was kind of sad that I didn't get to work the El Molino hill, because I had to concentrate on not crapping my pants. Stomach hurt for hours afterwards, couldn't eat anything... bad times.
Friday: 6 miles, 49:20 Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen back on California (8:18 min/mile)
Shots in the morning, but had to run after work to account for the unintended rest day on Tuesday. Felt kind of sore and weak presumably due to lack of food, and stomach still feeling kind of bad, but it was much better than yesterday. Easy until last 0.4 miles down Marengo to get home, felt really good picking up the pace a little bit. Running on the pavement is starting to feel really good and easy, and the paces are coming down. Not sure what it is about the trails that makes it that much harder.
Saturday: 5.3 miles, 45:21 Monterrey to Third Bridge Loop (8:33 min/mile)
This run kind of felt like a chore. The 12 hour turnaround is still hard for me, but I decided to sacrifice this run to get back on the morning schedule rather than Sunday's long run. My legs felt mostly okay though, so I think the badness came from forgetting to take my Zyrtec yesterday night, so I was stuffy and chest felt tight and congested in the morning. Mostly easy, but had to pick it up the last 5 minutes, to avoid being passed by Old Guy.
Week Total: 35.4 miles, why don't I feel more rested? Oh, because of the sub-optimal configuration of off days...
Saturday, September 26, 2009
More Activation Energy Required
09/20/2009 - 09/26/2009 (Week 4)
Heading into week 4, I am sooooooo tired... Up until yesterday, I had been feeling fairly energetic, despite various aches and pains and respiratory distress. I thought taking Friday off would revive my legs, but on the contrary they seemed to have even less "pop" after the day off. Nuts.
This is the phase of training that I think of as the peak of the Activation Energy in a reaction profile. You ramp up the mileage, and crank down the paces, and somehow all of that happens a bit quicker than you gain fitness. There's an "uphill" part where you start to accumulate fatigue... before the increased fitness kicks in and you finally start to see some gains. This week is probably going to be my hardest one yet, but I'm hopeful that there's some good stuff there once I put in the requisite E(sub)a.
Sunday: 9.3 miles, 1:23:13 from Stables to Rose Bowl Perimeter (8:57 min/mile)
It's still morning, but the sun has come out and it's warmer than I'd like. I'm even more tired because it's only been 12 hours since my last run, but I'm determined to start the week right, with a proper long run, for the first time thus far. Started out feeling like my legs were really weak under me, but felt a lot better on the second half. Cardiovascularly, this run felt really pleasant and easy, so the time went by a lot quicker than I thought it would. I was kind of sad to see the final time, but also glad that I hung in there and didn't cut the route short.
Monday: 7.8 miles, 1:07:48 for a reverse California/RB perimeter loop (8:42 min/mile)
Slept in and missed the women's long run, so ran the guys' long run, mostly with Ben and Anton. I felt a lot better than yesterday at first glance, but in retrospect the effort/speed ratio was unfavorable compared to yesterday. I worked pretty hard to keep up with Ben in the beginning and at the end, but I was feeling a lot better jogging with Anton who was sore. I guess this is a lot of miles in 2 days for me, I'm feeling pretty beat.
Tuesday: 6.5 miles, 8 x 700m pick ups/100m jog rest at Lacy Park, 1.5 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down
Despite my resolve to take a day easy, Ian tempted me with this pretty mellow workout with the team today. I woke up and my legs were feeling good for the first time in a while, so I decided to go for it. It got off to a bit of a bad start, because I was late and had to haul ass to catch the group at the park, but the workout actually went really well. I made a good decision (for once!) and ran with the second pack, Phyllis, Perrin and Mia. Phyllis was an awesome pace leader, she's really steady and the pack stayed together for all of the repeats. I ran all of mine by feel and most of them were either 3:08 or 3:12, strangely enough. The pace was easy for me in the beginning, and just the right amount of challenging by the end, it felt fun and relaxed and great.
Wednesday: 6.7 miles, 54:36 Lorain/St. Albans (8:09 min/mile)
Really fun base run with Susan and Masha. I haven't been down to Lorain in a long time, and it was really nice. The pace was a little faster than usual, and I was feeling it a little bit in the middle, but I started feeling good again when we hit the hill coming up Virginia, and was able to finish strong. I think my energy levels are reviving a little bit. I felt really good at the end.
Thursday: 6.5 miles, 52:09 Hillcrest/Orlando/San Marino/California (8:01 min/mile)
Wanted to wake up early and do a tempo run in the Arroyo, but slept in instead :(. I felt pretty worn out by the time I got home from work, so I decided to do just a base run, but with some tempo paced pick ups in the middle. I wanted to do 5 x 5 minutes, but I think it ended up being more like 4 x 2-4 minutes. My legs felt good, but the breathing was pretty ragged for the faster parts. I really focused on maintaining a solid pace between the pick ups though, so it felt like a good solid effort. I was kind of hoping this would average out to sub-8 min/mile pace, but I guess it'll have to be another day.
Friday: Off, shots. Travel to Denver. I was really good and didn't gorge myself on free lunch.
Saturday: 5.2 miles, 42:42 (21:32/21:10) for 2 laps of Washington Park in Denver (8:13 min/mile)
Pleasant morning run in Denver. I made a promise to myself to keep this run really easy, so I was really pleased to see the split for the first lap. I got a little bit excited and pushed a little harder on the second lap, but overall it was a steady, non strenuous effort. The altitude didn't really bother me, which was also nice. A good end to the week.
Week Total: 42 miles, totally solid!
Heading into week 4, I am sooooooo tired... Up until yesterday, I had been feeling fairly energetic, despite various aches and pains and respiratory distress. I thought taking Friday off would revive my legs, but on the contrary they seemed to have even less "pop" after the day off. Nuts.
This is the phase of training that I think of as the peak of the Activation Energy in a reaction profile. You ramp up the mileage, and crank down the paces, and somehow all of that happens a bit quicker than you gain fitness. There's an "uphill" part where you start to accumulate fatigue... before the increased fitness kicks in and you finally start to see some gains. This week is probably going to be my hardest one yet, but I'm hopeful that there's some good stuff there once I put in the requisite E(sub)a.
Sunday: 9.3 miles, 1:23:13 from Stables to Rose Bowl Perimeter (8:57 min/mile)
It's still morning, but the sun has come out and it's warmer than I'd like. I'm even more tired because it's only been 12 hours since my last run, but I'm determined to start the week right, with a proper long run, for the first time thus far. Started out feeling like my legs were really weak under me, but felt a lot better on the second half. Cardiovascularly, this run felt really pleasant and easy, so the time went by a lot quicker than I thought it would. I was kind of sad to see the final time, but also glad that I hung in there and didn't cut the route short.
Monday: 7.8 miles, 1:07:48 for a reverse California/RB perimeter loop (8:42 min/mile)
Slept in and missed the women's long run, so ran the guys' long run, mostly with Ben and Anton. I felt a lot better than yesterday at first glance, but in retrospect the effort/speed ratio was unfavorable compared to yesterday. I worked pretty hard to keep up with Ben in the beginning and at the end, but I was feeling a lot better jogging with Anton who was sore. I guess this is a lot of miles in 2 days for me, I'm feeling pretty beat.
Tuesday: 6.5 miles, 8 x 700m pick ups/100m jog rest at Lacy Park, 1.5 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down
Despite my resolve to take a day easy, Ian tempted me with this pretty mellow workout with the team today. I woke up and my legs were feeling good for the first time in a while, so I decided to go for it. It got off to a bit of a bad start, because I was late and had to haul ass to catch the group at the park, but the workout actually went really well. I made a good decision (for once!) and ran with the second pack, Phyllis, Perrin and Mia. Phyllis was an awesome pace leader, she's really steady and the pack stayed together for all of the repeats. I ran all of mine by feel and most of them were either 3:08 or 3:12, strangely enough. The pace was easy for me in the beginning, and just the right amount of challenging by the end, it felt fun and relaxed and great.
Wednesday: 6.7 miles, 54:36 Lorain/St. Albans (8:09 min/mile)
Really fun base run with Susan and Masha. I haven't been down to Lorain in a long time, and it was really nice. The pace was a little faster than usual, and I was feeling it a little bit in the middle, but I started feeling good again when we hit the hill coming up Virginia, and was able to finish strong. I think my energy levels are reviving a little bit. I felt really good at the end.
Thursday: 6.5 miles, 52:09 Hillcrest/Orlando/San Marino/California (8:01 min/mile)
Wanted to wake up early and do a tempo run in the Arroyo, but slept in instead :(. I felt pretty worn out by the time I got home from work, so I decided to do just a base run, but with some tempo paced pick ups in the middle. I wanted to do 5 x 5 minutes, but I think it ended up being more like 4 x 2-4 minutes. My legs felt good, but the breathing was pretty ragged for the faster parts. I really focused on maintaining a solid pace between the pick ups though, so it felt like a good solid effort. I was kind of hoping this would average out to sub-8 min/mile pace, but I guess it'll have to be another day.
Friday: Off, shots. Travel to Denver. I was really good and didn't gorge myself on free lunch.
Saturday: 5.2 miles, 42:42 (21:32/21:10) for 2 laps of Washington Park in Denver (8:13 min/mile)
Pleasant morning run in Denver. I made a promise to myself to keep this run really easy, so I was really pleased to see the split for the first lap. I got a little bit excited and pushed a little harder on the second lap, but overall it was a steady, non strenuous effort. The altitude didn't really bother me, which was also nice. A good end to the week.
Week Total: 42 miles, totally solid!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
No workouts for you
09/13/2009 - 09/19/2009 (Week 3)
It took me a few tries, but I think I've finally learned my lesson... Running with the team is fun, but I still have to focus on doing my own training. I guess the temptation will cease with the end of pre-season, but I want to make sure that I don't do any undue damage to my feet or to my musculature by trying to tag along on the team's workouts.
Given that a few weeks ago, I could barely run 3 miles, I think the focus for me right now is to get back to doing what I do best: long steady runs. I don't really want to build a lot of hopes around any specific race at this juncture, rather my general hope is to gain back a level of basic fitness. I want to be comfortably running a 7:30 to 7:45 min/mile base pace, with a weekly mountain run and Sunday long run of 15-20 miles. Even if I'm not training for any specific, I know that this keeps me happy. I'm naturally kind of "interval" averse, so I think this is a good starting point.
Sunday: 3 miles, 24:39 in the Arroyo (8:13 min/mile)
Wanted to do a proper long run today, but woke up too late. Instead did the 3 mile loop with Peter. Felt pretty good. Still feels a lot harder than it should, but compared to before, there's definitely some progress here. Beach with Will afterwards. Swam in the ocean and did some foot exercises in the sand again. Peter lost the frisbee :(
Monday: 7.5 miles, 1:03:35 Huntington/Los Robles (8:29 min/mile)
Pleasant morning run with the team, ran with Masha, Sylvia, Justine and Clara. Legs were kind of heavy in a weird way from the swimming yesterday, but my breathing has totally settled down. Felt pretty good, but the grass was ridiculously long and thick on Huntington, which made the run a little bit more tiring than I expected.
Tuesday: 6.2 miles, 4 x Arroyo Tempo Loops (~1 was at "tempo pace")
This was kind of a disaster... I wasn't really sure why I thought this would be any different from the San Marino Hill Circuit, but I love tempo runs so I decided to give this a try. I managed 1 lap in about 11:40, after which I started losing the pack, and when I slowed down I obtained a side cramp, so the second lap was basically just shuffling and trying to work out the cramp. It was pretty miserable. There was also a lap warm up and a lap cool down for 4 total. Argh.
Wednesday: 5.1 miles, 42:18 Rose Villa, San Gabriel, Lombardy (8:18 min/mile)
Another one of Susan's cute neighborhood runs. Ran with the group, then Sylvia and Masha towards the end. Felt really good today, wanted to go faster. I'm excited that it's a lot easier to breathe and the paces are coming down, slowly but surely. Legs are starting to feel a little bit tired though.
Thursday: 6 miles, 50:26 Hillcrest, Orlando, Allen (8:29 min/mile)
The trouble with not going to team practice is that there's no incentive to wake up on time. Slept in pretty catastrophically, so had to run at night. I guess this was okay, because my legs were feeling really worn out in the morning. Actually, they were still feeling really tired at the end of the day, so I was pretty unenthused about running. Once I got started though, it was really nice and relaxing. Went really easy and just focused on keeping good form and not slogging. Started to feel pretty good after about 15 minutes. I forgot how nice it is to run at night, it was so calm and relaxing I didn't even notice that I had forgotten my iPod.
Friday: Off, shots. I really wanted to run today, but my legs were really really tired. So I decided to make cookies for the team instead.
Saturday: 5.3 miles, 45:27 Monterrey to Third Bridge (8:35 min/mile)
Went to see the race at Riverside in the AM, it was really hot but pretty fun. Hung out with Gustavo, and Goldhammer almost ran me over with the van. As a result, I had to run in the evening. I put it off as long as possible to avoid the heat... but then ran into the other problem of lack of sunlight. Nuts. Another troubling thing... my legs still feel really worn out despite the rest day. Had to take it really easy, started feeling better towards the end, but then I had to slow down pretty significantly bc it was completely dark and I couldn't see the footing on the trails. Nonetheless, it was a nice run, and I'm encouraged that I'm managing 8:30's even going super easy.
Week Total: 33.1 miles, coming along nicely!
It took me a few tries, but I think I've finally learned my lesson... Running with the team is fun, but I still have to focus on doing my own training. I guess the temptation will cease with the end of pre-season, but I want to make sure that I don't do any undue damage to my feet or to my musculature by trying to tag along on the team's workouts.
Given that a few weeks ago, I could barely run 3 miles, I think the focus for me right now is to get back to doing what I do best: long steady runs. I don't really want to build a lot of hopes around any specific race at this juncture, rather my general hope is to gain back a level of basic fitness. I want to be comfortably running a 7:30 to 7:45 min/mile base pace, with a weekly mountain run and Sunday long run of 15-20 miles. Even if I'm not training for any specific, I know that this keeps me happy. I'm naturally kind of "interval" averse, so I think this is a good starting point.
Sunday: 3 miles, 24:39 in the Arroyo (8:13 min/mile)
Wanted to do a proper long run today, but woke up too late. Instead did the 3 mile loop with Peter. Felt pretty good. Still feels a lot harder than it should, but compared to before, there's definitely some progress here. Beach with Will afterwards. Swam in the ocean and did some foot exercises in the sand again. Peter lost the frisbee :(
Monday: 7.5 miles, 1:03:35 Huntington/Los Robles (8:29 min/mile)
Pleasant morning run with the team, ran with Masha, Sylvia, Justine and Clara. Legs were kind of heavy in a weird way from the swimming yesterday, but my breathing has totally settled down. Felt pretty good, but the grass was ridiculously long and thick on Huntington, which made the run a little bit more tiring than I expected.
Tuesday: 6.2 miles, 4 x Arroyo Tempo Loops (~1 was at "tempo pace")
This was kind of a disaster... I wasn't really sure why I thought this would be any different from the San Marino Hill Circuit, but I love tempo runs so I decided to give this a try. I managed 1 lap in about 11:40, after which I started losing the pack, and when I slowed down I obtained a side cramp, so the second lap was basically just shuffling and trying to work out the cramp. It was pretty miserable. There was also a lap warm up and a lap cool down for 4 total. Argh.
Wednesday: 5.1 miles, 42:18 Rose Villa, San Gabriel, Lombardy (8:18 min/mile)
Another one of Susan's cute neighborhood runs. Ran with the group, then Sylvia and Masha towards the end. Felt really good today, wanted to go faster. I'm excited that it's a lot easier to breathe and the paces are coming down, slowly but surely. Legs are starting to feel a little bit tired though.
