Finally, back on track...
I had a great weekend of training! The last few months have been a bit weird... sure, I've been "training" and racing, but my intensity has been lacking. This was proven recently when my VO2 max tests at ATS came back with dismal numbers. (ok, not dismal.. I topped out at 55, which is still pretty damn good, but not even comparable to the 62 I had last time). The graphs that the machine/program spit out did not hide anything... Coach Tony explained the numbers (aerobic & lactate threshold, recovery heart rate, etc) and why he thought things had dropped: lack of intensity in my workouts had caused my body to reclaim the extra blood vessels it had created in my legs, thereby reducing how much oxygen my body was utilizing. It does make sense - all winter I ran long, collecting basemiles for my ultra adventures. There was no speed work, no tempo work, no intervals. Gosh, I sound like a slacker....
Anyways, my challenge lately has been to add this intensity into my weekly training schedule. With so many group trainings, it's difficult sometimes to make them hard. I guess I need to take some of the socialness out of the workouts? (without making it seem like I'm ignoring my friends). Hmm... it will be an effort in progress... The speedwork on Thursdays will be a good addition. Then if I can incorporate a ride like I did this past weekend, improvements will come!
Saturday, I met Dreama out in Soddy for a road ride. 4 SCV guys came out as well. Oh boy, the pace just went up! All I knew about this ride was to expect about 60 miles, and about 3.5/4 hours. Things started off ok.... a bit cool in the morning, but knowing it would heat up, opted for short sleeves + arm warmers. We wound all through Soddy, Sale Creek & Graysville, before starting our first climb up Brayton Mountain. Up on top, we were amazed at how long we rode on flat/rolling terrain - yet we were on top of a mountain! Then came our descent on Pitts Gap Road. I have one word - YIKES! I don't like descents to begin with, but this has got to be the worst I've had to suffer through. The views of the valley on the west side were amazing, which did nothing to calm my fears. I even stopped once because my hands hurt from braking so much. (I reallly gotta improve on this soon. somehow. please send me tips!) Once I caught up to everyone (who kindly waited for me), we battled some wind as we headed south towards our next ascent - something very special apparently: Henson Gap Road. It had some killer switchbacks where you had to stand and really muscle over them. Something easier said than done when you're already tired! Once on top, my water bottles were nearly drained. I rationed the last few ounces, but still had about 20 minutes of nothing. This section was pretty exposed to both wind and sun (oops, really should have put more sunscreen on since the arm warmers were now off!). Finally we hit a mini mart and fueled up on ice cold drinks. After a decent on Hotwater Road, we were done. Yeah!!
It was a hard workout and I chased them the whole time... but it was nice to do that and not just go out for a casual ride. I really appreciated everyone helping me out and (seemingly) not get frustrated by having a slower person along for the ride. It's rides like this that will help me get better.
Check out the map here... this is my first attempt at creating a map on Google.. pretty cool stuff! (although not quite as handy and detailed as those rockin' Garmin 305s.)
Sunday was no rest! The running crew hit the Cumberland Trail for a point-to-point run of the Possum Creek Gorge Segment - the absolute hardest 10 miles of trail to run I've ever been on. And yes, on tired legs, they seemed nearly impossible at times. It took us about 2hrs 50min, including a break at the waterfall where most of the guys actually jumped in (they said it was like ice!) Dreama and I had stashed our bikes in Joey's car at the end and worked out the lactic acid with an "easy" 15 mile ride back to our cars... easy, except for the killer, long, exposed climb up 111. A brutal way to end the weekend!
Here are some more pictures...
Anyways, my challenge lately has been to add this intensity into my weekly training schedule. With so many group trainings, it's difficult sometimes to make them hard. I guess I need to take some of the socialness out of the workouts? (without making it seem like I'm ignoring my friends). Hmm... it will be an effort in progress... The speedwork on Thursdays will be a good addition. Then if I can incorporate a ride like I did this past weekend, improvements will come!
Saturday, I met Dreama out in Soddy for a road ride. 4 SCV guys came out as well. Oh boy, the pace just went up! All I knew about this ride was to expect about 60 miles, and about 3.5/4 hours. Things started off ok.... a bit cool in the morning, but knowing it would heat up, opted for short sleeves + arm warmers. We wound all through Soddy, Sale Creek & Graysville, before starting our first climb up Brayton Mountain. Up on top, we were amazed at how long we rode on flat/rolling terrain - yet we were on top of a mountain! Then came our descent on Pitts Gap Road. I have one word - YIKES! I don't like descents to begin with, but this has got to be the worst I've had to suffer through. The views of the valley on the west side were amazing, which did nothing to calm my fears. I even stopped once because my hands hurt from braking so much. (I reallly gotta improve on this soon. somehow. please send me tips!) Once I caught up to everyone (who kindly waited for me), we battled some wind as we headed south towards our next ascent - something very special apparently: Henson Gap Road. It had some killer switchbacks where you had to stand and really muscle over them. Something easier said than done when you're already tired! Once on top, my water bottles were nearly drained. I rationed the last few ounces, but still had about 20 minutes of nothing. This section was pretty exposed to both wind and sun (oops, really should have put more sunscreen on since the arm warmers were now off!). Finally we hit a mini mart and fueled up on ice cold drinks. After a decent on Hotwater Road, we were done. Yeah!!
It was a hard workout and I chased them the whole time... but it was nice to do that and not just go out for a casual ride. I really appreciated everyone helping me out and (seemingly) not get frustrated by having a slower person along for the ride. It's rides like this that will help me get better.
Check out the map here... this is my first attempt at creating a map on Google.. pretty cool stuff! (although not quite as handy and detailed as those rockin' Garmin 305s.)
Sunday was no rest! The running crew hit the Cumberland Trail for a point-to-point run of the Possum Creek Gorge Segment - the absolute hardest 10 miles of trail to run I've ever been on. And yes, on tired legs, they seemed nearly impossible at times. It took us about 2hrs 50min, including a break at the waterfall where most of the guys actually jumped in (they said it was like ice!) Dreama and I had stashed our bikes in Joey's car at the end and worked out the lactic acid with an "easy" 15 mile ride back to our cars... easy, except for the killer, long, exposed climb up 111. A brutal way to end the weekend!
Here are some more pictures...
Labels: road biking, tn, training
posted by cathi at 10:06 PM
1 Comments:
descending well depends on not spending the whole time afraid of wrecking. The first thing that will do that is getting comfortable with your bike handling and and knowing what you can do.
Bike fit can also make a big difference. If the bike doesn't quite fit, it'll be wobbly under you.
Last hint, grab the top tube with your legs and ride like a you're sitting an exceptionally skinny horse. Of course, that only works as a reference if you've ever done much horseback riding...
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