Thursday: 6 miles, 50:26 Hillcrest, Orlando, Allen (8:29 min/mile)
The trouble with not going to team practice is that there's no incentive to wake up on time. Slept in pretty catastrophically, so had to run at night. I guess this was okay, because my legs were feeling really worn out in the morning. Actually, they were still feeling really tired at the end of the day, so I was pretty unenthused about running. Once I got started though, it was really nice and relaxing. Went really easy and just focused on keeping good form and not slogging. Started to feel pretty good after about 15 minutes. I forgot how nice it is to run at night, it was so calm and relaxing I didn't even notice that I had forgotten my iPod.
Friday: Off, shots. I really wanted to run today, but my legs were really really tired. So I decided to make cookies for the team instead.
Saturday: 5.3 miles, 45:27 Monterrey to Third Bridge (8:35 min/mile)
Went to see the race at Riverside in the AM, it was really hot but pretty fun. Hung out with Gustavo, and Goldhammer almost ran me over with the van. As a result, I had to run in the evening. I put it off as long as possible to avoid the heat... but then ran into the other problem of lack of sunlight. Nuts. Another troubling thing... my legs still feel really worn out despite the rest day. Had to take it really easy, started feeling better towards the end, but then I had to slow down pretty significantly bc it was completely dark and I couldn't see the footing on the trails. Nonetheless, it was a nice run, and I'm encouraged that I'm managing 8:30's even going super easy.
Week Total: 33.1 miles, coming along nicely!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Patience, young grasshopper...
09/06/2009 - 09/12/2009 (Week 2)
I'm not really young or a grasshopper, but I've been trying to tell myself to chill out all week. I guess the plan was to hold back on ramping up the mileage, but it didn't quite work out that way. I'm just itching to get back into shape, and its hard to resist the urge to pile on the miles. I probably made some unadvisable calls, but the important thing is that my feet are still feeling good, and I'm still looking forwards to my next run. I think that's going to be the most important thing for me right now, that I want to enjoy each run. I'm trying to stave off for as long as possible the state where I'm really stressed out about completing mileage and hitting specific paces.
Sunday: 3 miles, 24:54 in the Arroyo (8:18 min/mile)
Progress! Awesome. Got up a little bit earlier and ran at 8 am, and that made all the difference. It was 20 degrees cooler and 100% more pleasant. Tried to re-establish the practice of breathing out of my nose to keep things under control. Felt pretty good.
Monday: 7.3 miles, 1:02:18 from Softball Fields to Salvia Canyon (8:32 min/mile)
Our whole apt got up to run with the Caltech team in the morning. Ran with Garrett in the beginning and then with the roomies. I was pretty nervous about running an entire hour, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was actually pretty fun, and I was pleased to see that it was about the same pace as the shorter runs I've been doing. Beach with Will, Ruby, Ian and Kangway afterwards. Did some ocean swimming, and a lot of foot exercises in the sand. Also pretty fun! Pleasantly tired afterwards.
Tuesday: Off. Work at 6:30 am for first day of school. Hard to wake up without morning run. My feet feel really excellent though, I think the sand was really good for them!
Wednesday: 5 miles, 46:18 Susan's 5 mile Loop (9:15 min/mile)
Super easy with the Caltech team. I guess they had a hard workout yesterday. Liked the loop though, we went on some streets I've never been to before, despite having lived here for 9 years now. First day with new Adidas shoes, which I like a lot. Got some new blisters, though I don't think it really has to do with the shoes, since I was getting them with the old shoes too. I guess its just part of getting used to running again.
Thursday: 7.5 miles, San Marino Hill Circuit (I gave up on keeping time after 2 hills)
This is (was) one of my favorite hill workouts, and since yesterday was so easy I talked myself into coming out for this, despite the fact that intensity is probably the last thing I need right now. After the first hill, I was pretty much wondering how in the world I ever could have thought this was a good idea. It was really a large shock to the system. The best way to describe how it felt is 'rickety'. My legs felt really weak under me, and it felt really unnatural to swing my arms quickly, as if the joint needed some grease. The biggest problem was basically just lack of intensity endurance. I did okay on the shorter hills, but died pretty quickly on the longer ones. Overall, I think I survived okay though. I wasn't too far behind the front pack, and I finished without having a catastrophic meltdown.
Friday: Off, shots. Calamity of the world... I ate 3 donuts today. I've been in intensive weight loss mode all week, and was doing well until today. Nuts.
Saturday: 5.3 miles, 44:06 Monterrey to third Bridge Loop (8:19 min/mile)
Nice run in the AM. R hamstring felt a little tired, but felt alright overall. Thankfully the breathing has calmed down a bit since last week, I've got it mostly under control now (breathing out of nose only). Focused on keeping good form, even rhythm and landing softly (per Susan's feedback). Hopefully that will help keep the strain off of my feet.
Week Total: 28.1 miles, now that wasn't so bad
I'm not really young or a grasshopper, but I've been trying to tell myself to chill out all week. I guess the plan was to hold back on ramping up the mileage, but it didn't quite work out that way. I'm just itching to get back into shape, and its hard to resist the urge to pile on the miles. I probably made some unadvisable calls, but the important thing is that my feet are still feeling good, and I'm still looking forwards to my next run. I think that's going to be the most important thing for me right now, that I want to enjoy each run. I'm trying to stave off for as long as possible the state where I'm really stressed out about completing mileage and hitting specific paces.
Sunday: 3 miles, 24:54 in the Arroyo (8:18 min/mile)
Progress! Awesome. Got up a little bit earlier and ran at 8 am, and that made all the difference. It was 20 degrees cooler and 100% more pleasant. Tried to re-establish the practice of breathing out of my nose to keep things under control. Felt pretty good.
Monday: 7.3 miles, 1:02:18 from Softball Fields to Salvia Canyon (8:32 min/mile)
Our whole apt got up to run with the Caltech team in the morning. Ran with Garrett in the beginning and then with the roomies. I was pretty nervous about running an entire hour, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was actually pretty fun, and I was pleased to see that it was about the same pace as the shorter runs I've been doing. Beach with Will, Ruby, Ian and Kangway afterwards. Did some ocean swimming, and a lot of foot exercises in the sand. Also pretty fun! Pleasantly tired afterwards.
Tuesday: Off. Work at 6:30 am for first day of school. Hard to wake up without morning run. My feet feel really excellent though, I think the sand was really good for them!
Wednesday: 5 miles, 46:18 Susan's 5 mile Loop (9:15 min/mile)
Super easy with the Caltech team. I guess they had a hard workout yesterday. Liked the loop though, we went on some streets I've never been to before, despite having lived here for 9 years now. First day with new Adidas shoes, which I like a lot. Got some new blisters, though I don't think it really has to do with the shoes, since I was getting them with the old shoes too. I guess its just part of getting used to running again.
Thursday: 7.5 miles, San Marino Hill Circuit (I gave up on keeping time after 2 hills)
This is (was) one of my favorite hill workouts, and since yesterday was so easy I talked myself into coming out for this, despite the fact that intensity is probably the last thing I need right now. After the first hill, I was pretty much wondering how in the world I ever could have thought this was a good idea. It was really a large shock to the system. The best way to describe how it felt is 'rickety'. My legs felt really weak under me, and it felt really unnatural to swing my arms quickly, as if the joint needed some grease. The biggest problem was basically just lack of intensity endurance. I did okay on the shorter hills, but died pretty quickly on the longer ones. Overall, I think I survived okay though. I wasn't too far behind the front pack, and I finished without having a catastrophic meltdown.
Friday: Off, shots. Calamity of the world... I ate 3 donuts today. I've been in intensive weight loss mode all week, and was doing well until today. Nuts.
Saturday: 5.3 miles, 44:06 Monterrey to third Bridge Loop (8:19 min/mile)
Nice run in the AM. R hamstring felt a little tired, but felt alright overall. Thankfully the breathing has calmed down a bit since last week, I've got it mostly under control now (breathing out of nose only). Focused on keeping good form, even rhythm and landing softly (per Susan's feedback). Hopefully that will help keep the strain off of my feet.
Week Total: 28.1 miles, now that wasn't so bad
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Running is HARD!
08/30/2009 - 09/05/2009 (Week 1)
For some reason, I thought that having trained on the bike for a few months would make this easier. It's not. The soreness is crazy, and fatigue is starting to become a factor. It kind of feels like 5 years ago, when I first started running.
I'm trying to keep the discouragement at bay, and even though it's been hard, I found some solace in a book that my new boss gave me at work: What I talk about when I talk about Running. Unlike most of the running literature I've read so far, this book is written by and about a non-elite runner. Hearing someone's perspective who is more like me, and how much running means to him was really the sort of inspiration that I needed.
One thing I've taken to heart after reading this book, is that you should run every day so that you still want to run again tomorrow. I've never thought about it that way. My style is to run as much as you possibly can, and then some. I guess that's never going to be conducive to consistency, and thinking back, I have gone through periods where even if my body hasn't broken down yet, running wasn't fun anymore--it had started to stress me out, more than make me happy.
Given that my foot situation is what it is, I'm really going to think hard about this before tacking on the extra miles.
Sunday: 2.6 miles, 22:53 one lap of Washington Park in Denver (8:48 min/mile)
I am tired today, but thanking my lucky stars that the catastrophic soreness has not returned. I'm kind of disappointed that this was so slow and so hard, but I'm glad that I did something, instead of taking the day completely off. ~2 hour bike ride with Peter afterwards. Man, this was hard too. My hamstrings started cramping whenever there was a hill.
Monday: Off, travel. So hot back at home... I didn't get any sleep.
Tuesday: 3 miles, ??? in the Arroyo (??? min/mile)
After a miserable night of tossing and turning in the oppressive heat and smoke, I forgot to bring my watch on this run. I am really sad about this, because this run felt great! Well, great is relative, but it felt faster and easier than any of the other runs so far, and I didn't feel tired at the end.
Wednesday: 3 miles, 26:12 in the Arroyo (8:44 min/mile)
I was excited after yesterday, but this one wasn't very good. Maybe the third consecutive night of not getting any sleep is taking its toll. Felt harder and worse in addition to being slower. I'm going to blame the heat and the smoke rather than my extreme lack of fitness.
Thursday: 4.2 miles, 35:04 Glenarm to Hillcrest (8:21 min/mile)
Not sure if it was a clearer day, or if the pavement is more forgiving than the trails, but I'm finally on the right side of 8:30 pace. This run felt pretty good, I decided to get a little extra sleep while it was cool in the morning, and run at night after work. Breathing is still harder than I'd like it to be, but otherwise it was pleasant. Still had energy left at the end. Good times.
Friday: Off, shots. It is just not getting any cooler... but Dennis' parents are here, so we have somehow figured out the AC situation.
Saturday: 5.3 miles, 47:16 Monterrey to Third Bridge Loop (8:55 min/mile)
Bad times in the heat. Slept in rather catastrophically, and started at around 11 am. It was 85 when I started and close to 90 by the end. There is not as much shade in the Arroyo as one might think. Didn't feel tired, but felt really dehydrated and overheated, despite having a bottle of cold water before, and after. Yikes. This was not a pleasant experience... but my streak of not running any 9 minute miles survives another day, though just BARELY.
Week Total: 18.1 miles, next week will be better!
For some reason, I thought that having trained on the bike for a few months would make this easier. It's not. The soreness is crazy, and fatigue is starting to become a factor. It kind of feels like 5 years ago, when I first started running.
I'm trying to keep the discouragement at bay, and even though it's been hard, I found some solace in a book that my new boss gave me at work: What I talk about when I talk about Running. Unlike most of the running literature I've read so far, this book is written by and about a non-elite runner. Hearing someone's perspective who is more like me, and how much running means to him was really the sort of inspiration that I needed.
One thing I've taken to heart after reading this book, is that you should run every day so that you still want to run again tomorrow. I've never thought about it that way. My style is to run as much as you possibly can, and then some. I guess that's never going to be conducive to consistency, and thinking back, I have gone through periods where even if my body hasn't broken down yet, running wasn't fun anymore--it had started to stress me out, more than make me happy.
Given that my foot situation is what it is, I'm really going to think hard about this before tacking on the extra miles.
Sunday: 2.6 miles, 22:53 one lap of Washington Park in Denver (8:48 min/mile)
I am tired today, but thanking my lucky stars that the catastrophic soreness has not returned. I'm kind of disappointed that this was so slow and so hard, but I'm glad that I did something, instead of taking the day completely off. ~2 hour bike ride with Peter afterwards. Man, this was hard too. My hamstrings started cramping whenever there was a hill.
Monday: Off, travel. So hot back at home... I didn't get any sleep.
Tuesday: 3 miles, ??? in the Arroyo (??? min/mile)
After a miserable night of tossing and turning in the oppressive heat and smoke, I forgot to bring my watch on this run. I am really sad about this, because this run felt great! Well, great is relative, but it felt faster and easier than any of the other runs so far, and I didn't feel tired at the end.
Wednesday: 3 miles, 26:12 in the Arroyo (8:44 min/mile)
I was excited after yesterday, but this one wasn't very good. Maybe the third consecutive night of not getting any sleep is taking its toll. Felt harder and worse in addition to being slower. I'm going to blame the heat and the smoke rather than my extreme lack of fitness.
Thursday: 4.2 miles, 35:04 Glenarm to Hillcrest (8:21 min/mile)
Not sure if it was a clearer day, or if the pavement is more forgiving than the trails, but I'm finally on the right side of 8:30 pace. This run felt pretty good, I decided to get a little extra sleep while it was cool in the morning, and run at night after work. Breathing is still harder than I'd like it to be, but otherwise it was pleasant. Still had energy left at the end. Good times.
Friday: Off, shots. It is just not getting any cooler... but Dennis' parents are here, so we have somehow figured out the AC situation.
Saturday: 5.3 miles, 47:16 Monterrey to Third Bridge Loop (8:55 min/mile)
Bad times in the heat. Slept in rather catastrophically, and started at around 11 am. It was 85 when I started and close to 90 by the end. There is not as much shade in the Arroyo as one might think. Didn't feel tired, but felt really dehydrated and overheated, despite having a bottle of cold water before, and after. Yikes. This was not a pleasant experience... but my streak of not running any 9 minute miles survives another day, though just BARELY.
Week Total: 18.1 miles, next week will be better!
Starting over, yet again...
08/23/2009 - 08/29/2009 (Week 0)
So, the universe has spoken. The mountains are burning, meaning that, even if I wanted to I wouldn't be able to get any quality cycling in anyways. Thus begins a new chapter, my N-th attempt to return to running. I admit, I'm having some motivational issues... why do I bother doing this to myself? Statistically this attempt will end like all the others: with much heartache and a hefty medical bill.
Nonetheless, I'm committed. I can do this.
Wednesday: 3 miles, 25:34 in the Arroyo (8:31 min/mile)
Glad to see that my legs still remember what to do. Other than the ragged breathing, this run felt okay. Concentrated on landing on the outside of my foot, so as not to acquire another navicular stress fracture.
Thursday: 3 miles, 25:33 in the Arroyo (8:31 min/mile)
Felt pretty sore after yesterday, but if I take a day off now, I may never go back. Powered on through, just thinking about keeping a good rhythm. Pleased to see that the pace was the same as yesterday!
Friday: Off, shots
Arghhhh... I am insanely, insanely sore. I could barely lift myself out of my chair at work yesterday and today is not much better. I can not believe I have been vanquished by a 3 mile run...
Saturday: 5.2 miles, 45:54 two laps of Washington Park in Denver (8:38 min/mile)
A pleasant surprise. The air is cleaner and the temperatures are lower here. Felt pretty decent, and passed a lot of people on the first lap. Though I slowed down a little bit (22:16/22:38), I was pretty excited to be able to do two laps at all. Felt pretty tired in the last stretch though.
Week Total: 11.2 miles, just gotta keep at it.
So, the universe has spoken. The mountains are burning, meaning that, even if I wanted to I wouldn't be able to get any quality cycling in anyways. Thus begins a new chapter, my N-th attempt to return to running. I admit, I'm having some motivational issues... why do I bother doing this to myself? Statistically this attempt will end like all the others: with much heartache and a hefty medical bill.
Nonetheless, I'm committed. I can do this.
Wednesday: 3 miles, 25:34 in the Arroyo (8:31 min/mile)
Glad to see that my legs still remember what to do. Other than the ragged breathing, this run felt okay. Concentrated on landing on the outside of my foot, so as not to acquire another navicular stress fracture.
Thursday: 3 miles, 25:33 in the Arroyo (8:31 min/mile)
Felt pretty sore after yesterday, but if I take a day off now, I may never go back. Powered on through, just thinking about keeping a good rhythm. Pleased to see that the pace was the same as yesterday!
Friday: Off, shots
Arghhhh... I am insanely, insanely sore. I could barely lift myself out of my chair at work yesterday and today is not much better. I can not believe I have been vanquished by a 3 mile run...
Saturday: 5.2 miles, 45:54 two laps of Washington Park in Denver (8:38 min/mile)
A pleasant surprise. The air is cleaner and the temperatures are lower here. Felt pretty decent, and passed a lot of people on the first lap. Though I slowed down a little bit (22:16/22:38), I was pretty excited to be able to do two laps at all. Felt pretty tired in the last stretch though.
Week Total: 11.2 miles, just gotta keep at it.
Week 3: Pause (08/16/2009 - 08/22/2009)
Okay, let's re-evaluate. Things aren't going very well with the Everest Challenge Training. I'm not used to getting super full blown sick, but here it is. Sunday was still very painful... and the coughing is not letting up.
Work is also heating up, things are really stressful, and I wake up multiple times a night to cough. Not a lot has been accomplished so far in terms of training. The Everest Challenge is less than a month away, and I don't think I'm going to make it. So, where does that leave me?
Sunday 08/16: 52 miles, 4 hours? Mt Wilson. Took the new bike, so time and distance are estimated. I kind of wish I had these numbers though, because I climbed pretty hard. Started feeling horrible, and sent Ian and Peter ahead. I really, truly considered turning back at the foot of the 2, but the more I thought about it, the more angry I became. In that instant, everything had pissed me off. This stupid plague, the stupid birthday ride, stupid getting old, stupid everybody and everything for making me feel weak and useless. So onwards I went, fueled by a lot of pissed off and a little bit of nuts... I mashed the unfamiliar gears on and on. I reached Clear Creek, and I was still angry. I reached Red Box and I was still angry, so I went all the way to the top of Mt. Wilson, and there, finally, I felt not really any better, but a little bit deflated... enough to go home.
Monday 08/17 - Wednesday 08/19: Off. Trying to shake this damn cold. Lots of work. Feeling really stressed and unhappy.
Thursday 08/20: 13 miles, rode to work in the morning. Car is in the shop in preparation for driving up north for Brain's wedding. Felt sort of okay, but I stayed at work pretty late, and then John came and picked me up so I didn't ride home in the dark. Went for "sending off to SF" dinner. Ahhh, so sad. Everyone is leaving :(.
Friday 08/21: Off, shots. I guess it would be generous to say that this was the only reason I didn't train today though. Gah...
Saturday 08/22: Off, drove 6 hours up to Sacramento to pick up Peter for Brain's wedding on Sunday. Nice picnic, saw lots of cool folks I haven't seen in a while, but no riding.
Conclusion? I don't think I'm going to do the Everest Challenge. I guess I should try a little running in the meantime...
Work is also heating up, things are really stressful, and I wake up multiple times a night to cough. Not a lot has been accomplished so far in terms of training. The Everest Challenge is less than a month away, and I don't think I'm going to make it. So, where does that leave me?
Sunday 08/16: 52 miles, 4 hours? Mt Wilson. Took the new bike, so time and distance are estimated. I kind of wish I had these numbers though, because I climbed pretty hard. Started feeling horrible, and sent Ian and Peter ahead. I really, truly considered turning back at the foot of the 2, but the more I thought about it, the more angry I became. In that instant, everything had pissed me off. This stupid plague, the stupid birthday ride, stupid getting old, stupid everybody and everything for making me feel weak and useless. So onwards I went, fueled by a lot of pissed off and a little bit of nuts... I mashed the unfamiliar gears on and on. I reached Clear Creek, and I was still angry. I reached Red Box and I was still angry, so I went all the way to the top of Mt. Wilson, and there, finally, I felt not really any better, but a little bit deflated... enough to go home.
Monday 08/17 - Wednesday 08/19: Off. Trying to shake this damn cold. Lots of work. Feeling really stressed and unhappy.
Thursday 08/20: 13 miles, rode to work in the morning. Car is in the shop in preparation for driving up north for Brain's wedding. Felt sort of okay, but I stayed at work pretty late, and then John came and picked me up so I didn't ride home in the dark. Went for "sending off to SF" dinner. Ahhh, so sad. Everyone is leaving :(.
Friday 08/21: Off, shots. I guess it would be generous to say that this was the only reason I didn't train today though. Gah...
Saturday 08/22: Off, drove 6 hours up to Sacramento to pick up Peter for Brain's wedding on Sunday. Nice picnic, saw lots of cool folks I haven't seen in a while, but no riding.
Conclusion? I don't think I'm going to do the Everest Challenge. I guess I should try a little running in the meantime...
Week 2: Old (08/09/2009 - 08/15/2009)
This week, I will be turning old. I have been preparing for this inevitability by planning, many months ahead of time, something special I can do to prove to myself, if not the rest of the world, that I may be old, but I still got game. What better way to do this, than to ride the entire length of the Angeles Crest, from La Canada to wherever it ends past Wrightwood.
I even moved around all of my meetings, and took a day off from work for this grand venture, but alas, as has been the trend for the past 20 or so years, my birthday tends to be an inauspicious day, fraught with bad luck and misfortune. Whomever believes that one is special on one's birthday and is predisposed to good things happening to them is an idiot.
I guess no one beats Father Time. In retrospect, I should have known better than to indulge these sentimentalities. Next year, I will pick a completely meaningless and arbitrary day on which to execute an epic bike ride, and hope that I will still feel the warm glow of success on the actual day of oldening, which, try as I may to avoid it, will still come around again.
Sunday 08/09: 78.2 miles, 4:53:15 (16.1 mph) Seal Beach the short way. The week started auspiciously enough, with a nice relaxed flat ride. It was kind of slow, but productive, low HR, high cadence, and went a little bit harder for about 15 miles in the middle when I ran into a nice guy who rode with me for a while. I think my instincts are to push the pace when I run ride with strangers, which is how this section ended up a little bit faster.
Monday 08/10: Off. Taking it easy, body still not really used to training again.
Tuesday 08/11: 43.2 miles, 3:06:41 (13.9 mph) Angeles Crest to Red Box. Strictly enforced the low HR rule to try to establish a good pace for Friday. Feeling pretty good about the big ride. This pace is perfect for 145 miles, and I'm resting up.
Wednesday 08/12: Off, DMV. This is where things started to fall apart. A nice clerk at the bike store informed me that my drivers license is set to expire on oldening day... in 2 days. Uh oh. Due to the fact that I moved a few times in the past year, I did not get my renewal notice, and now it was too late to do it online. Crap! I tried to make an appointment online, but that also failed. First available was 9/1.... leading to the inevitable, which is that I sacrifice this ride in order to get up early and camp out at the DMV in the morning. Another thing that bugged me as I stood in line for 1 hour, was that there was this tickle in the back of my throat, but it must just be allergies...
Thursday 08/13: Off, sick. Despite my efforts to feel better, the sore throat got worse and worse yesterday, and congestion and coughing started to build. I decided to take this day off to see if it would pass... but it didn't really.
Friday 08/14: 35.8 miles, 2:45:18... Fail! Because I took a day off already, and because I'd told so many people that I was going to do this, I set off on my 145 mile bike ride anyways. I got a late start due to feeling poorly, but I was still determined to go. I rolled down the hill past Clear Creek before realizing that this was a lost cause. By the time I reached Clear Creek the coughing had gotten so bad that some random guy stopped to comment "huh... it doesn't look like you made it". Gah! Anyways, I guess he was right. I didn't make it. Instead I slowly rolled back down the hill feeling raspy and horrible.
Saturday 08/15: 11.8 miles, ~46 minutes? Attempted to do an easy ride with Peter, but was thwarted by some back wheel trouble on his part. We went to Ian's instead to true the wheel, but by then it was getting kind of late since we started in the evening. I wasn't really feeling up for a ride anyways, so I guess it was okay.
Training this week: 169 miles, 11:31:14 Bad times...
I even moved around all of my meetings, and took a day off from work for this grand venture, but alas, as has been the trend for the past 20 or so years, my birthday tends to be an inauspicious day, fraught with bad luck and misfortune. Whomever believes that one is special on one's birthday and is predisposed to good things happening to them is an idiot.
I guess no one beats Father Time. In retrospect, I should have known better than to indulge these sentimentalities. Next year, I will pick a completely meaningless and arbitrary day on which to execute an epic bike ride, and hope that I will still feel the warm glow of success on the actual day of oldening, which, try as I may to avoid it, will still come around again.
Sunday 08/09: 78.2 miles, 4:53:15 (16.1 mph) Seal Beach the short way. The week started auspiciously enough, with a nice relaxed flat ride. It was kind of slow, but productive, low HR, high cadence, and went a little bit harder for about 15 miles in the middle when I ran into a nice guy who rode with me for a while. I think my instincts are to push the pace when I run ride with strangers, which is how this section ended up a little bit faster.
Monday 08/10: Off. Taking it easy, body still not really used to training again.
Tuesday 08/11: 43.2 miles, 3:06:41 (13.9 mph) Angeles Crest to Red Box. Strictly enforced the low HR rule to try to establish a good pace for Friday. Feeling pretty good about the big ride. This pace is perfect for 145 miles, and I'm resting up.
Wednesday 08/12: Off, DMV. This is where things started to fall apart. A nice clerk at the bike store informed me that my drivers license is set to expire on oldening day... in 2 days. Uh oh. Due to the fact that I moved a few times in the past year, I did not get my renewal notice, and now it was too late to do it online. Crap! I tried to make an appointment online, but that also failed. First available was 9/1.... leading to the inevitable, which is that I sacrifice this ride in order to get up early and camp out at the DMV in the morning. Another thing that bugged me as I stood in line for 1 hour, was that there was this tickle in the back of my throat, but it must just be allergies...
Thursday 08/13: Off, sick. Despite my efforts to feel better, the sore throat got worse and worse yesterday, and congestion and coughing started to build. I decided to take this day off to see if it would pass... but it didn't really.
Friday 08/14: 35.8 miles, 2:45:18... Fail! Because I took a day off already, and because I'd told so many people that I was going to do this, I set off on my 145 mile bike ride anyways. I got a late start due to feeling poorly, but I was still determined to go. I rolled down the hill past Clear Creek before realizing that this was a lost cause. By the time I reached Clear Creek the coughing had gotten so bad that some random guy stopped to comment "huh... it doesn't look like you made it". Gah! Anyways, I guess he was right. I didn't make it. Instead I slowly rolled back down the hill feeling raspy and horrible.
Saturday 08/15: 11.8 miles, ~46 minutes? Attempted to do an easy ride with Peter, but was thwarted by some back wheel trouble on his part. We went to Ian's instead to true the wheel, but by then it was getting kind of late since we started in the evening. I wasn't really feeling up for a ride anyways, so I guess it was okay.
Training this week: 169 miles, 11:31:14 Bad times...
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Week 1: Wednesday (08/02/2009 - 08/08/2009)
If last week was vacation, this week was like Monday morning. Oh, so hard to get up....
Firing up the training engine again after an awkward length of time away can be tough. The momentum is against you, and you're never happy to accept that your fitness just isn't as it was. There's something about a few weeks that makes you feel as if there should still be more there.
Thankfully the tide turned on Wednesday when I picked up my shiny new Liquigas team bike, the newest addition to my growing family. Not only is it inspiringly beautiful, but I'm totally motivated to train hard to decrease the Fred Index!
Sunday 08/02: 43.8 miles, 3:27:40 (12.6 mph) Angeles Crest to Red Box via the RB with Sarah and Ian. I was a little bit worried after yesterday, but the pace was mellow and I felt pretty good. Really fun, great to catch up with Sarah. Still feeling a little bit out of sorts though, HR was pretty high and weird things are sore.
Monday 08/03: [Running] 22:14 in the am, 8 laps around the North Field. Running is still sucking. I've decided to do it every other day in addition to my cycling workouts, but so far results are poor. 20 minutes just feels like plenty, and I finish drenched in sweat. I just don't remember it being THIS bad... maybe part of it is that running around the field is extra un-rewarding, but I suppose I'll keep doing it for a few weeks to protect my new foot bones.
Tuesday 08/04: Unplanned off. Ugh, so the waking up on time lasted all of one day. Due to a miscommunication about when I needed to attend a work function, I thought that I didn't even have time to squeeze in a few laps at the RB, but in retrospect that would have been totally feasible. Bah, humbug.
Wednesday 08/05: 33.7 miles, 2:16:35 (14.8 mph) Angeles Crest to Clear Creek. Woke up late again and ran out of time to get to Red Box, but at least I got out there at all. Feeling a little better, I went a bit harder than usual, hammering a few miles at the top. It felt harder than it should have, but I was pleased that I could even climb at a halfway decent pace at all. It's hard to quash down the instinct to hammer when I feel weak... even though it's completely ass-backwards to the reasonable course of action which is to take it easy. I'm just really impatient about fixing the out of shapeness, and feel like I should try harder.
I was supposed to run again in the PM, but instead I drove to Pomona after work to pick up my shiny new bike :)
Thursday 08/06: 37.5 miles, 2:17:32 (16.4 mph) 10 x RB laps. Argh, yet another ride shortened by the inability to wake up on time. I guess it turned out okay, because I didn't feel very good for the first few laps. Not exactly sure why... I just felt kind of weak and tired. HR was okay though, and things got drastically better (by about 30 second per lap) after lap 4 or 5.
Friday 08/07: Off, shots. I was supposed to run in the PM, but I was at work pretty late and came home grouchy and exhausted. Mojitos at Ian's and installing a compact crankset on the new bike was just what the doctor ordered. (I really can't remember ever being so unmotivated about running).
Saturday 08/08: 90 miles. ~6:30-ish? GMR to GRR to Baldy Village, then some of the way up to the Ski Lifts with Ian. Got a late start due to the festivities yesterday, but thankfully it wasn't too hot. I was determined to debut the new bike today, and was excessively pleased! The campy shifters are pretty neat, and it rides so smoothly and climbs so well. The 34/25 turned out to be pretty grueling for the Ski Lifts, I'm usually suffering in my 31/25, so I didn't really approach this with the expectation of making it the whole way. I think I made it to about 1.5 miles from the top though, and turned around when Ian came down the other way (he made it to the top). Other than this segment, it was a pretty mellow ride, which was great and I finished feeling tired but not wiped out. Overall this was an excellent maiden voyage for new bike. I'm still getting used to the compact double, but I think I like it. I'm also glad that I can still do these rides, I was getting pretty worried after GMR last week. What a difference a week makes!
Training this week: 205 miles, 14:31:47, totally decent for a first week.
Firing up the training engine again after an awkward length of time away can be tough. The momentum is against you, and you're never happy to accept that your fitness just isn't as it was. There's something about a few weeks that makes you feel as if there should still be more there.
Thankfully the tide turned on Wednesday when I picked up my shiny new Liquigas team bike, the newest addition to my growing family. Not only is it inspiringly beautiful, but I'm totally motivated to train hard to decrease the Fred Index!
Sunday 08/02: 43.8 miles, 3:27:40 (12.6 mph) Angeles Crest to Red Box via the RB with Sarah and Ian. I was a little bit worried after yesterday, but the pace was mellow and I felt pretty good. Really fun, great to catch up with Sarah. Still feeling a little bit out of sorts though, HR was pretty high and weird things are sore.Monday 08/03: [Running] 22:14 in the am, 8 laps around the North Field. Running is still sucking. I've decided to do it every other day in addition to my cycling workouts, but so far results are poor. 20 minutes just feels like plenty, and I finish drenched in sweat. I just don't remember it being THIS bad... maybe part of it is that running around the field is extra un-rewarding, but I suppose I'll keep doing it for a few weeks to protect my new foot bones.
Tuesday 08/04: Unplanned off. Ugh, so the waking up on time lasted all of one day. Due to a miscommunication about when I needed to attend a work function, I thought that I didn't even have time to squeeze in a few laps at the RB, but in retrospect that would have been totally feasible. Bah, humbug.
Wednesday 08/05: 33.7 miles, 2:16:35 (14.8 mph) Angeles Crest to Clear Creek. Woke up late again and ran out of time to get to Red Box, but at least I got out there at all. Feeling a little better, I went a bit harder than usual, hammering a few miles at the top. It felt harder than it should have, but I was pleased that I could even climb at a halfway decent pace at all. It's hard to quash down the instinct to hammer when I feel weak... even though it's completely ass-backwards to the reasonable course of action which is to take it easy. I'm just really impatient about fixing the out of shapeness, and feel like I should try harder.
I was supposed to run again in the PM, but instead I drove to Pomona after work to pick up my shiny new bike :)
Thursday 08/06: 37.5 miles, 2:17:32 (16.4 mph) 10 x RB laps. Argh, yet another ride shortened by the inability to wake up on time. I guess it turned out okay, because I didn't feel very good for the first few laps. Not exactly sure why... I just felt kind of weak and tired. HR was okay though, and things got drastically better (by about 30 second per lap) after lap 4 or 5.
Friday 08/07: Off, shots. I was supposed to run in the PM, but I was at work pretty late and came home grouchy and exhausted. Mojitos at Ian's and installing a compact crankset on the new bike was just what the doctor ordered. (I really can't remember ever being so unmotivated about running).
Saturday 08/08: 90 miles. ~6:30-ish? GMR to GRR to Baldy Village, then some of the way up to the Ski Lifts with Ian. Got a late start due to the festivities yesterday, but thankfully it wasn't too hot. I was determined to debut the new bike today, and was excessively pleased! The campy shifters are pretty neat, and it rides so smoothly and climbs so well. The 34/25 turned out to be pretty grueling for the Ski Lifts, I'm usually suffering in my 31/25, so I didn't really approach this with the expectation of making it the whole way. I think I made it to about 1.5 miles from the top though, and turned around when Ian came down the other way (he made it to the top). Other than this segment, it was a pretty mellow ride, which was great and I finished feeling tired but not wiped out. Overall this was an excellent maiden voyage for new bike. I'm still getting used to the compact double, but I think I like it. I'm also glad that I can still do these rides, I was getting pretty worried after GMR last week. What a difference a week makes!
Training this week: 205 miles, 14:31:47, totally decent for a first week.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Week 0: Vacation (07/26/2009 - 08/01/2009)
I think I'm still pretty much in vacation mode. I was supposed to start doing some easy riding mid-week, but... that didn't happen. Ooops.
Vacation is pretty awesome though. My mom was here until Tuesday, and we crammed in a lot of things in the 5 days she was here, including a day for "mom stuff" like buying a fridge full of asian food products, making me lunches for the coming week and repotting all of my plants. I love my mom. I wanted her to see everything, we even had fruit from the fruit guy on the street near work... but even so we didn't manage to get to everything. I guess that's what next time is for.
I realized when I headed back to work on Wednesday, that I really did not get very much sleep, we had stuff to do from dawn till dusk, and lot of it involved walking. Nonetheless, I felt refreshed, calm and happy. Maybe... too calm and happy. I just didn't feel motivated to get up for my morning rides. I guess that's okay. Well, even if it's not, its too late. Next week will be back to normal, new boss, new disgruntlements... and a New Plan to offset the consternation. Perhaps it will be the Everest Challenge... only time will tell!
Sunday 07/26: Off, shopping and mom stuff. Today was supposed to be a hike, but we got back so late from San Diego yesterday, that we didn't wake up in time to get an early start. It was already getting really really hot by mid morning, so we had to roll out Plan B. I even took her to some bike stores, but Steve's was closed by 5... so she didn't get to see the weirdness.
Monday 07/27: Death Hike 2009. JPL to Clear Creek, then back via Brown Mountain, I think the total was about 25 miles, and it took 11 hours, counting lunch and breaks. I thought the Brown Mountain route would be a short cut, but it turns out it added an extra 2 miles and 2000 ft of elevation. Ooops. We also ran out of water 3-4 hours before the end of the hike, I only brought some pastries and rice balls for the entire day, and my backpack experienced a catastrophic malfunction about halfway through. My mom is a one tough little lady. She was even up and about and much more spry the next day. Me? I was sore and slow moving for pretty much the rest of the week.
In case you are wondering, Death Hike 2008 was with Peter to Mt. Bierstadt... my first time at 14,000 ft. I felt delirious, my foot hurt, and I broke out in hives when I got back to LA the next day.
Tuesday 07/28: Off, donut crawl and office tour with mom before I dropped her off at LAX. I was supposed to do an easy ride this evening, but instead, me and Dennis ate all of the donuts that my mom bought for Kangway and Dennis.
Wednesday 07/29: [Running] 28:05, 10 laps around the North Field in the pm. Felt guilty about sleeping through my morning ride, so decided to do a quick run after work. Saw Garrett and Sedona. Ran out of daylight. I still felt sore from the hike and the run was pretty hard. I was actually only intending to do 8 laps, but I spaced out and did an extra, and since I don't like odd numbers of laps, I had to do 10. I don't know how I used to do this... running so hard.
Thursday 07/30: Off, motivational issues continue. Slept through another ride... nuts.
Friday 07/31: [Running] 22:27, 8 laps around the North Field in the pm. Couldn't go riding in the morning bc of shots, but did manage to squeeze in a short run. I was doing really well until I fell over on lap 5, which kind of killed the momentum. After that I got a side stitch and had to start jogging, so I decided to cut it short at 8 laps. Arghhhh... who ever said running was fun?
Saturday 08/01: 65.2 miles, 4:42:50 (13.8 mph) Slowest GMR Ever. Bah, finally made it out on my first ride, and it was kind of a wake up call. Maybe it's not running's fault for sucking... maybe there are just consequences for taking 2 weeks off completely. I slept in and ended up being out during the hottest 5 hours of the day. Started out feeling good, made good time to Encanto park... but noticed that my climbing pace was off. It didn't feel bad, just slow. Things got drastically worse after I descended to East Fork though, it was really hot and really windy and I suddenly felt really drained and exhausted. I was secretly hoping to make it to Baldy Village, but was pretty glad I turned back early. Finished the ride just completely pooped.
Training this week: Random medley of 25 miles of hiking, 65 miles of cycling and maybe 5 of running. For some reason I kind of feel like each of these items was not beneficial for the other two...
Vacation is pretty awesome though. My mom was here until Tuesday, and we crammed in a lot of things in the 5 days she was here, including a day for "mom stuff" like buying a fridge full of asian food products, making me lunches for the coming week and repotting all of my plants. I love my mom. I wanted her to see everything, we even had fruit from the fruit guy on the street near work... but even so we didn't manage to get to everything. I guess that's what next time is for.
I realized when I headed back to work on Wednesday, that I really did not get very much sleep, we had stuff to do from dawn till dusk, and lot of it involved walking. Nonetheless, I felt refreshed, calm and happy. Maybe... too calm and happy. I just didn't feel motivated to get up for my morning rides. I guess that's okay. Well, even if it's not, its too late. Next week will be back to normal, new boss, new disgruntlements... and a New Plan to offset the consternation. Perhaps it will be the Everest Challenge... only time will tell!
Sunday 07/26: Off, shopping and mom stuff. Today was supposed to be a hike, but we got back so late from San Diego yesterday, that we didn't wake up in time to get an early start. It was already getting really really hot by mid morning, so we had to roll out Plan B. I even took her to some bike stores, but Steve's was closed by 5... so she didn't get to see the weirdness.
Monday 07/27: Death Hike 2009. JPL to Clear Creek, then back via Brown Mountain, I think the total was about 25 miles, and it took 11 hours, counting lunch and breaks. I thought the Brown Mountain route would be a short cut, but it turns out it added an extra 2 miles and 2000 ft of elevation. Ooops. We also ran out of water 3-4 hours before the end of the hike, I only brought some pastries and rice balls for the entire day, and my backpack experienced a catastrophic malfunction about halfway through. My mom is a one tough little lady. She was even up and about and much more spry the next day. Me? I was sore and slow moving for pretty much the rest of the week.
In case you are wondering, Death Hike 2008 was with Peter to Mt. Bierstadt... my first time at 14,000 ft. I felt delirious, my foot hurt, and I broke out in hives when I got back to LA the next day.
Tuesday 07/28: Off, donut crawl and office tour with mom before I dropped her off at LAX. I was supposed to do an easy ride this evening, but instead, me and Dennis ate all of the donuts that my mom bought for Kangway and Dennis.
Wednesday 07/29: [Running] 28:05, 10 laps around the North Field in the pm. Felt guilty about sleeping through my morning ride, so decided to do a quick run after work. Saw Garrett and Sedona. Ran out of daylight. I still felt sore from the hike and the run was pretty hard. I was actually only intending to do 8 laps, but I spaced out and did an extra, and since I don't like odd numbers of laps, I had to do 10. I don't know how I used to do this... running so hard.
Thursday 07/30: Off, motivational issues continue. Slept through another ride... nuts.
Friday 07/31: [Running] 22:27, 8 laps around the North Field in the pm. Couldn't go riding in the morning bc of shots, but did manage to squeeze in a short run. I was doing really well until I fell over on lap 5, which kind of killed the momentum. After that I got a side stitch and had to start jogging, so I decided to cut it short at 8 laps. Arghhhh... who ever said running was fun?
Saturday 08/01: 65.2 miles, 4:42:50 (13.8 mph) Slowest GMR Ever. Bah, finally made it out on my first ride, and it was kind of a wake up call. Maybe it's not running's fault for sucking... maybe there are just consequences for taking 2 weeks off completely. I slept in and ended up being out during the hottest 5 hours of the day. Started out feeling good, made good time to Encanto park... but noticed that my climbing pace was off. It didn't feel bad, just slow. Things got drastically worse after I descended to East Fork though, it was really hot and really windy and I suddenly felt really drained and exhausted. I was secretly hoping to make it to Baldy Village, but was pretty glad I turned back early. Finished the ride just completely pooped.
Training this week: Random medley of 25 miles of hiking, 65 miles of cycling and maybe 5 of running. For some reason I kind of feel like each of these items was not beneficial for the other two...
Note from the Author (07/19/2009 - 07/25/2009)
I'm posting about a month's worth of back-logged entries today. I haven't been posting, but a lot has been happening: my first race, my first swine flu and a whole bunch of ups and downs. Because of this, and because I took a bunch of time off after the race, and because 15 is a nice round number of weeks, I've decided to call this one discrete training cycle.
This is my first Cycling Experience, and little did I imagine the amount of things that would happen. I feel like these are memories that happen to most cyclists over the course of many seasons, but for me, it all happened in 15 weeks. Being hit by a car, getting violently ill before a race, doing my first Wrightwood, being super excited about progress, and super bummed about setbacks, riding with people who are tons faster than you, and also riding by yourself at 5 am in the morning. Not all of this was optimal, by any means, but there's the happy ending. I completed my first bike race, and it was awesome!
I feel like I've earned the right to call myself a cyclist, and now, I've got a big ugly scar and a race result to prove it :)
**************************
Sunday 07/19: ~ 18 miles, ~ 1:10 ish around Denver with Peter. Shake out from the race yesterday. I feel great. I wanted to ride more, but we went to get lunch instead, where I scarfed down a salad, sandwich and french toast in rapid succession. I'm starved! Flu be gone, and this is the first time I've been excited about food in over a week. I guess I'm just really really really hungry.
Monday - Wednesday 07/20 - 22: Off, tired... also lazy. I think my body's had a hard time basically starting at around the Wrightwood adventure, and it's time for a consolidated block of time off. Coincidentally, my mom will be visiting me for a few days this and next week, so it's a good opportunity to rest and recover. On Wednesday night, I drove to Vegas to pick her up from a biology conference. Someone joked that I should bike to Vegas. I kept thinking about that with some terror, as I drove the 265 barren dessert miles in the 108 (at 10 pm!!!) degree weather, basically gaining and losing the same 1500 ft of elevation over and over and over again. I lost count of how many 2000, 3000 and 4000 ft elevation signs I saw!
Thursday - Saturday 07/23 - 25: Off, doing LA things with mom. Drove back on Thurday morning amid thundershowers. Still hot back home though. We went to see the botanical gardens, the San Diego Wild Animal Park and did some gardening and good food. Lots of walking, but also lots of cupcakes :).
This is my first Cycling Experience, and little did I imagine the amount of things that would happen. I feel like these are memories that happen to most cyclists over the course of many seasons, but for me, it all happened in 15 weeks. Being hit by a car, getting violently ill before a race, doing my first Wrightwood, being super excited about progress, and super bummed about setbacks, riding with people who are tons faster than you, and also riding by yourself at 5 am in the morning. Not all of this was optimal, by any means, but there's the happy ending. I completed my first bike race, and it was awesome!
I feel like I've earned the right to call myself a cyclist, and now, I've got a big ugly scar and a race result to prove it :)
**************************
Sunday 07/19: ~ 18 miles, ~ 1:10 ish around Denver with Peter. Shake out from the race yesterday. I feel great. I wanted to ride more, but we went to get lunch instead, where I scarfed down a salad, sandwich and french toast in rapid succession. I'm starved! Flu be gone, and this is the first time I've been excited about food in over a week. I guess I'm just really really really hungry.
Monday - Wednesday 07/20 - 22: Off, tired... also lazy. I think my body's had a hard time basically starting at around the Wrightwood adventure, and it's time for a consolidated block of time off. Coincidentally, my mom will be visiting me for a few days this and next week, so it's a good opportunity to rest and recover. On Wednesday night, I drove to Vegas to pick her up from a biology conference. Someone joked that I should bike to Vegas. I kept thinking about that with some terror, as I drove the 265 barren dessert miles in the 108 (at 10 pm!!!) degree weather, basically gaining and losing the same 1500 ft of elevation over and over and over again. I lost count of how many 2000, 3000 and 4000 ft elevation signs I saw!
Thursday - Saturday 07/23 - 25: Off, doing LA things with mom. Drove back on Thurday morning amid thundershowers. Still hot back home though. We went to see the botanical gardens, the San Diego Wild Animal Park and did some gardening and good food. Lots of walking, but also lots of cupcakes :).
Week 15: Race (07/12/2009 - 07/18/2009)
Race Report 2009: Mt. Evans Hill Climb
Plan D = Success!!!
Plan A = Not be overtrained and exhausted
Plan B = Not get swine flu
Plan C = Get enough sleep, food and training in the 5 days before
Plan D = Show up anyways.
My co-workers have been implementing a new policy called "Summer 'o Fun: No analyses, no consequences". For many, this could be loosely translated to: get drunk and sleep around... but we decided that Summer 'o Fun could mean different things to different people. For me, it was about breaking out of my risk averse race planning habits, and doing my first bicycle race.
No matter that my trial run time would have placed me squarely last by about 45 minutes, or that I've been galavanting off to Wrightwood while Peter dutifully crunched out his hill intervals... this was going to be the year that I entered my first race. Unfortunately, lack of analysis sometimes does breed consequences, and things started to take a turn for the worse after I had registered (hands shaking as I pressed the 'submit' button).
While Wrightwood had seemed like a good idea at the time, the week following was spent in a lethargic, under the weather sort of a state, until I acquired something suspiciously akin to the swine flu. After not eating for 2 days, I was determined to resume some semblance of riding, so that the race would not be my first ride back. Day after nerve wracking day was spent riding slow laps around the Rose Bowl, but results were not what I would have liked. On the contrary, I tried to do a pre-race on Thursday of 10 laps around the RB, but had to abandon after 5, due to extreme fatigue. But circumstances be damned, by golly I was going to do this bicycle race!
I slept fitfully on Friday, having arrived in Denver in time for a nice pizza dinner. I felt that pizza was the secret to success for the Baldy Village adventure a month or two back, and I needed all of the luck I could get. Thankfully, I woke up relatively calm on Saturday and thought better of consuming the remaining pizza for breakfast. Instead I had some slices of bread and got into the car with growing trepidation.
Thankfully, we were able to find parking, and Peter advised me not to warm up, as that would probably just tire me out even more. I was feeling too nervous to function by this point, so I dutifully did as I was told, going to the bathroom numerous times and pedaling absently up and down the main street of Idaho Springs (which is generously about 500m long), waiting for my race time.
Finally, it was within 10 minutes, so I rode over the starting line, and watched the Pro-1-2's depart... then the 3's and the age group riders. We gathered at the starting line at this point, a motley crew of women, ranging from scary, fit looking ones in team kits, to frightened looking ones on pink bikes. I rolled my beautiful vintage steel Tommasini (that Peter had outfitted with fancy campy nucleon racing wheels, but was still probably the heaviest bike of the bunch) to the back of the pack, feeling like if they didn't call the start soon, I was either going to throw up or start crying.
Luckily one of the others noticed my look of sheer terror and started up a friendly conversation. All I could get out in response was "uhhhhh... thisismyfirstbikeraceimreallyreallynervous!" Thankfully for me, the started called the 4's at this point, and off we went. From what I remember the race went kind of like this:
Minute 0: As we clipped in, I glanced down at my HRM and saw 151... apparently it was NOT just my imagination that my heart was pounding in my chest from apprehension. I am fully prepared to be last, but somehow that doesn't reduce the nerves.
Minute 5: I am desperately hanging on to the back of the peloton, which appears to be moving ridiculously fast, as evidenced by my new biking HR PR of 201. Yikes.
Minute 8: Though my heart is already exploding in my chest, the front end of the pack is breaking away, and the person in front of me has lost the wheel in front of her, so I make a move to the outside to bridge up to the first group. For some reason the competitive instincts have overridden caution at this point.
Minute 17: Despite my best efforts, I am dropped by the front pack. Fortunately, a few others are in my boat, so we form a grupetto to get to the base of the climb.
Minute 41: HR has calmed down to about 185 since we hit the climb. Riders are now strung out, but to my surprise, I seem to be fairing better than the others around me. I start picking them off one my one, thinking gleefully that I've got a lot of time to move up. This is more fun than I thought! (somewhere in here, we almost got hit by a station wagon, that was attempting to do a 3 pt turn on the race course... *shakes fist*)
1 hr 15 min: I reach Echo Lake, where there is a short flat section that marks the half way point (distance-wise, the steeper part is yet to come). I'm 15 minutes ahead of my trial time, so I'm pleased. I'm still feeling some nerves at this point, so I throw in an all out sprint on the flat section, prompting some disapproving comments from nearby riders "there's still a long way to go, you know..." I do know, but I'm all nerves and excitement.
1 hr 45 min: Ugh, its not as good when there's no one ahead of you to chase. The last person who I passed has hung onto my wheel, so I've been pulling this chick for a few miles now, but otherwise no one else from our original group is around. We don't lack for company though, as now we start to pass the citizens riders and age groupers who started ahead of us. I see the mile 5 sign, which means there are 9.5 more miles to go. I start to worry again about finishing... so I consume a gu to distract myself. I didn't swerve or crash, so it's a success! It's hard going, but at the same time it's easy to space out. I just tried to keep my HR above 185.
Suddenly, everything changes at once. The girl behind me offers to take a pull, so I sit back for a few minutes, but then, a third girl passes us on the right, and so we hang onto her wheel, a 3 person chain. I find the new pace a bit grueling, but I don't want to be dropped so I hang on. We're starting to pass more people... then *gasp* the girl in front of me loses the wheel in front of her! In a split second reaction, I surge past her to catch up with the first girl, who turns out to be the nice person who talked to me at the starting line.
~2 hr 15 min: I've been riding with the new person for a while now, I'm getting used to the faster pace, but my HR is now 193-5. She's also a former runner, but has been mountain biking for 7 years now. She's really nice, and the miles seem to be ticking by quicker... though one might imagine I should have been saving my copious amounts of breath for survival purposes. We get to Summit Lake, a glacial pool looking thing quicker than I thought, and I can smell the finish, though it is about 5 miles away still. The climbing starts picking up again soon afterwards, and my new riding buddy has gapped me. I know that its time to dig my heels in and finish, with or without her. I see Peter descending at about this point, and he tells me I'm on pace to finish in about 3 hours! This is the first time I've even thought about time.
2 hr 30 min: It's time for the last gu. I know I'm close, and I know I have to finish strong. I've been doing finish time estimates at the last few mile markers--assuming I can maintain 6 mph in the worst case scenario, each mile should take 10 minutes... by mile 12 I realized I was going significantly faster than 6 mph, and that I was going to break 3 hours! The switchbacks are getting pretty intense, but I stand up in the saddle, muttering "come on, you can do this!" to myself over and over.
2 hr 51 min: I make the final turn and cross a thin white line on the road, well before the end of the parking lot where I stopped before. "Wait, that was the finish?" I ask quizzically as they call out my race number. I look down at my HRM and see 2:51 something... holy crap! I did it! Never in my wildest dreams was this a possible scenario. I roll into sea of cyclists towards the 14,000 ft sign, wild eyed and giggling like a maniac, which in turn prompts a severe coughing fit. Passerby express concern, but I am unfazed. This truly is my Summer 'o Fun!
Sunday 07/12: Off, swine flu recovery continues. Still feeling nauseous, but I need to start riding again tomorrow, so towards nightfall, I force down a small bowl of plain Pho. It's tasty but I can feel my stomach begin to gurgle again. After some nervous hours, I'm confident that this meal isn't coming back up, so I try to get some sleep.
Monday 07/13: 22.2 miles, 1:23:20 (15.9 mph) 5 x RB laps in the evening. I'm still feeling vaguely nauseous and achey so, sleep is hard to come by, no matter when I go to bed. I couldn't manage to wake up, but I did manage to get home early enough to squeeze in a short ride. I felt really, really weak... like riding was a foreign concept, just couldn't get any power on the pedals. Kept a high cadence and went easy, but I was still discouraged to see the speed.
Tuesday 07/14: 25.6 miles, 1:34:49 (16.2 mph) 6 x RB laps. Feeling marginally better, but still sluggish. There was also this annoying dude who kept sprinting past me and then falling back repeatedly. I really, really hate people who do that. I'm concentrating on my training and enjoying some peace and quiet in the morning. Just do your own damn workout.
Wednesday 07/15: 33.9 miles, 2:21:17 (14.4 mph) Angeles Crest to Clear Creek. I had to test out some climbing before the race, even though I knew it would probably wear me out. I just concentrated on keeping race goal pace of between 8-9 mph. I knew this was unrealistic given the trial run, and that I wouldn't have a spedometer anyways... but for some reason I felt the need to do this. 8-9 mph is pedestrian at this lower altitude... but my HR was going crazy anyways. I decide it's still an overall good sign, the best ride I've had this week.
Thursday 07/16: 22.2 miles, 1:23:42 (15.9 mph) 5 x RB laps. Pre-race, because tomorrow is shot day. I have 10 x RB laps planned, but after 4, I slow down catastrophically, feeling insanely fatigued. I decide its time to limp back home after this really really old guy passes me... *sigh*. I feel discouraged again, how can someone who can barely complete 5 RB laps race 28 miles uphill???
Friday 07/17: Off, shots. Travel to Colorado. It's now or never, I am still determined to do the race!
Saturday 07/18: 56 miles, 4:15-ish? I didn't measure the return journey, because I wanted to preserve the record of the 2:51. I rode back down with the nice girl from the starting line, but parted ways at Echo Lake. The remainder of the descent was hot, windy and dehydrated. I couldn't make it to the car, so I stopped at the starting line to drink a bottle of water, but crashed on the sand in my hurry... nuts. I get back to the car, and I'm happy but I'm thoroughly exhausted now. Also, I feel headachey and nauseous again. Damn swine flu just won't die.
Training this week: 159.9 miles, 10:58:08. You know, this wasn't the way I envisioned my first race, but it was awesome! Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
Plan D = Success!!!
Plan A = Not be overtrained and exhausted
Plan B = Not get swine flu
Plan C = Get enough sleep, food and training in the 5 days before
Plan D = Show up anyways.
My co-workers have been implementing a new policy called "Summer 'o Fun: No analyses, no consequences". For many, this could be loosely translated to: get drunk and sleep around... but we decided that Summer 'o Fun could mean different things to different people. For me, it was about breaking out of my risk averse race planning habits, and doing my first bicycle race.
No matter that my trial run time would have placed me squarely last by about 45 minutes, or that I've been galavanting off to Wrightwood while Peter dutifully crunched out his hill intervals... this was going to be the year that I entered my first race. Unfortunately, lack of analysis sometimes does breed consequences, and things started to take a turn for the worse after I had registered (hands shaking as I pressed the 'submit' button).
While Wrightwood had seemed like a good idea at the time, the week following was spent in a lethargic, under the weather sort of a state, until I acquired something suspiciously akin to the swine flu. After not eating for 2 days, I was determined to resume some semblance of riding, so that the race would not be my first ride back. Day after nerve wracking day was spent riding slow laps around the Rose Bowl, but results were not what I would have liked. On the contrary, I tried to do a pre-race on Thursday of 10 laps around the RB, but had to abandon after 5, due to extreme fatigue. But circumstances be damned, by golly I was going to do this bicycle race!
I slept fitfully on Friday, having arrived in Denver in time for a nice pizza dinner. I felt that pizza was the secret to success for the Baldy Village adventure a month or two back, and I needed all of the luck I could get. Thankfully, I woke up relatively calm on Saturday and thought better of consuming the remaining pizza for breakfast. Instead I had some slices of bread and got into the car with growing trepidation.
Thankfully, we were able to find parking, and Peter advised me not to warm up, as that would probably just tire me out even more. I was feeling too nervous to function by this point, so I dutifully did as I was told, going to the bathroom numerous times and pedaling absently up and down the main street of Idaho Springs (which is generously about 500m long), waiting for my race time.
Finally, it was within 10 minutes, so I rode over the starting line, and watched the Pro-1-2's depart... then the 3's and the age group riders. We gathered at the starting line at this point, a motley crew of women, ranging from scary, fit looking ones in team kits, to frightened looking ones on pink bikes. I rolled my beautiful vintage steel Tommasini (that Peter had outfitted with fancy campy nucleon racing wheels, but was still probably the heaviest bike of the bunch) to the back of the pack, feeling like if they didn't call the start soon, I was either going to throw up or start crying.
Luckily one of the others noticed my look of sheer terror and started up a friendly conversation. All I could get out in response was "uhhhhh... thisismyfirstbikeraceimreallyreallynervous!" Thankfully for me, the started called the 4's at this point, and off we went. From what I remember the race went kind of like this:
Minute 0: As we clipped in, I glanced down at my HRM and saw 151... apparently it was NOT just my imagination that my heart was pounding in my chest from apprehension. I am fully prepared to be last, but somehow that doesn't reduce the nerves.
Minute 5: I am desperately hanging on to the back of the peloton, which appears to be moving ridiculously fast, as evidenced by my new biking HR PR of 201. Yikes.
Minute 8: Though my heart is already exploding in my chest, the front end of the pack is breaking away, and the person in front of me has lost the wheel in front of her, so I make a move to the outside to bridge up to the first group. For some reason the competitive instincts have overridden caution at this point.
Minute 17: Despite my best efforts, I am dropped by the front pack. Fortunately, a few others are in my boat, so we form a grupetto to get to the base of the climb.
Minute 41: HR has calmed down to about 185 since we hit the climb. Riders are now strung out, but to my surprise, I seem to be fairing better than the others around me. I start picking them off one my one, thinking gleefully that I've got a lot of time to move up. This is more fun than I thought! (somewhere in here, we almost got hit by a station wagon, that was attempting to do a 3 pt turn on the race course... *shakes fist*)
1 hr 15 min: I reach Echo Lake, where there is a short flat section that marks the half way point (distance-wise, the steeper part is yet to come). I'm 15 minutes ahead of my trial time, so I'm pleased. I'm still feeling some nerves at this point, so I throw in an all out sprint on the flat section, prompting some disapproving comments from nearby riders "there's still a long way to go, you know..." I do know, but I'm all nerves and excitement.
1 hr 45 min: Ugh, its not as good when there's no one ahead of you to chase. The last person who I passed has hung onto my wheel, so I've been pulling this chick for a few miles now, but otherwise no one else from our original group is around. We don't lack for company though, as now we start to pass the citizens riders and age groupers who started ahead of us. I see the mile 5 sign, which means there are 9.5 more miles to go. I start to worry again about finishing... so I consume a gu to distract myself. I didn't swerve or crash, so it's a success! It's hard going, but at the same time it's easy to space out. I just tried to keep my HR above 185.
Suddenly, everything changes at once. The girl behind me offers to take a pull, so I sit back for a few minutes, but then, a third girl passes us on the right, and so we hang onto her wheel, a 3 person chain. I find the new pace a bit grueling, but I don't want to be dropped so I hang on. We're starting to pass more people... then *gasp* the girl in front of me loses the wheel in front of her! In a split second reaction, I surge past her to catch up with the first girl, who turns out to be the nice person who talked to me at the starting line.
~2 hr 15 min: I've been riding with the new person for a while now, I'm getting used to the faster pace, but my HR is now 193-5. She's also a former runner, but has been mountain biking for 7 years now. She's really nice, and the miles seem to be ticking by quicker... though one might imagine I should have been saving my copious amounts of breath for survival purposes. We get to Summit Lake, a glacial pool looking thing quicker than I thought, and I can smell the finish, though it is about 5 miles away still. The climbing starts picking up again soon afterwards, and my new riding buddy has gapped me. I know that its time to dig my heels in and finish, with or without her. I see Peter descending at about this point, and he tells me I'm on pace to finish in about 3 hours! This is the first time I've even thought about time.
2 hr 30 min: It's time for the last gu. I know I'm close, and I know I have to finish strong. I've been doing finish time estimates at the last few mile markers--assuming I can maintain 6 mph in the worst case scenario, each mile should take 10 minutes... by mile 12 I realized I was going significantly faster than 6 mph, and that I was going to break 3 hours! The switchbacks are getting pretty intense, but I stand up in the saddle, muttering "come on, you can do this!" to myself over and over.
2 hr 51 min: I make the final turn and cross a thin white line on the road, well before the end of the parking lot where I stopped before. "Wait, that was the finish?" I ask quizzically as they call out my race number. I look down at my HRM and see 2:51 something... holy crap! I did it! Never in my wildest dreams was this a possible scenario. I roll into sea of cyclists towards the 14,000 ft sign, wild eyed and giggling like a maniac, which in turn prompts a severe coughing fit. Passerby express concern, but I am unfazed. This truly is my Summer 'o Fun!
Sunday 07/12: Off, swine flu recovery continues. Still feeling nauseous, but I need to start riding again tomorrow, so towards nightfall, I force down a small bowl of plain Pho. It's tasty but I can feel my stomach begin to gurgle again. After some nervous hours, I'm confident that this meal isn't coming back up, so I try to get some sleep.
Monday 07/13: 22.2 miles, 1:23:20 (15.9 mph) 5 x RB laps in the evening. I'm still feeling vaguely nauseous and achey so, sleep is hard to come by, no matter when I go to bed. I couldn't manage to wake up, but I did manage to get home early enough to squeeze in a short ride. I felt really, really weak... like riding was a foreign concept, just couldn't get any power on the pedals. Kept a high cadence and went easy, but I was still discouraged to see the speed.
Tuesday 07/14: 25.6 miles, 1:34:49 (16.2 mph) 6 x RB laps. Feeling marginally better, but still sluggish. There was also this annoying dude who kept sprinting past me and then falling back repeatedly. I really, really hate people who do that. I'm concentrating on my training and enjoying some peace and quiet in the morning. Just do your own damn workout.
Wednesday 07/15: 33.9 miles, 2:21:17 (14.4 mph) Angeles Crest to Clear Creek. I had to test out some climbing before the race, even though I knew it would probably wear me out. I just concentrated on keeping race goal pace of between 8-9 mph. I knew this was unrealistic given the trial run, and that I wouldn't have a spedometer anyways... but for some reason I felt the need to do this. 8-9 mph is pedestrian at this lower altitude... but my HR was going crazy anyways. I decide it's still an overall good sign, the best ride I've had this week.
Thursday 07/16: 22.2 miles, 1:23:42 (15.9 mph) 5 x RB laps. Pre-race, because tomorrow is shot day. I have 10 x RB laps planned, but after 4, I slow down catastrophically, feeling insanely fatigued. I decide its time to limp back home after this really really old guy passes me... *sigh*. I feel discouraged again, how can someone who can barely complete 5 RB laps race 28 miles uphill???
Friday 07/17: Off, shots. Travel to Colorado. It's now or never, I am still determined to do the race!
Saturday 07/18: 56 miles, 4:15-ish? I didn't measure the return journey, because I wanted to preserve the record of the 2:51. I rode back down with the nice girl from the starting line, but parted ways at Echo Lake. The remainder of the descent was hot, windy and dehydrated. I couldn't make it to the car, so I stopped at the starting line to drink a bottle of water, but crashed on the sand in my hurry... nuts. I get back to the car, and I'm happy but I'm thoroughly exhausted now. Also, I feel headachey and nauseous again. Damn swine flu just won't die.
Training this week: 159.9 miles, 10:58:08. You know, this wasn't the way I envisioned my first race, but it was awesome! Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
Week 14: Swine Flu! (07/05/2009 - 07/11/2009)
On Friday, I got really sick. Like, really really sick, and suddenly.
On Saturday, I got an e-mail from el Boss Man: "Sorry guys, I've been coming to the office all week with swine flu! Hope you don't get it!"
I didn't get tested, so I guess I won't know if that's what it was, but it was pretty terrible... even with the allergic person's Super Immune System. Come to think of it, I've been sneezing and coughing like crazy all week, a sign of bad things to come.
Sunday 07/05: 45.7 miles, 2:53:00 (15.8 mph) Peter's Short Long Loop. I had Seal Beach on the planner, but was still feeling pooped from yesterday. Decided to cut it short and grab some breakfast with Peter. I just concentrated on spinning fast and the ride went by tolerably well--it was only until I finished that I realized how slow it really was. HR was also insanely low, 131 avg. Probably time for a nice easy week.
Monday 07/06: Off. Felt like this was well earned.
Tuesday 07/07: Off. This one was not well earned... just feeling crappy, couldn't wake up in time.
Wednesday 07/08: [Running] 20:38, 10 laps around the South Field after work and before delicious delicious apartmental dinner. Still feeling poorly... I decided to hit the track for some running just for the sake of doing... something. Unfortunately, this also felt really really bad. Quads were killing me the whole time. Also, had to hop the fence bc the front desk nazi was asking for ID cards again. Bah, humbug.
Thursday 07/09: 37.6 miles, 2:15:55 (16.6 mph) 10 x RB laps. Real easy, just tried to focus on high cadence. I thought this shakeout helped my quads feel less tight and sore, but the soreness returned later on in the day. Nuts.
Friday 07/10: Off, shots. Also, onset of swine flu. I was feeling under the weather and headachey all day, but it all went south pretty quick towards the evening. Barely made the drive home before I was vomiting, delirious, diarrhea, the whole works. Felt positively godawful. 3 pepto bismol and 2 advil later, I finally got a little bit of sleep at 5 am.
Saturday 07/11: Off, more flu. Now, whole body aches, but no more vomiting. Spent the day trying to force down Gatorades. Tried to rest but I felt so horrible it was hard to get any sleep. Got up and watched some Tour with KB in the afternoon. Feeling a little better, but still nauseous and achey. So much for the last weekend of training before the race...
Training this week: 83.3 miles, 5:08:55 ... this week could have gone better (in more ways than one)
On Saturday, I got an e-mail from el Boss Man: "Sorry guys, I've been coming to the office all week with swine flu! Hope you don't get it!"
I didn't get tested, so I guess I won't know if that's what it was, but it was pretty terrible... even with the allergic person's Super Immune System. Come to think of it, I've been sneezing and coughing like crazy all week, a sign of bad things to come.
Sunday 07/05: 45.7 miles, 2:53:00 (15.8 mph) Peter's Short Long Loop. I had Seal Beach on the planner, but was still feeling pooped from yesterday. Decided to cut it short and grab some breakfast with Peter. I just concentrated on spinning fast and the ride went by tolerably well--it was only until I finished that I realized how slow it really was. HR was also insanely low, 131 avg. Probably time for a nice easy week.
Monday 07/06: Off. Felt like this was well earned.
Tuesday 07/07: Off. This one was not well earned... just feeling crappy, couldn't wake up in time.
Wednesday 07/08: [Running] 20:38, 10 laps around the South Field after work and before delicious delicious apartmental dinner. Still feeling poorly... I decided to hit the track for some running just for the sake of doing... something. Unfortunately, this also felt really really bad. Quads were killing me the whole time. Also, had to hop the fence bc the front desk nazi was asking for ID cards again. Bah, humbug.
Thursday 07/09: 37.6 miles, 2:15:55 (16.6 mph) 10 x RB laps. Real easy, just tried to focus on high cadence. I thought this shakeout helped my quads feel less tight and sore, but the soreness returned later on in the day. Nuts.
Friday 07/10: Off, shots. Also, onset of swine flu. I was feeling under the weather and headachey all day, but it all went south pretty quick towards the evening. Barely made the drive home before I was vomiting, delirious, diarrhea, the whole works. Felt positively godawful. 3 pepto bismol and 2 advil later, I finally got a little bit of sleep at 5 am.
Saturday 07/11: Off, more flu. Now, whole body aches, but no more vomiting. Spent the day trying to force down Gatorades. Tried to rest but I felt so horrible it was hard to get any sleep. Got up and watched some Tour with KB in the afternoon. Feeling a little better, but still nauseous and achey. So much for the last weekend of training before the race...
Training this week: 83.3 miles, 5:08:55 ... this week could have gone better (in more ways than one)
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Week 13: Wrightwood (06/28/2009 - 07/04/2009)
Oh, the pain, the joy.... of one's first Wrightwood.
All I can say is that it was a collossally bad idea, but I survived. It was probably also a testament to the evils of peer pressure. I've been feeling bad all week, with sky rocketing heart rates matched with alarmingly reduced climbing speeds. The overtraining thought had crossed my mind... but there was momentum for Wrightwood this week, and I didn't want to be the lame-o to back out.
I think I was regretting my pride 8 hours later, as the thought occurred to me... can you will your heart to keep on beating??? What am I going to do if I look down and my monitor suddenly reads 0?!?!
This ride was about a lot of new things for me, some good... some not so good. The scenery was beautiful, I finally got to see what happened after Dawson's Saddle. I'm also pleased about how almost 11 hours in the saddle felt. It didn't feel as long as I thought it would. On the flip side, I did experience a state (medically) that I really think I would have preferred never to get to. I'm no stranger to "exhausted to tears", but I've never reached this state where it felt like my body was literally over-riding my brain and shutting itself down.
I kinda knew as soon as we hit the Angeles Crest that this ride was going to be about survival. Even my earliest long rides, I always started out feeling good, and ended up feeling bad. This one, I felt bad from the first step... I took down the pace to about a crawl, and hoped to feel better after Red Box, but that never came. I felt lethargic and weak but forced myself to keep up with Will and Ian up until about the 39 intersection, after which I was pretty much resigned to being dropped. Nevertheless I struggled up to Dawson's Saddle, feeling by far the worst I ever have at this juncture, but determined to make it to Wrightwood, at this point, it would be stupid to turn back. Or so I thought.
I expended my last bit of fight to get up the 2.5 mile ascent (Ian had mistakenly described it as a "short" uphill) a few miles before Wrightwood, and arrived pretty zonked out at the cute little cafe where we caught some lunch. I remembered feeling even more lethargic after some meals at Newcombe's ranch, so I decided to stick with a snack of a strawberry pastry and a donut. Maybe that was also a mistake.
I was feeling positively deathly by the time we headed back out, and in completely a different way than all of the other times I've over-extended myself on a ride. This time, it wasn't about a feeling of over-exertion or a high heart rate, it was the reverse... as if I was stuck in state of semi-hibernation, with only one pace. And it was by no means a challenging pace, but I couldn't manage to lift myself out of it. I felt almost as if I were at a little distance from my struggling body, fighting it, trying to cajole it out of its lethargy, but to no avail. As I climbed, I developed a side stitch, and then I noticed my HR begin to plummet, 160 went to 150 went to 140... I tried desperately to rev it back up, but to no avail. I was pretty freaked out as I reached the water stop halfway back to Dawson's Saddle, but the worst was yet to come.
Climbing the last 6 or so miles up to Dawson's was a surreal experience. Despite a little rest and a little water, my side hurt so badly, I couldn't stand up on my bike, as I desperately wanted to do... because my HR had now fallen into the 130's and I was starting to seriously worry that it would continue to drop until it was 0. In addition, I was engaged in a surreal discussion with myself regarding the fact that I couldn't account for a mile between here and Wrightwood. According to my odometer, I still had 4 miles to go... but according to the mile markers... I only had 3. I couldn't understand, and I honestly still don't. By the end I didn't have the bandwidth to care. The summit came 1 mile too early, but not early enough. Ian sat by the shed at Dawson's Saddle with me for a while as I pondered the medical/mental mystery.
Thankfully, things normalized a little bit after that... leading me to think maybe it was just a sugar crash from my ill advised lunch. I felt a lot better at the base of the 39, and was able to trundle relatively pleasantly back the rest of the way. My HR was still a little low, but not scarily so, and I was going slow, but not RIDICULOUSLY so. I was heartened enough by the time I got to Newcombe's that I didn't call for a rescue. I met the owner again, who suggested my next trip (to San Grigonio, another 23 miles past Wrightwood). I arrived home in the waning hours of light, feeling pooped but a million times better than during that stretch climbing up to Dawson's at 5 mph, wondering if my heart decided to go on strike, there was anything I could do about that. It was actually really scary. I don't ever want to be in that place again.
Sunday 06/28: 76.9 mph, 4:45-ish. "Flat" ride around Denver, with some mild dirt roading around Griggs Road. I should have known that nothing in Peter's vocabulary really means "flat", and this ride was like that as well. I felt positively heinous after yesterday. In hindsight this was the beginning of this weird low HR phenomenon. I was struggling and breathing hard at a really low HR, it felt insanely bad. I sprinted up a few hills about 2 hours in to get my HR up, and somehow that cleared up all of the bad feelings. I still felt tired, but a lot more normal after that and was able to complete the ride feeling okay.
Monday 06/29: Off. Travel, well deserved break.
Tuesday 06/30: 51.3 miles, 3:45:41 (13.6 mph) Angeles Crest to Mt. Wilson with Ian. I was feeling pretty decent to start off, but noticed that something was wrong when we hit the 2. I always climb the crest in third to lowest gear, at a nice quick cadence, but today, I was in second to lowest and already feeling tired. Bad news. Things only got worse as we went further up, I was huffing and puffing by Clear Creek, only to look down at my spedometer and see a fairly pedestrian pace. To make it any further, I convinced Ian to slow down to a snail's pace, and I made it fairly pleasantly up to Mt. Wilson, but was still kind of freaked out by the insane slowness, coupled with a really high HR.
Wednesday 07/01: 45.7 miles, 2:37:22 (17.4 mph) Peter's Short Long Loop. Decided a true easy day was in order. Did a nice relaxed flat ride, but somehow I felt tired and achey nonetheless. I was kind of peeved about the time, but I guess one has to make some allowances for a hard few weeks.
Thursday 07/02: Off, shots. Shot office is closed on Friday, so off day came early. Probably for the best.
Friday 07/03: 64.6 miles, 4:29:30 (14.3 mph), East Fork back on GMR. This was supposed to be a nice relaxed pre-Wrightwood shake out, but it turned into kind of a nightmare. Peter started out saying he would ride easy with me, but apparently my pace became too soul crushing before 5 miles had elapsed, and he went on his merry way. I was pretty sad to discover that the Encanto Park bathrooms were closed (!) by the time I got there. So I continued onto the 39 but at this point I was becoming more and more uncomfortable, and also more and more dehydrated, but I didn't want to drink because then that would increase the peeing problem!
I finally made it to the East Fork turnoff, knowing that there was a bathroom up ahead. I arrived there, plowed through the dirt parking lot, and ran into the bathroom. Finally after that I drank an entire bottle of water. It was really seriously hot by this point, and it didn't feel like it helped very much. But I pressed on. Unfortunately as I was rolling out of the dirt parking lot, I slipped on some sand and crashed onto my bad hip (the one that was damaged in the RB crash). Unfortunately I was now in the street at a narrow curve, so I had get up immediately and get out of the way, being narrowly missed by two vehicles as I did so.
I determined that this was a poor location, so I got up and started riding, but I could feel my hip quivering and locking up where the impact had been. I felt pretty terrible, but pushed on to the base of the climb... where the police were closing up the gate. Motorcycles were being turned back... but I had to get home! I waited for them to look the other way and pushed my bike through and made my escape. Unfortunately the climb wasn't any better. I felt tired, dehydrated, insanely hot, and my HR was pushing 185. It was miserable. I was pretty happy to finally hit the GMR descent. I saw an eagle, and had a gu near the bottom, and the return journey was a lot more pleasant.... but all in all I definitely felt like I had taxed myself a LOT more than I wanted to right before the Wrightwood adventure... this had not been the pleasant easy short ride that I had envisioned.
Saturday 07/04: 134.2 miles, 10:49:36 (12.4 mph) Angeles Crest to Wrighwood, back the same way. Happy 4th of July folks! See description above. I've never stuffed myself with such reckless abandon as I did when I got back from this ride. Holy crap... 134 is a lot of miles.
Training this week: 372.7 miles, 26:27:09... holy shit that is a huge weekly PR!
All I can say is that it was a collossally bad idea, but I survived. It was probably also a testament to the evils of peer pressure. I've been feeling bad all week, with sky rocketing heart rates matched with alarmingly reduced climbing speeds. The overtraining thought had crossed my mind... but there was momentum for Wrightwood this week, and I didn't want to be the lame-o to back out.
I think I was regretting my pride 8 hours later, as the thought occurred to me... can you will your heart to keep on beating??? What am I going to do if I look down and my monitor suddenly reads 0?!?!
This ride was about a lot of new things for me, some good... some not so good. The scenery was beautiful, I finally got to see what happened after Dawson's Saddle. I'm also pleased about how almost 11 hours in the saddle felt. It didn't feel as long as I thought it would. On the flip side, I did experience a state (medically) that I really think I would have preferred never to get to. I'm no stranger to "exhausted to tears", but I've never reached this state where it felt like my body was literally over-riding my brain and shutting itself down.
I kinda knew as soon as we hit the Angeles Crest that this ride was going to be about survival. Even my earliest long rides, I always started out feeling good, and ended up feeling bad. This one, I felt bad from the first step... I took down the pace to about a crawl, and hoped to feel better after Red Box, but that never came. I felt lethargic and weak but forced myself to keep up with Will and Ian up until about the 39 intersection, after which I was pretty much resigned to being dropped. Nevertheless I struggled up to Dawson's Saddle, feeling by far the worst I ever have at this juncture, but determined to make it to Wrightwood, at this point, it would be stupid to turn back. Or so I thought.
I expended my last bit of fight to get up the 2.5 mile ascent (Ian had mistakenly described it as a "short" uphill) a few miles before Wrightwood, and arrived pretty zonked out at the cute little cafe where we caught some lunch. I remembered feeling even more lethargic after some meals at Newcombe's ranch, so I decided to stick with a snack of a strawberry pastry and a donut. Maybe that was also a mistake.
I was feeling positively deathly by the time we headed back out, and in completely a different way than all of the other times I've over-extended myself on a ride. This time, it wasn't about a feeling of over-exertion or a high heart rate, it was the reverse... as if I was stuck in state of semi-hibernation, with only one pace. And it was by no means a challenging pace, but I couldn't manage to lift myself out of it. I felt almost as if I were at a little distance from my struggling body, fighting it, trying to cajole it out of its lethargy, but to no avail. As I climbed, I developed a side stitch, and then I noticed my HR begin to plummet, 160 went to 150 went to 140... I tried desperately to rev it back up, but to no avail. I was pretty freaked out as I reached the water stop halfway back to Dawson's Saddle, but the worst was yet to come.
Climbing the last 6 or so miles up to Dawson's was a surreal experience. Despite a little rest and a little water, my side hurt so badly, I couldn't stand up on my bike, as I desperately wanted to do... because my HR had now fallen into the 130's and I was starting to seriously worry that it would continue to drop until it was 0. In addition, I was engaged in a surreal discussion with myself regarding the fact that I couldn't account for a mile between here and Wrightwood. According to my odometer, I still had 4 miles to go... but according to the mile markers... I only had 3. I couldn't understand, and I honestly still don't. By the end I didn't have the bandwidth to care. The summit came 1 mile too early, but not early enough. Ian sat by the shed at Dawson's Saddle with me for a while as I pondered the medical/mental mystery.
Thankfully, things normalized a little bit after that... leading me to think maybe it was just a sugar crash from my ill advised lunch. I felt a lot better at the base of the 39, and was able to trundle relatively pleasantly back the rest of the way. My HR was still a little low, but not scarily so, and I was going slow, but not RIDICULOUSLY so. I was heartened enough by the time I got to Newcombe's that I didn't call for a rescue. I met the owner again, who suggested my next trip (to San Grigonio, another 23 miles past Wrightwood). I arrived home in the waning hours of light, feeling pooped but a million times better than during that stretch climbing up to Dawson's at 5 mph, wondering if my heart decided to go on strike, there was anything I could do about that. It was actually really scary. I don't ever want to be in that place again.
Sunday 06/28: 76.9 mph, 4:45-ish. "Flat" ride around Denver, with some mild dirt roading around Griggs Road. I should have known that nothing in Peter's vocabulary really means "flat", and this ride was like that as well. I felt positively heinous after yesterday. In hindsight this was the beginning of this weird low HR phenomenon. I was struggling and breathing hard at a really low HR, it felt insanely bad. I sprinted up a few hills about 2 hours in to get my HR up, and somehow that cleared up all of the bad feelings. I still felt tired, but a lot more normal after that and was able to complete the ride feeling okay.
Monday 06/29: Off. Travel, well deserved break.
Tuesday 06/30: 51.3 miles, 3:45:41 (13.6 mph) Angeles Crest to Mt. Wilson with Ian. I was feeling pretty decent to start off, but noticed that something was wrong when we hit the 2. I always climb the crest in third to lowest gear, at a nice quick cadence, but today, I was in second to lowest and already feeling tired. Bad news. Things only got worse as we went further up, I was huffing and puffing by Clear Creek, only to look down at my spedometer and see a fairly pedestrian pace. To make it any further, I convinced Ian to slow down to a snail's pace, and I made it fairly pleasantly up to Mt. Wilson, but was still kind of freaked out by the insane slowness, coupled with a really high HR.
Wednesday 07/01: 45.7 miles, 2:37:22 (17.4 mph) Peter's Short Long Loop. Decided a true easy day was in order. Did a nice relaxed flat ride, but somehow I felt tired and achey nonetheless. I was kind of peeved about the time, but I guess one has to make some allowances for a hard few weeks.
Thursday 07/02: Off, shots. Shot office is closed on Friday, so off day came early. Probably for the best.
Friday 07/03: 64.6 miles, 4:29:30 (14.3 mph), East Fork back on GMR. This was supposed to be a nice relaxed pre-Wrightwood shake out, but it turned into kind of a nightmare. Peter started out saying he would ride easy with me, but apparently my pace became too soul crushing before 5 miles had elapsed, and he went on his merry way. I was pretty sad to discover that the Encanto Park bathrooms were closed (!) by the time I got there. So I continued onto the 39 but at this point I was becoming more and more uncomfortable, and also more and more dehydrated, but I didn't want to drink because then that would increase the peeing problem!
I finally made it to the East Fork turnoff, knowing that there was a bathroom up ahead. I arrived there, plowed through the dirt parking lot, and ran into the bathroom. Finally after that I drank an entire bottle of water. It was really seriously hot by this point, and it didn't feel like it helped very much. But I pressed on. Unfortunately as I was rolling out of the dirt parking lot, I slipped on some sand and crashed onto my bad hip (the one that was damaged in the RB crash). Unfortunately I was now in the street at a narrow curve, so I had get up immediately and get out of the way, being narrowly missed by two vehicles as I did so.
I determined that this was a poor location, so I got up and started riding, but I could feel my hip quivering and locking up where the impact had been. I felt pretty terrible, but pushed on to the base of the climb... where the police were closing up the gate. Motorcycles were being turned back... but I had to get home! I waited for them to look the other way and pushed my bike through and made my escape. Unfortunately the climb wasn't any better. I felt tired, dehydrated, insanely hot, and my HR was pushing 185. It was miserable. I was pretty happy to finally hit the GMR descent. I saw an eagle, and had a gu near the bottom, and the return journey was a lot more pleasant.... but all in all I definitely felt like I had taxed myself a LOT more than I wanted to right before the Wrightwood adventure... this had not been the pleasant easy short ride that I had envisioned.
Saturday 07/04: 134.2 miles, 10:49:36 (12.4 mph) Angeles Crest to Wrighwood, back the same way. Happy 4th of July folks! See description above. I've never stuffed myself with such reckless abandon as I did when I got back from this ride. Holy crap... 134 is a lot of miles.
Training this week: 372.7 miles, 26:27:09... holy shit that is a huge weekly PR!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Week 12: Ouch (06/21/2009 - 06/27/2009)
Eeeeeps.
There are certain days where I get lulled into thinking, well maybe, perhaps I'm not quite such a sucky rider after all... and then there are other days, where one gets clobbered over the head pretty good with the reality stick: actually, yes, you do suck. And quite a lot at that.
I've been considering and re-considering the Mt. Evans Hill Climb ever since I've been trying out this cycling thing. It seems hard and grueling, which I like, and there's also the nostalgic value of having been mentioned in Running with the Buffaloes. Finally, after considering last year's race results at much length, I decided on a trial run this Saturday.
28 miles (7 - 14,000 feet), of which the first 5-6 being somewhat mellow, and Peter having described the rest as being like Clear Creek (red flag #1... nothing Peter thinks is not steep is actually not steep) I insisted that 3 hours was a reasonable finish time. Maybe with race conditions, I could even swing 2:45, which, while still slow, was not *catastrophically* embarrassing.
Nothing could have prepared me for how horribly mistaken I was... the beginning section, on which I had hoped to make some easy gains, was already pretty miserable. I didn't have a speedometer, but, it only took me a few mile markers into the climb to realize that I was drastically off pace, with HR already racing at 170. By the time we hit the actual Mt Evans road, with 14.5 miles to go, I was thoroughly unamused... my time goal long since replaced by the goal of survival.
Luckily about this juncture, I ran into a fellow sea level dweller, Stefan, a friendly non racing cycling enthusiast, who accompanied me, delirious ramblings and all... the rest of the way. I was vaguely comforted to realize that I still had enough breath to talk, and that we did manage to pass everyone else we encountered on the climb (other than Peter). It was very much a surreal experience--you really do get more and more light headed as the scenery becomes more and more breathtaking. At times I wanted to get out of the saddle and push harder, but was held back by the fear of passing out.
All told it was 3:40, give or take 5 minutes to the top, and I arrived thoroughly humbled but with a sense of wonderment at being so ridiculously high up. I was really glad that I did this, despite the fact that it started out very frustrating and demoralizing, this is the first time in a while that I felt like I tackled and survived something really really hard. 14K feels disproportionately less good than 10K. The conclusion is that a proficient civilian does not a bike racer make. Apparently there's still a pretty sizeable gap between me and being a Real Cyclist... I guess I'll have to stick it out at my day job for now.
Sunday 06/21: 79.9 miles, 5:56:20 (13.4 miles), Angeles Crest to Cloudburst summit with Ian. A really beautiful day, and a great ride. I felt pretty tired from yesterday, but thankfully we just went a very very mellow pace and it felt good. I felt like I perked up a little bit near Newcombe's ranch and was excited about the last climb. I really love this section of the 2.
Monday 06/22: Off. Some much needed rest.
Tuesday 06/23: 34.7 miles, 2:41:21 (12.9 miles), 2 x Chantry climb, second one up to the Helipad with Ian. Tried to seek out some steeper grades per Ben's advice. The part near the base of the climb was pretty shocking to my system, but it was a LOT easier than I remembered. The first time up felt a little rusty, I definitely did not feel very good, but the second time went much better and much faster. It felt good to go a little bit harder than usual.
Wednesday 06/24: Off, motivational issues. Slept in. Bah, so useless....
Thursday 06/25: 51 miles, 3:46:25 (13.5 mph), Mt. Disappointment with Ian. An eventful day: First, I decided consciously to be late to work so that we could check out this new road that Will told us about. Second, we saw a bear (!) 30 second after we turned onto Mt. Disappointment road. Third, the last quarter mile or so was ridiculously ski lifts-esque steep. I recorded my first 200HR in several years for about 5 seconds near the top. The ride was most definitely not disappointing. It was really beautiful, especially with the rolling fog underneath.... there was no city, only mountain peaks in the distance, as if you were the only person on earth. Then I karmically spilled curry all over my car as I rolled into work at about 10:30... I still wasn't sorry for my truancy.
Friday 06/26: Off, shots. Travel to Colorado.
Saturday 06/27: 56 miles, 4:50:00 give or take 10 minutes. Mt Evans Race Course, half of it with Peter. See description above.
Training this week: 221.6 miles, 17:14:06. Pretty decent, esp. considering the rides.
There are certain days where I get lulled into thinking, well maybe, perhaps I'm not quite such a sucky rider after all... and then there are other days, where one gets clobbered over the head pretty good with the reality stick: actually, yes, you do suck. And quite a lot at that.
I've been considering and re-considering the Mt. Evans Hill Climb ever since I've been trying out this cycling thing. It seems hard and grueling, which I like, and there's also the nostalgic value of having been mentioned in Running with the Buffaloes. Finally, after considering last year's race results at much length, I decided on a trial run this Saturday.
28 miles (7 - 14,000 feet), of which the first 5-6 being somewhat mellow, and Peter having described the rest as being like Clear Creek (red flag #1... nothing Peter thinks is not steep is actually not steep) I insisted that 3 hours was a reasonable finish time. Maybe with race conditions, I could even swing 2:45, which, while still slow, was not *catastrophically* embarrassing.
Nothing could have prepared me for how horribly mistaken I was... the beginning section, on which I had hoped to make some easy gains, was already pretty miserable. I didn't have a speedometer, but, it only took me a few mile markers into the climb to realize that I was drastically off pace, with HR already racing at 170. By the time we hit the actual Mt Evans road, with 14.5 miles to go, I was thoroughly unamused... my time goal long since replaced by the goal of survival.
Luckily about this juncture, I ran into a fellow sea level dweller, Stefan, a friendly non racing cycling enthusiast, who accompanied me, delirious ramblings and all... the rest of the way. I was vaguely comforted to realize that I still had enough breath to talk, and that we did manage to pass everyone else we encountered on the climb (other than Peter). It was very much a surreal experience--you really do get more and more light headed as the scenery becomes more and more breathtaking. At times I wanted to get out of the saddle and push harder, but was held back by the fear of passing out.
All told it was 3:40, give or take 5 minutes to the top, and I arrived thoroughly humbled but with a sense of wonderment at being so ridiculously high up. I was really glad that I did this, despite the fact that it started out very frustrating and demoralizing, this is the first time in a while that I felt like I tackled and survived something really really hard. 14K feels disproportionately less good than 10K. The conclusion is that a proficient civilian does not a bike racer make. Apparently there's still a pretty sizeable gap between me and being a Real Cyclist... I guess I'll have to stick it out at my day job for now.
Sunday 06/21: 79.9 miles, 5:56:20 (13.4 miles), Angeles Crest to Cloudburst summit with Ian. A really beautiful day, and a great ride. I felt pretty tired from yesterday, but thankfully we just went a very very mellow pace and it felt good. I felt like I perked up a little bit near Newcombe's ranch and was excited about the last climb. I really love this section of the 2.
Monday 06/22: Off. Some much needed rest.
Tuesday 06/23: 34.7 miles, 2:41:21 (12.9 miles), 2 x Chantry climb, second one up to the Helipad with Ian. Tried to seek out some steeper grades per Ben's advice. The part near the base of the climb was pretty shocking to my system, but it was a LOT easier than I remembered. The first time up felt a little rusty, I definitely did not feel very good, but the second time went much better and much faster. It felt good to go a little bit harder than usual.
Wednesday 06/24: Off, motivational issues. Slept in. Bah, so useless....
Thursday 06/25: 51 miles, 3:46:25 (13.5 mph), Mt. Disappointment with Ian. An eventful day: First, I decided consciously to be late to work so that we could check out this new road that Will told us about. Second, we saw a bear (!) 30 second after we turned onto Mt. Disappointment road. Third, the last quarter mile or so was ridiculously ski lifts-esque steep. I recorded my first 200HR in several years for about 5 seconds near the top. The ride was most definitely not disappointing. It was really beautiful, especially with the rolling fog underneath.... there was no city, only mountain peaks in the distance, as if you were the only person on earth. Then I karmically spilled curry all over my car as I rolled into work at about 10:30... I still wasn't sorry for my truancy.
Friday 06/26: Off, shots. Travel to Colorado.
Saturday 06/27: 56 miles, 4:50:00 give or take 10 minutes. Mt Evans Race Course, half of it with Peter. See description above.
Training this week: 221.6 miles, 17:14:06. Pretty decent, esp. considering the rides.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Week 11: Rebuilding (06/14/2009 - 06/20/2009)
Getting back in the saddle. I've been having some moderate motivational issues since the crash and the plague. Once you take a whole bunch of days off, it kind of shifts the momentum. I also feel sad and discouraged about the setback, which also feeds the negative feedback loop for the motivation.
I'm pretty sure the only cure is to stamp out these memories and feelings with some good rides, and get back into the right mindset. I'm going to try to do a Mt. Evans trial run next week to determine whether I want to participate in the actual race, so I've got to bring my A-game. I think this week's goal will be to ride semi consistently and get back over 200 miles.
Sunday 06/14: 41 miles, 2:23:46 (17.1 mph) Peter's Short Long Loop, truncated due to flat tire and no tools. Well, the comeback is off to kind of a crappy start. I felt awful on this ride... I was full of snot and phlegm from being sick, except that I couldn't cough or sneeze bc my ribs are still so bruised. I felt tired though I was going pretty slow, and I was completely discombobulated by the down tube shifters and the 52/38 gearing on Big Red. I also forgot to bring a patch kit or spare tire, and figured it was just my luck to land a big flat tire about 5 miles from home.
Thankfully, I was rescued by the KB mobile, and took my poor injured Celeste bike to Steve's for some patching up. Bah, this seriously didn't help my vague suspicion that this is all a sign that me and bike racing was not meant to be...
Monday 06/15: Off. Woke up really tired and discouraged, so I didn't attempt another ride, and was really in a foul mood all day.
Tuesday 06/16: 45.7 miles, 2:36:11 (17.5 mph) Peter's Short Long Loop. Try #2. This one went much better. Felt a lot less sick, and even that helped. I think I've basically figured out how to deal with the six-speed and the shifters at this point so that helped too. I guess its never a good feeling when route times are slower than they used to be, but at least I didn't feel tired out by the effort. It was a good solid step in the right direction.
Wednesday 06/17: Off. Another really bad morning. I had Red Box planned for today and I even did wake up at 5 am... like fully awake, and not even that tired. But I sat on the edge of my bed with my head in my hands feeling like I just didn't want to go. I still lacked confidence with taking Big Red on any longer rides, and going into the mountains for the first time in a week and a half felt daunting. Visions of crashes and catastrophes filled my head... and I remembered that I had felt a little like this the day that I went on that RB ride last week. That superstitious thought tipped the scales, I crawled back into bed and fell asleep... it felt like the right decision at the time, but as the day wore on, I felt increasingly guilty and stupid and bothered.
Thursday 06/18: 41.5 miles, 2:44:00 (15.1 mph), Angeles Crest to Clear Creek, plus a few laps of the RB on the way home. Today started out a little bit like yesterday, but I was determined to get past this feeling. I still did dawdle for long enough that I no longer felt like I had enough time to go to Red Box, but I was determined at least to make it to Clear Creek. I heard that the bike we purchased off of eBay (Bianchi FG Lite Team bike) was arriving today, so I told myself that the least I could do was do a ride today so as to deserve my new purchase.
Climbing on Big Red was a lot easier than I thought. Actually managed a pretty speedy ascent, despite feeling positive dreadful trudging over to the base of the 2. I was pretty pleased. To alleviate some guilt for not having gone to Red Box, I did a few laps at a moderate intensity at the RB before heading home for the day. All in all I think this was what I needed to get back into it.
Friday 06/19: Off, shots. So tired... so sleep deprived. Everyone left work early, including me. By which I mean I left at 6:30 pm.
Saturday 06/20: 86.9 miles, 5:47:38 (15 mph) GMR to GRR to Baldy Village and back the same way we came. First time doing it this way, rather than just taking the flat way back. This was a harder than usual effort for me, Will, Ben, Alec and Scott were there, so it was kind of a "Ride just to keep up" sort of a situation. I felt pretty good until we reached the base of the climb, after which the pace felt a little bit stressful. I considered just dropping back right off the bat, but realized that with the 38/25, which is the smallest gear that Big Red has, it just felt more natural to go at the faster pace, so I kept it up and it started to feel easier.
I was pretty excited that I kept up with the group until mile 6 on GRR, at which point I was fairly catastrophically left behind. I was feeling a little bit freaked out at this point, my motivation to push hard totally gone, I kind of wondered if I should just go home alone the flat way rather than risk the climbing up from Baldy Village. I had a gu at BV though, and decided to man up and go back with the group. The first climb was a lot shorter than I thought it would be, and thankfully Will decided to drop back and rock the grupetto with me. It's so much better than the grupetto of one.
The ride back was... fraught with some misfortunes, unfortunately. It had been drizzling almost the entire ride, and we suffered some casualties. Will got a flat tire and Ben crashed on the descent, but all in all it appears everyone made it home in one piece. As a result of these two items, I ended up riding back to Pasadena with Alec, which was a little challenging, but I think I dug in and managed not to slow him down too much. I had a good time though, despite the rain and the droppage... and Ben told me all about the Everest Challenge and made me really want to do it!
Training this week: 215 miles, 13:31:35. Slowly inching back towards acceptable!
I'm pretty sure the only cure is to stamp out these memories and feelings with some good rides, and get back into the right mindset. I'm going to try to do a Mt. Evans trial run next week to determine whether I want to participate in the actual race, so I've got to bring my A-game. I think this week's goal will be to ride semi consistently and get back over 200 miles.
Sunday 06/14: 41 miles, 2:23:46 (17.1 mph) Peter's Short Long Loop, truncated due to flat tire and no tools. Well, the comeback is off to kind of a crappy start. I felt awful on this ride... I was full of snot and phlegm from being sick, except that I couldn't cough or sneeze bc my ribs are still so bruised. I felt tired though I was going pretty slow, and I was completely discombobulated by the down tube shifters and the 52/38 gearing on Big Red. I also forgot to bring a patch kit or spare tire, and figured it was just my luck to land a big flat tire about 5 miles from home.
Thankfully, I was rescued by the KB mobile, and took my poor injured Celeste bike to Steve's for some patching up. Bah, this seriously didn't help my vague suspicion that this is all a sign that me and bike racing was not meant to be...
Monday 06/15: Off. Woke up really tired and discouraged, so I didn't attempt another ride, and was really in a foul mood all day.
Tuesday 06/16: 45.7 miles, 2:36:11 (17.5 mph) Peter's Short Long Loop. Try #2. This one went much better. Felt a lot less sick, and even that helped. I think I've basically figured out how to deal with the six-speed and the shifters at this point so that helped too. I guess its never a good feeling when route times are slower than they used to be, but at least I didn't feel tired out by the effort. It was a good solid step in the right direction.
Wednesday 06/17: Off. Another really bad morning. I had Red Box planned for today and I even did wake up at 5 am... like fully awake, and not even that tired. But I sat on the edge of my bed with my head in my hands feeling like I just didn't want to go. I still lacked confidence with taking Big Red on any longer rides, and going into the mountains for the first time in a week and a half felt daunting. Visions of crashes and catastrophes filled my head... and I remembered that I had felt a little like this the day that I went on that RB ride last week. That superstitious thought tipped the scales, I crawled back into bed and fell asleep... it felt like the right decision at the time, but as the day wore on, I felt increasingly guilty and stupid and bothered.
Thursday 06/18: 41.5 miles, 2:44:00 (15.1 mph), Angeles Crest to Clear Creek, plus a few laps of the RB on the way home. Today started out a little bit like yesterday, but I was determined to get past this feeling. I still did dawdle for long enough that I no longer felt like I had enough time to go to Red Box, but I was determined at least to make it to Clear Creek. I heard that the bike we purchased off of eBay (Bianchi FG Lite Team bike) was arriving today, so I told myself that the least I could do was do a ride today so as to deserve my new purchase.
Climbing on Big Red was a lot easier than I thought. Actually managed a pretty speedy ascent, despite feeling positive dreadful trudging over to the base of the 2. I was pretty pleased. To alleviate some guilt for not having gone to Red Box, I did a few laps at a moderate intensity at the RB before heading home for the day. All in all I think this was what I needed to get back into it.
Friday 06/19: Off, shots. So tired... so sleep deprived. Everyone left work early, including me. By which I mean I left at 6:30 pm.
Saturday 06/20: 86.9 miles, 5:47:38 (15 mph) GMR to GRR to Baldy Village and back the same way we came. First time doing it this way, rather than just taking the flat way back. This was a harder than usual effort for me, Will, Ben, Alec and Scott were there, so it was kind of a "Ride just to keep up" sort of a situation. I felt pretty good until we reached the base of the climb, after which the pace felt a little bit stressful. I considered just dropping back right off the bat, but realized that with the 38/25, which is the smallest gear that Big Red has, it just felt more natural to go at the faster pace, so I kept it up and it started to feel easier.
I was pretty excited that I kept up with the group until mile 6 on GRR, at which point I was fairly catastrophically left behind. I was feeling a little bit freaked out at this point, my motivation to push hard totally gone, I kind of wondered if I should just go home alone the flat way rather than risk the climbing up from Baldy Village. I had a gu at BV though, and decided to man up and go back with the group. The first climb was a lot shorter than I thought it would be, and thankfully Will decided to drop back and rock the grupetto with me. It's so much better than the grupetto of one.
The ride back was... fraught with some misfortunes, unfortunately. It had been drizzling almost the entire ride, and we suffered some casualties. Will got a flat tire and Ben crashed on the descent, but all in all it appears everyone made it home in one piece. As a result of these two items, I ended up riding back to Pasadena with Alec, which was a little challenging, but I think I dug in and managed not to slow him down too much. I had a good time though, despite the rain and the droppage... and Ben told me all about the Everest Challenge and made me really want to do it!
Training this week: 215 miles, 13:31:35. Slowly inching back towards acceptable!
Week 10: Crash (06/07/2009 - 06/13/2009)
... Crash and burn... the latest in the "Involuntary Rest Week" series.
On Tuesday (06/09), I woke up not really wanting to ride, but I coaxed myself out the door with the promise if my first set of RB intervals. I was feeling great after my Sunday ride, and itching to do some harder stuff. Little did I know....
Sunday 06/07: 103 miles, 7:24:08 (14 mph), Hwy 39 to the 2, then up to Dawson's Saddle and back on the 2. It's been a while since I updated the blog, but this was an epic ride. Got a little bit of a late start, but figured I had just about enough daylight to squeeze this in. Felt great, and got some compliments from a random guy who rode with me for a few miles, but by about mile 30 I was feeling inexplicably pooped, and the weather was now way too warm for my base layer. There was some slogging up to about mile 38, after which the clouds rolled in and I started feeling inexplicably better.
Side note: Does anyone else think that the road condition of the 39 has deteriorated significantly? I remembered this as a really nice, non steep road from 2 years ago, but it was really overgrown and full of pot holes. I had considered turning back early a few times, but decided that there was no way I was going to descend down this death trap.... so onwards I went.
The really barren stretch from Crystal lakes to the 2 also seemed to be twice as long as I had remembered, but thankfully it was pretty easy going. Unfortunately, now it was starting to get drizzly and cold... so I arrived at the intersection of the 2 feeling a little bit irate. Then through the swirling fog, I saw a beautiful patch of sunny blue sky just to my right towards Dawson's Saddle. I rashly decided that heading back down into more cold, foggy descending sounded unappealing, so I turned right to make the ascent out of the clouds and up to Dawson's Saddle. I think I was a little bit more worn out than the last time I was here, but the climb was nice nonetheless.
Descending back into the fog was kind of terrifying, but I proceeded with caution until I was safely to Newcombe's Ranch, where it was near closing time, and I met the owner of the place, who seemed duly impressed with how far I'd come :). The rest of the journey was pleasant, the stretch home from Newcombe's seemed a lot shorter than I remembered, and I got home feeling pretty good!
Monday 06/08: Off, rest. Not really sure what happened this day. I think a fair amount of work. I was considering riding today bc I was feeling good, but didn't manage to wake up.
Tuesday 06/09: 20.4 miles, 1:13:57 before the crash. I really didn't want to get up today, but I didn't want to get into the habit of taking Monday and Tuesday off, so I decided to motivate myself by attempting my first set of intervals. The goal was just to do 3 at a moderate sustainable pace. On the first one, I had a lot of trouble keeping my focus, and my HR kept dropping down to 170... the split was 9:20, which is pretty crappy, so I resolved to do better on the next one. The second one started out pretty good, it was easier to maintain a good clip this time, and I could tell from the spedometer that I was going a lot faster than the first one. As I was coming down the last part of the downhill stretch right before the little hill, an oncoming vehicle made a left turn directly into my path.
I tried to make the gap between the tail end and the opposite side of the road, but I didn't make it, I slammed into the back end of the car, and the next thing I remember is feeling like my right ribcage had been crushed into a cube. It took a few moments just to recover from this horrible feeling, and then a whole bunch of people came running over. It was craziness. Everyone was really nice... except for the motorcycle cop. He seemed very unconcerned by my state or the events that had caused it.
Went to urgent care afterwards, but left when they told me it would be a 3 hour wait. I decided just to go the doctor's office and make an appt. but they were able to see me right away. Thankfully things are okay other than the road rash and some bruised ribs.
My poor bike fared less well. Apparently the impact had managed to bend the cranks, which no one had seen before.... as well as a lot of cosmetic damage. Incycle told me it was totaled and that it was unsafe to ride, and Steve said it was totally fine. Wasn't super comfortable with either opinion, so right now I'm waiting to make my decision.
Wednesday 06/10 - Saturday 06/13: Off. I got horribly ill the day after the accident... between the ribs and the plague, I couldn't sleep at all for the next 3 days. I felt terrible, didn't ride at all. I can't believe how many off days this was. Gahhhhhh....
Training this Week: 123.4 miles, 8:38:05. Soooooooooo sad :'(
On Tuesday (06/09), I woke up not really wanting to ride, but I coaxed myself out the door with the promise if my first set of RB intervals. I was feeling great after my Sunday ride, and itching to do some harder stuff. Little did I know....
Sunday 06/07: 103 miles, 7:24:08 (14 mph), Hwy 39 to the 2, then up to Dawson's Saddle and back on the 2. It's been a while since I updated the blog, but this was an epic ride. Got a little bit of a late start, but figured I had just about enough daylight to squeeze this in. Felt great, and got some compliments from a random guy who rode with me for a few miles, but by about mile 30 I was feeling inexplicably pooped, and the weather was now way too warm for my base layer. There was some slogging up to about mile 38, after which the clouds rolled in and I started feeling inexplicably better.
Side note: Does anyone else think that the road condition of the 39 has deteriorated significantly? I remembered this as a really nice, non steep road from 2 years ago, but it was really overgrown and full of pot holes. I had considered turning back early a few times, but decided that there was no way I was going to descend down this death trap.... so onwards I went.
The really barren stretch from Crystal lakes to the 2 also seemed to be twice as long as I had remembered, but thankfully it was pretty easy going. Unfortunately, now it was starting to get drizzly and cold... so I arrived at the intersection of the 2 feeling a little bit irate. Then through the swirling fog, I saw a beautiful patch of sunny blue sky just to my right towards Dawson's Saddle. I rashly decided that heading back down into more cold, foggy descending sounded unappealing, so I turned right to make the ascent out of the clouds and up to Dawson's Saddle. I think I was a little bit more worn out than the last time I was here, but the climb was nice nonetheless.
Descending back into the fog was kind of terrifying, but I proceeded with caution until I was safely to Newcombe's Ranch, where it was near closing time, and I met the owner of the place, who seemed duly impressed with how far I'd come :). The rest of the journey was pleasant, the stretch home from Newcombe's seemed a lot shorter than I remembered, and I got home feeling pretty good!
Monday 06/08: Off, rest. Not really sure what happened this day. I think a fair amount of work. I was considering riding today bc I was feeling good, but didn't manage to wake up.
Tuesday 06/09: 20.4 miles, 1:13:57 before the crash. I really didn't want to get up today, but I didn't want to get into the habit of taking Monday and Tuesday off, so I decided to motivate myself by attempting my first set of intervals. The goal was just to do 3 at a moderate sustainable pace. On the first one, I had a lot of trouble keeping my focus, and my HR kept dropping down to 170... the split was 9:20, which is pretty crappy, so I resolved to do better on the next one. The second one started out pretty good, it was easier to maintain a good clip this time, and I could tell from the spedometer that I was going a lot faster than the first one. As I was coming down the last part of the downhill stretch right before the little hill, an oncoming vehicle made a left turn directly into my path.
I tried to make the gap between the tail end and the opposite side of the road, but I didn't make it, I slammed into the back end of the car, and the next thing I remember is feeling like my right ribcage had been crushed into a cube. It took a few moments just to recover from this horrible feeling, and then a whole bunch of people came running over. It was craziness. Everyone was really nice... except for the motorcycle cop. He seemed very unconcerned by my state or the events that had caused it.
Went to urgent care afterwards, but left when they told me it would be a 3 hour wait. I decided just to go the doctor's office and make an appt. but they were able to see me right away. Thankfully things are okay other than the road rash and some bruised ribs.
My poor bike fared less well. Apparently the impact had managed to bend the cranks, which no one had seen before.... as well as a lot of cosmetic damage. Incycle told me it was totaled and that it was unsafe to ride, and Steve said it was totally fine. Wasn't super comfortable with either opinion, so right now I'm waiting to make my decision.
Wednesday 06/10 - Saturday 06/13: Off. I got horribly ill the day after the accident... between the ribs and the plague, I couldn't sleep at all for the next 3 days. I felt terrible, didn't ride at all. I can't believe how many off days this was. Gahhhhhh....
Training this Week: 123.4 miles, 8:38:05. Soooooooooo sad :'(
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)